Maze ransomware gang announces retirement

The threat actors behind Maze ransomware have announced their retirement. On November 1, they posted the retirement announcement on the website where they would normally name and shame their victims that were unwilling to pay the ransom. image courtesy of Graham Cluley "The Project is closed. Maz...

New web skimmer steals credit card data, sends to crooks via Telegram

The digital credit card skimming landscape keeps evolving, often borrowing techniques used by other malware authors in order to avoid detection. As defenders, we look for any kind of artifacts and malicious infrastructure that we might be able to identify to protect our users and alert affected...

End of line: supporting IoT in the home

Trouble is potentially brewing in Internet of Things IoT land, even if the consequences may still be a little way off. System updates and issues surrounding expiring certificates will pose problems for manufacturers and headaches for consumers. System updates for fun and profit One of the first...

Bring your own security (BYOS): good idea or not?

We've talked about the concept of Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, on the blog before. BYOD is a popular policy whereby employees can bring personally-owned devices, such as laptops, tablets, or smartphones, to work and use them to access data and applications. It helps to cut costs and can increa...

Kotlin-based malicious apps penetrate Google market

An open-source programming language, Kotlin is a fully-supported official programming language for Android. Google boasts that Kotlin contains safety features in order to make apps "healthy by default." Many apps are already built with Kotlin, from the hottest startups to Fortune 500 companies...

Safer Internet Day 2018: ad blockers and anti-trackers

The path to a safer Internet can be a bit of a quandary. What programs should you buy? How long should your passwords be? Is it okay to write them down? What makes a website secure? All of these questions can merit their own lengthy essays, so today, on Safer Internet Day, we’re going to look at...

Facebook phishers want you to “Connect with Facebook”

As we edge toward Christmas, scammers are throwing their own party—in the form of Facebook phishing pages linked to and from bogus landing pages hosted on sitesdotgoogledotcom URLs. These landing pages, adorned with very large and very fake "Login with Facebook" buttons, may be extra convincing t...

Tech support scammers abuse native ad and content provider Taboola to serve malvertising (updated)

A large number of publishers - big and small - are monetizing their sites by selling space for companies that provide so-called native advertising, cited as more effective and engaging than traditional banner ads. Indeed, on a news or entertainment site, users are more inclined to click on links...

Mobile Menace Monday: Fake WannaCry Scanner

With all the buzz around the PC ransomware WannaCry, it’s no surprise that a fake antivirus FakeAV has emerged on Google Play. Entitled WannaCry Ransomware Protector for Android, the bold claim it makes is right in its name. So how do we know this claim is false? Simple, there is no WannaCry...

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...

Fake Perplexity Chrome extension spies on your searches

Type "Perplexity" into the Chrome Web Store and you get a range of browser extensions offering access to the popular AI search service. Until last week, one of them was called "Search for perplexity ai ," and it delivered something extra that users hadn't bargained for: a small hidden surveillanc...

Elite network says it was hacked after members’ personal data was left exposed

Some organizations exist to be exclusive. They're invite-only, and discreet, the kind of place where the membership directory is the product. Dialog, the exclusive network founded by billionaire investor and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, whose members include a sitting NATO commander, two US...

A week in security (June 1 – June 7)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Your phone called. It needs a cleanup. Fake BlueWallet steals passwords, accounts, and crypto from Macs Fake virus alerts are invading mobile games 23andMe exposed genetic information of millions, lawsuit says These convincing copyright notices are designed to stea...

Your Windows PC has a security deadline in June 2026

A Secure Boot certificate refresh is rolling out across supported Windows devices through Windows Update. In June 2026, the Secure Boot certificates that have shipped inside Windows since 2011 begin to expire, and Microsoft is replacing them with new 2023-dated certificates. The good news: If you...

Fake LinkedIn emails abuse Adobe to track victims

Cybercriminals are abusing Adobe infrastructure in a LinkedIn phishing campaign that steals passwords and redirects victims to the legitimate LinkedIn site afterward. The phishing email masquerades as a business inquiry designed to look like it's come via LinkedIn and includes a fake “contract”...

Microsoft is changing Edge’s plaintext password behavior

Microsoft said it will change Edge’s password handling as a “defense‑in‑depth” measure. Originally, Edge decrypted the entire saved‑password store on startup and kept all credentials resident in process memory in clear text for the whole browser session, regardless of whether a given credential w...

Meta’s confusing new approach to chat privacy

Recent news had us wondering whether Meta actually knows what it wants. On one platform, Meta is promoting AI chats that it says even it cannot read. On another, it has removed one of the few features that genuinely prevented Meta from accessing private conversations. "Meta removed support for...

