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...

A week in security (June 29 – July 5)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Verified X ad spreads Mac malware, while ConsentFix steals Microsoft accounts Apple’s Hide My Email doesn’t hide it very well Fake Google and Cloudflare verification pages spread multiple malware families WinRAR flaw could allow attackers to take control of your...

Watch out for “high paying, low effort” Amazon job texts

Remote, flexible, high‑paying work is a tempting prospect, and the holy grail for many people looking for a new role. But it's not just recruiters who are aware of this, job scammers do too and are happy to use it as an easy lure. That lure tends to be even more tempting when they claim to be...

Document delivery scams: What are they and what’s their goal?

One of Malwarebytes' managers recently received a call from scammers pretending to be a document delivery service. The voicemail sounded official: “I am calling on behalf of document delivery services. We have been retained to schedule and deliver legal documents to you between the hours of 8 AM...

A week in security (June 15 – June 21)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Nearly 15,000 infected websites cleaned in SocGholish crackdown Apple patches Beats Studio Buds flaw that could turn earbuds into a wiretap Microsoft working on a fix for RoguePlanet, a flaw that grants full PC control Retro gaming fans are the new target for fake...

Travel scams are everywhere. Here’s how to avoid them

Planning a holiday should be exciting, fun, and not a cybersecurity risk. But booking flights, hotels, and rental properties often means sharing sensitive personal and financial information across multiple platforms. Combined with frequent travel scams and recurring data breaches in the travel an...

Apple patches WebKit bug that could let sites access your data

Apple has released a Background Security Improvement to patch a flaw that could allow malicious websites to bypass browser protections and access data from other sites. What is it? The patched WebKit vulnerability is described as: “A cross-origin issue in the Navigation API was addressed with...

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...

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...

QR codes sent in attachments are the new favorite for phishers

Recently we’ve been seeing quite a few phishing campaigns using QR codes in email attachments. The lure and the targets are varied, but the use of a QR code to get someone to visit the phishing site is fast becoming a preferred method for cybercriminals. There are several reasons why cybercrimina...

Texas scrutinizes four more car manufacturers on privacy issues (updated)

The Texas Attorney General’s Office has started an investigation into how Ford, Hyundai, Toyota, and Fiat Chrysler collect, share, and sell consumer data, expanding an earlier probe launched last year into how modern automakers are potentially using customer driving data. We've addressed cars and...

Android users targeted on Facebook and porn sites, served adware

Android users, be on your guard against adware trying to infect your device. The adware—known as MobiDash—is spreading via several channels, according to ThreatDown research. One of the characteristics that makes MobiDash stand out is that it can be added to legitimate apps without changing how t...

Neiman Marcus confirms breach. Is the customer data already for sale?

Luxury retail chain Neiman Marcus has begun to inform customers about a cyberattack it discovered in May. The attacker compromised a database platform storing customers personal information. The letter tells customers: “Promptly after learning of the issue, we took steps to contain it, including ...

Explained: Android overlays and how they are used to trick people

Sometimes you’ll see the term "overlays" used in articles about malware and you might wonder what they are. In this post we will try to explain what overlays—particularly on Android devices—are, and how cybercriminals deploy them. Most of the time, overlays are used to make people think they are...

23andMe data breach under joint investigation in two countries

The British and Canadian privacy authorities have announced they will undertake a joint investigation into the data breach at global genetic testing company 23andMe that was discovered in October 2023. On Friday October 6, 2023, 23andMe confirmed via a somewhat opaque blog post that cybercriminal...

Microsoft AI “Recall” feature records everything, secures far less

Developing an AI-powered threat to security, privacy, and identity is certainly a choice, but its one that Microsoft was willing to make this week at its “Build” developer conference. On Monday, the computing giant unveiled a new line of PCs that integrate Artificial Intelligence AI technology to...

Wireless carriers fined $200 million after illegally sharing customer location data

After four years of investigation, the Federal Communications Commission FCC has concluded that four of the major wireless carriers in the US violated the law in sharing access to customers’ location data. The FCC fined AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon a total of almost $200 million for...

Giant Tiger breach sees 2.8 million records leaked

Someone has posted a database of over 2.8 million records to a hacker forum, claiming they originated from a March 2024 hack at Canadian retail chain Giant Tiger. When asked, they posted a small snippet as proof. The download of the full database is practically free for other active members of th...

60% of small businesses are concerned about cybersecurity threats

According to a recent poll by the US Chamber of Commerce, 60% of small businesses are concerned about cybersecurity threats, and 58% are concerned about a supply chain breakdown. Not surprisingly, small businesses in the professional services sector feel significantly more concerned about...

