Russia accused of hacking Dutch police during MH17 investigation

Journalists at the Dutch newspaper "De Volkskrant" have reported that the countrys intelligence service, AIVD, discovered in 2017 that Russian hackers had broken into Dutch police systems. The De Volkskrant report is based on knowledge from anonymous sources. The reason behind this act of espiona...

Bitcoin scammers phish for wallet recovery codes on Twitter

Were no strangers to the Twitter customer support DM slide scam. This is where someone watches an organisation perform customer support on Twitter, and injects themselves into the conversation at opportune moments hoping potential victims don’t notice. This is aided by imitation accounts modelled...

Apple shines and buffs Mac security—Is it enough to stop today’s malware?

There’s a lot going on in the Mac security world lately. Over the last few months, Apple has ramped up security efforts across its platforms. From an endpoint security framework overhaul of macOS Catalina to phasing out kernel extensions, the tech giant has been battening down the...

$12m Grindr fine shows GDPR’s got teeth

As thoughts turn to Data Privacy this week in a big way, GDPR illustrates it isnt an afterthought. Grindr, the popular social network and dating platform, will likely suffer a $12 million USD fine due to privacy related complaints. What happened here, and what are the implications for future case...

Lock and Code S1Ep20: Tracking the charities that track you online 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 charity organizations and online ad tracking. Though many might assume that these t...

Demystifying two common misconceptions with e-commerce security

Online shopping has seen a dramatic increase in the months following the Covid-19 outbreak as more and more people opt-out of visiting physical stores. Such a phenomenon does not go unnoticed or without additional consequences. During the same time period, we have seen an increase in the usual...

Mac ThiefQuest malware may not be ransomware after all

Editor's note: The original name for the malware, EvilQuest, has been changed due to a legitimate game of the same name from 2012. The new name, ThiefQuest, is also more fitting for our updated understanding of the malware. The ThiefQuest malware, which was discovered last week, may not actually ...

Introducing Malwarebytes Privacy

Here at Malwarebytes, we’re no strangers to using virtual private networks VPNs to protect our privacy while browsing online. Regular readers of our blog will remember that we’ve advised on VPN usage on many occasions, whether for mobile device users looking for anonymity or business owners wanti...

New Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act (COPRA) would empower American users

Despite the already dizzying number of comprehensive data privacy proposals before the US Senate—nearly 10 have been introduced since mid-2018—yet another bill has entered the conversation: the Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act. This time, the bill, called COPRA for short, is sponsored by a...

Explained: juice jacking

When your battery is dying and you're nowhere near a power outlet, would you connect your phone to any old USB port? Joyce did, and her mobile phone got infected. How? Through a type of cyberattack called "juice jacking." Don’t be like Joyce. Although Joyce and her infected phone are hypothetical...

Labs report finds cyberthreats against healthcare increasing while security circles the drain

The team at Malwarebytes Labs is at it again, this time with a special edition of our quarterly CTNT report—Cybercrime tactics and techniques: the 2019 state of healthcare. Over the last year, we gathered global data from our product telemetry, honeypots, threat intelligence, and research efforts...

A week in security (August 5 – 11)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we explained how brain-machine interface BMI technology could usher in a world of Internet of Thoughts, why having backdoors is problematic, and how we can improve the security of our smart homes. To cap off Hacker Summer Camp week, the Labs team released a special...

How to secure your content management system

Suppose you want to start your own blog or set up a website where you can easily manage its content, the way it looks, and how often it changes. What you need is a content management system CMS. WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla are some of the most popular content management systems used by both...

Block all or nothing to prevent ICO fraud?

At Malwarebytes, we feel we have reached a point where we need to ask our customers how to proceed on the subject of ICO scams. Asking for your opinion may seem strange to some of you, but Malwarebytes comes from a community of mutual help and trust. If you were unaware of this, reading how our C...

Mobile Menace Monday: A race to hidden ads

Who doesn’t love a good motorcycle racing game, right? How about one easily available on Google Play, a “safe” place for all your Android app desires? How about a bike racing game that sticks with you so much, you can’t easily uninstall it? And it displays hidden ads? Wait, what!? That’s right! I...

PBot: a Python-based adware

Recently, we came across a Python-based sample dropped by an exploit kit. Although it arrives under the disguise of a MinerBlocker, it has nothing in common with miners. In fact, it seems to be PBot/PythonBot: a Python-based adware. Apart from a couple of posts on forums in Russian language and...

Maybe you shouldn’t use LinkedIn

UPDATE: 4/6/2018 LinkedIn reached out for comment on the article, and we'd like to clarify our position based on their concerns. They wrote: Members control their connections, who can see them including keeping them private if they wish and only first degree connections can get access to your...

