AI-powered content farms start clogging search results with ad-stuffed spam

A recent study by NewsGuard, trackers of online misinformation, makes some alarming discoveries about the role of artificial intelligence AI in content farm generation. If youve previously held your nose at the content mill grind, its probably going to become a lot more unpleasant. Content farms...

Fake Flipper Zero sellers are after your money

Thanks to Malwarebytes' Stefan Dasic who provided the research and screenshots for this article. Flipper Zero, a "multi-tool device for hackers", is frequently out of stock due to its popularity in hardware circles. Flipper Zero combines research and penetration hardware tools into a single unit...

iOS Lockdown Mode effective against NSO zero-click exploit

Apples Lockdown Mode feature alerted a victim to one of the latest NSO exploits, according to a report by Citizen Lab. image courtesy of Citizen Lab This is a huge deal since it shows how useful Lockdown Mode can be, even against exploits developed by one of the worlds most notorious commercial...

ChatGPT happy to write ransomware, just really bad at it

This morning I decided to write some ransomware. I've never done it before, and I can't code in C, the language ransomware is mostly commonly written in, but I have a reasonably good idea of what ransomware does. Previously, this lack of technical skills would have served as something of a barrie...

A week in security (March 20 - 26)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: How to avoid potentially unwanted programs "ViLE" members posed as police officers and extorted victims Google reveals 18 chip vulnerabilities threatening mobile, wearables, vehicles A look at a Magecart skimmer using the Hunter obfuscator The NBA tells fans about...

Zero-day spells disaster for Bitcoin ATM

Bitcoin ATMs have experienced a severe bout of cash drain after a zero-day bug was exploited to steal a total of $1.5 million in digital currency. The ATMs, located in various convenience stores, function along the lines of regular banking ATMs except your dealings are all in the cryptocurrency...

Ransomware attack hits ANOTHER school

In what is likely Vice Society's handiwork, the UK's largest state boarding school Wymondham College has announced it has become the victim of a "sophisticated cyberattack". The school didn't provide additional information, but Jonathan Taylor, chief of the school's parent company Sapientia...

Malwarebytes wins 2023 CRN 'Coolest Endpoint And Managed Security Companies' award

CRN, a trusted source for IT channel news and analysis, has named Malwarebytes one of the "Coolest Endpoint And Managed Security Companies" on the 2023 CRN Security 100 list. The CRN Security 100 highlights channel-friendly cybersecurity vendors across a number of market segments including Endpoi...

Google sponsored ads lead to rogue imitation sites

Theres a big push in rogue advert land at the moment, with multiple forms of bogus websites being used as bait to rob people of their logins and funds. This story first came to light a few days ago, with news of a well known cryptocurrency fan "NFT God" being caught out by a bogus video recording...

The Guardian hit by "ransomware attack"

On Tuesday December 20, 2022 British newspaper The Guardian experienced a major IT security incident that crippled a part of its IT infrastructure. The suspected cause is ransomware. In an online article the newspaper published an internal statement from the chief executive and the editor-in-chie...

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...

Maintenance Mode aims to keep phone data private during repairs

One of the biggest data related headaches youll face with a mobile device is what do to in the event of a repair. When you have to send your phone in for a fix, what happens to your data? In many cases, the repair technicians will simply scrub the phone by default unless you ask them not to. In...

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 ...

Uber hacked

Uber informed the public on Thursday it was responding to a cybersecurity incident after somebody breached its network. From what we have been able to find out so far, the attacker managed to compromise an employees access to the chat app Slack. The intruder may also have gained access to the...

A week in security (August 29 - September 4)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Twilio data breach turns out to be more elaborate than suspected Playing Doom on a John Deere tractor with Sick Codes: Lock and Code S03E18 Chromium browsers can write to the system clipboard without your permission British Airways customers targeted in lost luggag...

Introducing Patch Management for OneView

We're thrilled to announce our Patch Management module for OneView, which is paired alongside our Vulnerability Assessment module to help you uncover vulnerabilities, respond to threats, and keep your customers productive and safe. Vulnerability identification and system patching are critical to...

Twitter security under scrutiny after former executive turns whistleblower

A former Twitter executive has acted as a whistleblower and alleged some serious problems. Provided these accusations are true, the disclosure shows a side of Twitter that poses a threat to its own users' personal information, to company shareholders, to national security, and to democracy...

