ChatGPT leaks bits of users' chat history

New gadgets and software come with new bugs, especially if they're rushed. We can see this very clearly in the race between tech giants to push large language models LLMs like ChatGPT and its competitors out the door. In the most recently revealed LLM bug, ChatGPT allowed some users to see the...

How to avoid potentially unwanted programs

If youve ever downloaded software onto your computer, chances are youve unknowingly cluttered your machine with PUPs. Heres what you need to know about these sneaky programs. What are PUPs? If you're thinking baskets of doe-eyed baby dogs, then you're sadly mistaken. PUPs is the acronym for...

WhatsApp refuses to weaken encryption, would rather leave UK

WhatsApp will not comply with the UK's Online Safety Bill when it passes legislation as is. In fact, WhatsApp would rather cease serving UK users, which make up 2% of its global market, than weaken its end-to-end encryption E2EE. Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp at parent company Meta, made these...

YouTube under fire for allegedly gathering children's data

The UKs childrens code, introduced three years ago by the Information Commissioner's Office ICO, is all about ensuring that companies make childrens privacy a primary consideration when creating sites and services, games, and toys. The code, also known as the Age Appropriate Design Code AADC, may...

French law to report cyberincidents within 3 days to become effective soon

The pressure on victims of cybercrime to notify authorities in a timely manner is increasing from many sides and for multiple reasons. On January 24, 2023 France passed a law Article L12-10-1 of the Insurance Code that victims of cybercrime are required to report the incident within 72 hours afte...

Cybersecurity and privacy tips you can teach your 5+-year-old

Everything we teach our kids starts at home--we parents are their first teachers, after all. So, why wait for them to start going to school to start learning about cybersecurity and online privacy? Though it's hardly news that more and more children are being introduced to mobile computing device...

Cyberattack halts Royal Mail's overseas post

If youre looking to send letters or parcels outside of the UK using Royal Mail, youll want to hold off for a little while. Royal Mail is suffering from "severe disruption" after an unnamed cyber incident. While no specifics are currently available, Royal Mail has disclosed enough to let us know...

Open redirect on government website sends users to adult content

Fake websites and open redirects have conspired to make things awkward for a UKGOV website. The site in question, riverconditionsdotenvironment-agencydotgovdotuk, was being abused in search engine results to redirect to various sites which arent associated with UKGOV--most of which were adult...

New PHP-based Ducktail infostealer is now after crypto wallets

A phishing campaign known to specifically target employees with access to their company's Facebook Business and Ads accounts has significantly widened its net and begun using a first-of-its-kind information-stealing malware to go after crypto wallets. The Ducktail Woo-ooh! campaign was first made...

Venus ransomware targets remote desktop services

Its time for another tale of remote desktop disaster, as a newish form of ransomware carves out a name for itself. Bleeping Computer reports that individuals behind Venus ransomware are breaking into "publicly exposed Remote Desktop services", with the intention of encrypting any and all Windows...

How to spot a scam

Unfortunately, scams are a fact of life online. The virtual ties that bind us are international now: Our public telephone numbers, social media accounts, email addresses, messaging apps, dating profiles, and even our physical mailboxes, can all be reached by any criminal and con artist from...

Criminal group busted after stealing hundreds of keyless cars

Europol has disclosed an international operation in which 31 suspects were arrested, 22 locations were searched, and over one million Euros in criminal assets were seized. The organized criminal gang specialized in stealing French keyless cars. Among the arrested were the software developers that...

FBI, CISA warn of disinformation ahead of midterms

In less than four weeks, the balance of power in the US House of Representatives and Senate will be up for grabs, along with a host of gubernatorial seats, and positions at the state and municipal levels. With everyone preparing to cast their ballots, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and...

Meta accuses apps of stealing WhatsApp accounts

Meta is attempting to clamp down on rogue WhatsApp-styled applications which originate from China. Bleeping Computer reports that no fewer than one million WhatsApp accounts have been compromised, allegedly as a result of using these apps which are claimed to bundle malware. Dubious apps The apps...

Ransomware review: September 2022

Malwarebytes Threat Intelligence builds a monthly picture of ransomware activity by monitoring the information published by ransomware gangs on their Dark Web leak sites. This information represents victims who were successfully attacked but opted not to pay a ransom. This article is also availab...

YouTube transparency report shows battle against misinformation

Statistics for YouTube community guidelines enforcement are now available for the period April to June 2022, via Googles Transparency Report. YouTube channels are terminated if they accrue three community guideline strikes in 90 days, have a case of severe abuse predatory behaviour, for example, ...

Phishers use verified status as bait for Instagram users

Another Instagram phish is doing the rounds, and will appeal to a wide variety of platform users. Bleeping Computer reports that verified status is once again being dangled as bait. The "importance" of being verified Being verified gives the impression of status, or importance, on social media...