LockCrypt ransomware: weakness in code can lead to recovery

At the start of the year, it seemed that 2018 was going to be all about cryptominers. They so overwhelmingly dominated the landscape that it looked like no other threat had a chance. However, ransomware is not giving up the field so fast. There have been new variants popping up every couple of...

Please don’t buy this: smart locks

We all like buying the latest and greatest tech toy. It’s fun to get new and novel features on a product that used to be boring and predictable; a draw of the original BeBox amongst many was a layer of “das blinkenlights” across the front. But sometimes, the latest feature is not always the...

A week in security (October 02 – October 08)

Last week, we gave you some tips for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, walked through an exploration of a small adware file, and explored the complicated world of the Homograph attack. Here's what else happened in security. VB2017 Many of our team members attended VB2017 in Madrid, one of t...

What happens to your data when you die? (Lock and Code S07E17)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … You will die. Your data will not. The afterlife of our information is a recent phenomenon, and some of the companies with the most to sort through are still just figuring it out. As far back as 2007, Facebook was forced to reckon with mass grief when users...

Update your iPhone, Mac, Watch: Apple issues patches for several vulnerabilities

Apple has released security patches for most of its operating systems, including iOS, Mac, iPadOS and watchOS. Especially important are the updates for iOS and iPadOS which tackle vulnerabilities which could potentially leak sensitive user information. You should make sure you update as soon as y...

iPhone flaw could read your saved passwords out loud. Update now!

Apple has issued security updates for iOS 18.0.1 and iPadOS 18.0.1 which includes a fix for a bug that could allow a user's saved passwords to be read aloud by its VoiceOver feature. VoiceOver allows users to use their iPhone or iPad even if they can't see the screen. It gives audible description...

Microsoft’s April 2024 Patch Tuesday includes two actively exploited zero-day vulnerabilities

The April 2024 Patch Tuesday update includes patches for 149 Microsoft vulnerabilities and republishes 6 non-Microsoft CVEs. Three of those 149 vulnerabilities are listed as critical, and one is listed as actively exploited by Microsoft. Another vulnerability is claimed to be a zero-day by...

ThemeBleed exploit is another reason to patch Windows quickly

Included in the September 2023 Patch Tuesday updates was a fix for a vulnerability which has been dubbed ThemeBleed. A Proof-of-Concept PoC exploit has been released by Gabe Kirkpatrick, one of the researchers acknowledged for reporting the vulnerability. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures...

A week in security (July 17 - 23)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: CISA: You've got two weeks to patch Citrix NetScaler vulnerability CVE-2023-3519 Estee Lauder targeted by Cl0p and BlackCat ransomware groups Google fixes "Bad.Build" Cloud Build flaw, researchers say it's not enough Accidental VirusTotal upload is a valuable...

Web skimmer found on website of Liquor Control Board of Ontario

On January 12, 2023, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario LCBO published a news release about a cybersecurity incident, affecting online sales through LCBO.com. It is one of the largest retailers and wholesalers of beverage alcohol in the world. Web skimmer The cybersecurity incident was a web...

Adware found on Google Play — PDF Reader serving up full screen ads

A PDF reader found on Google Play with over one million downloads is aggressively displaying full screen ads, even when the app is not in use. More specifically, the reader is known as PDF reader - documents viewer, package name com.document.pdf.viewer. As a result, this aggressive behavior lands...

“Orwellian in the extreme” food store installs facial recognition cameras to stop crime, faces backlash

A convenience shop chain is under fire and facing legal charges for installing cameras with facial recognition software in 35 of its branches across the UK. The cameras analyze and convert video face captures into biometric data. The data is compared with a database of people who have committed...

Update now! Multiple vulnerabilities patched in Google Chrome

Google has announced an update for the Chrome browser that includes 32 security fixes. The severity rating for one of the patched vulnerabilities is Critical. The stable channel was promoted to 102.0.5005.61/62/63 for Windows, and 102.0.5005.61 for Mac and Linux. Critical Google rates...

Adobe patches actively exploited Magento/Adobe Commerce zero-day

Adobe has released an emergency advisory for users of its Commerce and Magento platforms. It explains that a critical zero-day vulnerability is actively being exploited in attacks against sites that use these two content management system CMSs. Users should apply the patch as soon as possible. Th...

Firefox reveals sponsored ad “suggestions” in search and address bar

Mozilla is trying a novel experiment into striking a balance between ad revenue generation and privacy protection by implementing a new way to deliver ads in its Firefox web browser—presenting them as “suggestions” whenever users type into the dual-use search and URL address bar. The advertising...

A week in security (July 26 – August 1)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: OSX.XLoader hides little except its main purpose: What we learned in the installation process. The Clubhouse database “breach” is likely a non-breach. Here’s why. Kaseya Unitrends has unpatched vulnerabilities that could help attackers expand a breach. UDP Technolo...