Cryptojackers growing in numbers and sophistication

With rising energy costs and increased volatility in the value of cryptocurrencies, we were bound to see a rise in malicious cryptomining, aka cryptojacking. If you dont know whether you will ever see a return on your investments in mining equipment, one will look for other opportunities. But if...

NetStandard attack should make Managed Service Providers sit up and take notice

Managed Service Providers MSPs, organizations that allow companies to outsource a variety of IT and security functions, are a growing market. Because they are a potential gateway to lots of company networks they make a very attractive target for cybercriminals. In a recent threat advisory Huntres...

A week in security (July 25 – July 31)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Update Google Chrome now! New version includes 11 important security patches Lightning Framework, modular Linux malware Malware spent months hoovering up credit card details from 300 US restaurants Lock down your Neopets account: Data breach being investigated Demo...

A week in security (July 4 – July 10)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: My Body, My Data Act would lock down reproductive and sexual health data "Free UK visa" offers on WhatsApp are fakes HackerOne insider fired for trying to claim other people’s bounties Update now! Chrome patches ANOTHER zero-day vulnerability Cloud-based malware is...

IconBurst software supply chain attack offers malicious versions of NPM packages

Researchers discovered evidence of a widespread software supply chain attack involving malicious Javascript packages offered via the npm package manager. The threat actors behind the IconBurst campaign used typosquatting to mislead developers looking for very popular packages. npm npm is short fo...

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...

“Chemical attack” email warnings deliver Jester Stealer malware

Jester Stealer, a malicious file capable of large amounts of data theft, is on the prowl again. The Ukrainian Computer Emergency Response Team CERT-UA has warned of a large distribution campaign abusing a "chemical attack" theme. Receiving an email like this in the invasion-affected regions of...

Ransomware: March 2022 review

The Malwarebytes Threat Intelligence team continuously monitors the threat landscape to stay on top of existing and emerging attacks. In this March 2022 ransomware review, we go over some of the most successful ransomware incidents based on both open source and dark web intelligence. The March da...

US senators introduce the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)

US Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee have introduced the Kids Online Safety Act KOSA, legislation that aims to enhance childrens safety online. This follows the The Wall Street Journal WSJs reporting on the harm Instagram can inflict on teens, which was...

KONNI evolves into stealthier RAT

This blog post was authored by Roberto Santos KONNI is a Remote Administration Tool that has being used for at least 8 years. The North Korean threat actor that is using this piece of malware has being identified under the Kimsuky umbrella. This group has been very busy, attacking political...

Data Privacy Day: Know your rights, and the right tools to stay private

Not all data privacy rights are the same. There’s the flimsy, the firm, the enforceable, and the antiquated, and, unfortunately, much of what determines the quality of your own data privacy rights is little more than your home address. Those in Chile, for example, enjoy a globally rare...

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...

The importance of backing up

What does backing up something mean? Backing up is the act of making a copy or copies of a file. These files are stored somewhere other than where the originals are located. You may only need to back up a few files, or it might be a much bigger effort. Requirements may differ greatly depending on...

The joy of phishing your employees

Many companies set up phishing test programs for their employees, often as part of a compliance requirement involving ongoing employee education on security topics. The aim of these programs is to train employees on how to spot a malicious link, not click it, and forward it on to the appropriate...

Freedom Hosting operator gets 27 years for hosting Dark Web child abuse sites

The wheels of justice have turned, if perhaps a bit slower than you may have expected. A Dublin resident, Eric Eoin Marques, has been sentenced to 27 years in federal prison. The reason is the frankly terrifying tally of child sexual abuse material CSAM he helped to distribute. Eoin helped to mak...

T-Mobile customers, change your PINs

At the end of last week, T-Mobile was investigating reports of a “massive” customer data breach. A hacker claimed to stolen 100 million people’s data from T-Mobile’s servers, which included everything from names and driver licences to addresses and social security numbers. Its now confirmed...

Gamers level up with rewards for better security

There was a time when stolen gaming accounts were almost treated as a fact of life. Console hacks weren’t taken particularly seriously. Security research in this area was occasionally derided as unimportant or trivial. Gaming accounts had an essence of innate disposability to them, even if this...