A week in security (March 25 – March 31)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: MFA bombing taken to the next level How to back up your Mac How to back up your Windows 10/11 PC to OneDrive How to back up your iPhone to a Windows computer How to back up your iPhone to a Mac How to back up your iPhone to iCloud Powering the future of ThreatDown...

Stopping a K-12 cyberattack (SolarMarker) with ThreatDown MDR

In early 2024, a large K-12 school district partnered with ThreatDown MDR to strengthen its cybersecurity posture. Shortly after onboarding, ThreatDown MDR analysts detected unusual patterns of activity subsequently identified as the work of SolarMarker, a sophisticated backdoor. It became eviden...

Vans warns customers of data breach

Skater brand Vans emailed customers last week to tell them about a recent “data incident.” On December 13, 2023, Vans said it detected unauthorized activities on its IT systems, attributed to "external threat actors." An investigation revealed that the incident involved some personal information ...

Wyze cameras show the wrong feeds to customers. Again.

Last September, we wrote an article about how Wyze home cameras temporarily showed other people’s security feeds. As far as home cameras go, we said this is absolutely up there at the top of the “things you don’t want to happen” list. Turning your customers into Peeping Tom against their will and...

Facebook Marketplace users’ stolen data offered for sale

Personal data belonging to Facebook Marketplace users has been published online, according to BleepingComputer. A cybercriminal was allegedly able to steal a partial database after hacking the systems of a Meta contractor. The leak consists of around 200,000 records that contain names, phone...

Mother of all Breaches may contain NEW breach data

On January 23, 2024, we reported on the discovery of billions of exposed records online, now commonly referred to as the “mother of all breaches” MOAB. Since then, the source of the dataset has been identified as data breach search engine Leak-Lookup. Prevention platform SpyCloud compared the MOA...

10 things to do to improve your online privacy

1. Set up two-factor authentication Do this for as many of your online accounts as you can, especially the major ones like your email and social media accounts. Two-factor authentication 2FA adds an extra step of protection and makes it much harder for attackers to login as you. We recommend usin...

“I’ll miss him so much” Facebook scam uses BBC branding to lure victims

Facebook scams are a constant nuisance and vary from like-farming to scams that can cost you some serious money. The latest one we found is a bit morbid. Recently, I’ve seen quite a few posts on my timeline that looked like this: Without going into details the post says: “I can’t believe he’s gon...

How AI hallucinations are making bug hunting harder

Bug bounty programs that pay people for finding bugs are a very useful tool for improving the security of software. But with the availability of artificial intelligence AI as seen in the popular large language models LLMs like ChatGPT, Bard, and others it looks like there is a new problem on the...

ALPHV ransomware gang returns, sorta

The ALPHV ransomware gang, arguably the second most dangerous "big game" ransomware operator, appears to be back in business after its infrastructure went down for five days. But all does not appear to be going well for group. ALPHVs dark web leak site may be back but it is only showing a single...

Malvertisers zoom in on cryptocurrencies and initial access

During the past month, we have observed an increase in the number of malicious ads on Google searches for "Zoom", the popular piece of video conferencing software. Threat actors have been alternating between different keywords for software downloads such as "Advanced IP Scanner" or "WinSCP"...

Atomic Stealer distributed to Mac users via fake browser updates

Atomic Stealer, also known as AMOS, is a popular stealer for Mac OS. Back in September, we described how malicious ads were tricking victims into downloading this piece of malware under the disguise of a popular application. In an interesting new development, AMOS is now being delivered to Mac...

Patch…later? Safari iLeakage bug not fixed

Apple has released updates for its phones, Macs, iPads, watches, and TV streaming devices, fixing a bunch of security problems. But amid all that activity, one fix is notably absent—there is nothing to address the vulnerability dubbed iLeakage. iLeakage is a side-channel attack that can force the...

What does a car need to know about your sex life? Lock and Code S04E20

This week on the Lock and Code podcast... When you think of the modern tools that most invade your privacy, what do you picture? There's the obvious answers, like social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram. There's email and "everything" platforms like Google that can track your...

iPhone 15 launch: Wonderlust scammers rear their heads

Yesterday, Apple launched its latest iPhone and Watch models at its massive Wonderlust event. As with many high profile launches like this, it attracted not just a mountain of press, but a whole load of scammers too. One site uses the Apple brand to host a cryptocurrency scam. The hook is a...

Mac users targeted in new malvertising campaign delivering Atomic Stealer

Summary Malicious ads for Google searches are targeting Mac users Phishing sites trick victims into downloading what they believe is the app they want The malware is bundled in an ad-hoc signed app so it cannot be revoked by Apple The payload is a new version of the recent Atomic Stealer for OSX...

