FBI traces and grabs back $150 million theft that was turned into bitcoins

On December 1, 2021, the Tokyo police arrested an employee of Sony Life Insurance on suspicion of fraudulently obtaining 17 billion yen through an illegal money transfer from an overseas unit. On the same day 3,879 bitcoins, worth about $150 million, were seized by law enforcement, and on the...

Spear phish, whale phish, regular phish: What’s the difference?

There are many types of phishing attack nowadays, to the extent it can be tricky to keep up with them all. We have unique names for mobile attacks, postal attacks, threats sent via SMS and many more besides. However, we often see folks mix up their spears and their whales, and even occasionally...

NSO Group spyware found on iPhones of US State Department employees

iPhones of at least nine US State Department employees are said to have been hacked using the Pegasus spyware developed by the Israeli technology company, NSO Group. Pegasus is a proprietary and sophisticated spyware capable of the remote surveillance of smartphones. The employees targeted by an...

Murder-for-hire, money laundering, and more: How organised criminals work online

Europol has released an extensive report into serious and organized crime, including how these groups use the internet to aid in their criminal behaviour. Europol is the European Union’s EU law enforcement agency and it assists the EU Member States in their fight against serious international cri...

Multiple video games break after domain name snafu

We’ve seen quite a few complaints from gamers this past weekend, unable to load up and play games on the Steam platform. The problem wasn’t hackers, or DDoS attacks, or anything else. Rather, the issue is something bundled with the game by default designed to keep titles “secure” from tampering...

Why we fail at getting the cybersecurity basics right, with Jess Dodson: Lock and Code S02E21

The cybersecurity basics should be just that—basic. Easy to do, agreed-upon, and adopted at a near 100 percent rate by companies and organizations everywhere, right? Youd hope. But the reality is that basic cybersecurity blunders continue to affect businesses of all sizes, which has led to...

Threat profile: Ranzy Locker ransomware

Ranzy Locker ransomware emerged in late 2020, when the variant began to target victims in the United States. According to a flash alert issued by the FBI, unknown cyber criminals using Ranzy Locker ransomware had compromised more than 30 US businesses as of July 2021, including victims in the...

Making better cybersecurity training: Q&A with Malwarebytes expert Kelsey Prichard

If you hadn’t noticed by now, we are in the first week of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which, according to the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency in the United States, means that we should all consider how people, organizations, and businesses can “be cyber smart” this ye...

No, Colonel Gaddafi’s daughter isn’t emailing to give you untold riches

It’s not every day you receive a big money offer from someone claiming to sit in political asylum, but here we are. The following missive landed in our spam traps at the weekend. The mail claims to be from the daughter of no less than the late Colonel Gaddafi. Ayesha Gaddafi promises you untold...

A week in security (Sept 6 – Sept 12)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs Apple delays plans to search devices for child abuse imagery. ProtonMail hands user’s IP address and device info to police, showing the limits of private email. Patch now! Netgear fixes serious smart switch vulnerabilities. Tor vs VPN—What is the difference? Windows...

Facebook bans Signal ads that reveal the depth of what it knows about you

Most of our readers are well aware of the fact that the big tech corporations, especially those that run social media know a great deal about us and our behavior. But it rarely hits home how much personal data they have about us and how they can guess, quite correctly, even more. Lots more. Signa...

Caught in the payment fraud net: when, not if?

Sometimes, I think there are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and some form of payment fraud. Security reporter Danny Palmer experienced this a little while ago, and has spent a significant amount of time tracking the journey of his card details from the UK to Suriname. His deep-dive...

How to keep K–12 distance learners cybersecure this school year

With the pandemic still in full swing, educational institutions across the US are kicking off the 2020–2021 school year in widely different ways, from re-opening classrooms to full-time distance learning. Sadly, as schools embracing virtual instruction struggle with compounding IT challenges on t...

A week in security (August 17 – 23)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we looked at the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare cybersecurity, dug into some pandemic stats in terms of how workforces coped with going remote, and served up a crash course on malware detection. Our most recent Lock and Code podcast explored the safety of parenta...

Business email compromise: gunning for goal

The evergreen peril of business email compromise BEC finds itself in the news once more. This time, major English Premier League football teams almost fell victim to their trickery, to the tune of £1 million. First half: fraudsters on the offensive Somebody compromised a Managing Director’s email...

Drive-by cryptomining campaign targets millions of Android users

Malvertising and online fraud through forced redirects and Trojanized apps—to cite the two most common examples—are increasingly plaguing Android users. In many cases, this is made worse by the fact that people often don't use web filtering or security applications on their mobile devices. A...

