Here are the most popular robocall scams and how to avoid them

We recently examined how robocall scams are a serious threat to privacy, alongside the astonishing rate at which their volume continues to increase. Forty-three billion calls in 2019 with an average of 131 calls per person in the US alone is not something to be sniffed at. No matter how careful y...

Emotet malspam campaign uses Snowden’s new book as lure

Exactly one week ago, Emotet, one of the most dangerous threats to organizations in the last year, resumed its malicious spam campaigns after several months of inactivity. Based on our telemetry, we can see that the botnet started becoming chatty with its command and control servers C2, about a...

TrickBot adds new trick to its arsenal: tampering with trusted texts

Researchers from Dell Secureworks saw a new feature in TrickBot that allows it to tamper with the web sessions of users who have certain mobile carriers. According to a blog post that they published early last week, TrickBot can do this by "intercepting network traffic before it is rendered by a...

A week in security (August 12 – 18)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we took a look at the potential pitfalls of facial recognition technology, looked at ways domestic abuse survivors can secure their data, and explored the education threat landscape. We also kicked off a series looking at the Hidden Bee infection chain, and put...

Backdoors are a security vulnerability

Last month, US Attorney General William Barr resurrected a government appeal to technology companies: Provide law enforcement with an infallible, “secure” method to access, unscramble, and read encrypted data stored on devices and sent across secure messaging services. Barr asked, in more accurat...

Helping survivors of domestic abuse: What to do when you find stalkerware

We’re going to talk about something different today. We’re going to talk about domestic abuse. Earlier this year, cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab announced that the latest upgrade to its Android app would inform users about whether their devices were running stealthy, behind-the-scenes...

Cybersecurity pros think the enemy is winning

There is a saying in security that the bad guys are always one step ahead of defense. Two new sets of research reveal that the constant cat-and-mouse game is wearing on security professionals, and many feel they are losing in the war against cybercriminals. The first figures are from the...

Wall Street Market reported to have exit scammed

Around April 20, many users reported that Wall Street Market, a broadly known dark net market, had executed an exit scam, and that any pending orders were unlikely to be completed. Scamming with enterprises involving Bitcoin is not unheard of, and dark net markets with centralized escrow are...

Trojans: What’s the real deal?

The fictional Greeks hiding in their legendary Trojan horse would probably be excited to learn that the default Wiki page for Trojan is, in fact, their big wooden horse thingy vs. computer infections or dubious businesses. Sorry, fictional ancient Greek warriors. It’s not that we don't think you'...

Fake Fortnite for Android links found on YouTube

The extremely popular video game Fortnite is coming to Android sometime this summer, and the fanbase is going wild. Not surprisingly, mobile malware developers are taking advantage. Already, there are several videos on YouTube with links claiming to be versions of Fortnite for Android, despite th...

Tech support scam uses fake Shoppers Stop site to lure thousands

Update 2018-05-17: Shoppers Stop is a legitimate company based out of India and their brand was abused by scammers. These days, there are a lot of browser locker campaigns fueled by malvertising or redirection from hacked sites. But the Shoppers Stop tech scam campaign is actually a bit of both,...

When cybersecurity isn’t all cyber: What does it really take to work in cybersecurity?

With the multitude of breaches and outbreaks already witnessed in 2017, it's become clear that industries across all verticals are challenged by cybersecurity. This is a serious business problem that needs to be addressed ASAP. As much talk as there is about organizations getting hacked, scores o...

419 spam: 10 million US dollars, courtesy of “Rev. Goodluck Ebola”

I'm not saying an email claiming to be from the "Central Bank of Nigeria" with a contact handler named "Rev. Goodluck Ebola" will raise too many red flags, but… Click to Enlarge CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR Zaria Street, Off Samuel Akintola Street,Garki 11, Garki-Abuja. Our Ref:...

A week in security (July 10 – July 16)

Last week, we took a look at some of your malware infection stories, took a stroll through the basics of PowerShell, explored a piece of .NET malware, and shone the spotlight on the Petya ransomware family. Elsewhere, the following stories were taking place: Latest updates for Consumers...

A week in security (June 26 – July 02)

Last week, we offered our readers tips on how to detect phishing attempts, gave an overview of Google's Be Internet Awesome campaign, supplemented an ongoing series on adware, and introduced the Malwarebytes Endpoint Protection to those who aren't already in the know. We also pushed out a number ...

Call of Duty Mobile scam uses fake free points to steal player accounts

Call of Duty Mobile players should watch out for a phishing campaign disguised as a free Call of Duty Points giveaway. Victims are asked to log in with their email address and password to claim free Call of Duty Points CP, the game's premium currency. They're then redirected to a second page aski...

Semrush impersonation scam hits Google Ads

This blog post was co-authored with Elie Berreby, Senior SEO Strategist Criminals are highly interested in online marketing and advertising tools that they can leverage as part of their ongoing malware campaigns. In particular, we have previously detailed how Google advertiser accounts can be...

