Mobile Menace Monday: Implications of Google Play Protect

Along with the recent release of Google’s new OS, Android 8.0 Oreo, they also released a new security suite known as Google Play Protect. As blogged about in July in Play Protect: Android’s new security system is now available, this new suite has been available since mid-May. To reiterate As note...

Apple phish: Summary report statement

If the following message lands in your mailbox, you may wish to throw on your "This is highly suspicious" cap before proceeding further: The email is titled RE: Summary Report Statement login and update account 08/05/2017 Note the old spammer trick of placing "RE:" at the start to make you think...

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...

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...

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...

Predator spyware vendor banned in US

The US Treasury Department has sanctioned Predator spyware vendor Intellexa Consortium, and banned the company from doing business in the US. Predator can turn infected smartphones into surveillance devices. Intellexa is based in Greece but the Treasury Department imposed the sanctions because of...

Update now! SysAid vulnerability is actively being exploited by ransomware affiliate

Users of SysAid on-premises should take action to deal with a vulnerability. SysAid is a widely used IT service management solution that allows IT teams to manage tasks. Microsoft discovered an ongoing exploitation of a zero-day vulnerability in the SysAid IT support software in limited attacks b...

[updated] Ivanti Sentry critical vulnerability—don't play dice, patch

Ivanti has published a security blog post about a vulnerability in Ivanti Sentry, formerly MobileIron Sentry. Successful exploitation of the vulnerability would enable an unauthenticated attacker to access some sensitive APIs that are used to configure Ivanti Sentry on the administrator portal...

Malwarebytes Browser Guard introduces three new features

Malwarebytes Browser Guard is our free browser extension for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari that blocks unwanted and unsafe content, giving users a safer and faster browsing experience. It's the worlds first browser extension to do this while also identifying and stopping tech support scams. A...

Sharing Netflix, Disney+, other passwords is illegal, according to new guidance

The Intellectual Property Office IPO, the UK government body overseeing intellectual property rights in the UK, has quietly released new guidance on piracy and online counterfeit goods. This campaign is a joint effort between IPO and Meta, Facebooks parent company. The general issue on piracy is...

Ransomware protection with Malwarebytes EDR: Your FAQs, answered!

We get a few questions about ransomware protection and how our Endpoint Detection and Response software can protect you from ransomware. In this post, our security experts answer some of your most frequently asked questions about ransomware and how our EDR can help—let’s get started. Q: When...

The Wren Eleanor story: Why you should keep your kids’ images off social media

TikTok moms have started a movement: Calling out potential creeps who follow child influencer accounts on the platform. The latest account in the spotlight is @wren.eleanor, a TikTok account with a massive 17.3 million followers. Its an impressive number and one that got the attention of armchair...

Ransomware: April 2022 review

The Malwarebytes Threat Intelligence team monitors the threat landscape continuously and produces monthly ransomware reports based on a mixture of proprietary and open-source intelligence. April 2022 was most notable for the emergence of three new ransomware-as-a-service RaaS groups—Onyx, Mindwar...

Why Macs are the best, according to Mac expert Thomas Reed: Lock and Code S02E23

In the year 2021, the war for computer superiority has a clear winner, and it is the Macintosh, by Apple. The companys Pro model laptops are finally, belatedly equipped with ports that have been standard in other computers for years. The companys beleaguered "butterfly" keyboard has seemingly bee...

How to delete your Snapchat account

Snapchat is an instant messaging app popular with youngsters that allows users to send pictures and videos that are only viewable for short periods. But while hundreds of millions of daily active users consume and create content with Snapchat, not everyone is pleased with the mobile app. One of t...

Crypto-scams you should be steering clear of in 2021

A fair few cryptocurrency scams have been doing the rounds across 2021. Most of them are similar if not identical to tactics used in previous years with an occasional twist. Here’s some of the most visible ones you should be steering clear of. Recovery code theft Many Bitcoin wallets make use of...

A week in security (July 19 – July 25)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Stopransomwaredotgov, a one-stop hub for ransomware resources Beware, crypto-scammer seeks foreigner with BLOCK CHAIN ACCOUNT Remcos RAT delivered via Visual Basic US, EU, UK, NATO blame China for “reckless” exchange attacks HiveNightmare zero-day lets anyone be...