Blockchain technology: not just for cryptocurrency

Imagine a place where you can safely store all your personal information and only you decide who has access to it. You can choose which parts of that information you want to share, and you can just as easily revoke that access. If this place ever comes into existence, I am willing to bet it will ...

Terdot Trojan likes social media

We usually advise people that have fallen victim to banker Trojans to change all their passwords, especially the ones that are related to their financial sites and apps. Besides the dangers of re-used passwords, there are other reasons why this is important. This advice is especially applicable t...

The state of ransomware among SMBs

In a report conducted by Osterman Research and sponsored by Malwarebytes, more than 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses were surveyed in June 2017 about ransomware and other critical security issues. What we discovered was surprising—ransomware authors aren’t only targeting enterprise...

Petya-esque ransomware is spreading across the world

UPDATE 6/29/2017 1045 PST: According to information uncovered within Malwarebytes Labs, we have determined that this ransomware variant is coded to erase a unique and randomly generated key that is used to encrypt the MFT Master File Table. The destruction of the Salsa20 key makes it very unlikel...

The smart, alert, strong, kind, and brave way to Internet awesome

Mom and Dad, do you know when to start talking to your kids about internet safety? Google’s new Be Internet Awesome program might just be the perfect topic to start off that conversation. Launched this National Internet Safety Month, Be Internet Awesome aims to teach kids to explore the internet...

Aftercall ads are driving Android users crazy

Aftercall is a wave of deceptive Android apps on Google Play that pose as everyday tools while bombarding users with pop-up ads after every phone call. When an unexpected ad pops up every time you hang up a call, it will slowly drive you crazy, especially if you can’t figure out what's causing it...

What’s your data worth on the dark web? (Lock and Code S07E15)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast… Twenty years ago, a British mathematician named Clive Humby popularized a phrase that came to describe data's relationship with the entire global economy: "Data is the new oil." Pithy as the phrase sounds, it is undeniably true. Data steers decisions at...

This fake Apple app can unlock your Mac’s password vault

CrashStealer is a new macOS infostealer that masquerades as Apple’s CrashReporter component, uses an Apple‑notarized installer to slip past Gatekeeper, tricks users into handing over their password, and then systematically loots browsers, password managers, crypto wallets, and Keychain secrets...

6.9 million driver’s license numbers stolen from AssuranceAmerica

Insurance provider AssuranceAmerica has confirmed a data breach affecting the personal information and driver’s license numbers of up to 6.9 million people. AssuranceAmerica provides car and rental insurance to customers across 14 US states through a network of over 9,500 independent agents...

Fake domain renewal emails trick website owners into paying scammers

You receive an email warning that your website's domain name is about to expire. Renew now, it says, or your website and email could stop working. The link opens a professional-looking page that already knows your domain name, displays your registrar and expiry date, and starts a countdown timer...

Inside the dark web: Stolen identities for 95¢, malware, and scams-for-hire

Most people have heard of the dark web, but few understand what it actually looks like or what goes on there. To separate fact from fiction, our research team spent 48 hours exploring it firsthand and documenting what we found. The dark web isn't inherently bad. It also serves legitimate purposes...

Thousands of D-Link routers under control of AryStinger botnet

Researchers have found that the recently discovered AryStinger botnet has quietly hijacked thousands of end‑of‑life D‑Link routers and some network-attached storage NAS devices, turning them into a distributed scanning and proxy network that attackers can use to hide their activity and launch...

Rokarolla Android malware can take over your phone and steal banking logins

Researchers have analyzed a new Android banking Trojan called Rokarolla. It can effectively take over a device, steal banking and crypto login details from more than 200 apps, and quietly monitor much of what you do on your phone. On an infected device, Rokarolla steals banking and crypto login...

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...

If a fake moustache can fool age checks, is the Online Safety Act working?

A report based on a survey by the UK’s Internet Matters shows that much of the responsibility for managing the online safety of children still falls on families. The Online Safety Act came into effect in July, 2025, and the report explores what has changed in the online lives of UK families since...

Chinese engineer stole US military and NASA software for years

International espionage isn't always about sophisticated malware and zero-day bugs. Sometimes it's as simple as pretending to be someone else asking for a favor. For four years, a Chinese aerospace engineer did just that. Dozens of researchers at NASA, the US military, and major universities hand...

Microsoft Authenticator could leak login codes—update your app now

A vulnerability in Microsoft Authenticator for both iOS and Android CVE-2026-26123 could leak your one-time sign-in codes or authentication deep links to a malicious app on the same device. Deep links are predefined URIs Uniform Resource Identifiers that allow direct access to an activity in a we...

Firefox joins Chrome and Edge as sleeper extensions spy on users

A group of cybercriminals called DarkSpectre is believed to be behind three campaigns spread by malicious browser extensions: ShadyPanda, GhostPoster, and Zoom Stealer. We wrote about the ShadyPanda campaign in December 2025, warning users that extensions which had behaved normally for years...

