Hacktivists claim near-total Spotify music scrape

Hacktivist group Anna’s Archive claims to have scraped almost all of Spotify’s catalog and is now seeding it via BitTorrent, effectively turning a streaming platform into a roughly 300 TB pirate “preservation archive.” On its blog, the group states: “A while ago, we discovered a way to scrape...

Pornhub tells users to expect sextortion emails after data exposure

After a recent data breach that affected Pornhub Premium members, Pornhub has updated its online statement to warn users about potential direct contact from cybercriminals. “We are aware that the individuals responsible for this incident have threatened to contact impacted Pornhub Premium users...

Prompt injection is a problem that may never be fixed, warns NCSC

Prompt injection is shaping up to be one of the most stubborn problems in AI security, and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre NCSC has warned that it may never be “fixed” in the way SQL injection was. Two years ago, the NCSC said prompt injection might turn out to be the “SQL injection of th...

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...

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...

Apple may have to open its walled garden to outside app stores

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority CMA ruled that both Google and Apple have a "strategic market status." Basically, they have a monopoly over their respective mobile platforms. As a result, Apple may soon be required to allow rival app stores on iPhones—a major shift for the smartphone...

From threats to apology, hackers pull child data offline after public backlash

Last week we yelled at some “hackers” that threatened parents after stealing data from their children's nursery. This followed a BBC report that a group calling itself “Radiant” claimed to have stolen sensitive data related to around 8,000 children from nursery chain Kido, which operates in the U...

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...

A week in security (September 15 – September 21)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: ChatGPT Deep Research zero-click vulnerability fixed by OpenAI Disrupted phishing service was after Microsoft 365 credentials Update your Chrome today: Google patches 4 vulnerabilities including one zero-day Age verification and parental controls coming to ChatGPT ...

Age verification and parental controls coming to ChatGPT to protect teens

OpenAI is going to try and predict the ages of its users to protect them better, as stories of AI-induced harms in children mount. The company, which runs the popular ChatGPT AI, is working on what it calls a long-term system to determine whether users are over 18. If it can't verify that a user ...

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 8 – September 14)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: AI browsers or agentic browsers: a look at the future of web surfing From Fitbit to financial despair: How one woman lost her life savings and more to a scammer Meta ignored child sex abuse in VR, say whistleblowers When AI chatbots leak and how it happens Fake...

Popeyes, Tim Hortons, Burger King platforms have “catastrophic” vulnerabilities, say hackers

Two ethical hackers say they have uncovered massive security vulnerabilities in the platforms hosted by Restaurant Brands International RBI. RBI is one of the world's largest quick service restaurant companies. It was formed in 2014 through a $12.5 billion merger of the American fast food chain...

Grok chats show up in Google searches

I’m starting to feel like a broken record, but I feel you should know that yet another AI has been found sharing private conversations so that Google was able to index them, and now they can be found in search results. It’s déjà vu in the world of AI: another day, another exposé about chatbot...

Tea Dating Advice app has users’ private messages disclosed

A few days after Tea Dating Advice discovered unauthorized access to one of its systems that leaked 72,000 user images, the popular mobile app faced a second issue involving a separate database, as a researcher reported to 404Media that they were able to access private conversations. Tea Dating...

Is AI “healthy” to use? (Lock and Code S06E14)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … “Health” isn’t the first feature that most anyone thinks about when trying out a new technology, but a recent spate of news is forcing the issue when it comes to artificial intelligence AI. In June, The New York Times reported on a group of ChatGPT users w...

Smart air fryers ordered to stop invading our digital privacy

In a confirmation that we've gone full Black Mirror, the UK's privacy czar has wagged a finger at air fryer manufacturers and told them to stop playing with our data. New draft guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office ICO targets not just air fryer vendors but manufacturers of any smar...

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...

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...

4.7 million customers’ data accidentally leaked to Google by Blue Shield of California

Blue Shield of California leaked the personal data of 4.7 million people to Google after a Google Analytics misconfiguration. The tech giant may have used this data for targeted advertising, according to Blue Shield, which is one of the largest health insurers in the US. In a data breach notice o...

Apple patches security vulnerabilities in iOS and iPadOS. Update now!

Apple has released a security update for iOS and iPadOS to patch two zero-day vulnerabilities which are reported to already have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals on iOS. Both vulnerabilities allowed an attacker to bypass the memory...

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...

Intimate images from kink and LGBTQ+ dating apps left exposed online

A researcher found millions of pictures from specialized dating apps for iOS stored online without any kind of password protection. The pictures, some of which are explicit, stem from dating apps that all have a specific audience. The five platforms, all developed by M.A.D. Mobile are kink sites...

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...

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...