Why Malwarebytes blocks some Yahoo Mail redirects

Some Malwarebytes users have recently noticed frequent web protection alerts while reading email in Yahoo Mail’s web interface. These alerts are caused by background connections from the Yahoo Mail page to a set of third‑party domains that our products and other security tools currently classify ...

Microsoft says Edge’s plaintext password behavior is “by design”

Some time ago, we discussed whether you should allow your browser to remember your passwords. In that article we mentioned the importance of encryption. “ With a browser password manager, someone with access to your browser could see your passwords in clear text, although Windows can be set to as...

Big Tech can stop scams. They just don’t (Lock and Code S07E08)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … A dreadful thing happens far too often whenever an older adult falls for a scam: They get blamed for it. Not the scammers who lied and cheated their victim out of money. Not law enforcement for failing to recover funds. Not even the Big Tech companies that...

From fake Proton VPN sites to gaming mods, this Windows infostealer is everywhere

We’ve uncovered multiple campaigns distributing an infostealer we track as NWHStealer , using everything from fake VPN downloads to hardware utilities and gaming mods. What makes this campaign stand out isn’t just the malware, but how widely and convincingly it’s being spread. Once installed, it...

NSFW app leak exposes 70,000 prompts linked to individual users

MyLovely.AI, an AI “artwork” generation platform, has reportedly been compromised, affecting 106,362 registered users. The AI girlfriend app allows users to generate personalized NSFW content and engage in real-time conversations with AI-generated personas, often sharing highly personal prompts a...

A week in security (March 23 – March 29)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Criminals are renting virtual phones to bypass bank security Bogus Avast website fakes virus scan, installs Venom Stealer instead Infiniti Stealer: a new macOS infostealer using ClickFix and Python/Nuitka GlassWorm attack installs fake browser extension for...

Meta rolls out anti-scam tools across WhatsApp, Facebook, and Messenger

Meta has rolled out more anti-scam protections across WhatsApp, Facebook, and Messenger to fight sophisticated fraud tactics. The features will help stop celebrity impersonators and brand spoofers from defrauding its users, the company said. Meta is also targeting attackers who exploit legitimate...

Scam Guard for desktop: A second set of eyes for suspicious moments

Scams aren’t so obvious anymore. They're well-written, have working grammar, and can lead victims to very convincing branded webpages. Scammers increasingly use AI tools to clone sites and create highly sophisticated scams at scale, so don't expect to rely on spotting obvious typos anymore. That’...

Microsoft Office zero-day lets malicious documents slip past security checks

Microsoft issued an emergency patch for a high-severity zero-day vulnerability in Office that allows attackers to bypass document security checks and is being exploited in the wild via malicious files. Microsoft pushed the emergency patch for the zero‑day, tracked as CVE-2026-21509, and classifie...

Ransomware gang claims Conduent breach: what you should watch for next [updated]

Update – October 30, 2025: New information confirms that Conduent’s 2024 breach has impacted over 10.5 million people, based on notifications filed with multiple state attorneys general. The largest disclosure came from the Oregon government, which reported a total of 10.5 million affected US...

Startup takes personal data stolen by malware and sells it on to other companies

A tech startup is using personal data stolen by infostealer malware that it has found on the dark web, and then selling access to that data. And it claims to be working within the law. According to 404 Media, for as little as $50, Farnsworth Intelligence will give companies a look at records from...

A week in security (June 1 – June 7)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: What does Facebook know about me? Lock and Code S06E11 Victims risk AsyncRAT infection after being redirected to fake Booking.com sites Juice jacking warnings are back, with a new twist The North Face warns customers about potentially stolen data Scammers are...

Victims risk AsyncRAT infection after being redirected to fake Booking.com sites

Cybercriminals have started a campaign of redirecting links placed on gaming sites and social media—and as sponsored ads—that lead to fake websites posing as Booking.com. According to Malwarebytes research, 40% of people book travel through a general online search, creating a lot of opportunities...

“Your privacy is a promise we don’t break”: Dating app Raw exposes sensitive user data

Any app that hands over user data is a concern, but leaky dating apps are especially worrying given the sensitivity of the data involved. A relatively new app called Raw that aims to rewrite the rules of dating is the latest to trip over its coattails by exposing user data to…well, anyone who ask...

AI is getting “creepy good” at geo-guessing

If you are worried about revealing your exact location—or if you maybe even fib about it at times—there are some good reasons to worry about what is visible in background photos, because Artificial Intelligence AI is getting very good at guessing where you are based on the smallest of clues. And...

