Budget Samsung phones shipped with unremovable spyware, say researchers

A controversy over data-gathering software secretly installed on Samsung phones has erupted again after a new accusatory post appeared on X last week. In the post on the social media site, cybersecurity newsletter International Cyber Digest warned about a secretive application called AppCloud tha...

[Correction] Gmail can read your emails and attachments to power “smart features”

Update November 22. We’ve updated this article after realising we contributed to a perfect storm of misunderstanding around a recent change in the wording and placement of Gmail's smart features. The settings themselves aren’t new, but the way Google recently rewrote and surfaced them led a lot o...

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...

A week in security (November 3 – November 9)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Malwarebytes scores 100% in AV-Comparatives Stalkerware Test 2025 Fake CAPTCHA sites now have tutorial videos to help victims install malware Hackers commit highway robbery, stealing cargo and goods Android malware steals your card details and PIN to make instant A...

Malwarebytes for Teams now includes VPN

Running a small business today can hardly be done from a single device, a single location, or a single network. Staying cybersecure is quite the same. To extend the security and privacy of small business owners, no matter where you are, Malwarebytes for Teams now includes personal VPN access, for...

Update your Apple devices to fix dozens of vulnerabilities

Apple has released security updates for iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, Apple TVs, and Macs as well as for Safari, and Xcode to fix dozens of vulnerabilities which could give cybercriminals access to sensitive data. How to update your devices How to update your iPhone or iPad For iOS and iPadOS...

A week in security (September 1 – September 7)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Nexar dashcam video database hacked Roblox introduces age checks to use communication features Give your PC a fresh start: New free tools to boost your PC’s speed, security, and peace of mind TP-Link warns of botnet infecting routers and targeting Microsoft 365...

How a scam hunter got scammed (Lock and Code S06E17)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast… If there’s one thing that scam hunter Julie-Anne Kearns wants everyone to know, it is that no one is immune from a scam. And she would know—she fell for one last year. For years now, Kearns has made a name for herself on TikTok as a scam awareness and...

Microsoft patches some very important vulnerabilities in August’s patch Tuesday

In the August 2025 patch Tuesday round Microsoft fixed a total of 111 Microsoft vulnerabilities. A few of them are very important for people to apply. Even if you’re not a tech expert, keeping your Windows system up to date is one of the simplest and most effective ways to protect yourself from...

That “Amazon Safety Recall” message may well be a scam

Scammers are using the age old tactic of scaring victims into clicking by sending out fake product recall messages from Amazon. The text message tells you that the item does not meet Amazon’s standards, and tries to install some urgency by claiming it is not safe to use. It also includes a link...

How Google, Adidas, and more were breached in a Salesforce scam

At the heart of multiple data breaches against sophisticated and robust companies, including Google, Adidas, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel, was a rudimentary attack method that required little technical finesse—making a phone call. By disguising themselves as IT support personnel on the phone, hacker...

Update your Chrome to fix new actively exploited zero-day vulnerability

Google has released an update for its Chrome browser to patch an actively exploited flaw. This update is crucial since it addresses an actively exploited vulnerability which can be exploited when the user visits a malicious website. It doesn’t require any further user interaction, which means the...

Your Meta AI chats might be public, and it’s not a bug

Conversations that people are having with the Meta AI app are being exposed publicly, often without the users realizing it, revealing a variety of medical, legal, and private matters. The standalone app and the company's integrations with artificial intelligence AI across its platforms—Facebook,...

GirlsDoPorn owner faces life in jail after pleading guilty to sex trafficking

Michael James Pratt, the owner of pornographic websites GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys, has pleaded guilty to sex trafficking in a US court. Pratt ran the websites, which lured and coerced young women into filming pornographic videos, from 2013 to 2019. Pratt and his accomplices lured women from...

Google bug allowed phone number of almost any user to be discovered

Google has fixed vulnerabilities that made it possible to retrieve the phone numbers of almost any Google user. The flaw was found in the flow that allows users to recover their Google account using a phone number. A cybersecurity researcher called Brutecat was able to figure out the phone number...

Been scammed online? Here’s what to do

Unfortunately, people getting scammed online is a frequent event. Scammers are getting better at social engineering and are using Artificial Intelligence AI to sound more authentic and eliminate any spelling errors. It really can happen to anyone, so there's no need to feel embarrassed if you hav...

How to update Chrome on every operating system

We often write about important updates for the most popular browser, Google Chrome. Since it would be out of scope to post elaborate update instructions for every possible platform and operating system OS—like iOS, macOS, Windows, Android, etc.—we decided to turn this topic into a separate post...