Healthcare security lapses keep piling up

Healthcare is one of the sectors that has the most sensitive information about us. At the same time it's one of the worst at keeping them secret. Because of its access and storage of our personal health information PHI and other personally identifiable information PII, the healthcare sector shoul...

Google Docs used by infostealer ACRStealer as part of attack

An infostealer known as ACRStealer is using legitimate platforms like Google Docs and Steam as part of an attack, according to researchers. ACRStealer is often distributed via the tried and tested method of download as cracks and keygens, which are used in software piracy. The infostealer has bee...

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 scams could abuse brief USPS suspension of inbound packages from China, Hong Kong

I would be the last one to provide scammers with good ideas, but as a security provider, sometimes we need to think like criminals to stay ahead in the race. Recently, the US Postal Service USPS announced that it would suspend inbound packages from China and Hong Kong until further notice. That...

University site cloned to evade ad detection distributes fake Cisco installer

There is a constant "cat and mouse" game between defenders and attackers, the latter trying to outsmart and get a head start on the former. In the context of online advertising, this involves creating fake identities or using stolen ones to push out malicious ads. An attacker not only needs to...

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 ...

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...

A week in security (December 9 – December 15)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Encrypted messaging service intercepted, 2.3 million messages read by law enforcement TikTok ban in US: Company seeks emergency injunction to prevent it Data brokers should stop trading health and location data, new bill proposes Update now! Apple releases new...

A week in security (November 18 – November 24)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Meta takes down more than 2 million accounts in fight against pig butchering "Sad announcement" email implies your friend has died Update now! Apple confirms vulnerabilities are already being exploited AI Granny Daisy takes up scammers’ time so they can’t bother yo...

City of Columbus breach affects around half a million citizens

A ransomware attack against the City of Columbus, Ohio—which drew public scrutiny following the city government's attempt to silence a researcher who told the public about the attack—has received a little more detail from an unexpected source: The Attorney General for the state of Maine. In a dat...

A week in security (October 28 – November 3)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: 1,000+ web shops infected by "Phish ‘n Ships" criminals who create fake product listings for in-demand products Android malware FakeCall intercepts your calls to the bank Patch now! New Chrome update for two critical vulnerabilities Update your iPhone, Mac, Watch:...

1,000+ web shops infected by “Phish ‘n Ships” criminals who create fake product listings for in-demand products

Researchers at the Satori Threat Intelligence and Research team have published their findings about a group of cybercriminals that infect legitimate web shops to create and promote fake product listings. The threat, dubbed "Phish ‘n Ships" by the researchers, reportedly infected more than 1,000...

Upload a video selfie to get your Facebook or Instagram account back

Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram says its testing new ways to use facial recognition—both to combat scams and to help restore access to compromised accounts. The social media giant is testing the use of video selfies and facial recognition to help users get their hijacked accounts...

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...

Privacy watchdog files complaint over Firefox quietly enabling its Privacy Preserving Attribution

A European privacy watchdog has filed a complaint against Mozilla for quietly enabling Privacy Preserving Attribution PPA in its Firefox browser. Noyb none of your business argues that despite its reassuring name, the feature allows the browser to track your online behavior. By design, Privacy...

Tor anonymity compromised by law enforcement. Is it still safe to use?

Despite people generally considering the Tor network as an essential tool for anonymous browsing, german law enforcement agencies have managed to de-anonymize Tor users after putting surveillance on Tor servers for months. Before we go into the what the agencies did, let's take a look at some...

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...

Planned Parenthood partly offline after ransomware attack

In late August, Intermountain Planned Parenthood of Montana suffered a cyberattack which is still under investigation. The attack has been claimed by a ransomware group. Intermountain Planned Parenthood Inc., doing business as Planned Parenthood Of Montana, is a nonprofit organization that provid...

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...

Fraudulent Slack ad shows malvertiser’s patience and skills

In the past year alone, we have reported almost five hundred unique malvertising incidents related to Google search ads. While it can be difficult to attribute each incident to a specific threat actor, we usually notice similarities between campaigns. Some malvertisers go to great lengths to bypa...

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...

Data theft forum admins busted after flashing their cash in a life of luxury

Two men without a clear source of income landed cyberfraud charges after being so flash with their ill-gotten cash that it gained the attention of the authorities. In 2022, Russian national Pavel Kublitskii and Kazakhstan national Alexandr Khodyrev arrived in Florida and requested asylum, which w...

Security company ADT announces security breach of customer data

Electronic surveillance equipment provider ADT filed a form 8-K with the Security and Exchange Commision SEC to report “a cybersecurity incident during which unauthorized actors illegally accessed certain databases containing ADT customer order information.” An 8-K is a report of unscheduled...