What is cryptocurrency and why do cybercriminals love it?

Ever pretend you know what your friends are talking about because you want to sound smart and relevant—and then trap yourself in a lie? “Wow, looks like those hackers were mining for cryptocurrency. You know what cryptocurrency is, right?” “Oh yeah, totally. Cryptocurrency. Bad stuff. You know...

Traditional AV solutions shown ineffective in real-time global heat map

It's no secret that antivirus technology AV has faced increased scrutiny in the tech industry for quite some time. With signature-based detection methods, traditional AV solutions are simply weak against unknown malware and other malicious content. Meanwhile, consumers and businesses continue to...

A week in security (September 25 – October 01)

Recently, we talked about the hacking incident at Deloitte, one of the 'big four' global accounting firms. It was reported that client email addresses, usernames, and passwords were exposed. This also brought to light weaknesses in their policies and lack of threat intelligence to recover leaked...

Insider threats in your work inbox

Recently, our friends at Barracuda found a new phishing campaign that banks on the popularity of cloud services used in most businesses, such as Microsoft Office 365. According to their blog post, this latest scheme takes advantage of the natural trust employees place on messages they receive fro...

Terror EK actor experiments with URL shortener fraud

Terror EK is an exploit kit made from a mishmash of stolen code and with very limited distribution. In the past few months, we have seen a few minor updates to its code base which remains largely simplistic in comparison to professional-grade exploit kits of the past such as Angler EK, or...

The numeric tech support scam campaign

There are many different tech support scam TSS campaigns active at any given moment, the majority of them are fueled by malicious adverts the browser lockers, or bundled software the screen lockers. Something interesting happened recently, where legitimate - but hacked - websites would redirect t...

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,...

Keep getting calls from questionable numbers? Meet Scam Number Check

Have you ever gotten a phone call and had a gut feeling that those random digits looked extra suspicious? It happens to millions of people every day. While many people have trained themselves to ignore such calls, they still pose a threat across the US. In fact, scammers stole more than $21 billi...

WhatsApp hack: Meta wins payout over NSO Group spyware

Meta has won almost $170m in damages from Israel-based NSO Group, maker of the Pegasus spyware. The ruling comes after a six-year legal case against the company after Meta accused it of misusing its servers to spy on users. According to the original complaint against NSO Group, filed in October...

How to turn off location tracking on iOS and iPadOS

On iOS and iPadOS, location services are typically turned on when you first set up your device. However, there may be reasons why you don’t want your device to be located, perhaps because you don’t want to be found but need to keep the device with you. There are a few options to hide your locatio...

19 million plaintext passwords exposed by incorrectly configured Firebase instances

Three researchers scanned the internet for vulnerable Firebase instances, looking for personally identifiable information PII. Firebase is a platform for hosting databases, cloud computing, and app development. Its owned by Google and was set up to help developers build and ship apps. What the...

Ransomware in 2023 recap: 5 key takeaways

This article is based on research by Marcelo Rivero, Malwarebytes’ ransomware specialist, who monitors information published by ransomware gangs on their Dark Web sites. In this report, “known attacks” are those where the victim did not pay a ransom. This provides the best overall picture of...

SEC X account hacked to hawk crypto-scams

We have seen several high-profile accounts that were taken over on X formerly Twitter only to be used for cryptocurrency related promotional activities, like expressing the approval of exchange-traded funds ETFs. The latest victim in this line-up is the Securities and Exchange Commission SEC. The...

ThreatDown earns highest ratings across EDR and MDR categories in G2 Winter 2024 results

The peer-to-peer review source G2 has released its Winter 2024 reports, ranking ThreatDown products on top across several Endpoint Detection and Response EDR and Managed Detection and Response MDR categories. Based on verified customer reviews, ThreatDown EDR was voted a Leader in the overall and...

Explained: SMTP smuggling

SMTP smuggling is a technique that allows an attacker to send an email from pretty much any address they like. The intended goal is email spoofing—sending emails with false sender addresses. Email spoofing allows criminals to make malicious emails more believable. Let’s take a closer look at what...

Update vCenter Server now! VMWare fixes critical vulnerability

VMWare has issued an update to address one out-of-bounds write and one information disclosure vulnerability in its server management software, vCenter Server. Since there are no in-product workarounds, customers are advised to apply the updates urgently. The affected products are VMware vCenter...

Warning issued over increased activity of TrueBot malware

In a joint advisory, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center MS-ISAC, and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security CCCS have warned about newly identified TrueBot malware variants use...

Windows 11 pulls ahead of Windows 10 in anti-phishing stakes

Some new security additions and changes have been announced for users of Windows, but youll have to be using Windows 11 to get the most out of them. Windows 10 users may find that this is going to be a case of falling behind the herd ever so slightly. Anti-phishing tools Enhanced phishing...

