Beware bogus OperaGX sponsorship offers

If you’re a YouTuber, watch out for bogus Opera missives winging their way to you. The Browser team has had to send out a warning in relation to scammy antics trading on their good name. At a time when people are stretched for cash, nothing could be better than a promo mail bearing good news...

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...

Windows Update has changed over the years. Here are 25 group policies to avoid

Microsoft has published a list of 25 group policies that administrators should not use in Windows 10 and Windows 11 as they do not provide optimal behavior or cause unexpected results. Since November 2015 when Windows 10 was first introduced, there have been many changes and some of them have...

Microsoft warns of phishy OAuth apps

Microsoft is warning Office 365 users to watch out for a phishy emails asking you to install an app called Upgrade. The app requests multiple permissions which could cause problems on a network if granted: Creating inbox rules Read and write emails and calendar items Read contacts This is only th...

A week in security (January 17 – 23)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: CISA calls for urgent action against critical threats Red Cross begs attackers to “Do the right thing” after family reunion service compromised Update now! Chrome patches critical RCE vulnerability in Safe Browsing Combatting SMS and phone fraud: UK government issu...

Phishers on the prowl with fake parking meter QR codes

QR codes come and go as a threat. The last time we wrote about them they were causing problems at gas stations, and by sheer chance this latest outing shares vehicular related subject matter. Law enforcement in the US is sounding the alarm regarding parking meters. A quick refresher QR Quick...

Intercepting 2FA: Over 1200 man-in-the-middle phishing toolkits detected

Two-factor authentication 2FA has been around for a while now and for the majority of tech users in the US and UK, it has became a security staple. Indeed, wake up calls brought about by data breaches have stirred others out of their comfort zones into finally adopting 2FA and making it part of...

Customer support scammers take aim at NFT enthusiasts

Adidas has been making waves in the NFT space with a collection of footwear/bored ape crossover sales. WEN? EARLY ACCESS MINTING STARTS NOW First look of the collaborative NFT with @gmoneyNFT @punkscomic and @BoredApeYC Good luck and TracksuitUp pic.twitter.com/REYOSdRbNT -- adidas Originals...

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...

How to check for Windows updates and install them

Keeping Windows up to date is an important part of warding off malware, exploits, and other attacks. If you’re not running the latest version of your OS, it can give cybercriminals the leverage they need to compromise your system. Unfortunately not all machines are running automatic updates by...

SharkBot Android banking Trojan cleans users out

Researchers have discovered and analyzed a new Android banking Trojan that allows attackers to steal sensitive banking information such as user credentials, personal information, current balance, and even to perform gestures on the infected device. According to the researchers, SharkBot...

FBI server hijacked to send up to 100,000 bogus attack mails

If you received a scary missive from what appears to be from the FBI over the last few days, youre not alone. The emails, which may have reached as many as 100,000 people, blamed a fictitious cyberattack on an innocent party. The mail read as follows: Our intelligence monitoring indicates...

Could Apple’s new MacBooks signal a change in direction on security?

Apple recently announced a new line of completely overhauled MacBook Pros. Much has been written about their new design, new chips, new displays, new keyboards etc, but I thought I detected something else that might be new about these MacBooks too: A new approach. The updated laptops may be the...

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...

Patch now to bypass Firefox add-ons that abuse the proxy API to deny updates

In a Firefox security announcement, Mozilla said 455,000 users have downloaded Firefox add-ons that interfere with how they connect to the internet. The interference in itself was not the deciding factor, however. The add-ons abused the proxy API to prevent users who had installed them from...

Criminals exploited weak checks and old tech to pull off vast COVID benefit fraud

In life, when you encounter something momentuous—a sudden job loss, a routine check-up that revealed an illness you cant afford the medical bills for—you can be assured that the federal or state government has benefits you can apply for it. And where there are benefits, you can also be assured th...

Alleviating ransomware’s legal headaches with Jake Bernstein: Lock and Code S02E08

This week on Lock and Code, we speak to cybersecurity and privacy attorney Jake Bernstein about ransomware attacks that dont just derail a companys reputation and productivity, but also throw them into potential legal peril. In 2020, the cybersecurity community noticed a worrying trend from...

VideoBytes: Twitter gets hacked!

