Chasing cryptocurrency through cyberspace, with Brian Carter: Lock and Code S03E26

On June 7, 2021, the US Department of Justice announced a breakthrough: Less than one month after the oil and gas pipeline company Colonial Pipeline had paid its ransomware attackers roughly $4.4 million in bitcoin in exchange for a decryption key that would help the company get its systems back ...

Is Apple about to embrace third-party app stores?

On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Apple is preparing to allow access to third-party app stores on all iPhone and iPad devices owned by EU users, in anticipation of a new EU competition law coming into force in mid-2024. If the reporting is correct, then in future users in the EU will no longer ...

iPhone user watches as stolen phone travels from UK to China

Have you ever wondered what happens to your phone if its stolen while on vacation or a business trip? The answer may surprise you, as it did one Mastodon user who graciously shared a tale of a smartphone gaining some serious air miles. Our intrepid business traveller was in London when their phon...

Dormant Colors browser hijackers could be used for more nefarious tasks, report says

Researchers from Guardio, a cybersecurity company specializing in web browser protection, recently revealed a campaign involving a trove of popular yet malicious extensions programmed to steal user searches, browsing data, and affiliation to thousands of targeted sites. Nicknamed "Dormant Colors,...

New streaming ad technology plays hide-and-seek with gamers

A new form of digital advertising is looking to make its way to you courtesy of video gaming. However, theres a rather peculiar twist involved. These ads wont appear in front of you while playing; in fact, theyre designed to trigger when someone else is in-game. The most baffling twist of all?...

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...

Court rules webcam monitoring of remote employee was an invasion of privacy

A Dutch court has ruled that the decision to fire a remote employee because he refused to keep his webcam on during working hours was unjustified. The employee worked remotely for a Florida-based software development company with a Dutch office. The court ruled that the request to keep the webcam...

Cyberstalking, pig masks, and cockroaches: Former eBay execs are sentenced

The former Senior Director of Safety & Security at eBay, and the companys former Director of Global Resiliency, have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a cyberstalking campaign. The targets of the campaign were the editor and publisher of a newsletter that eBay executives viewed as...

Ransomware-affected school district refuses to pay, gets stolen data released

Data stolen from Los Angeles Unified School District has been leaked online, after staff refused to pay the ransom related to a ransomware attack. The attackers threatened to release the data if the ransom wasn't paid, and so release it they did. The double extortion tactic Threatening to release...

The privacy concerns of tying SIM cards to real identities

The registration of SIM cards tied to a verified identity is back in the news, off the back of large-scale phone fraud. In what some may call a knee-jerk response to a problem, there are calls to revive a legal bill and make it law. Whats happening, and what are the potential ramifications? Hitti...

How to help your child manage their online reputation

Whether your child has been socially active online for a while now or you just handed your young one their first ever smartphone, now is an excellent time to think about managing their online reputation. The concept may sound overwhelming, but doing it is easy. Since you're no doubt talking to yo...

Ransomware review: August 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. As expected, LockBit remaine...

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...

Another ransomware payment recovered by the Justice Department

The Justice Department today announced a complaint filed in the District of Kansas to forfeit cryptocurrency paid as ransom to North Korean hackers or otherwise used to launder such ransom payments. The seized funds amounting to half a million US dollars, include ransoms paid by health care...

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...

Introducing EDR for Linux: Remediating and isolating threats on Linux servers

We’re excited to announce our new EDR for Linux offering, which extends our advanced protection and response capabilities to Linux devices via Nebula and OneView. In this post, we show you what remediating and isolating threats on Linux servers looks like with Malwarebytes EDR for Linux. Let’s ge...

Watch out! Tinder and Grindr users targeted by cruel scammers using real abuse photos

A horrible catfishing scam is using real abuse photos in order to lure in unsuspecting victims on sites like Tinder and Grindr. Recently unearthed by Bleeping Computer, it works like this: Boy meets good-looking girl on dating site. The longer they talk, boy notices the conversation turning into ...

A special browser designed for online banking. Good idea, or not so much?

The German Sparkasse bank has launched a browser that is especially designed to do your online banking. The browser called S-Protect is available for macOS and Windows users. The idea is interesting, since having a separate browser for banking can certainly add an extra layer of security. Separat...

