DOJ recovers pipeline ransom, signals more aggressive approach to cybercrime

The US Department of Justice announced Monday that it recovered much of the ransomware payment that Colonial Pipeline paid to free itself from the attack that derailed the oil and gas supplier’s operations for several days last month. The seizure of 63.7 of the initial 75 paid bitcoins represente...

LazyScripter: From Empire to double RAT

Malwarebytes’ Threat Intelligence analysts are continually researching and monitoring active malware campaigns and actor groups as the prevalence and sophistication of targeted attacks rapidly evolves. In this paper, we introduce a new APT group we have named LazyScripter, presenting in-depth...

Chris Krebs, director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, fired by President

On Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump fired Chris Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA, just days after CISA called the recent presidential election the “most secure in American history.” In a tweet posted the same day, the President justified his...

A week in security (October 12 – October 18)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we looked at journalism’s role in cybersecurity on our Lock and Code podcast, gave tips for safer shopping on Amazon Prime day, and discussed an APT attack springing into life as Academia returned to the real and virtual campus environment. We also dug into potenti...

Charities and the advertising industry: data ecosystems and privacy risks

Data makes the world go round, more often than not via advertising and its tracking mechanisms. Whether you think making money from large volumes of PII to keep the web ticking over is a good thing, or a sleazy data-grab often encouraging terrible ad practices, it’s not going to go away anytime...

Lock and Code S1Ep14: Uncovering security hubris with Adam Kujawa

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 Adam Kujawa, security evangelist and director of Malwarebytes Labs, about "security hubris," the simple phenomenon in which businesses are less secure th...

Facial recognition: tech giants take a step back

Last week, a few major tech companies informed the public that they will not provide facial recognition software to law enforcement. These companies are concerned about the way in which their technology might be used. What happens when software that threatens our privacy falls into the hands of...

Lock and Code S1Ep3: Dishing on data privacy with Adam Kujawa

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 Adam Kujawa, a director of Malwarebytes Labs, about the state of data privacy today, including how users and businesses can protect sensitive information...

“Funky malware format” found in Ocean Lotus sample

Recently, at the SAS conference I talked about "Funky malware formats"—atypical executable formats used by malware that are only loaded by proprietary loaders. Malware authors use them in order to make static detection more difficult, because custom formats are not recognized as executable by AV...

Deloitte breached by hackers for months

On September 25, 2017, Deloitte announced that they detected a breach of the firm’s global email server via a poorly secured admin email in March of this year. Further, the attackers most likely had control of the server since November of 2016. Deloitte’s initial statement indicated that only six...

A week in security (Jun 12 – Jun 18)

Last week was very busy for the Labs, with a look at so-called numeric tech support scams, a visit to the huge Infosec Europe conference, an exploration of Mac Malware as a Service, and a walk through the myths of online bullying. Elsewhere: A huge click-farm is busted Jaff Ransomware is thwarted...

Announcing Malwarebytes Endpoint Protection, a next-generation antivirus replacement for businesses

Six months ago, we announced Malwarebytes 3.0, a next-generation antivirus replacement for home users. Today, I am happy to announce Malwarebytes Endpoint Protection, its equivalent for businesses. Malwarebytes Endpoint Protection includes an easy to deploy, scalable cloud platform that allows yo...

Microsoft fixes RoguePlanet zero-day in Defender

Microsoft issued a security update that fixes the zero-day vulnerability known as RoguePlanet in Microsoft Defender. RoguePlanet is tracked as CVE-2026-50656, a Microsoft Defender elevation of privilege EoP vulnerability. As we reported last month, if successfully exploited, RoguePlanet can allow...

Turn off this Meta setting before someone generates AI images of you

Every consumer app has a settings menu that lets you make decisions about things like notifications or dark mode. Meta has just decided that anyone can generate AI images of you from your public Instagram account by typing your Instagram handle into a prompt. On July 7, Meta launched its AI image...

How to tell if an image is AI-generated

A photo of an injured dog by the roadside. A dating profile with pictures that look almost too perfect. A donation appeal showing a family stranded on a rooftop after a flood. Scammers are already using AI-generated images to support fake stories, build trust, and persuade people to send money or...

AI: Threat, tool, or both?

Public attitudes toward Artificial Intelligence AI are changing, and we wanted to understand why. A recent Pew Research survey found that about half of adults say the increased use of AI in daily life makes them more concerned than excited, and that concern has grown over the last few years. Peop...

Meta’s AI support bot happily handed Instagram accounts to hackers

Customer service chatbots have one job: get the user what they're asking for without bothering a human. Meta's new AI support assistant took that brief a little too seriously. Over the past few months, attackers have been opening support chats, telling the bot they were locked out of Instagram...

