Google’s new search redirects make links harder to check before you click

Google is changing how some links in its search results work. Instead of linking directly to the destination, Google has started routing some search result links through opaque google.com/goto?url=... redirects. The url parameter does not show a readable version of the destination but uses a...

A week in security (February 23 – March 1)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Public Google API keys can be used to expose Gemini AI data Inside a fake Google security check that becomes a browser RAT Fake Zoom and Google Meet scams install Teramind: A technical deep dive How to understand and avoid Advanced Persistent Threats The Conduent...

Google patches 107 Android flaws, including two being actively exploited

Google has patched 107 vulnerabilities in Android in its December 2025 Android Security Bulletin, including two high-severity flaws that are being actively exploited. The December updates are available for Android 13, 14, 15, and 16. Android vendors are notified of all issues at least a month...

Android malware FakeCall intercepts your calls to the bank

An Android banking Trojan called FakeCall is capable of hijacking the phone calls you make to your bank. Instead of reaching your bank, your call will be redirected to the cybercriminals. The Trojan accomplishes this by installing itself as the default call handler on the infected device. The...

2024 State of Malware in Education report: Top 6 cyberthreats facing K-12 and Higher Ed

Educational institutions may face a range of cyberthreats in 2024, but our 2024 State of Malware in Education report identifies the six most critical ones. Ransomware, for example, stands out as a key threat for schools and universities. The report covers how last year, we witnessed a 92% increas...

Change Healthcare outages reportedly caused by ransomware

On Wednesday February 21, 2024, Change Healthcare—a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group—experienced serious system outages due to a cyberattack. In a Form 8-K filing the company said it: “identified a suspected nation-state associated cyber security threat actor had gained access to some of the Chan...

Warning from LastPass as fake app found on Apple App Store

Password Manager LastPass has warned about a fraudulent app called “LassPass Password Manager” which it found on the Apple App Store. The app closely mimics the branding and appearance of LastPass, right down to the interface. So, even if the name was a “happy accident” it seems clear that this w...

Apple to introduce new feature that makes life harder for iPhone thieves

Reportedly, Apple has plans to make it harder for iPhone thieves to steal your personal information even if they have your device’s passcode. A new feature called Stolen Device Protection is included in the beta version of iOS 17.3. The feature limits access to your private information in case...

Malwarebytes MDR wins G2 awards for "Best ROI," "Easiest to Use," and more

Malwarebytes Managed Detection and Response MDR earned a placed in 12 new reports on G2s Fall 2023 reports, winning badges for "Easiest to do Business With," "Best Est. ROI," "Easiest to Use," and "Easiest Admin." Purpose-built for resource constrained teams, Malwarebytes MDR provides IT staff wi...

Steer clear of cryptocurrency recovery phrase scams

The dangers of cryptocurrency phishing are back in the news, after tech investor Mark Cuban was reported to have lost around $870k via a phishing link. Cuban lost a combination of coin types as asset movement flagged up after months of inactivity from his wallet. Cuban discovered some of the...

A firsthand perspective on the recent LinkedIn account takeover campaign

Not long ago I wrote about a recent campaign to hold LinkedIn users' accounts to ransom. Shortly after I published the article, a co-worker, Pearce, reached out to me told me he'd been a target of the campaign. His story begins with an SMS text from LinkedIn telling him to reset his password. He...

Decoy dog toolkit plays the long game with Pupy RAT

Researchers at Infoblox have discovered a new toolkit being used in the wild called Decoy Dog. It targets enterprises, and has a fondness for deploying a remote access trojan called Pupy RAT. Activity from the RAT was first noticed earlier this month. Subsequent research revealed that it has been...

Apple announces 3 new security features

Apple has announced three new security features focused on protecting user data in the cloud: iMessage Contact Key Verification, Security Keys for Apple ID, and Advanced Data Protection for iCloud. iMessage Contact Key Verification and Security Keys for Apple ID will be available globally in 2023...

Thermal cameras could help reveal your password

Thermal imaging cameras detect heat energy, a helpful tool for engineers when hunting for thermal insulation gaps in buildings. But did you know that such devices can now aid in password theft? Because these devices are sold a lot cheaper than they used to, pretty much anyone can get their hands ...

PayPal phishing campaign goes after more than just your login credentials

A new phishing campaign targeting PayPal users aims to get extensive data from potential victims. The data its after includes government documents like passport, as well as selfie photos. In a nutshell, its an extensive form of information theft, the likes of which could result in someones identi...

Predatory Sparrow massively disrupts steel factories while keeping workers safe

Stuxnets attack on Irans uranium enrichment facilities manifested fears of cyberattacks leaking into the real world. What once was theory is now upon us. Two weeks ago, multiple Iranian steel facilities experienced a cyberattack that might have been pulled off by what many cybersecurity experts i...