Google to start automatically enrolling users in two-step verification “soon”

If you use a Google account, it may soon be mandatory to sign up to Googles two-step verification program. As recently as 2017, a tiny amount of GMail users made use of its two-step options. Maybe the uptake is still slow, and Google has decided enough is enough. With so much valuable data stuffe...

5G slicing vulnerability could be used in DoS attacks

The IT security researchers at AdaptiveMobile have called out what looks like an important vulnerability in the architecture of 5G network slicing and virtualized network functions. They warn that the risks, if this fundamental vulnerability in the design of 5G standards had gone undiscovered, ar...

QBot Trojan delivered via malspam campaign exploiting US election uncertainties

This blog post was authored by Jérôme Segura and Hossein Jazi. The 2020 US elections have been the subject of intense scrutiny and emotions, while happening in the middle of a global pandemic. As election night ended and uncertainty regarding the results began to creep in, threat actors decided t...

VPNs: should you use them?

We are going to talk today about something you’ve likely heard of before: VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks. We at Malwarebytes have delved into these tools in greater depth, and we’ve literally discussed them on the digital airwaves. But we want to answer a question we’ve been getting more and...

A week in security (June 8 – 14)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we looked into nasty search hijackers that worried a lot of Chrome users; a list of considerations for MSPs when looking for an RMM platform; the complaint faced by ParetoLogic, the company that issues SpeedyPC, a product that claims to find and remove various PC...

A week in security (April 27 – May 3)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we looked at how secure the cloud is, understood why unexpected demand can influence an organization to consider their “just in time” JIT system, speculated on why the threat actors behind the Troldesh ransomware suddenly released thousands of decryption keys,...

Twitter security snafu: change your passwords

If you're logging into Twitter after having been AWOL for a day or two, you'll likely be seeing one of these pop-ups talking about account security: Click to enlarge Don't panic, it's nothing that can't be fixed. The message reads as follows: Keeping your account secure When you set a password fo...

The digital entropy of death: what happens to your online accounts when you die

Unless you're planning on having your mind jammed inside some sort of computer chip, eventually mortality will catch up and you're going to have to work out what you'll do with all of your online accounts. When it's time to shuffle off this mortal coil, you might, theoretically, be slightly annoy...

Bank robbers 2.0: digital thievery and stolen cryptocoins

Imagine running down the street and away from law enforcement with 2,000 pounds of gold bars. Or 1,450 pounds in $100 bills. With both of these physical currencies amounting to roughly US$64 million, you'd be making quite a steal…if you could get away with it. That's exactly what the next...

New Mac cryptominer distributed via a MacUpdate hack

Early this morning, security researcher Arnaud Abbati of SentinelOne tweeted about new Mac malware being distributed via MacUpdate. This malware, which Abbati has named OSX.CreativeUpdate, is a new cryptocurrency miner, designed to sit in the background and use your computer's CPU to mine the...

Lo lo lo Loapi Trojan could break your Android

Kaspersky has found what they deem as a jack of all trades malicious app they call Trojan.AndroidOS.Loapi. Like the Trojan AsiaHitGroup we discovered last month on Google Play, this malware can do all the things—it's a downloader, dropper, SMS Trojan, and can push ads all from the same malicious...

GTA 6 early access is nothing but a scam

A new wave of scam websites is offering something millions of people want: a way to play Grand Theft Auto VI before it comes out. " Get GTA 6 before everyone else." " Buy VIP early access." Pay a few hundred dollars in cryptocurrency, enter a payment code, and supposedly unlock the game. But it's...

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...

Flaw in Verizon call record requests put millions of Americans at risk

Security researcher Evan Connelly discovered an enormous flaw affecting one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world that could allow any single person to view the recent incoming call log for potentially any Verizon phone number. "In short, anyone could lookup data for anyone,"...

Adobe clarifies Terms of Service change, says it doesn’t train AI on customer content

Following days of user pushback that included allegations of forcing a "spyware-like" Terms of Service ToS update into its products, design software giant Adobe explained itself with several clarifications. Apparently, the concerns raised by the community, especially among Photoshop and Substance...

How to back up your iPhone to a Windows computer

They say the only backup you ever regret is the one you didnt make. iPhone backups can be used to easily move your apps and data to a new phone, to recover things youve lost, or to fix things that have failed. Weve published posts on how to back up your iPhone to iCloud, and how to backup an iPho...