GitLab issues security updates; watch out for hard coded passwords

GitLab has issued several critical security updates, with users of the version control software urged to upgrade their installations as soon as possible. One of the fixes is for a hard coded password issue. What is distributed version control? Distributed version control is a way for an...

Gh0stCringe RAT makes database servers squeal for protection

Researchers have found that the Gh0stCringe RAT is infecting Microsoft SQL and MySQL, and seems to focus on servers with weak protection. The Gh0stCringe RAT communicates with a command and control C&C server to receive instructions and is capable of exfiltrating information. SQL SQL is short for...

HermeticWiper: A detailed analysis of the destructive malware that targeted Ukraine

This blog post was authored by Hasherezade, Ankur Saini and Roberto Santos Disk wipers are one particular type of malware often used against Ukraine. The implementation and quality of those wipers vary, and may suggest different hired developers. The day before the invasion on Ukraine by Russian...

Katie Moussouris hacked Clubhouse. Her emails went unanswered for weeks: Lock and Code S02E15

Nearly one year after the exclusive app Clubhouse launched on the iOS store, its popularity skyrocketed. The app, which is now out of beta, lets users drop into spontaneous audio conversations that, once they are over, are over. With COVID lockdown procedures separating many people around the wor...

Second colossal LinkedIn “breach” in 3 months, almost all users affected

LinkedIn has reportedly been breached—again—following reports of a massive sale of information scraped from 500M LinkedIn user profiles in the underground in May. According to Privacy Shark, the VPN company who first reported on this incident, a seller called TomLiner showed them he was in...

Apple confirms Macs get malware

Anyone following the court case between Epic and Apple is undoubtedly already aware of the "bombshell" dropped by Apples Craig Federighi yesterday. For those not in the know, Federighi, as part of his testimony relating to the security of Apples mobile device operating system, iOS, stated that "w...

Bizarro: a banking Trojan full of nasty tricks

Researchers have discovered a new banking Trojan that has been found targeting customers of European and South American banks. They have dubbed the new Trojan Bizarro. How does Bizarro spread? The Bizarro malware spreads via Microsoft Installer MSI packages. Identified sources so far have been sp...

A week in security (May 10 – 16)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we watched and reported on the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack as developments of its story unfolded. This attack triggered the White House to refine a planned Executive Order on cybersecurity. We also profiled DarkSide, the ransomware responsible for the...

How ransomware gangs are connected, sharing resources and tactics

Many of us who read the news daily encounter a regular drum beat of ransomware stories that are both worrying and heartbreaking. And what many of us don’t realize is that they are often interconnected. Some of the gangs behind the ransomware campaigns that we read about have established a...

ProxyLogon PoCs trigger a game of whack-a-mole

As we reported recently, the use of the Microsoft Exchange Server ProxyLogon vulnerabilities has gone from “limited and targeted attacks” to a full-size panic in no time. Criminal activities, ranging in severity from planting crypto-miners to deploying ransomware, and conducted by numerous groups...

Defending online anonymity and speech with Eva Galperin: Lock and Code S02E03

This week on Lock and Code, we discuss the top security headlines generated right here on Labs. In addition, we talk to Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity for Electronic Frontier Foundation, about the importance of protecting online anonymity and speech. In January, the New York Times expose...

Scammers, profiteers, and shady sites? It must be tax season

US tax season is upon us, a time of the year when a special kind of vermin comes crawling out of the woodwork: tax scammers! Not that their goals are any different from any other scammers. They want your hard-earned dollars in their pockets. Most of the tax-related attacks follow a few tried and...

Romance scams: FTC reveals $304 million of heartache

In 2020, reported losses to the FTC for romance scams went up by 50% from 2019, totalling $304 million. And things werent exactly good before: Romance scams have cost people a fortune for 3 years running, according to the FTC. Their latest report suggests a steady rise in these kind of scams...

Clubhouse under scrutiny for sending data to Chinese servers

The audio-chat app Clubhouse is the latest rage in the social media landscape. What makes it so popular and, now its part of the social media landscape, can we trust it? The Clubhouse app Clubhouse was launched about a year ago and was initially only used by Silicon Valley’s rich and famous. It i...

What’s up with WhatsApp’s privacy policy?

WhatsApp has been in the news recently after changes to its privacy policy caused a surge of interest in rival messaging app Signal. Initial reports may have worried a lot of folks, leading to inevitable clarifications and corrections. But what, you may ask, actually happened? Is there a problem?...

Cybercriminals want your cloud services accounts, CISA warns

On January 13 the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA issued a warning about several recent successful cyberattacks on various organizations’ cloud services. What methods did the attackers use? In the initial phase, the victims were targeted by phishing emails trying to capture...