Update Chrome now: Critical bugs could let attackers run code

Google has issued updates for the Chrome browser patching a number of high‑severity vulnerabilities. The update includes fixes for two critical vulnerabilities that can be used for remote code execution just by visiting a malicious website. The stable channel has been updated to 148.0.7778.178/17...

May 2026 Patch Tuesday: no zero-days but plenty to fix

This month’s Patch Tuesday remedies 137 security vulnerabilities, including 31 marked critical by Microsoft, with no zero-days actively exploited in the wild. Microsoft defines a zero-day as “a flaw in software for which no official patch or security update is available yet.” This month, Microsof...

Apple fixes iOS bug that kept deleted notifications, including chat previews

Apple has released a software update that deals with an issue that could allow deleted notifications to be retrieved. Something that, in at least one reported case, was used by law enforcement during forensic analysis. Apple fixed the issue in iOS and iPadOS versions 18.7.8 and 26.4.2 check...

Simply opening a PDF could trigger this Adobe Reader zero-day

Opening the wrong PDF in Adobe Reader was enough to let criminals quietly spy on your computer and unleash more attacks, even though everything looked normal. A researcher analyzed a malicious PDF and found that it abused a previously unknown flaw a “zero‑day” in Adobe Acrobat Reader. When a vict...

A week in security (April 6 – April 12)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Fake Claude site installs malware that gives attackers access to your computer ClickFix finds a new way to infect Macs Scammers pose as Amazon support to steal your account NSFW app leak exposes 70,000 prompts linked to individual users 30,000 private Facebook imag...

Support platform breach exposes Hims & Hers customer data

Healthcare companies handle some of the most personal data imaginable. That makes them a magnet for hackers. And when those companies outsource their customer support to third-party platforms, every one of those platforms becomes another door someone can try to kick in. Telehealth giant Hims & He...

Why we’re still not doing April Fools’ Day

People lost an estimated $442 billion to scams last year worldwide, according to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance. The scale of that is hard to picture, but people's day-to-day scam experience is easier to recognize: Our research found that 44% of people say they encounter mobile scams every single...

High-severity Qualcomm bug hits Android devices in targeted attacks

Google has patched 129 vulnerabilities in Android in its March 2026 Android Security Bulletin, including a Qualcomm display flaw that is known to be actively exploited. You can check your device’s Android version, security update level, and Google Play system update in Settings. You should get a...

Lego’s Smart Bricks explained: what they do, and what they don’t

Lego just made what it claims is its most important product release since it introduced minifigures in 1978. No, it's not yet another brand franchise. It's a computer in a brick. Called the Smart Brick , it's part of a broader system called Smart Play that Lego hopes will revolutionize your child...

Pig butchering is the next “humanitarian global crisis” (Lock and Code S06E25)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … This is the story of the world's worst scam and how it is being used to fuel entire underground economies that have the power to rival nation-states across the globe. This is the story of "pig butchering." "Pig butchering" is a violent term that is used to...

A week in security (April 27 – May 3)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: On world password day, Microsoft says fewer passwords, more passkeys Apple AirPlay SDK devices at risk of takeover—make sure you update The 3 biggest cybersecurity threats to small businesses Zero-day attacks on browsers and smartphones drop, says Google Fake Socia...

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,"...

Predatory app downloaded 100,000 times from Google Play Store steals data, uses it for blackmail

A malicious app claiming to be a financial management tool has been downloaded 100,000 times from the Google Play Store. The app— known as “Finance Simplified”—belongs to the SpyLoan family which specializes in predatory lending. Sometimes malware creators manage to get their apps listed in the...

Internet Archive attackers email support users: “Your data is now in the hands of some random guy”

Those who hacked the Internet Archive haven't gone away. Users of the Internet Archive who have submitted helpdesk tickets are reporting replies to the tickets from the hackers themselves. Internet Archive, most known for its Wayback Machine, is a digital library that allows users to look at...

Update Chrome now! Google patches possible drive-by vulnerability

Google has released an update to Chrome which includes seven security fixes. Version 123.0.6312.86/.87 of Chrome for Windows and Mac and 123.0.6312.86 for Linux will roll out over the coming days/weeks. The easiest way to update Chrome is to allow it to update automatically, which basically uses...

Store manager admits SIM swapping his customers

A 42-year-old manager at an unnamed telecommunications company has admitted SIM swapping customers at his store. SIM swapping, also known as SIM jacking, is the act of illegally taking over a target’s cell phone number and re-routing it to a phone under the attackers control. Once an attacker has...