PCMag ranks Malwarebytes #1 cybersecurity vendor

PCMag, one of the most trusted publications by IT professionals, named Malwarebytes the 1 most-recommended security software vendor on its list of Best Tech Brands for 2023. The ranking is based on a Net Promoter Score NPS, a composite rating based on customer reviews from PCMag's Readers Choice...

DoppelPaymer ransomware group disrupted

Europol has announced it has arrested two suspected core members of the DoppelPaymer ransomware group. On 28 February, the German Regional Police and the Ukrainian National Police, with support from Europol, the Dutch Police, and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations FBI, apprehended...

Fake Amazon Prime email abuses LinkedIn's URL shortener

Over the last few days, scammers have been sending out phishing mails that disguise bogus URLs with something called Slinks--shortened Linkedin URLs. The shortened URLs redirect users to a different URL when they are clicked. If youve ever seen a Tiny URL, or a Bit.ly link, youll already be...

WhatsApp hijackers take over your account while you sleep

Late last week, Twitter user Zuk @ihackbanme tweeted an issue about WhatsApp that has the potential to turn heads. The recent WhatsApp accounts takeover is simple and genius. This is how it works: You're sleeping. A "hacker" tries to login to your account via WhatsApp. You get a text message with...

Malware targets 30 unpatched WordPress plugins

If you make use of plugins on your WordPress site and you probably do, its time to take a good look at whats running under the hood. Ars Technica reports that unpatched vulnerabilities being exploited across no fewer than 30 plugins. A long list of plugin problems If you own or operate a website...

A week in security (July 5 – July 11)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Racing against a real-life ransomware attack. Podcast with Ski Kacoroski. Kaseya CEO: “The impact of this incredibly sophisticated attack is very minimal” Patch now! Emergency fix for PrintNightmare released by Microsoft. Game over: Apex Legends players locked out ...

REvil ransomware’s calling, and it’s not good news

The REvil ransomware AKA Sodinokibi, which operates as a Ransomware as a Service is adopting some outreach techniques after initial compromise, designed to shame victims into paying up. Shaming victims into action Malware authors and social engineers have relied on shame and the threat of exposur...

North Korean hackers charged with $1.3 billion of cyberheists

The US Department of Justice recently unsealed indictments detailing North Koreas involvement in several global cyberattack campaigns against institutions in the financial and entertainment sectors, and money laundering schemes in certain US states. The first unsealed indictment is for hacking...

Lock and Code S1Ep15: Safely using Google Chrome Extensions with Pieter Arntz

This week on Lock and Code, we discuss the top security headlines generated right here on Labs and around the Internet. In addition, we talk to Pieter Arntz, malware intelligence researcher for Malwarebytes, about Google Chrome extensions. These sometimes helpful online tools that work directly...

GDPR: An impact around the world

A little more than one month after the European Union enacted the General Data Protection Regulation GDPR to extend new data privacy rights to its people, the governor of California signed a separate, sweeping data protection law that borrowed several ideas from GDPR, sparking a torch in a...

Biotech health care innovations meet security challenges

The level and speed of innovations taking place in the biotech industry are baffling. On the one hand, it makes us hopeful we can quickly reduce the number of illnesses and their consequences through technological advancement—saving thousands of lives. On the other, concerns about the application...

A week in security (October 14 – 20)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we tried to unlock the future of the password its vulnerabilities, current alternatives, and possible future disappearance, analyzed the lagging response by many businesses in adopting a patch for Pulse VPN vulnerability, looked at Instagram’s bulked-up security...

Instagram clamps down on fake messages with anti-phishing tool

Instagram accounts will always be a popular target for scammers. You might not think it’s a big deal if someone has their account swiped, but it’s often the vanguard of many online businesses. A takeover, or a deletion, can be absolutely devastating. Smart hacking crews are always in the...

Tips for safe summer travels: your cybersecurity checklist

Summer is just around the corner in the Northern Hemisphere, and with it comes vacation plans for many. Those looking to take some time away from work and home are likely making plans to secure their home, have their pets taken care of, and tie up loose ends at work. But how about securing your...

Keeping your business and personal instant messages secure

Most people want to know their instant messages are securely wrapped up—whether that's for personal privacy or making sure online scammers can't grab the message content. If you're sending text on a sensitive topic, or perhaps some photo attachments intended for one person only, you definitely...

Physician, protect thyself: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

In part one of our Physician, protect thyself series, we recognized significant security problems within the healthcare industry that need addressing. Health organizations moving from the paper to the 'puter—a shift meant to improve care and overall patient experience—inadvertently introduced...