Malsmoke operators abandon exploit kits in favor of social engineering scheme

Exploit kits continue to be used as a malware delivery platform. In 2020, weve observed a number of different malvertising campaigns leading to RIG, Fallout, Spelevo and Purple Fox, among others. And, in September, we put out a blog post detailing a surge in malvertising via adult websites. One o...

Stalkerware and online stalking are accepted by Americans. Why?

Despite warnings from domestic abuse networks, privacy rights advocates, and a committed faction of cybersecurity vendors, Americans may be accepting and minimizing online stalking behaviors, including the use of invasive apps that can pry into a user’s text messages, emails, photos, videos, and...

5 tips for building an effective security operations center (SOC)

Security is more than just tools and processes. It is also the people that develop and operate security systems. Creating systems in which security professionals can work efficiently and effectively with current technologies is key to keeping your data and networks secure. Many enterprise...

Explained: What is containerization?

Containerization. Another one of those tech buzzwords folks love to say but often have no idea what it means. A better way to organize children's toys? The act of bringing tupperware out to dinner to safely transport home leftovers? Another name for Russian dolls? Containerization is, of course,...

Vital infrastructure: emergency services

Organizations in the emergency services sector are there for the public to provide help when situations get out of hand or are too much to handle. This can be because the problem requires special tools and skills to use them, and the organizations are set up to provide assistance at short notice...

Who is managing the security of medical management apps?

One truth that is consistent across every sector—be it technology or education—is that software is vulnerable, which means that any device running software applications is also at risk. While virtually any application-running device could be compromised by an attacker, vulnerabilities in medical...

What’s the real value—and danger—of smart assistants?

You've heard them called virtual assistants, digital personal assistants, voice assistants, or smart assistants. Operated by artificial intelligence, technologies such as Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana have become ubiquitous in our culture. But what exactly do they do? And how serious...

A week in security (June 11 – June 17)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we discussed how to protect the online privacy of children, we gave you a spring 2018 overview of exploit kits, rounded up the ongoing discussions about the VPNFilter malware, and discussed the struggles of UK law enforcement with modern-day cybercrime. Other news...

Parenting in the Digital World: a review

Before I became a new mum not so long ago, I did the best I could to prepare myself to take care of my little one by reading a lot books. From learning how to discern possible meanings behind baby's various cries to finding out what you can and can't feed your baby once they begin eating solids. ...

A week in security (March 05 – March 11)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we paid homage to several women in tech, including some of our very own, on International Women's Day and shared their stories. We also looked into an adware posing as an Android app that claims to live stream the 2018 Winter Olympics, exposed scammers that go by t...

Physician, protect thyself: healthcare cybersecurity circling the drain

No one knows you better than you do. But thanks to technology advances and the continued digitization of healthcare data accumulation and sharing processes, we can also honestly say the same about your healthcare provider. Indeed, every time we get in touch with a health professional, data is...

Fake verification pages are stealing Steam accounts from players

Online gamers should watch out for a convincing scam that aims to steal your Steam account. The scam uses fake FACEIT verification pages that look legitimate, complete with official branding, working links, and what appears to be a real Steam login window. By the time it asks for your password,...

A week in security (June 24 – June 30)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: TEMU sued for being "dangerous malware" by Arkansas Attorney General Driving licences and other official documents leaked by authentication service used by Uber, TikTok, X, and more "Poseidon" Mac stealer distributed via Google ads Federal Reserve "breached" data m...

Google ad for Facebook redirects to scam

Today, we are looking at a malicious ad campaign targeting Facebook users via Google search. It is well-known that tech support scammers attract new victims by buying ads for certain keywords related to their audience. What is perhaps less known is how it is even possible to impersonate top brand...

Update now! ConnectWise ScreenConnect vulnerability needs your attention

ConnectWise is warning self-hosted and on-premise customers that they need to take immediate action to remediate a critical vulnerability in its ScreenConnect remote desktop software. This software is typically used in data-centers and for remote assistance. Together ConnectWise’s partners manage...

Update Chrome now! Google patches critical vulnerability being exploited in the wild

Google has released an update for Chrome Desktop which includes one critical security fix. There is an active exploit for the patched vulnerability, according to Google, which means cybercriminals are aware of the vulnerability and are using it. If youre a Chrome user on Windows, Mac, or Linux, y...

Threatening rogue finance apps removed from the Apple Store

Multiple apps have been removed from the App Store in India after a large helping of unethical behaviour was aimed at their users. TechCrunch reports that "Pocket Kash, White Kash, Golden Kash, and OK Rupee" among others were taken down after getting close to the top 20 finance app listing spots...

Financial services company OneMain fined $4.25 million for security lapses

A series of security errors and mishaps has cost personal loan provider OneMain $4.25m in penalties, issued by the New York State department of financial services. The fines, coming at the end of a detailed investigation into how security practices at the company were determined to be below-par,...