$600 a week to wrap your car? It’s a scam

A friend of mine recently received a text message which they described as "intriguing, but nonsensical". They were convinced it was some sort of scam, but they werent sure what the scammers were up to. Would it turn out to be some sort of phishing attempt? A telephone scam? Banking fraud? That on...

A week in security (May 2 – 8)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Google, Apple, and Microsoft step hand in hand into a passwordless future OpenSea warns of Discord channel compromise Avoid these Instagram “Get rich with Bitcoin” scams Steer clear of fake premium mobile app unlockers How Instagram scammers talk users out of their...

Craft fair vendors targeted by fake event scammers on Facebook

A real world scam which sucks the fun out of craft fairs has caused nothing but stress for victims. It may sound bizarre, but it’s actually a fairly popular attack focused on small/self-run business owners selling their own creations. Are you ready for a trip to the craft fair? You’re a small...

“Reject All” cookie consent button is coming to European Google Search and YouTube

Google will soon be giving European countries a "Reject All" button in the Search and YouTube cookie consent banner. This change, which was revealed by Googles Product Manager for Privacy, Safety & Security Sammit Adhya in a blog post, has already been rolled out in France and will be cascaded to...

North Korean Lazarus APT group targets blockchain tech companies

A new advisory issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA, and the US Treasury Department Treasury, highlights the cyberthreats associated with cryptocurrency thefts and tactics used by a North Korean state-sponsored advanced...

Satellites are critical infrastructure and need to be cybersecured

In the context of this article we will use the term satellite for a machine that is launched into space and moves around Earth. And there might be a lot more of them than you would expect—this live map tracks a huge number of satellites. Originally most of earth’s satellites were launched for...

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...

Data breaches leave customers very shaky, report says

Data breaches are one of the most reported cyberattacks against businesses—regardless of size and industry. And while this has highlighted cybersecurity gaps on so many fronts, some companies are still not prioritizing them as they should. Some have scrambled to be compliant but then find...

Hive ransomware: Researchers figure out a method to decrypt files

Files encrypted by ransomware cant be recovered without obtaining the decryption key, if the encryption has been done properly. But that doesnt seem to be the case for Hive ransomware. Researchers from the Kookmin University in Korea have published a method for decrypting the data scrambled by...

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...

Android malware BRATA can wipe devices

Cleafy, a cybersecurity firm specializing in online fraud, has published new details about banking Trojan BRATA Brazilian Remote Access Tool, Android, a known malware strain that first became widespread in 2019. BRATA is now being used to perform factory resets on victims machines. Its rare for...

Campaign launched to delay social media end-to-end encryption

The many issues surrounding end-to-end encryption E2EE are ever-present. They usually spring up when something that could potentially affect the safety of those who are vulnerable comes to light. Back in November, Meta announced it had delayed plans to roll out E2EE on its Facebook and Instagram...

Night Sky: the new corporate ransomware demanding a sky high ransom

Theres a new ransomware in town—isnt there always?—and its, unsurprisingly, after corporation-sized businesses. Its called Night Sky, and it was first spotted and revealed by MalwareHunterTeam, a group on Twitter who hunts malware online, on the first day of 2022. First day of the year, and a new...

BlackMatter ransomware group announces shutdown. But for how long?

The BlackMatter ransomware gang has announced they are going to shut down their operation, citing pressure from local authorities. And pressure there is. Only two weeks ago, we wrote about a warning that the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency...

Apple’s notarization process fails to protect

In macOS Mojave, Apple introduced the concept of notarization, a process that developers can go through to ensure that their software is malware-free and must go through for their software to run on macOS Catalina. This is meant to be another layer in Apples protection against malware...

New evasion techniques found in web skimmers

For a number of years, criminals have been able to steal credit card details from unaware online shoppers without attracting too much attention. Few people in the security industry were talking about these credit card web skimmers, both server-side and client-side, before the latter became largel...

A week in security (April 23 – April 29)

Last week, we dug into behavioral biometrics, explored a new crossrider variant, and embraced the power of "no." We also launched another CrackMe challenge, took a deep dive into smart toys, and finished up with a look at digital privacy in the age of IoT. Other news LinkedIn does battle with...

A week in security (December 04 – December 10)

Last week on the blog, we looked at a RIG EK malware campaign, explored how children are being tangled up in money mule antics, took a walk through the world of Blockchain, and gave a rundown of what's involved when securing web applications. We also laid out the trials and tribulations of the...