Hello dear readers, and welcome to the latest and greatest from VideoBytes: a brand new, video feature that we announced just yesterday. On our debut post today, were talking to you about the Twitter hack, in which hackers accessed the Twitter accounts of 130 high profile figures, like Barack...

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...

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...

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...

SamSam ransomware: what you need to know

SamSam ransomware is a custom infection used in targeted attacks, often deployed using a wide range of exploits or brute-force tactics. Based on our own run-ins with the infection, we've observed that attacks were made on targets via vulnerable JBoss host servers during a previous wave of SamSam...

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...

The real problem with ransomware

Ransomware – a specialized form of malware that encrypts files and renders them inaccessible until the victim pays a ransom – is an extremely serious problem and it’s quickly getting worse. The FBI estimated that ransomware payments were $1 billion in 2016, up from “just” $24 million a year...

PHP2Shell: Why many websites had to go offline

If you’ve encountered websites in maintenance mode today, it may be a security precaution. Reports of attacks targeting two critical PHP vulnerabilities have prompted warnings to install emergency updates and consider temporarily taking affected services offline until they can be patched. The...

Your car’s app could be telling Big Tech who you are and where you go

A study testing 21 cars from 19 brands and 30 companion apps found connections to advertising and tracking companies, and evidence that some apps shared sensitive personal data. Modern cars can unlock remotely, route around traffic, stream entertainment, summon roadside help, and cool or heat the...

Google Pixel owners urged to patch actively exploited modem flaw

Google has released its September 2026 Pixel Update Bulletin, fixing 110 vulnerabilities, including one that it says "may be under limited, targeted exploitation.” The bug is not described as a simple remote takeover, but as a vulnerability that could give an attacker who already has a foothold o...

The hidden work of modernizing Malwarebytes

Most of the work that keeps a security product trustworthy is invisible. Users see a scan complete, a threat blocked, an update applied overnight. They don’t see the platform underneath. Runtimes, managed libraries, native drivers, and Windows requirements must all stay current and work together...

Apple accused of letting fake crypto app steal $1.8 million

Apple's tagline for its App Store says, "The apps you love. From a place you can trust." You might love the apps, but can you trust the store? A federal lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California last week suggests not. Three people have accused Apple of promoting a fake version of the...

ShinyHunters escalates Canvas attacks with school login defacements

Days after confirming a major data breach, Instructure is now facing a second blow. Earlier this week, Instructure confirmed a major data breach affecting its cloud‑hosted Canvas environment, with the ShinyHunters group claiming it stole hundreds of millions of records tied to thousands of school...

Real Apple notifications are being used to drive tech support scams

Scammers have found a way to abuse legitimate Apple account notification emails to trick targets into calling fake tech support numbers. According to a report from BleepingComputer, scammers create an Apple account and insert a phishing message into the personal information fields, then modify th...

Fake YouTube copyright notices can steal your Google login

A convincing phishing campaign is going after YouTube creators, and if it works, attackers don't just steal your Google login. They can take over your entire Google account, including Gmail, your files, and payments, then hijack your YouTube channel and use your audience to run scams. The lure is...

Apple expands “DarkSword” patches to iOS 18.7.7

Apple widened its latest iOS 18 security update to cover far more iPhones and iPads, specifically to stop real‑world DarkSword attacks that can compromise a device from a single website visit. After researchers published their findings about the DarkSword attacks and an exploit kit abusing the...

90% of people don’t trust AI with their data

AI didn’t sneak into our lives. It burst through the door, took a seat at the table, and started finishing our sentences. Instead of a helpful list of links, Google now tries to answer your question. Microsoft’s Copilot drafts replies to your boss before you’ve had coffee. Your phone summarizes...

Delete doesn’t mean gone. Here’s how File Shredder fixes that

You have done it a thousand times. Right-click. Delete. Empty Trash. Done. Except it's not done. That file, your tax return, your private photos, that EmbezzlementPlan.doc… it's all still sitting on your drive. Invisible to you, but not to anyone with a $30 recovery tool downloaded from the...

Fake Claude Code install pages hit Windows and Mac users with infostealers

Attackers are cloning install pages for popular tools like Claude Code and swapping the “one‑liner” install commands with malware, mainly to steal passwords, cookies, sessions, and access to developer environments. Modern install guides often tell you to copy a single command like curl...