Report: Brazil must do more to encrypt, back up data

Federal government organisations in Brazil may need to reassess their approach to cyberthreats, according to a new report by the countrys Federal Audit Court. It outlines multiple key areas of concern across 29 key areas of risk. One of the biggest problems in the cybercrime section of the report...

MEGA claims it can’t decrypt your files. But someone’s managed to…

MEGA, the cloud storage provider and file hosting service, is very proud of its end-to-end encryption. It says it couldnt decrypt your stored files, even if it wanted to. “All your data on MEGA is encrypted with a key derived from your password; in other words, your password is your main encrypti...

Fake Cyberpunk Ape Executives target artists with malware-laden job offer

The wacky world of ape jpegs are at the heart of yet another increasingly bizarre internet scam, which contains malware, stolen accounts, a faint possibility of phishing, and zips full of ape pictures. The Ape Executives have a job offer you can, and must, refuse Lots of people with art profiles ...

Investment scams are on the rise

Preying on one of the most basic human flaws, investment scams and other get-rich-quick schemes are making up an ever larger portion of the online scammers cake. The number of victims, for now, is lower than the number of victims of fraudulent sales, identity fraud, and dating fraud, but the cost...

Warning issued over tampered QR codes

Avid readers of the Malwarebytes Labs blog will be well aware of QR code scams. Take, for example, that QR code scam in the Netherlands that victimized at least a dozen and definitely more car owners. It went like this: Someone approaches you and says they want to pay for their parking but cant...

Vulnerability in Windows 10 URI handler leads to remote code execution

Researchers at Positive Security have discovered a drive-by remote code-execution RCE bug in Windows 10. The vulnerability can be triggered by an argument injection in the Windows 10 default handler for ms-officecmd: URIs. It is likely that this vulnerability also exists in Windows 11. What’s...

Windows 11 is out. Is it any good for security?

Windows 11, the latest operating system OS from Microsoft, launches today, and organizations have begun asking themselves when and if they should upgrade from Windows 10 or older versions. The requirements and considerations of each organization will be different, and many things will inform the...

Microsoft, CISA and NSA offer security tools and advice, but will you take it?

Microsoft offers to help you with patching Exchange servers, CISA offers an insider threat tool, and together with the NSA they offer advice on how to choose and harden your VPN. These initiatives from major parties aim to help organizations assess and manage their security needs. But will they...

Hackers, tractors, and a few delayed actors. How hacker Sick Codes learned too much about John Deere: Lock and Code S02E16

No one ever wants a group of hackers to say about their company: "We had the keys to the kingdom." But thats exactly what the hacker Sick Codes said on this weeks episode of Lock and Code, in speaking with host David Ruiz, when talking about his and fellow hackers efforts to peer into John Deeres...

How to troubleshoot hardware problems that look like malware problems

Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what exactly is going wrong with your computer. What do you do if you’ve run all the scans, checked all the files, and everything says the PC is malware free? Here’s a list of common problems that resemble cybersecurity issues, but could be caused by something...

Beware password-spraying fancy bears

The NSA, FBI, and CISA, in cooperation with the UKs National Cyber Security Centre NCSC, have issued a report that describes in detail why, and how, they think that a Russian military unit is behind large-scale brute-force attacks on the cloud-IT resources of government and private sector compani...

Millions put at risk by old, out of date routers

Since the first stay-at-home measures were imposed by governments to keep everyone safe from the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, we at Malwarebytes have been making sure that you, dear reader, are as cyber-secure as possible in your home network, while you try to work and while your children attend...

City fined for tracking its citizens via their phones

The Dutch information watchdog—the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens AP—has fined the city of Enschede for € 600,000 for tracking its citizens movements without permission. It is the first time that a Dutch government body has been fined by the AP. The investigation was set in motion after it received ...

New steganography attack targets Azerbaijan

This blog post was authored by Hossein Jazi Threat actors often vary their techniques to thwart security defenses and increase the efficiency of their attacks. One of the tricks they use is known as steganography and consists of hiding content within images. We recently observed a malicious Word...

Browser sync—what are the risks of turning it on?

Modern browsers include synchronization features like Google Chromes Sync so that all your browsers, on all your devices, share the same tabs, passwords, plugins, and other features. While this is certainly convenient, particularly when youre migrating to a new device, synchronizing browsers also...

Chrome extensions that lie about their permissions

“But I checked the permissions before I installed this pop-up-blocker—it said nothing about changing my searches,” my dad retorts after I scold him for installing yet another search-hijacking Chrome extension. Granted, they are not hard to remove, but having to do it over and over is a nuisance...

Sodinokibi drops greatest hits collection, and crime is the secret ingredient

When a group of celebrities ask to speak with their lawyer, they usually don’t have to call in a bunch of other people to go speak with their lawyer. However, in this case it may well be a thing a little down the line. A huge array of musicians including Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Run...

