Tax scammer goes after small business owners and self-employed people

While most tax payers don’t particularly look forward to tax season, for some scammers it’s like the opening of their hunting season. So its no surprise that our researchers have found yet another tax-related scam. In this most recent scam, weve not seen the lure the scammer uses, but it is likel...

Webinar recap: 6 critical cyberthreats in 2024 and how to counter them

Our webinar on the 2024 State of Malware report is now available on-demand. Featuring cybersecurity experts Mark Stockley and Jérôme Segura, this webinar unpacks 2024’s most critical cyberthreats, including big game ransomware, malvertising, and emerging challenges to mobile and Mac security. Key...

ALPHV is singling out healthcare sector, say FBI and CISA

In an updated StopRansomware security advisory, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, and the Department of Health and Human Services HHS has warned the healthcare industry about the danger of the ALPHV ransomware group, also known as...

How ransomware changed in 2023

In 2023, the CL0P ransomware gang broke the scalability barrier and shook the security world with a series of short, automated campaigns, hitting hundreds of unsuspecting targets simultaneously with attacks based on zero-day exploits. The gangs novel approach challenged a bottleneck that makes it...

Facebook introduces another way to track you – Link History

In what seems like yet another attempt to adapt its platform to prepare for new regulations, Facebook has started rolling out a new feature called Link History. Link History allows users to view and re-visit links they have visited with their Facebook browsing activity. Obviously Facebook will te...

23andMe blames “negligent” breach victims, says it’s their own fault

In a surprising move, in a letter to legal representatives of victims of the recent 23andMe data breach, the company has laid the blame at the feet of victims themselves. 23andMe even goes as far as to claim that this wasn’t a data breach at 23andMe at all. The reasoning: “… unauthorized actors...

Update now! Apple issues patches for older iPhones and other devices

Apple has issued emergency updates that include patches for older iOS devices concerning the two actively used zero-day vulnerabilities that were patched last week in newer devices. Updates are available for: Safari 17.2| macOS Monterey and macOS Ventura| ---|---|--- iOS 17.2 and iPadOS 17.2|...

Windows 10 gets its own extended security updates program

The day that Windows 10 machines will get their last security updates is set for October 14, 2025. So if you want to stay secure, you’d have to upgrade to a newer version. Either to Windows 11, which is not all that different, but more demanding when it comes to system requirements. Or to the...

State of Maine data breach impacts 1.3 million people

The US State of Maine says it has suffered a data breach impacting around 1.3 million people. According to the census from July 2022, thats more or less the the entire population of Maine. The State of Maine says it was compromised via a known vulnerability in secure transfer service MOVEit...

A week in security (November 06 – November 12)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Defeating Little Brother requires a new outlook on privacy: Lock and Code S04E23 Medical research data Advarra stolen after SIM swap Okta breach happened after employee logged into personal Google account Introducing ThreatDown: A new chapter for Malwarebytes...

Compromised Free Download Manager website was delivering malware for years

In a public announcement, Free Download Manager has acknowledged that a specific web page on its site was compromised by a Ukrainian cybercrime group, exploiting it to distribute malware. Free Download Manager is--unsurprisingly--a download manager for Windows, macOS, Android, and Linux that allo...

Microsoft Teams used to deliver DarkGate Loader malware

Researchers have found a new method by which cybercriminals are spreading the DarkGate Loader malware. Until now, DarkGate was typically distributed via phishing emails. The malspam campaign used stolen email threads to lure victims into clicking a hyperlink, which downloaded the malware. But...

Smart chastity device exposes sensitive user data

A security breach or piece of inadvertent exposure can be a devastating thing, not just for the company impacted but also the people whose data is stolen or exposed to the world. The usual roll-call of "name, address, phone number and card details" is bad enough. If such things are tied to...

FCC comes down hard on robocallers with record $300m fine

Robocallers are in the news after the FCC issued a $300 million forfeiture to a persistent offender and shut down their operation. A robocall network makes use of automated software diallers to spam out large numbers of cold calls to unsuspecting recipients. These calls promise much but give very...

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...

Ransomware attackers email bemused students as leverage for a payout

The University of Manchester has fallen victim to a ransomware gang, who are currently applying an interesting twist to their attack. Blackmail and pressure are two ways to extract funds from potential victims. We see this in sextortion cases, as well as in social engineering. Here, the fraudster...

Strava heatmap loophole may reveal users' home addresses

Researchers at NC State University have outlined potential privacy issues with popular fitness app Strava which could lead to users' homes being pinpointed. The researchers' findings are detailed in a paper called Heat marks the spot: de-anonymising users' geographical data on the Strava heat map...

Update your Cisco System Secure Client now to fix this AnyConnect bug

Cisco Secure Client is the fresh recipient of a fix to address a high-severity vulnerability related to improper permissions. The flaw allows attackers to potentially escalate privileges to the SYSTEM account. From the vulnerability advisory: A vulnerability in the client update feature of Cisco...