Update now, there's a Chrome zero-day in the wild

Google has announced an important update for Chrome to help fend off a zero-day. The update fixes several issues, and readers are advised to ensure they're using the latest version of the browser. Mitigation If youre using Chrome on Mac, Windows, or Linux, you need to update as soon as you possib...

Fake DDoS services set up to trap cybercriminals

The "online criminal marketplace" has been disrupted via several fake Distributed Denial of Service DDoS tools, according to an announcement from The British National Crime Agency NCA. Not everyone on an underground forum is up to no good. Some folks register on hacking sites and services out of...

Watch out for the email that says “You have a new voicemail!”

A phishing campaign is using voicemail notification messages to go after victims Office 365 credentials. According to researchers at ZScaler, the campaign uses spoofed emails with an HTML attachment that contains encoded javascript. The email claims that you have a new voicemail and that you can...

Gmail-linked Facebook accounts vulnerable to attack using a chain of bugs—now fixed

A security researcher has disclosed how he chained together multiple bugs in order to take over Facebook accounts that were linked to a Gmail account. Youssef Sammouda states it was possible to target all Facebook users but that it was more complicated to develop an exploit, and using Gmail was...

Update now! Critical patches for Chrome and Edge

Google has released an update for its Chrome browser that includes 30 security fixes. The latest version of the stable channel is now Chrome 101.0.4951.41 for Windows, Mac and Linux. This version addresses vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit to take control of an affected system...

Let’s Encrypt to revoke “mis-issued” certificates

If you use a Let’s Encrypt SSL/TLS certificate, you may wish to check your account over the coming days. Revocation is coming, and you’ve only got until tomorrow to figure things out. What’s the deal with free certificates? If you’re running a website, you want to make sure that it’s HTTPs. It...

Malwarebytes CrackMe – contest summary

On October 29 we published our third CrackMe Challenge and announced two parallel tracks for the contest: "The fastest solve" , and "The best write-up". In the first category "The fastest solve" , we got three winners already the first weekend following publication. Big congratulations to: @nazyw...

Watch what you send on anonymous SMS websites

Its a good idea to try and keep certain things private. For example, people have been using anonymous email services for years. These either hide your real email address, or replace it entirely for specific tasks. Folks will go one step further, setting aliases for each service they sign up to. I...

Hotel staff bust Hermes SMS scammer with suspiciously large number of cables

If you’re in the UK, you’ve likely received a fake delivery SMS at this point. The original big driver for this over the pandemic was a non-stop wave of Royal Mail phishing scams. As that article mentions, most if not all of our interactions with organisations is done by mobile. I receive medical...

Can two VPN “wrongs” make a right? Lock and Code S02E10

This week on Lock and Code, were presenting you something a little different. Were telling you a story—with no guest interview included—that involves the use of VPNs. In 2016, a mid-20s man began an intense, prolonged harassment campaign against his new roommate. He emailed her from spoofed email...

Using iPhones and AirTags to sneak data out of air-gapped networks

Someone has found an extraordinary way to exfiltrate data by piggybacking data on the backs of unsuspecting iPhones. Say what? A researcher has found out that it is possible to upload arbitrary data from non-internet-connected devices by sending Bluetooth Low Energy BLE broadcasts to nearby Apple...

Why MITRE ATT&CK matters—Choosing alert quality over quantity

Round 3 Carbanak/FIN7 results evaluation Last month, the researchers at MITRE Engenuity released the results of their most recent ATT&CK Evaluation, offering businesses an opportunity to make informed choices about their own security needs. This year, by modeling the ATT&CK testing after attack...

Don’t post it! Six social media safety sins to say goodbye to

If you or anyone you know is committing the below social media sins, it’s time to change that habit of an online lifetime. Even the most innocuous of things can cause trouble down the line, because everyone’s threat model is different. Unfortunately, people tend to realise what their threat model...

China’s RedEcho accused of targeting India’s power grids

RedEcho, an advanced persistent threat APT group from China, has attempted to infiltrate the systems behind Indias power grids, according to a threat analysis report from Recorded Future PDF. It appears that what triggered this attempt to gain a foothold in Indias critical power generation and...

Pow! Emotet’s down. Is it out?

In a coordinated action, multiple law enforcement agencies have seized control of the Emotet botnet. Agencies from eight countries worked together to deliver what they hope will be a decisive blow against one of the worlds most dangerous and sophisticated computer security threats. The Emotet...

Retrohunting APT37: North Korean APT used VBA self decode technique to inject RokRat

This post was authored by Hossein Jazi On December 7 2020 we identified a malicious document uploaded to Virus Total which was purporting to be a meeting request likely used to target the government of South Korea. The meeting date mentioned in the document was 23 Jan 2020, which aligns with the...