Did DOGE “breach” Americans’ data? (Lock and Code S06E08)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … If you don't know about the newly created US Department of Government Efficiency DOGE, there's a strong chance they already know about you. Created on January 20 by US President Donald Trump through Executive Order, DOGE's broad mandate is “modernizing...

Meta slurps up EU user data for AI training

European Facebook users have so far avoided having their public posts used to train parent company Meta's AI model. That's about to change, the company has warned. In a blog post today, it said that EU residents' data was fair game and it would be slurping up public posts for training soon...

A week in security (April 7 – April 13)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: The Pall Mall Pact and why it matters Child predators are lurking on dating apps, warns report Your 23andMe genetic data could be bought by China, senator warns WhatsApp for Windows vulnerable to attacks. Update now! Man accused of using keylogger to spy on...

72% of people are worried their data is being misused by the government, and that’s not all…

Bad vibes are big news in privacy right now, with the public feeling isolated in securing their sensitive information from companies, governments, AI models, and scammers. That’s the latest from Malwarebytes research conducted this month, which revealed that the vast majority of people are...

23andMe bankruptcy: How to delete your data and stay safe from the 2023 breach

The genetic testing company 23andMe filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, announcing that, in searching for financial stability through its sale to a new owner, the business will continue operating as normal, including in how customer data is handled. “The company intends to continue operating its...

Amazon disables privacy option, will send your Echo voice recordings to the cloud

Amazon has announced its Echo devices will no longer have the option to store and process requests on the device itself, meaning your voice recordings will now be sent to the cloud for processing. In an email sent to customers, Amazon explained that the feature "Do Not Send Voice Recordings" will...

Fake CAPTCHA websites hijack your clipboard to install information stealers

There are more and more sites that use a clipboard hijacker and instruct victims on how to infect their own machine. I realize that may sound like something trivial to steer clear from, but apparently it’s not because the social engineering behind it is pretty sophisticated. At first, these attac...

I spoke to a task scammer. Here’s how it went

Tasks scam are surging, with a year over year increase of 400%. So I guess it should have been no surprise when I was contacted by a task scammer on X recently. Task scammers prey on people looking for remote jobs by offering them simple repetitive tasks such as liking videos, optimizing apps,...

Millions of stalkerware users exposed again

There are many reasons not to use stalkerware, but the risk of getting exposed yourself seems to be a recurring deterrent, according to a new investigaton. As we have reported many times before, stalkerware-type apps are coded so badly that it’s possible to gain access to the back-end databases a...

A week in security (February 3 – February 9)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: WhatsApp says Paragon is spying on specific users New AI "agents" could hold people for ransom in 2025 Valley News Live exposed more than a million job seeker’s resumes Small business owners, secure your web shop University site cloned to evade ad detection...

New AI “agents” could hold people for ransom in 2025

A paradigm shift in technology is hurtling towards us, and it could change everything we know about cybersecurity. Uhh, again, that is. When ChatGPT was unveiled to the public in late 2022, security experts looked on with cautious optimism, excited about the new technology but concerned about its...

7-Zip bug could allow a bypass of a Windows security feature. Update now

A patch is available for a vulnerability in 7-Zip that could have allowed attackers to bypass the Mark-of-the-Web MotW security feature in Windows. The MotW is an attribute added to files by Windows when they have been sourced from an untrusted location, like the internet or a restricted zone. Th...

A week in security (January 13 – January 19)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: iMessage text gets recipient to disable phishing protection so they can be phished The new rules for AI and encrypted messaging, with Mallory Knodel Lock and Code S06E01 Insurance company accused of using secret software to illegally collect and sell location data ...

iMessage text gets recipient to disable phishing protection so they can be phished

A smishing SMS phishing campaign is targeting iMessage users, attempting to socially engineer them into bypassing Apple's built in phishing protection. For months, iMessage users have been posting examples online of how phishers are trying to get around this protection. And, now, the campign is...

US Cyber Trust Mark logo for smart devices is coming

The White House announced the launch of the US Cyber Trust Mark which aims to help buyers make an informed choice about the purchase of wireless internet-connected devices, such as baby monitors, doorbells, thermostats, and more. The cybersecurity labeling program for wireless consumer Internet o...

Connected contraptions cause conniption for 2024

The holidays are upon us, which means now is the perfect time for gratitude, warmth, and—because modern society has thrust it upon us—gift buying. It’s Bluey and dig kits and LEGOs for kids, Fortnite and AirPods and backpacks for tweens, and, for an adult you particularly love, it’s televisions,...

Is nowhere safe from AI slop? (Lock and Code S05E27)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … You can see it on X. You can see on Instagram. It's flooding community pages on Facebook and filling up channels on YouTube. It's called "AI slop" and it's the fastest, laziest way to drive engagement. Like "click bait" before it "You won't believe what...