A week in security (March 16 – 22)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we concluded our series on child identity theft. We also looked into threat actors and campaigns that ride the COVID-19 train, namely the criminal group APT36 and threat actors purporting to be the World Health Organization WHO but instead spreading malware. Lastly...

Coronavirus scams, found and explained

Coronavirus has changed the face of the world, restricting countless individuals from dining at restaurants, working from cafes, and visiting their loved ones. But for cybercriminals, this global pandemic is expanding their horizons. In the past week, Malwarebytes discovered multiple email scams...

Bring your own privacy: VPNs for consumers and orgs

VPNs virtual private networks have been popular for quite some time now, and they’re worth a huge amount of money for the companies working in this area. They’re also at the forefront of combating potential repression and censorship around the world. It might all sound a bit esoteric and unrelate...

Adposhel adware takes over browser push notifications administration

Since late last year, our researchers have been monitoring new methods being deployed by cybercriminals to potentially abuse browser push notifications. Now, an adware family detected by Malwarebytes as Adware.Adposhel is doing just that, taking control of push notifications in Chrome at the...

6 ways hackers are targeting retail businesses

Retail hacking is no new phenomenon, although it has increased in frequency over the last few years. In fact, retailers experienced more breaches than any other industry in 2019, and they've lost over $30 billion to cybersecurity attacks. Both brick-and-mortar and online businesses experience...

Europol: Ransomware remains top threat in IOCTA report

The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, or Europol, just released its annual Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment IOCTA report for the year. And we weren’t surprised to find that ransomware, despite its palpable decline in volume these past few months—a trend we’ve also...

A week in security (October 7 – 13)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we peered into the possible future of cybersecurity insurance, described the process for securing today’s managed service provider, and provided an in-depth explainer on the business espionage tactic known as “war shipping.” Further, in considering the intersection...

Electrum DDoS botnet reaches 152,000 infected hosts

By Jérôme Segura, Adam Thomas, and S!Ri We have been closely monitoring the situation involving the continued attacks against users of the popular Electrum Bitcoin wallet. Initially, victims were being tricked to download a fraudulent update that stole their cryptocurrencies. Later on, the threat...

World Cup 2018: malware attacks gunning for goal

World Cup 2018 is upon us and in full swing, bringing together 32 nations for a month of footballing to see who'll be crowned World Champion. With the tournament underway, we thought it'd be fun to see which of the footballing powerhouses also expended a similar amount of energy fighting off...

A week in security (May 14 – May 20)

Last week, we looked at the deluge of incoming policies caused by GDPR, tackled Adobe Reader zero days, and ran through some iPhone security tips. We also caught some helpline scammers in the act, explored advergaming, got our Senate Bill game face on, and deep dived into Drupal vulnerabilities...

Ransomware’s difficult second album

The last year has seen all manner of cybercrime, from scams and social engineering to malvertising and malspam. What's interesting is that so many "next-gen," sophisticated malware mainstays like exploits have dropped in popularity, while other more traditional types such as spyware have shot up...

Stolen security logos used to falsely endorse PUPs

To gain the trust of users, many websites and companies feature the logos of reputable firms who endorse their products. Unfortunately, some unseemly companies do the same, using logos of companies who have not, in fact, endorsed their product in order to trick people into thinking that what they...

IPv6, it’s waiting for you

IPv6 is an expression IT professionals are likely to have seen or heard at one time, but what exactly is it? Let us give you a quick introduction, and then try to explain what it does differently by comparing it to its predecessor, IPv4. IPv4 and IPv6 are both Internet communications protocols...

A week in security (December 11 – December 17)

Last week we explained what fast flux is and how it's being abused, we showed you all kinds of Bitcoin-related scams, presented a video recording of a tech support scammer trying to sell free software, and pointed out some free software to keep an eye on your Internet traffic. We also informed yo...

How to create an intentional culture of security

In this day and age, companies great and small are vulnerable to potential attacks that they are exposed to every day. From insider threats to simple phishing, one is always left guessing if they know enough to handle them or are well prepared to face the risks. Educating your staff about basic...

“Adult TikTok” searches lead to scams

Search for certain combinations of "TikTok" and adult content, and sooner or later you'll land on a page promising exactly what you searched for: an endless feed of explicit clips, no signup required, just tap and watch. There isn't one. On the other side of that click is an ad funnel dressed up ...

Malwarebytes for Windows, now available on the Microsoft Store

When you’re setting up a new PC or looking for an app you already know, the Microsoft Store is often the easiest place to start. It’s built into Windows and lets you find, install, and update apps in one place. Malwarebytes for Windows is now available there too. Malwarebytes for Windows is still...