Judge drops hammer, dishes 7 years slammer for BEC and romance scammer

A Texas resident has finally paid the price for a heady mix of malicious mail antics. A combination of business email compromise BEC scams and romance fakeouts bagged them $2.2 million across roughly 6 years. This is quite a divergent portfolio of scamming activity. You may typically assume BEC...

WhatsApp calls and messages will break unless you share data with Facebook

WhatsApp told users last week that there was no need for alarm regarding an upcoming privacy policy deadline, as users who refuse to accept the privacy policy will not have their accounts deleted—they will just have their apps rendered useless, eventually incapable of receiving calls and messages...

A week in security (May 3 – 9)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we discussed how Spectre attacks have come back from the dead; why Facebook banned Instragram ads by Signal; we highlighted the differences between the most popular VPN protocols; pointed out that Google is about to start automatically enrolling users in two-step...

Malicious commits found in PHP code repository: What you need to know

You’ve probably heard that PHP’s Git repository was recently compromised, allowing backdoors to be added to the code located there. You may also be wondering what that means, what a supply chain attack is, and how you could be affected. Read on and well lead you though a straightforward descripti...

Are TikTok’s new settings enough to keep kids safe?

TikTok, the now widely popular social media platform that allows users to create, share, and discover, amateur short clips—usually something akin to music videos—has been enjoying explosive growth since it appeared in 2017. Since then, it hasn’t stopped growing—more so during the current pandemic...

VPNs are mainstream, which is good news

Virtual private networks VPNs have been growing in popularity for the last three years, a notable trend revealed in a collaborative report PDF by Top10VPN and GlobalWebIndex. This year is no different. When a majority of the world’s internet users are in isolation due to the COVID-19 global...

International Women’s Day: awareness of stalkerware, monitoring, and spyware apps on the rise

Nine months ago, Malwarbytes recommitted itself to detecting invasive monitoring apps that can lead to the excessive harm of women—most commonly known as stalkerware. We pledged to raise public awareness, reach out to advocacy groups, and share samples and intelligence with other security vendors...

Washington Privacy Act welcomed by corporate and nonprofit actors

The steady parade of US data privacy legislation continued last month in Washington with the introduction of an improved bill that would grant state residents the rights to access, control, delete, and port their data, as well as opting out of data sales. The bill, called the Washington Privacy...

Cyber insurance: here to stay, whether we like it or not

Cyber insurance has been a big talking point in infosec circles for many months now. We’ve mentioned it in passing ourselves a few times, usually in relation to ransomware attacks. This isn’t surprising; ransomware may not be the threat that brought cyber insurance to life, but it absolutely help...

A week in security (September 23 – 29)

Last week on Labs, we highlighted an Emotet campaign using Snowden’s new book as a lure, discussed how 15,000 webcams are vulnerable to attack, how insurance data security laws skirt political turmoil, and how the new iOS exploit checkm8 allows permanent compromise of iPhones. Other cybersecurity...

Everything you need to know about ATM attacks and fraud: part 2

This is the second and final installment of our two-part series on automated teller machine ATM attacks and fraud. In part 1, we identified the reasons why ATMs are vulnerable—from inherent weaknesses of its frame to its software—and delved deep into two of the four kinds of attacks against them:...

Cryptojacking in the post-Coinhive era

September 2017 is widely recognized as the month in which the phenomenon that became cryptojacking began. The idea that website owners could monetize their traffic by having visitors mine for cryptocurrencies in their browser was not new, but this time around it became mainstream, thanks to an...

Malwarebytes helps take down massive ad fraud botnets

On November 27, the US Department of Justice announced the indictment of eight individuals involved in a major ad fraud case that cost digital advertisers millions of dollars. The operation, dubbed 3ve, was the combination of the Boaxxe and Kovter botnets, which the FBI—in collaboration with...

Red Hen website suffers SEO spam compromise

If you're thinking about checking out the website owned by the restaurant that asked White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave the premises, you might want to hold off. There's some site compromise action afoot. Although the homepage appears to be acting in a perfectly normal...

Exploring the virtual worlds of advergaming

Games and analytics services ran into one another headfirst recently, in a spat related to the game Conan Exiles. Developers had to remove a tracking service, which allowed game developers to track where Steam players had come from. By generating an API key and integrating it into the game,...

HTTPS: why the green padlock is not enough

When goods get sold in large quantities, the price goes down. This might not be the first law of economics, but it’s applicable. An extrapolation of this is that if there are practically no production costs and no raw materials involved, prices of such goods will drop to zero. Usually, they will ...

The state of Mac malware

Mac users are often told that they don't need antivirus software, because there are no Mac viruses. However, this is not true at all, as Macs actually are affected by malware, and have been for most of their existence. Even the first well-known virus—Elk Cloner—affected Apple computers rather tha...