Hertz data breach caused by CL0P ransomware attack on vendor

The Hertz Corporation, on behalf of Hertz, Dollar, and Thrifty brands, is sending breach notifications to customers who may have had their name, contact information, driver's license, and—in rare cases—Social Security Number exposed in a data breach. The car rental giant’s data was stolen in a...

The Pall Mall Pact and why it matters

The US State Department reportedly plans to sign an international agreement designed to govern the use of commercial spyware known as the Pall Mall Pact. The Pall Mall Pact, formally known as the Pall Mall Process, was initiated by France and the United Kingdom in February 2024. The goal of the...

TP-Link faces US national security probe, potential ban on devices

The US government launched a national security investigation into the popular, Chinese-owned router maker TP-Link, with a potential eye on banning the company's devices in the United States. The investigation comes amid heightened tension between the US and the Chinese government, and after a...

Data brokers should stop trading health and location data, new bill proposes

Senators introduced a bill on Tuesday that would prohibit data brokers from selling or transferring location and health data. Data brokers have drawn attention this year by leaking several large databases, with the worst being the National Public Data leak. The data breach made international...

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...

“Nudify” deepfake bots remove clothes from victims in minutes, and millions are using them

Millions of people are turning normal pictures into nude images, and it can be done in minutes. Journalists at Wired found at least 50 "nudify" bots on Telegram that claim to create explicit photos or videos of people with only a couple of clicks. Combined, these bots have millions of monthly...

Millions of Kia vehicles were vulnerable to remote attacks with just a license plate number

In June of 2024 security researchers uncovered a set of vulnerabilities in the Kia dealer portal that allowed them to remotely take over any Kia vehicle built after 2013—and all they needed was a license plate number. According to the researchers: "These attacks could be executed remotely on any...

Relationship broken up? Here’s how to separate your online accounts

Breaking up is hard to do. The internet has made it harder. With couples today regularly sharing access to one another’s email accounts, streaming services, social media platforms, online photo albums, and more, the risk of a bad breakup isn’t just heartache. Equipped with unfettered access into...

Apple fixes Siri vulnerabilities that could have allowed sensitive data theft from locked device. Update now!

Apple has released security updates for many of its products in order to patch several vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to steal sensitive information from a locked device. Included in the patches for Apple Watch, iOS, and iPadOS are four vulnerabilities in Siri. While your device is...

TikTok facing fresh lawsuit in US over children’s privacy

The Federal Trade Commission FTC has announced its referred a complaint against TikTok and parent company ByteDance to the Department of Justice. The investigation originally focused on Musical.ly which was acquired by ByteDance on November 10, 2017, and merged it into TikTok. The FTC started a...

A week in security (April 22 – April 28)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Ring agrees to pay $5.6 million after cameras were used to spy on customers TikTok comes one step closer to a US ban Google ad for Facebook redirects to scam "Substantial proportion" of Americans may have had health and personal data stolen in Change Healthcare...

How to protect yourself from online harassment

It takes a little to receive a lot of online hate today, from simply working as a school administrator to playing a role in a popular movie or video game. But these moments of personal crisis have few, immediate solutions, as the current proposals to curb and stem online harassment zero in on the...

New ransomware group demands Change Healthcare ransom

The Change Healthcare ransomware attack has taken a third cruel twist. A new ransomware group, RansomHub, has listed the organisation as a victim on its dark web leak site, saying it has 4 TB of "highly selective data," which relates to "all Change Health clients that have sensitive data being...

Google Chrome gets ‘Device Bound Session Credentials’ to stop cookie theft

Google has announced the introduction of Device Bound Session Credentials DBSC to secure Chrome users against cookie theft. In January we reported how hackers found a way to gain unauthorized access to Google accounts, bypassing multi-factor authentication MFA, by stealing authentication cookies...

Going viral shouldn’t lead to bomb threats, with Leigh Honeywell: Lock and Code S05E06

This week on the Lock and Code podcast… A disappointing meal at a restaurant. An ugly breakup between two partners. A popular TV show that kills off a beloved, main character. In a perfect world, these are irritations and moments of vulnerability. But online today, these same events can sometimes...

Identity theft is number one threat for consumers, says report

The German Federal Office for Information Security BSI has published a report on The State of IT Security in Germany in 2023, and the number one threat for consumers is… identity theft. The thing is, you can protect your devices and your online privacy as much as possible, but what happens when...

Signal to shield user phone numbers by default

Chat app Signal will shield user’s phone numbers by default from now on. And, it will no longer be necessary to exchange phone numbers when people want to connect through the app. In November, we reported that Signal was testing usernames to eliminate the need to share your phone number. Signal h...