Controversial Kids' Code aims to keep children safe online

California has passed a bill designed to make the internet a safer place for children. The bill, commonly referred to as the "Kids Code", has been passed by the State Senate. If signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, it will spring into life. What is it, and how is it designed to help children be safe...

6 reasons MSPs need a patch management platform

Weve all heard the stories: Organizations getting breached like there's no tomorrow thanks to threat actors exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities. Likewise, weve also all heard the familiar refrain: Patch regularly! But for many businesses--including the Managed Service Providers MSPs that serve...

Explained: Steganography

Steganography is the prime example of effectively hiding something in plain sight. The word steganography comes from the Greek words "stegos" meaning "cover" and "grafia" meaning "writing." Steganography, then, is defined as "covered writing." In essence, we use the name steganography for every...

How to protect yourself and your kids against device theft

In no time at all, kids will be going back to school or starting college. And while gearing up for this, its very important to be aware of the threat from device loss in the school environment. Maybe you are away at university for the first time and have a new place to live, or maybe your kids ha...

Google delays Chrome third party cookie sunsetting…again

Weve seen many examples of third-party cookies being tackled by browsers recently. Its not so long ago that Firefox effectively locked down third-party tracking by isolating cookies into so-called jars. By doing so, their "Total Cookie Protection" seeks to prevent all those cookies on your PC...

Fake job offer leads to $600 million theft

Back in March, popular NFT battler Axie Infinity lay at the heart of a huge cryptocurrency theft inflicted on the Ronin network. From the Ronin newsletter: There has been a security breach on the Ronin Network. Earlier today, we discovered that on March 23rd, Sky Mavis’s Ronin validator nodes and...

Apple Lockdown Mode helps protect users from spyware

Apple has announced a new feature of iOS 16 called Lockdown Mode. This new feature is designed to provide a safer environment on iOS for people at high risk of what Apple refers to as "mercenary spyware." This includes people like journalists and human rights advocates, who are often targeted by...

Google to delete location data of trips to abortion clinics

The historical overturning of Roe v. Wade in June prompted lawmakers and technology companies to respond with deep concern over the future of data. Google is one of those companies. In a post to "The Keyword" blog last week, Google said it will act further in protecting its users privacy by...

YTStealer targets YouTube content creators

Researchers are reporting the discovery of malware targeting YouTub content creators. The aim is to compromise accounts and then take over the victims channels completely. The malware, dubbed YTStealer, has one game plan: Grabbing authentication cookies. A site gives you an authentication cookie...

City worker loses USB stick containing data on every resident after day of drinking

A person working in the city of Amagasaki, in Western Japan, has mislaid a USB stick which contained data on the citys 460,000 residents. The USB drive was in a bag that went missing during a reported day of drinking and dining at a restaurant last Tuesday. The person reported it to the police th...

Police seize and dismantle massive phishing operation

Europol has coordinated a joint operation to arrest members of a cybercrime gang and effectively dismantle their campaigns that netted million in Euros. This operation also led the Belgian Police Police Fédérale/Federale Politie and the Dutch Police Politie to nine arrests, 24 house searches, and...

A week in security (June 13 – June 19)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Serious vulnerabilities found in ITarian software, patches available for SaaS products Update Chrome now: Four high risk vulnerabilities found Taking down the IP2Scam tech support campaign Don’t panic! “Unpatchable” Mac vulnerability discovered Introducing...

FBI warns of scammers soliciting donations for Ukraine

The FBI recently issued an announcement about a fraudulent scheme that proves there is no low thats too low for scammers. "Criminal actors are taking advantage of the crisis in Ukraine by posing as Ukrainian entities needing humanitarian aid or developing fundraising efforts, including monetary a...

Steer clear of these Instagram “Get rich with Bitcoin” scams

I don’t know about you, but I open Instagram to look at cool photos of pets, not to make a fortune via suspicious claims of riches by strangers. Despite this, following someone whose photos I liked resulted in a very peculiar message. It’s possible I waved goodbye to a path to untold riches. Mayb...

The $43 billion Business Email Compromise threat

The FBI has released a public service announcement regarding the ever-present threat of Business Email Compromise BEC. This comes hot on the heels of an earlier release from the Las Vegas FBI department in April. Losses continue to mount, and were currently facing a scam racking up domestic and...

US healthcare billing services group hacked, affecting at least half a million individuals

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, Adaptive Health Integrations AHI, a healthcare software and billing services firm in North Dakota, suffered a data breach that affected more than half a million individuals. According to the firm, the breach occurred in mid-October last...