Teenage members of Lapsus$ ransomware gang convicted

A wave of video game developer compromises has come to a court-based conclusion for those responsible, with several convictions the end result. Arion Kurtaj, and a second teen who cannot be named due to their age, are finding themselves to be in quite a lot of trouble after repeated and sustained...

YouTube makes sweeping changes to tackle spam on Shorts videos

YouTube is rolling out unclickable links. Video portals like YouTube have had to deal with spam comments and bogus links for many years. With new additions to a platform come new places for scammers to go about their business. YouTube is now cracking down on links posted to the comments section o...

Minecraft fans beware: Players and servers at risk from BleedingPipe vulnerability

Minecraft players interested in modding are potentially at risk of compromise. A Remote Code Execution RCE vulnerability in certain Minecraft mods allows for malicious commands on both servers and clients. The vulnerability, named BleedingPipe, allows attackers to take over a targeted server...

Docker Hub images found to expose secrets and private keys

Numerous Docker images shared on Docker Hub are exposing sensitive data, according to a study conducted by researchers at the German university RWTH Aachen. Needless to say, this poses a significant security risk. In traditional software development, programmers code an application in one computi...

Elderly targeted in car accident scam, kingpin arrested

The head of a criminal network responsible for defrauding hundreds of elderly people has been arrested, Europol has announced. After a joint operation in Germany, Poland, and the UK, Europol says the suspect was arrested in London from where he ran a network of fraudsters targeting mainly German...

"Free" Evil Dead Rise movie scam lurks in Amazon listings

Scammers are using a novel technique with Amazon listings to trick fans of Evil Dead into downloads they may not want, and expensive rolling payments they have no interest in. Evil Dead Rise, the breakout horror film of 2023, started with big cinema numbers and has moved on to a victory lap in...

Software company accused of illegally profiling millions of mobile phone users

A digital rights and privacy organization has filed a complaint against software company TeleSign for gathering and selling information on millions of mobile phone users. The organization that filed the complaint is nyob. nyob is an Austrian based digital right organization that focusses on...

Why businesses need a disinformation defense plan, with Lisa Kaplan: Lock and Code S04E13

When you think about the word "cyberthreat," what first comes to mind? Is it ransomware? Is it spyware? Maybe it's any collection of the infamous viruses, worms, Trojans, and botnets that have crippled countless companies throughout modern history. In the future, though, what many businesses migh...

How to keep your ChatGPT conversations out of its training data

Last week, OpenAI announced it had given ChatGPT users the option to turn off their chat history. ChatGPT is a "generative AI", a machine learning algorithm that can understand language and generate written responses. Users can interact with it by asking questions, and the conversations users hav...

Removing the human: When should AI be used in emotional crisis? Lock and Code S03E09

In January, a mental health nonprofit admitted that it had used Artificial Intelligence to help talk to people in distress. Prompted first by a user's longing for personal improvement--and the difficulties involved in that journey--the AI tool generated a reply, which, with human intervention,...

A whirlwind adventure: Malwarebytes' 15-year journey in business cybersecurity

As we raise a glass to toast Malwarebytes' 15th anniversary of boldly venturing into the realm of business cybersecurity, we're feeling nostalgic. It's time to buckle up and embark on a whimsical journey through the twists and turns of Malwarebytes' evolution. From modest beginnings to becoming a...

Beware: Fake IRS tax email delivers Emotet malware

Tax season is upon us and, as with every year, we're seeing tax scammers rearing their heads. Below, we have an example of a tax scam currently in circulation along with some suggestions for avoiding these kinds of attacks. An IRS W-9 tax form scam A Form W-9 is a form you fill in to confirm...

Crushing the two biggest threats to mobile endpoint security in 2023

Dont let their small size fool you: mobile devices can have a big impact on your security posture. Its easy to see why, considering that almost half of organizations said they suffered a mobile-related compromise in 2022. Malware and phishing are two particular mobile threats that you need to...

Stalkerware-type app developers fined by NY Attorney General

Stalkerware is a huge problem when it comes to intrusion into peoples personal lives. "Friends", strangers, family members, abusive spouses and many more can potentially dabble in this malignant pastime and cause all manner of trouble for their target. Thanks to the New York Attorney Generals...

Play ransomware attacks city of Antwerp

The city of Antwerps digital systems have come to a grinding halt. The Flemish government under which Antwerp resides has confirmed that this is the result of a ransomware attack. The consequences for the city's inhabitants are drastic, as hundreds of city employees revert to working on paper...