2024 in AI: It’s changed the world, but it’s not all good

A popular saying is: “To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.” Even though the saying is older than you might think, it did not come about earlier than the concept of artificial intelligence AI. And as long as we have been waiting for AI technology to become commonplace...

Our Santa wishlist: Stronger identity security for kids

Sorry for the headline, but we have to get creative to get anyone to read an article on a Friday like this one, even if it is an important story. As we enter the holidays and parents begin to rest after another hectic year of shopping for their kids, Malwarebytes Labs wants to draw some attention...

Task scams surge by 400%, but what are they?

An unfamiliar type of scam has surged against everyday people, with a year-over-year increase of some 400%, putting job seekers at risk of losing their time and money. The emerging threat is delivered in "task scams" or "gamified job scams." While these scams were virtually non-existent in 2020,...

Data broker exposes 600,000 sensitive files including background checks

A researcher has discovered a data broker had stored 644,869 PDF files in a publicly accessible cloud storage container. The 713.1 GB container an Amazon S3 bucket did not have password-protection, and the data was left unencrypted, so anybody who stumbled on them could read the files. The files...

A week in security (November 11 – November 17)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Malicious QR codes sent in the mail deliver malware 122 million people’s business contact info leaked by data broker Advertisers are pushing ad and pop-up blockers using old tricks Scammer robs homebuyers of life savings in $20 million theft spree Temu must respect...

A week in security (October 14 – October 20)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Unauthorized data access vulnerability in macOS is detailed by Microsoft 23andMe will retain your genetic information, even if you delete the account "Nudify" deepfake bots remove clothes from victims in minutes, and millions are using them Tor Browser and Firefox...

Modern TVs have “unprecedented capabilities for surveillance and manipulation,” group reveals

Your television is debuting the latest, most captivating program: You. In a report titled “How TV Watches Us: Commercial Surveillance in the Streaming Era,” the Center for Digital Democracy CDD spotlighted a massive data-driven surveillance apparatus that ensnares the public through modern...

Fake Disney+ activation page redirects to pornographic scam

A common way to activate digital subscriptions such as Netflix, Prime or Disney+ on a new TV is to visit a website and enter the code seen on your screen. It's much easier than having to authenticate using a remote and typing a username and password. Scammers are creating fake activation pages th...

A week in security (September 9 – September 15)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Ford seeks patent for conversation-based advertising Scammers advertise fake AppleCare+ service via GitHub repos Facebook scrapes photos of kids from Australian user profiles to train its AI PartnerLeak scam site promises victims full access to "cheating" partner’s...

What the arrest of Telegram’s CEO means, with Eva Galperin (Lock and Code S05E19)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast… On August 24, at an airport just outside of Paris, a man named Pavel Durov was detained for questioning by French investigators. Just days later, the same man was charged in crimes related to the distribution of child pornography and illicit transactions,...

Lowe’s employees phished via Google ads

In mid-August, we identified a malvertising campaign targeting Lowes employees via Google ads. Like many large corporations, Lowes has their own employe portal called MyLowesLife, for all matters related to schedule, pay stubs, or benefits. Lowes employees who searched for "myloweslife" during th...

London’s city transport hit by cybersecurity incident [updated]

Transport for London TfL, the citys transport authority, is fighting through an ongoing cyberattack. TfL runs three separate units that arrange transports on Londons surface, underground, and Crossrail transportation systems. It serves some 8 million inhabitants of the London metropolitan area. I...

CODAC Behavioral Healthcare, US Marshalls are latest ransomware targets

The Qilin ransomware group listed CODAC Behavioral Healthcare, a nonprofit health care treatment organization, as one of their latest victims. Qilin seems to have a preference for healthcare and support organizations. One of their most well-known victims was the pathology lab services provider...

TDECU data breach affects half a million people

The Texas Dow Employees Credit Union TDECU has filed a data breach notification, reporting that the data of 500,474 people has been accessed in an external system breach. TDECU is the largest Houston-area credit union, and the fourth largest in the state of Texas. The credit union was founded by...

National Public Data leaked passwords online

Earlier this month, a huge trove of data from scraping service National Public Data was posted online. The dump made international headlines because it included data on hundreds of millions of people, and included Social Security Numbers. As if that wasnt bad enough, KrebsOnSecurity is now...

Toyota confirms customer and employee data stolen, says breach at third party to blame

Last week, a cybercriminal using the handle ZeroSevenGroup dumped 240GB of data on the infamous stolen data site BreachForums, that they said came from a hack on the US branch of car manufacturer Toyota. ZeroSevenGroup claims the dump includes customer and employee data. ZeroSevenGroup posted the...