A week in security (February 16 – February 22)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Age verification vendor Persona left frontend exposed, researchers say Facebook ads spread fake Windows 11 downloads that steal passwords and crypto wallets AI-generated passwords are a security risk Intimate products maker Tenga spilled customer data Meta patents ...

How safe are kids using social media? We did the groundwork

When researchers created an account for a child under 13 on Roblox, they expected heavy guardrails. Instead, they found that the platform’s search features still allowed kids to discover communities linked to fraud and other illicit activity. The discoveries spotlight the question that lawmakers...

Man tricked hundreds of women into handing over Snapchat security codes

Fresh off a breathless Super Bowl Sunday, we're less thrilled to bring you this week's Weirdo Wednesday. Two stories caught our eye, both involving men who crossed clear lines and invaded women's privacy online. Last week, 27-year-old Kyle Svara of Oswego, Illinois admitted to hacking women's...

[updated] A fake cloud storage alert that ends at Freecash

Last week we talked about an app that promises users they can make money testing games, or even just by scrolling through TikTok. Imagine our surprise when we ended up on a site promoting that same Freecash app while investigating a “cloud storage” phish. We’ve all probably seen one of those...

Are we ready for ChatGPT Health?

How comfortable are you with sharing your medical history with an AI? I’m certainly not. OpenAI’s announcement about its new ChatGPT Health program prompted discussions about data privacy and how the company plans to keep the information users submit safe. ChatGPT Health is a dedicated “health...

Malware in 2025 spread far beyond Windows PCs

This blog is part of a series highlighting new and concerning trends we noticed over the last year. Trends matter because they almost always provide a good indication of what 's coming next. If there’s one thing that became very clear in 2025, it’s that malware is no longer focused on Windows...

A week in security (December 15 – December 21)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: CISA warns ASUS Live Update backdoor is still exploitable, seven years on The ghosts of WhatsApp: How GhostPairing hijacks accounts Chrome extension slurps up AI chats after users installed it for privacy Two Chrome flaws could be triggered by simply browsing the...

How scammers use fake insurance texts to steal your identity

Sometimes it’s hard to understand how some scams work or why criminals would even try them on you. In this case it may have been a matter of timing. One of my co-workers received this one: “Insurance estimates for certain age ranges: 20-30 200 – 300/mo 31-40 270 – 450/mo 41-64 350 – 500/mo Please...

Update Chrome now: Google fixes 13 security issues affecting billions

Google has released an update for its Chrome browser that includes 13 security fixes, four of which are classified as high severity. One of these was found in Chrome’s Digital Credentials feature–a tool that lets you share verified information from your digital wallet with websites so you can pro...

How attackers use real IT tools to take over your computer

A new wave of attacks is exploiting legitimate Remote Monitoring and Management RMM tools like LogMeIn Resolve formerly GoToResolve and PDQ Connect to remotely control victims’ systems. Instead of dropping traditional malware, attackers trick people into installing these trusted IT support progra...

Whispering poetry at AI can make it break its own rules

Most of the big AI makers don't like people using their models for unsavory activity. Ask one of the mainstream AI models how to make a bomb or create nerve gas and you'll get the standard "I don't help people do harmful things" response. That has spawned a cat-and-mouse game of people who try to...

Holiday scams 2025: These common shopping habits make you the easiest target

Every year, shoppers get faster, savvier, and more mobile. We compare prices on the go, download apps for coupons, and jump on deals before they disappear. But during deal-heavy periods like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the December shopping rush, convenience can work against us. Quick...

The price of ChatGPT’s erotic chat? $20/month and your identity

To talk dirty to ChatGPT, you may soon have to show it your driver’s license. OpenAI announced last month that ChatGPT will soon offer erotica—but only for verified adults. That sounds like a clever guardrail until you realize what “verified” might mean: uploading government identification to a...

Your coworker is tired of AI “workslop” (Lock and Code S06E23)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … Everything's easier with AI… except having to correct it. In just the three years since OpenAI released ChatGPT, not only has onlife life changed at home—it's also changed at work. Some of the biggest software companies today, like Microsoft and Google, ar...