Forced Chrome extensions get removed, keep reappearing

In the continued saga of annoying search extensions we have a new end-of-level boss. Victims have been reporting browser extensions that were removed by Malwarebytes, but “magically” came back later. Since the victims also complained about the message saying their browser was "managed", we had a...

Vulnerable WordPress plugin leaves online shoppers vulnerable

The most popular web content management system CMS is WordPress, which is used by more than 30% of all websites. By extension, the most popular ecommerce platform in the world is WooCommerce, a plugin that turns a WordPress website into an online shop. In fact, WooCommerce is so popular that it...

A week in security (August 9 – August 15)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Home routers are being hijacked using a vulnerability disclosed just 2 before Ransomware turncoat leaks Conti data, lifts the lid on the ransomware business Check your passwords! Synology NAS devices are under attack from StealthWorker PrintNightmare and RDP RCE...

City of Liège hit by ransomware, Ryuk suspected

Liège, the third largest city in Belgium, and a major educational hub, has been hit by a ransomware attack, disrupting its IT services and network. The municipality of Lieges official website, which was translated from the French. According to its official website pictures above: The City of Lièg...

Clop stopped? Ransomware gang loses Tesla and other treasures in police raid

Ukrainian law enforcement officials announced Wednesday that they had arrested several individuals involved in criminal activity committed by the Clop ransomware gang, a cybercriminal gang that helped popularize the “double extortion” model of not only threatening to encrypt a victim’s files, but...

WhatsApp reverses course, will not limit app functionality

WhatsApp, the end-to-end encrypted messaging service that has lost users, its founders, and a large amount of public goodwill, issued a reversal on its recent privacy policy enforcement measures, clarifying that it will no longer punish users who refuse to share some of their data with the...

“Have I been pwnd?”– What is it and what to do when you *are* pwned

Adobe. Yahoo!. The US Department of Energy DoE. The New York Times. What these names have in common is that they have all experienced at least one breach in 2013—the year when threat actors started targeting organizations across industries to either steal data for profit or leak them to "teach...

Signal app insists it’s so private it can’t provide subpoenaed call data

Signal—the private, end-to-end encrypted messaging app that surged in popularity in recent months—once again reminded criminal investigators that it could not fully comply with a legal request for user records and communications because of what it asserts as a simple, unchanging fact: The records...

What is Smishing? The 101 guide

Smishing is a valuable tool in the scammers armoury. Youve likely run into it, even if you didnt know that is its name. It doesnt arrive by email or social media direct message, instead choosing a route directly aimed at what may be your most personal device: the mobile phone. So, what is Smishin...

Interview with a bug bounty hunter: Youssef Sammouda

Behind the scenes there are many people working in cyber-security that make the internet a safer place. Youssef Sammouda is one of these people. He has submitted at least a hundred reports to Facebook which have been resolved, making Facebook a safer platform along the way. Generally speaking,...

When contractors attack: two years in jail for vengeful IT admin

An IT contractor working for an IT consultancy company took it upon himself to perform an act of revenge against the firm he worked at, after they complained about his performance. The charge he faced was breaking into the network of a company in Carlsbad, California. And it got him two years in...

Yandex sysadmin caught selling access to email accounts

Yandex, a European multinational technology firm best known for being the most-used search engine in Russia, has revealed it had a security breach, leading to the compromise of almost 5,000 Yandex email accounts. The company says it spotted the breach after a routine check by its security team...

RDP, the ransomware problem that won’t go away

The year 2020 will certainly be remembered as one of the most difficult and tragic years humankind has faced in modern times. The global pandemic changed the way we live and work in ways unimaginable, perhaps forever. It also altered the cybersecurity landscape dramatically. The FBI reported a 30...

A week in security (January 4 – January 10)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we released survey results about VPN usage and found that 36 percent of our respondents use it. We also talked about Adobe Flash Player reaching its end of life—meaning, Adobe wont be supporting the updating and patching of its Flash Player software; covered the...

VideoBytes: Brute force attacks increase due to more open RDP ports

Hello Folks! In this Videobyte, we’re talking about why brute force attacks are increasing and why that is a problem for everyone. The number of RDP ports exposed to the Internet grew from about three million in January 2020 to over four and a half million in March. The reason for this increase i...

Lock and Code S1Ep10: Pulling apart the Internet of Things with JP Taggart

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 JP Taggart, senior security researcher at Malwarebytes, about the Internet of Things. For years, Internet capabilities have crept into modern consumer...