A week in security (March 26 – April 01)

Last week, we looked at the thought process behind creating a ransomware decryptor, the inner workings of QuantLoader, the ways one can protect their Android devices, the exploit kits we have encountered this winter, the now-known epidemic of data breaches, the coming of TLS 1.3, and the ways one...

A week in security (February 19 – February 25)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we gave readers a primer on encryption, took a stab at that Deepfakes tool Internet users seem to be interested in, and started a new series that talks about GDPR. We also looked at a drive-by download campaign that starts in booby-trapped Chinese websites that dro...

Singles’ Day deal seekers beware

Originally a day set aside for singles in China to be proud of their singlehood, Singles' Day has been transformed into what is arguably the world’s single largest e-commerce festival, thanks to the involvement of The Alibaba Group. In fact, the Alibaba Group alone reported $17.8 billion in sales...

Our computers, ourselves: digital vs. biological security

Though by night I fight malware alongside the rest of the Malwarebytes research team, by day I work as a doctoral student in Immunobiology at Yale University, where I study the development of the immune system in your bone marrow. This grants me a unique perspective, as I’ve studied both the...

Labs report: summer ushers in unprecedented season of breaches

In this edition of the Malwarebytes Cybercrime Tactics and Techniques report for the third quarter of 2017, we saw a number of high profile breaches targeting the personal information of hundreds of millions of people. While the Equifax breach may have dominated the news cycle, notable attacks...

A new kind of Apple phishing scam

In a recent blog post, Felix Krause revealed a method for phishing Apple ID passwords on iOS that would be quite indistinguishable from a real iOS password request. This got us thinking about the ramifications—how else could this tactic be used in the Apple ecosystem, and what kind of damage coul...

Mobile Menace Monday: Malicious clicker with extra maliciousness included

A new malicious clicker has emerged onto third-party app stores. Chinese in origin, the malicious app uses heavy obfuscation and poses as a battery optimizer app. We classify is as Android/Trojan.Clicker.hyj. Click to view slideshow. Hide what’s inside To obfuscate its code, Clicker.hyj uses an A...

Play Protect: Android’s new security system is now available

Play Protect, a security suite for Android devices, was originally introduced in mid-May of this year during the Google I/O conference. And in just a couple of months, the tech giant has made it available for all their mobile users. Play Protect is the amalgamation of Google’s Android security...

Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 “abruptly disabled” after US gov. ban

Anthropic has been ordered by the US government to cut off its newest Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models for fear of abuse by adversaries. Reuters reports that Anthropic said it will "abruptly ​disable" its most advanced AI models for all users after the US government ordered it to suspend access...

Signal users targeted in backup-stealing phishing attacks

A new phishing campaign is targeting Signal users by attempting to steal their backup recovery keys to access encrypted message archives. The attack is initiated by a text message pretending to come from Signal Support. “Action Required: Data Recovery Needed Your Signal account data message and...

Ivanti urges customers to patch yet another critical vulnerability

In a new blog post, Ivanti says that it has found another vulnerability and urges customers to “immediately take action to ensure you are fully protected”. This vulnerability only affects a limited number of supported versions–Ivanti Connect Secure version 9.1R14.4, 9.1R17.2, 9.1R18.3, 22.4R2.2 a...

Recently-patched Apache Struts vulnerability used in worldwide attacks

Attackers are exploiting a critical vulnerability in Apache Struts 2 that was patched recently. Struts is a very popular open source platform to develop applications and websites. On December 7, 2023, Apache announced versions 6.3.0.2 and 2.5.33 of Struts were now available to address a potential...

Patch now! BIG-IP Configuration utility is vulnerable for an authentication bypass

Tech company F5 has warned customers about a critical authentication bypass vulnerability impacting its BIG-IP product line that could result in unauthenticated remote code execution. F5 provides services focused on security, reliability, and performance. BIG-IP is a collection of hardware...

Update your PaperCut application servers now: Exploits in the wild

PaperCut, maker of print management solutions, has urged product users to update as soon as possible. A security vulnerability which exploits unpatched servers has been seen in the wild, with serious ramifications for any organisation impacted. Two specific vulnerabilities are at the heart of thi...

Business Services industry targeted across the country for backdoor access

The presence of so many hacking tools in the detections for the Business Services industry tells a story about these organizations being targeted for not only infection, but to establish backdoors and likely gain access to customers of the organizations through the victims network. Just like...

Why data protection and privacy are not the same, and why that matters: Lock and Code S03E09

Theres a mistake commonly made in the United States that a law that was passed to help people move their healthcare information to a new doctor or provider was actually passed to originally implement universal, wide-ranging privacy controls on that same type of information. This is the mixup with...

A week in security (Nov 22 – Nov 28)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs How to defend your website against card skimmers Security researchers play peek-a-boo with Conti ransomware server Windows 10 chills out, gives sysadmins a break Please dont buy this! 3 gift card scams to watch out for this Black Friday Millions of GoDaddy customer...