Malwarebytes achieves perfect score in latest AVLab assessment

Malwarebytes has once again earned a perfect score in AVLabs March 2023 real-world malware detection tests, marking the sixth consecutive quarter achieving this feat. Let's delve into the details of the test and how both consumer and business products outperformed competitors in exhaustive testin...

GuLoader returns with a rotten shipment

GuLoader, a perennial favourite of email-based malware campaigns since 2019, has been seen in the wild once again. GuLoader is a downloader with a chequered history, dating back to somewhere around 2011 in various forms. Two years ago it was one of our most seen malspam attachments. Most popular...

Malware authors join forces and target organisations with Domino Backdoor

Theres a new ransomware gang in town, stitched together from members of well known threat creators to push a new kind of malware focused on punishing unwary organisations. The malware family, called "Domino", is the brainchild of FIN7 and ex-Conti ransomware members. Domino has been seen in attac...

The NBA tells fans about data breach

The National Basketball Association NBA has notified its fans they may be affected by a data breach in a third-party service the organization uses. For now, it is safe to assume that the attacker only obtained names and email addresses, but the NBA has hired the services of external cybersecurity...

LockBit ransomware attacks Essendant

The LockBit ransomware group is claiming responsibility for taking down a US-based distributor of office products called Essendant. This attack, which is said to have begun on or around March 6, created severe ramifications for the organisation, disrupting freight carrier pickups, online orders,...

Ransomware pushes City of Oakland into state of emergency

The ransomware attack that hit Oakland on Wednesday February 8, 2023 is still crippling many of the citys services a week later. In fact, the situation is so bad that the Interim City Administrator has now declared a state of emergency. Tweet announcing the state of emergency The ransomware attac...

One in nine online stores are leaking your data, says study

eCommerce security company Sansec has revealed it's found a number of online stores accidentally leaking highly sensitive data. After studying 2,037 online stores, the company found that 12.3 percent exposed compressed files in ZIP, SQL, and TAR archive formats, which BleepingComputer noted appea...

What is AI good at (and what the heck is it, actually), with Josh Saxe: Lock and Code S04E04

In November of last year, the AI research and development lab OpenAI revealed its latest, most advanced language project: A tool called ChatGPT. ChatGPT is so much more than "just" a chatbot. As users have shown with repeated testing and prodding, ChatGPT seems to "understand" things. It can give...

Florida hospital takes entire IT systems offline after 'ransomware attack'

Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare TMH, a major hospital system in northern Florida, has reportedly been experiencing an "IT security issue" since Thursday evening, which impacted some of its IT systems. When TMH learned of the issue, it took its entire IT systems offline as a precaution and contact...

On the 20th Safer Internet Day, what was security like back in 2004?

Today is the 20th Safer Internet Day. Since 2004, there's been an annual event designed to "Promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world." 2004 was a key year for several safety activities, encompassin...

CISA releases advice on how to safeguard K–12 organizations

To help K-12 schools and school districts in their struggle against cybercrime the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency CISA has released the report, Protecting Our Future: Partnering to Safeguard K-12 organizations from Cybersecurity Threats. A cybersecurity incident can significantly...

Fighting technology's gender gap with TracketPacer: Lock and Code S04E02

Last month, the TikTok user TracketPacer posted a video online called "Network Engineering Facts to Impress No One at Zero Parties." TracketPacer regularly posts fun, educational content about how the Internet operates. The account is run by a network engineer named Lexie Cooper, who has worked i...

Virtual kidnapping scam strikes again. Spot the signs

Warnings abound of a major new piece of fraud doing the rounds which uses your relatives voice as part of a blackmail scam. What happens is the victim receives a call from said relatives number, and theyre cut off by blackmailers who have them held hostage. The only way to get them back safely is...

Lazarus group uses fake cryptocurrency apps to plant AppleJeus malware

The North Korean Lazarus Group, aka APT38, is one of the most sophisticated North Korean APTs. It's been active since 2009 and is responsible for many high profile attacks. In January of 2022 the Malwarebytes Intelligence Team uncovered a campaign where Lazarus conducted spear phishing attacks...

What is ransomware-as-a-service and how is it evolving?

Ransomware attacks are becoming more frequent and costlier--breaches caused by ransomware grew 41 percent in the last year, the average cost of a destructive attack rising to $5.12 milllion. Whats more, a good chunk of the cyber criminals doing these attacks operate on a ransomware-as-a-service...

Twitter fixes bug that left devices logged in after password reset

Twitter says it has fixed a bug that meant users weren't logged out of active sessions on all devices after manually resetting their passwords. Writing on its blog, Twitter said: "We want to let you know that we recently fixed a bug that allowed Twitter accounts to stay logged in from multiple...