ALPHV ransomware gang fakes own death, fools no one

For the second time in only four months, all is not well on the ALPHV aka BlackCat ransomware gangs dark web site. Gone are the lists of compromised victims. In their place, a veritable garden of law enforcement badges has sprouted beneath the ominous message "THIS WEBSITE HAS BEEN SEIZED." The...

Remote Monitoring & Management software used in phishing attacks

Remote Monitoring & Management RMM software, including popular tools like AnyDesk, Atera, and Splashtop, are invaluable for IT administrators today, streamlining tasks and ensuring network integrity from afar. However, these same tools have caught the eye of cybercriminals, who exploit them to...

A week in security (February 5 – February 11)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Ivanti urges customers to patch yet another critical vulnerability Ransomware in 2023 recap: 5 key takeaways FBI and CISA publish guide to Living off the Land techniques Warning from LastPass as fake app found on Apple App Store 2 million job seekers targeted by da...

Bruce Schneier predicts a future of AI-powered mass spying: Lock and Code S05E03

This week on the Lock and Code podcast… If the internet helped create the era of mass surveillance, then artificial intelligence will bring about an era of mass spying. That’s the latest prediction from noted cryptographer and computer security professional Bruce Schneier, who, in December, share...

Malwarebytes wins every MRG Effitas award for 2 years in a row

ThreatDown Endpoint Protection EP achieved the highest possible score 100% and received certifications for Level 1, Exploit, Online Banking, and Ransomware in the most recent anti-malware efficacy assessment results for the Q3 2023 evaluation performed by MRG Effitas, a world leader in independen...

New MetaStealer malvertising campaigns

MetaStealer is a popular piece of malware that came out in 2022, levering previous code base from RedLine. Stealers have become a very hot commodity in the criminal space, so much so that there is competition between various groups. Threat actors have primarily used malspam as an infection vector...

Introducing Advanced Device Control: Shielding businesses from USB threats

With experts noting a troubling threefold surge in USB drive malware incidents in early 2023, Device Control has just leveled up with a key addition: the Advanced Auto Scanning & Block Until Scan feature. Heres the breakdown: When a USB device is connected, ThreatDown now doesnt just control...

Octo Tempest cybercriminal group is “a growing concern”—Microsoft

Octo Tempest is believed to be a group of native English speaking cybercriminals that uses social engineering campaigns to compromise organizations all over the world. Initially the group made a name for itself by SIM swapping. SIM swapping, also known as SIM jacking, is the act of illegally taki...

Explained: Quishing

Quishing is phishing using QR Quick Response codes. QR codes are basically two-dimensional barcodes that hold encoded data, and they can be used to work as a link. Point your phone's camera at a QR code and it will ask you if you want to visit the link. The use of QR codes in malicious campaigns ...

Ransomware group steps up, issues statement over MGM Resorts compromise

The recent attack on MGM Resorts generated lots of speculation with regard to what the cause was. Some folks claimed the culprit was ransomware. Well, confirmation is now forthcoming as an affiliate of the BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware group is said to be the one responsible for the attack and...

Ransomware review: September 2023

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...

Password-stealing Chrome extension smuggled on to Web Store

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have demonstrated that Chrome browser extensions can steal passwords from the text input fields in websites, even if the extension is compliant with Chrome's latest security and privacy standard, Manifest V3. To prove it, they created a proof of...

Why blocking ads is good for your digital health

Online content is largely powered and paid for by advertising. Almost every site you visit, every forum you browse, and even the online stores you buy things from is an advert extravaganza, and they dont just stop at showing cool offers for shirts at 50% off. The scaffolding the adverts sit on go...

Big changes to Twitter verification: How to spot a verified account

Twitter has made some fairly major changes to how its verified checkmark status works, and its already causing some confusion. If you rely on the checkmark symbol for confirmation that the individual or business tweeting is actually the real deal, your regular process is now different. How...

GitHub accidentally exposes RSA SSH key

Late last week, GitHub tweeted that it had replaced its RSA SSH "out of an abundance of caution," after accidentally exposing the key on a publicly accessible repository. How the accidental exposure managed to happen is unknown, but it means that anyone that happened to notice it and was able to...

Food giant Dole reveals more about ransomware attack

Fruit and vegetable producer Dole has confirmed attackers behind its February ransomware attack accessed employee data. The company hasn't revealed the number of staff impacted. In an annual report filed to the US Securities and Exchange Commission SEC last week, Dole said: "In February of 2023, ...

DeepStreamer: Illegal movie streaming platforms hide lucrative ad fraud operation

This investigation was a joint effort between Malwarebytes Threat Intelligence's Jerome Segura, DeepSee's Rocky Moss and Antonio Torres. Key findings Over a dozen unique domains were found selling ad inventory through Google Ad Manager, even though the pages were embedded invisibly under the...