New ClickFix wave infects users with hidden malware in images and fake Windows updates

Several researchers have flagged a new development in the ongoing ClickFix campaign: Attackers are now mimicking a Windows update screen to trick people into running malware. ClickFix campaigns use convincing lures, historically “Human Verification” screens, and now a fake “Windows Update” splash...

What does Facebook know about me? (Lock and Code S06E11)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … There's an easy way to find out what Facebook knows about you—you just have to ask. In 2020, the social media giant launched an online portal that allows all users to access their historical data and to request specific types of information for download...

Stalkerware apps go dark after data breach

A stalkerware company that recently leaked millions of users' personal information online has taken all of its assets offline without any explanation. Now Malwarebytes has learned that the company has taken down other apps too. Back in February, news emerged of a stalkerware app compromise...

On world password day, Microsoft says fewer passwords, more passkeys

And we agree. If there is a cybersecurity themed day that we would like to get rid as soon as possible it’s world password day. Sorry, old friend, but you’re outdated, and it looks like your days are numbered. Let's switch to passkeys. To quote Microsoft: “As the world shifts from passwords to...

“Urgent reminder” tax scam wants to phish your Microsoft credentials

Tax season is in full force, and with the filing deadline fast approaching on April 15, scammers are happy to use that sense of urgency to coax us into handing them our cash. In one example, one of our customers recently received an email with an attachment titled "Urgent reminder.” The attachmen...

A week in security (March 3 – March 9)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: TikTok: Major investigation launched into platform’s use of children’s data PayPal scam abuses Docusign API to spread phishy emails Android zero-day vulnerabilities actively abused. Update as soon as you can I spoke to a task scammer. Here’s how it went Android...

Google now allows digital fingerprinting of its users

In the ongoing saga that is Google’s struggle to replace tracking cookies, we have entered a new phase. But whether that’s good news is another matter. For years, Google has been saying it will phase out the third-party tracking cookies that power much of its advertising business online, proposin...

122 million people’s business contact info leaked by data broker

A data broker has confirmed a business contact information database containing 132.8 million records has been leaked online. In February, 2024, a cybercriminal offered the records for sale on a data breach forum claiming the information came from pureincubation.com. Pure Incubation was founded in...

Temu must respect consumer protection laws, says EU

Temu has been accused of a number of infringements on its platform against European Union EU consumer law. The Consumer Protection Cooperation CPC Network of national consumer authorities and the European Commission teamed up for a coordinated ongoing investigation into Temu and its practices. Th...

Patch now! New Chrome update for two critical vulnerabilities

Google has released an update for its Chrome browser which includes patches for two critical vulnerabilities. The update brings the Stable channel to versions 130.0.6723.91/.92 for Windows and Mac and 130.0.6723.91 for Linux. The easiest way to update Chrome is to allow it to update automatically...

AI girlfriend site breached, user fantasies stolen [updated]

A hacker has stolen a massive database of users’ interactions with their sexual partner chatbots, according to 404 Media. The breached service, Muah.ai, describes itself as a platform that lets people engage in AI-powered companion NSFW chat, exchange photos, and even have voice chats. As you can...

San Francisco’s fight against deepfake porn, with City Attorney David Chiu (Lock and Code S05E20)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … On August 15, the city of San Francisco launched an entirely new fight against the world of deepfake porn—it sued the websites that make the abusive material so easy to create. “Deepfakes,” as they’re often called, are fake images and videos that utilize...

A week in security (July 8 – July 14)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: "Nearly all" AT&T customers had phone records stolen in new data breach disclosure Fake Microsoft Teams for Mac delivers Atomic Stealer Dangerous monitoring tool mSpy suffers data breach, exposes customer details iPhone users in 98 countries warned about spyware by...

[updated] Federal Reserve “breached” data may actually belong to Evolve Bank

A shockwave went through the financial world when ransomware group LockBit claimed to have breached the US Federal Reserve, the central banking system of the United States. On LockBits dark web leak site, the group threatened to release over 30 TB of banking information containing Americans banki...

US bans Kaspersky, warns: “Immediately stop using that software”

The US government will ban the sale of Kaspersky antivirus products to new customers in the United States starting July 20, with a follow-on deadline to prohibit the cybersecurity company from providing users with software updates after September 29. The move follows years of allegations that the...

Microsoft Recall delayed after privacy and security concerns

Microsoft has announced it will postpone the broadly available preview of the heavily discussed Recall feature for Copilot+ PCs. Copilot+ PCs are personal computers that come equipped with several artificial intelligence AI features. The Recall feature tracks anything from web browsing to voice...