Hookup site targeted by typo-squatters

Ethical hacker and security researcher Kody Kinzie shared with BleepingComputer a list of over 50 domains of which many are spelling variations of the brand name Sniffies. Sniffies identifies itself as a "modern, map-based, meetup app for gay, bi, and curious guys." Kody used an open source tool...

The MSP playbook on deciphering tech promises and shaping security culture

The in-person cybersecurity conference has returned. More than two years after Covid-19 pushed nearly every in-person event online, cybersecurity has returned to the exhibition hall. In San Francisco earlier this year, thousands of cybersecurity professionals walked the halls of Moscone Center at...

Facebook engineers aren't sure where all user data is kept

If it takes a village to raise a child, apparently it takes Facebook a team to tell you what data the company keeps about you and where they keep it. In the recently unsealed transcript of a hearing led by "Discovery Special Master" Daniel Garrie, an expert appointed by the court, two Facebook...

A week in security (September 5 – 11)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Phishers use verified status as bait for Instagram users Microsoft will disable Basic authentication for Exchange Online in less than a month Zero-day puts a dent in Chrome's mojo Update now! QNAP warns users DeadBolt is exploiting Photo Station vulnerability Don't...

Update now! QNAP warns users DeadBolt is exploiting Photo Station vulnerability

QNAP Quality Network Appliance Provider has warned users to update Photo Station to the latest available version. The warning comes after QNAP detected that cybercriminals known as DeadBolt have been exploiting a Photo Station vulnerability in order to encrypt QNAP NAS systems that are directly...

Tech support scammers target Microsoft users with fake Office 365 USB sticks

Microsoft is a hot target for scammers and acts of fraud. For example, tech support scam websites cover themselves in Windows branding and messages. Phone scammers claim to be calling directly from Microsoft. If its not a Bill Gates themed lottery spam mail in your mailbox, its a fake Excel...

Spying on the spies. See what JavaScript commands get injected by in-app browsers

Developer and privacy expert Felix Krause aka KrauseFx announced this week that he had introduced a simple tool to list the JavaScript commands executed by iOS apps when they deployed an in-app web browser to render webpages. He already shared some eye-opening results on his Twitter feed. By...

How IT teams can prevent phishing attacks with Malwarebytes DNS filtering

Phishing attacks are a persistent threat to businesses globally. According to Verizon, 82 percent of data breaches in 2021 involved the human element--with phishing attacks making up over 60 precent of these. And if it aint broke, dont fix it: threat actors have only continued to use phishing to...

In post-Roe US, experts share how to keep your data private

In the weeks since the Supreme Court of the United States removed a nationwide right to choose to have an abortion, millions of Americans have been forced to relearn what is and isn’t safe to do online, as their actions, words, and choices—many of which are tracked digitally—could potentially be...

Lock down your Neopets account: Data breach being investigated

Bad news for players of long-time virtual pet management title Neopets. Word is spreading of a compromise claimed to have accessed around 69 million user accounts. This compromise, posted to a hacking forum, is said to include both the database and around 460 MB of compressed source code from...

“Free UK visa” offers on WhatsApp are fakes

A student friend recently shared a WhatsApp message, unsure if it was scam. The message claims to offer an easy to route to free visas, housing, accommodation, and medicine access. Heres how we know it was a scam, and where it lead. It read as follows: UK GOVERNMENT JOB RECRUITMENT 2022: This is...

Securing the software supply chain, with Kim Lewandowski: Lock and Code S03E13

At the start of the global coronavirus pandemic, nearly everyone was forced to learn about the "supply chain." Immediate stockpiling by an alarmed and from a smaller share, opportunistic public led to an almost overnight disappearance of hand sanitizer, bottled water, toilet paper, and face masks...

Introducing Malwarebytes Vulnerability Assessment for OneView: How to check for Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs)

Malwarebytes is happy to announce our Vulnerability Assessment module for OneView, our multi-tenant console where you can manage Malwarebytes Nebula accounts, subscriptions, invoicing, and integrations. This module enables our MSPs to scan, identify, and assess vulnerabilities in customers’ digit...

WhatsApp spam offers up “B&Q Father’s Day Contest 2022”

Fathers Day in the UK June 19 is almost upon us, and scammers are taking advantage of it—and the fractional possibility of some nice weather—using a barbeque-themed lure. A mysterious WhatsApp message The barbeque bait arrives out of the blue, from a somebody who has your number, as a random...

More than a quarter of Americans fell for robocall scam calls in past year

More and more Americans have been falling victim to phone scams since 2019. According to the latest report from Truecaller Google Docs upload of the entire report, separate blog here, a known spam blocker and caller ID app, 68.4 million Americans were victimized in the last 12 months, a substanti...

Fake reCAPTCHA forms dupe users via compromised WordPress sites

Researchers at Sucuri investigated a number of WordPress websites complaining about unwanted redirects and found websites that use fake CAPTCHA forms to get the visitor to accept web push notifications. These websites are a new wave of a campaign that leverages many compromised WordPress sites...