Watch out for these 3 small business cybersecurity mistakes

May 2 marks the start of National Small Business Week, a week that recognizes "the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners", and promises to "celebrate the resiliency and tenacity of America’s entrepreneurs." That sounds good to us: Small business are a vital...

Pegasus spyware found on UK government office phone

“When we found the No. 10 case, my jaw dropped." John Scott-Railton recalled after finding out on July 7, 2020 that Pegasus, the highly sophisticated flagship spyware of Israels NSO Group, was used to infect a phone linked to the network at 10 Downing Street, the UK Prime Ministers home and offic...

Cash App breached by a former employee could affect millions

In December last year, the customer information of Cash App users was accessed by a former employee of Block, the company behind the popular mobile payment service app. This was revealed in a very recent filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission SEC, which shows that the former employee...

5 ways to spring clean your security

It is now officailly spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and with spring and the longer days comes the inescapable urge to shake off the lethargy of Winter and embrace the need to go through your stuff, throw a bunch of it out, and give the rest of it a shiny new lustre. And in our increasingly...

Globant suffers network breach due to LAPSUS$ compromise

Globant, an IT and software development firm with offices all around the globe, admitted in a press statement Wednesday that it has suffered a breach in its network. Affected data includes but may not be limited to some source code and certain project documentation of clients. "We have recently...

Beware of this bogus (and phishy) “Instagram Support” email

Recently, a fake Instagram email successfully bypassed Googles email filters and made it into hundreds of employee inboxes used by a prominent US life insurance company based in New York. This was revealed in a report by Armorblox, a cybersecurity company specializing in stopping business email...

Deepfake Zelenskyy video surfaces on compromised websites

It’s been a long time coming. The worry over deepfake technology being used during times of major upheaval has been alluded to frequently over the last couple of years. The buildup to the US election was peppered by “any moment now…” style warnings of dramatic and plausible deepfake deployment. I...

Fake Royal Mail chatbot offers up…a new iPhone?

Royal Mail scams are always popular techniques for people up to no good. We’ve covered them several times over the last year or so. A quick reminder: Your parcel is waiting for delivery This is the go-to tactic for fake Royal Mail phishing attacks. You receive a text claiming there’s a parcel in...

When fake dating profiles try the military approach

I’ve run into many romance scams over the years. You’ll find them lurking on social media, instant messaging, chatrooms/forums, and many more besides. They’re particularly popular during times of war or natural disaster, as they often dovetail into donation and charity scams. The icing on the cak...

Google takes on Docs notification spammers

Cloud-based document suites have always been a hot target for scammers. When it’s easy to dip in and out for collaboration purposes, or just share things generally, then its likely that bad people will want in on the action. In 2019, Google calendar users were wading through endless spam...

How Crisis Text Line crossed the line in the public’s mind: Lock and Code S03E05

Last month, Politico reported that Crisis Text Line, a national mental health support nonprofit whose volunteers help people through text-based chats, was sharing those chats with a for-profit company that Crisis Text Line spun-off in an attempt to boost funding for itself. That for-profit ventur...

The world’s most coveted spyware, Pegasus: Lock and Code S03E04

Two years ago, the FBI reportedly purchased a copy of the worlds most coveted spyware, a tool that can remotely and silently crack into Androids and iPhones without leaving a trace, spilling device contents onto a console possibly thousands of miles away, with little more effort than entering a...

Ransomware author releases decryption keys, says goodbye forever

Update 12th February: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that the decryption tool used to unlock files existed prior to the keys being released - this has now been corrected. If you’re unfortunate enough to be caught out by ransomware, the consequences can be devastating. You may ...

Meta blows safety bubble around users after reports of sexual harassment

There’s trouble brewing in the Metaverse, but the trouble isnt a particularly new problem. In fact, it’s been an issue for years - and so have many of the solutions. Strangely, Meta is having to play catch-up where some basic security and safety settings are concerned in the virtual realm. At...

Some Android users can disable 2G now and why that is a good thing

The Electronic Frontier Foundation EFF has happily informed people that Google has quietly pushed a new feature to its Android operating system allowing users to optionally disable 2G at the modem level in their phones. This is beneficial because 2G uses weak encryption between the tower and devi...

FIFA 22 phishers tackle customer support with social engineering

Players of smash hit gaming title FIFA 22 have become the target of a wave of attacks focused on account compromise. Up to 50 “high profile” accounts were hijacked by what may have been the same group. FIFA games are, traditionally, a big draw for scammers and phishers. Many sports titles offer...

Card skimmers strike Sotheby’s in Brightcove supply chain attack

Over 100 real estate websites have been compromised by the same web skimmer in a supply chain attack. So what happened? On Monday, January 3, Palo Alto said it had found a supply chain attack that used a cloud video platform to distribute skimmer campaigns. The attacker injected the skimmer’s...