ID theft ghouls targeting Surfside victims is appalling, but no surprise

We’ve written at length about account compromise and identity theft, and how criminals will often hijack accounts belonging to dead people. In many ways, it’s the perfect crime for anyone indulging in social engineering. The amount of abandoned accounts due to death can only ever go up, and nobod...

A week in security (April 12 – 18)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, our podcast featured Troy Hunt, Chloé Messdaghi, and Tanya Janca who discussed security fatigue with us. We announced the release of the Malwarebytes SMB Cybersecurity Trust & Confidence Report 2021, a first-of-its-kind survey of the hardworking IT professionals on...

Malwarebytes releases SMB Cybersecurity Trust & Confidence Report 2021

What can we say about 2020 that hasn’t already been said? Beliefs were shaken. Values were questioned. Truths were tested. Then COVID happened and things really got crazy. The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic on March 12, 2020. That same day...

Omegle investigation raises new concerns for kids’ safety

Social media site Omegle is under fire after an investigation found boys using the platform to expose themselves on camera, and adults exposing themselves to minors. Omegle users are paired with a random stranger who they can socialize with via text or video chat. An investigation by the British...

Android devices caught in Matryosh botnet

Researchers at Netlab have discovered a new botnet that re-uses the Mirai framework to pull vulnerable Android devices into DDoS attacks. The new botnet, which is called Matryosh, is named after the Russian nesting dolls because the encryption algorithm it uses, and the process of obtaining comma...

VideoBytes: Offensive security tools and the bad guys that use them

Hello Folks! In this Videobyte, we’re talking about what penetration testing tools malware gangs love to use and why they are better than what you can get on the black market. This article describes the VirusBulletin talk of a security researcher from Interzer Labs, Paul Litvak, in which he...

SolarWinds advanced cyberattack: What happened and what to do now

We learned more about the sophisticated attack first disclosed on December 8 when security firm FireEye reported it had been the victim of a state-sponsored adversary that stole Red Team assessment tools. On December 13 there was a new development when IT company SolarWinds announced it had been...

Lock and Code S1Ep11: Locating concerns of Bluetooth and beacon technology with Chris Boyd

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 Chris Boyd, lead malware intelligence analyst for Malwarebytes, about Bluetooth and beacon technology. Last month, cybersecurity experts warned the publi...

Bluetooth beacons: one free privacy debate with your next order

Apps and their permissions have been in the news recently, particularly in relation to tracking/privacy issues and Bluetooth. Why Bluetooth, though? What is it, and what is it doing to raise concerns in some security quarters? Bluetooth: your cool, then uncool, but mostly cool again cousin...

Explained: cloud-delivered security

As a counterpart to security for your assets in the cloud, you may also run into solutions that offer security from the cloud. These solutions are generally referred to as cloud-delivered security. Cloud-delivered security is sometimes called security-as-a-service which we will avoid here as it...

Cybersecurity and the economy: when recession strikes

Cybercrime and the economy have always been intertwined, but with COVID-19 on the road to causing a seemingly inevitable global recession, many are asking what, exactly, will the impact be on cybercrime. Will criminals step up and increase malware production, ramp up phishing attacks, do whatever...

A week in security (February 3 – 9)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we looked at Washington state’s latest efforts in providing better data privacy rights for their residents, and we dove into some of the many questions regarding fintech: What is it? How secure is it? And what are some of the problems in the space? We also detailed...

Malwarebytes teams up with security vendors and advocacy groups to launch Coalition Against Stalkerware

Today, Malwarebytes is announcing its participation in a joint effort to stop invasive digital surveillance: the Coalition Against Stalkerware. For years, Malwarebytes has detected and warned users about the potentially dangerous capabilities of stalkerware, an invasive threat that can rob...

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...

Labs quarterly report finds ransomware’s gone rampant against businesses

Ransomware's back—so much so that we created an entire report on it. For 10 quarters, we've covered cybercrime tactics and techniques, covering a wide range of threats we saw lodged against consumers and businesses through our product telemetry, honeypots, and threat intelligence. We've looked at...

Your device, your choice: AdwCleaner now detects preinstalled software

For years, Malwarebytes has held firm to a core belief about you, the user: You should be able to decide for yourself which apps, programs, browsers, and other software end up on your computer, tablet, or mobile phone. Basically, it’s your device, your choice. With the latest update to Malwarebyt...