Keep Zoombombing cybercriminals from dropping a load on your meetings

While shelter in place has left many companies struggling to stay in business during the COVID-19 epidemic, one company in particular has seen its fortunes rise dramatically. Zoom, the US-based maker of teleconferencing software, has become the web conference tool of choice for employees working...

Growing rate of robocalls threatens user privacy

When a person sees a call from an unknown number and picks up to hear a recorded voice on the other end, they've received a robocall. Some are helpful, such as reminders of upcoming doctor's appointments or school announcements. However, the vast majority are from unsolicited parties trying to...

A week in security (October 1 – 7)

Last week, Malwarebytes welcomed National Cybersecurity Awareness Month by renewing our pledge to do what we do best: offer the best protection for our customers and promote security awareness for all. On Labs, we raised the question of whether it is a good idea to bring your own security or not,...

Search engine shenanigans: Malwarebytes mentions aren’t what they seem

Thing might be a touch quiet at the moment as we ease into 2018, but that doesn't mean dubious antics and dodgy dealings aren't still making waves online. As a matter of fact, should you go searching for some of our researchers, their blog posts, or just a couple of notable quotables from news...

A week in security (July 31 – August 6)

Last week we explored some basic PowerShell commands, dived into the new methods used by TrickBot, and wrote at length about the Magnitude exploit kit redirection chain. Our teams were busy at both BlackHat and DefCon, and outside of those famous hallways, we also took time to fire up some basic...

24 billion stolen records exposed online. Here’s what to do

A newly discovered database containing 24 billion stolen records is a reminder that personal information from data breaches, phishing campaigns, and infostealer infections continues to circulate online. The collection was exposed on the internet before being taken offline. While researchers can't...

Inside a fake Google security check that becomes a browser RAT

A website styled to resemble a Google Account security page is distributing what may be one of the most fully featured browser-based surveillance toolkits we have observed in the wild. Disguised as a routine security checkup, it walks victims through a four-step flow that grants the attacker push...

A week in security (June 17 – June 23)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Microsoft Recall delayed after privacy and security concerns Almost everything you always wanted to know about cybersecurity, but were too afraid to ask, with Tjitske de Vries: Lock and Code S05E13 43% of couples experience pressure to share logins and locations,...

How to check if your data was exposed in the AT&T breach

AT&T has notified US state authorities and regulators about its recent or not data breach, saying 51,226,382 people were affected. For those that have missed the story so far: Back in 2021, a hacker named Shiny Hunters claimed to have breached AT&T. On March 20, 2024, we reported how the data of...

Patch now: Mozilla patches two critical vulnerabilities in Firefox

Mozilla released version 124.0.1 of the Firefox browser to Release channel users the default channel that most non-developers run on March 22, 2024. The new version fixes two critical security vulnerabilities. One of the vulnerabilities affects Firefox on desktop only, and doesnt affect mobile...

Malvertiser copies PC news site to deliver infostealer

The majority of malvertising campaigns delivering malicious utilities that we have tracked so far typically deceive victims with pages that are almost the exact replica of the software vendor being impersonated. For example, we have seen fake websites appearing like the real Webex, AnyDesk or...

Malwarebytes only vendor to win every MRG Effitas award in 2022 & 2023

MRG Effitas, a world leader in independent IT research, published their anti-malware efficacy assessment results for Q1 2023. Malwarebytes Endpoint Protection EP achieved the highest possible score 100% and received certifications for Level 1, Exploit, Online Banking, and Ransomware. These result...

A new rootkit comes to an ATM near you

Its not unusual to hear about malware created to affect automated teller machines ATMs. Malware can be planted at the ATMs PC or its network, or attackers could launch a Man-in-the-Middle MiTM attack. Recently, a new rootkit, which the Mandiant Advanced Practices team have named CAKETAP, was foun...

Shrootless: Microsoft finds Apple macOS vulnerability

Microsoft researchers have discovered a vulnerability in macOS, dubbed Shrootless, that can allow attackers to bypass System Integrity Protection SIP and perform malicious activities, such as gaining root privileges and installing rootkits on vulnerable devices. Microsoft reported the Shrootless...

Chrome casts away the padlock—is it good riddance or farewell?

It’s been an interesting journey for security messaging where browsers are concerned. Back in the day, many of the websites you’d visit on a daily basis weren’t secure. By secure, I mean that they didnt use HTTPS. There was no padlock, which meant that the traffic between you and the website wasn...

Kaseya CEO: “The impact of this incredibly sophisticated attack is very minimal”

The official YouTube channel of Kaseya, the latest organization attacked by no less than the criminals behind REvil ransomware, released a video of Fred Voccola, Kaseyas CEO, giving a first-hand account of what happened during the attack, the facts on affected customers, and the next steps theyre...