Solution Corner: Malwarebytes Endpoint Protection

We’ve been busy here at Malwarebytes with several product announcements recently. Malwarebytes Incident Response was released in late April, providing threat detection and remediation via our new cloud-based platform. Right on its heels, leveraging the same platform is Malwarebytes Endpoint...

The Odyssey piracy scams appear within hours of the movie’s release

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is one of the biggest movie releases of the year and scammers wasted no time taking advantage of it. Within hours of the film's release, we found scams targeting people looking for pirated copies. Some used fake browser warnings on piracy sites, while others...

BioShocking: when “gaming” AI agents is no longer a game

AI-powered browsers and agents promise to take the drudgery out of web tasks. They can summarize pages, pull data from your accounts, and even act as a smart assistant that clicks and types for you. But new research shows that when those assistants lose track of what’s real and what’s just a game...

Nearly 15,000 infected websites cleaned in SocGholish crackdown

We’re always happy to end the week with some positive news. A law enforcement action called Operation Endgame just delivered a major win against the long‑running SocGholish aka FakeUpdates operation. SocGholish is a malware framework that has been active since at least 2017 and is best known for...

Microsoft’s biggest-ever Patch Tuesday fixes 206 bugs, including 3 zero-days

This month’s Patch Tuesday fixes 206 security flaws in Microsoft software, making it the biggest Patch Tuesday release ever. The update includes 32 critical vulnerabilities, as well as three publicly disclosed zero-days. Microsoft classifies these as zero-days because information about the...

Update WhatsApp now: Two new flaws could expose you to malicious files

Meta has published a new security advisory for messaging app WhatsApp, announcing patches for two vulnerabilities. WhatsApp has fixed two security flaws that could be abused to interfere with how media and attachments are handled on your device. There is no evidence that either bug has been...

Hackers stole hundreds of thousands of Roblox accounts: Here’s what to do

More than 610,000 Roblox accounts were reportedly stolen. Was yours or your child's among them? Ukrainian police arrested three individuals in Lviv who allegedly orchestrated one of the largest Roblox account theft operations to date. Between October 2025 and January 2026, the hacking group is sa...

Scam-checking just got a lot easier: Malwarebytes is now in Claude

For years, Malwarebytes has protected people by going where they are, and where people are today is increasingly within AI tools. As these chatbots tackle more everyday questions—like what to wear for an interview, how to replace a pendant light in the home, and where to eat during upcoming...

A DarkSword hangs over unpatched iPhones

Researchers at Google have identified an iOS exploit chain, named DarkSword, that has been used since late last year by multiple actors to infect iPhones with malware in targeted attacks. DarkSword combines six vulnerabilities in iOS and Safari to deploy malware on the device. It demonstrates, on...

Beware of fake OpenClaw installers, even if Bing points you to GitHub

Attackers are abusing OpenClaw’s popularity by seeding fake “installers” on GitHub, boosted by Bing AI search results, to deliver infostealers and proxy malware instead of the AI assistant users were looking for. OpenClaw is an open‑source, self‑hosted AI agent that runs locally on your machine...

Chrome flaw let extensions hijack Gemini’s camera, mic, and file access

Chrome’s Gemini “Live in Chrome” panel Gemini’s embedded, agent-style assistant mode within Chrome had a high‑severity vulnerability tracked as CVE‑2026‑0628. The flaw let a low‑privilege extension inject code into the Gemini side panel and inherit its powerful capabilities, including local file...

Fake Zoom and Google Meet scams install Teramind: A technical deep dive

UPDATE February 27, 2026 : We have added more clarity around the abuse of legitimate commercial products, and of Teramind's stealth mode. Important note: Teramind, the software vendor referenced in this article, has stated they are not affiliated with the threat actors described, did not deploy t...

Apple’s new iOS setting addresses a hidden layer of location tracking

Most iPhone owners have hopefully learned to manage app permissions by now, including allowing location access. But there's another layer of location tracking that operates outside these controls. Your cellular carrier has been collecting your location data all along, and until now, there was...

How fake party invitations are being used to install remote access tools

“You’re invited!” It sounds friendly, familiar and quite harmless. But in a scam we recently spotted, that simple phrase is being used to trick victims into installing a full remote access tool on their Windows computers—giving attackers complete control of the system. What appears to be a casual...