Enterprise incident response: getting ahead of the wave

Enterprise defenders have a tough job. In contrast to small businesses, large enterprise can have thousands of endpoints, legacy hardware from mergers and acquisitions, and legacy apps that are business critical and prevent timely patching. Add to that a deluge of indicators and metadata from the...

Was this really an attempt by the Chinese?

Last weekend, during President Trump’s visit to the Mar-a-Lago resort, a 23-year-old Chinese woman attempted to gain access to the Florida resort by lying and bluffing her way in. After some discussion at the gate, she was escorted to the reception of the resort where it was found out that she wa...

LoJack for computers used to attack European government bodies

Security researchers have detected the first known instance of a UEFI bootkit being used in targeted campaigns against government entities across Central and Eastern Europe. The attack focuses on UFEI-enabled computers and relies on a persistence mechanism that has been stolen from a legitimate,...

Holes found in Mojave’s privacy protection

macOS Mojave was released on Monday, September 24, with much promise of increased privacy protections. In particular, apps are now required to get permission from users before they can access data in certain locations, such as Mail data, contacts, calendar events, Safari user data, and more...

A week in security (September 17 – 23)

Last week, we took a look at a low level spam campaign on Twitter, explored the signs of falling victim to phishing, and examined a massive WordPress compromise. We also explained some SASL vulnerabilities and covered a breaking Emotet spam campaign. Other cybersecurity news: NewEgg attacked by...

8 everyday technologies that can make you vulnerable to cyberattacks

The technological advances of the modern world make for an exciting and convenient lifestyle. With each new development, from artificial intelligence to the Internet of Things, we make the mundane and tedious more manageable. The security vulnerabilities of the latest tech have been well...

Two major Canadian banks blackmailed after alleged data breach

While the US was celebrating Memorial Day on Monday, Canada was dealing with an unusual data breach affecting two popular financial institutions: Simplii Financial and Bank of Montreal BMO. The CBC broke the story and updated it throughout the day to mention that some 90,000 customers were possib...

Kuik: a simple yet annoying piece of adware

Some pieces of malware can be so simple—and yet such a pain to get rid of—especially when they start interfering with your system's configuration. This much is true for the Kuik adware program, which surprised us all by forcing affected machines to join a domain controller. The perpetrators are...

The data breach epidemic: no info is safe

By now it’s obvious that data security technology and protocols haven’t kept pace with the needs of consumers. Even as more people trust their most sensitive personal information to online apps and services, databases are routinely exposed. In 2017 alone, we learned about massive data breaches fr...

CyberByte steals Malwarebytes’ intellectual property

At Malwarebytes, we frequently examine apps for detection as Potentially Unwanted Programs PUPs. These are programs that exhibit a wide variety of bad behaviors, but aren't actually outright malware. Unfortunately, there are many supposed antivirus programs that fit this category. Following user...

A week in security (January 8 – January 14)

It's very early in the year, yet everyone has already had a complete meltdown pun intended over a number of serious vulnerabilities found in legacy and modern microprocessors. Last week, rightly so, vendors released patches for hardware and OSes to help mitigate these threats. However, problems i...

BadRabbit ransomware strikes Eastern Europe

A new strain of ransomware called BadRabbit is spreading through Eastern Europe. Likely created by the same authors as the Petya/Not Petya ransomware outbreak in June, BadRabbit ransomware uses a website to drop a fake Flash update and then drops its payload. Click to view slideshow. Countries we...

Remediation vs. prevention: How to place your bets

Building a security environment for businesses these days is a gamble: layer on too much and your programs may be canceling each other out or causing redundancy and your leaders may be wondering why you're spending so much. Invest too little and get breached: it's snake eyes for you. Whether you...

A week in security (August 14 – August 20)

Last week, we gave some security tips for parents and kids aimed at the new school term. We also took a peek at the inside of the Kronos malware, focusing on how it works and protects itself. And, once again, we spotted a return of Locky ransomware with two new flavors at once, diablo6 and Lukitu...

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...

Passwords in the age of AI: We need to find alternatives

For decades, passwords have been our default method for keeping online accounts safe. But in the age of artificial intelligence, this traditional security method is facing challenges it was never built to withstand. A team at Cybernews conducted a study of over 19 billion newly exposed passwords...