Watch out for LinkedIn fakes who want to get connected

Despite continued warnings of deepfake chaos during major events, things haven’t worked out the way some thought. Those video deepfakes are bad, and they remain bad. Quite simply, nobody is fooled - or at least, nobody able to make a mistaken snap judgement in a way that matters. As much as we ov...

Tech support fraud is still very much alive, says latest FBI report

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center IC3 has released its annual report. In 2021, IC3 continued to receive a record number of complaints from the American public: 847,376 reported complaints, which was a 7% increase from 2020, with potential losses exceeding $6.9 billion. Among the complaint...

Ransomware: February 2022 review

The Malwarebytes Threat Intelligence team continuously monitors the threat landscape to stay on top of existing and emerging attacks. In this February 2022 ransomware review, we go over some the most successful ransomware incidents based on both open source and dark web intelligence. BlackByte...

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...

Cybercriminals’ friend VPNLab.net shut down by law enforcement

Europol has announced that law enforcement has seized or disrupted the 15 servers that hosted VPNLab.net’s service, rendering it no longer available. Led by the Central Criminal Office of the Hannover Police Department in Germany, the coordinated operation took place in Germany itself, the...

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...

What angered us most about cybersecurity in 2021: Lock and Code S03E01

We are just three days into 2022, which means what better time for a 2021 retrospective? But rather than looking at the biggest cyberattacks of last year—which we already did—or the most surprising—like we did a couple of years ago—we wanted to offer something different for readers and listeners...

Click “OK” to defeat MFA

Researchers have discovered that Nobelium—the threat actor behind the infamous SolarWinds supply-chain attack, the Sunburst backdoor, TEARDROP malware, GoldMax malware, and other malicious activities—has found a way to use stolen credentials even when they require multi-factor authentication that...

CronRAT targets Linux servers with e-commerce attacks

There’s an interesting find over at the Sansec blog, wrapping time and date manipulation up with a very smart RAT attack. The file, named CronRAT, isn’t an e-commerce attack compromising payment terminals in physical stores. Rather, it looks to swipe payment details by going after vulnerable web...

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...

What are SSL certificates?

Secure Sockets Layer SSL certificates are what cause your browser to display a padlock icon, indicating that your connection to a websites is secure. Although the padlock may soon be hidden from view, certificates arent going anywhere. Lets start with some definitions and explain some of the...

The face of tomorrow’s cybercrime: Deepfake ransomware explained

While many countries are beginning to ease up on their respective pandemic lock downs—which, in turn, also means that everyone will soon ease into a life that is not quite post-COVID-19—we find ourselves once more on the cusp of change, an outlook that makes some feel anxious and others hopeful...

How cryptocurrency mining works: Bitcoin vs. Monero

Ever wondered why websites that are mining in the background don’t mine for the immensely hot Bitcoin, but for Monero instead? We can explain that. As there are different types of cryptocurrencies, there are also different types of mining. After providing you with some background information abou...

Explained: security certificates

As a result of my PowerShell series 1,2,3, where I used the handling of certificates as an example, mainly because I wanted a method to keep track easier of which certificates were being added by malware, I've have received some questions about how security certificates work and how they stopped...

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...

Infostealers are hijacking Claude accounts at users’ expense

Anthropic has warned some Claude users that criminals are using information stealers to take over their accounts. Rather than guessing passwords or intercepting two-factor authentication 2FA codes, the attackers steal the browser sessions that prove a user is already logged in. According to a...

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...

Chrome needs another whopper update to fix 382 security bugs

If there was ever a time when it dawned on users how full of holes the software they’ve been using is, it’s now. Last month Microsoft pushed out its biggest patch Tuesday update ever. And yesterday, on the last day of June, Google published an update which included a whopping 382 security fixes...

Hackers steal passport and driver’s license data of 3 million Texans

You can change a password and cancel a card. But replacing a passport or driver's license number every time someone leaves yours unsecured in a vendor database isn't so easy. More than three million Texans are facing that problem after a data breach involving a vendor used by the Texas Parks and...

Roblox clamps down on chats and age checks as legal pressure builds

Roblox has long faced criticism over child safety on its platform. Now it has started settling with state attorneys over the issue, and the total is climbing fast. On April 21, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced a $12.2 million settlement with the child-focused online gaming...

Credit Resources Vault: Why this credit email set off our scam alarms

If there is anything that annoys me more than a scammer, it's companies that behave like one, while staying just on the right side of the law. They manage to linger and disappoint customers for years. It's also why sometimes people think that Malwarebytes Scam Guard can be overly cautious when...

A week in security (March 30 – April 5)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: That dream job offer from Coca-Cola or Ferrari? It’s a trap for your passwords Blocking children from social media is a badly executed good idea Apple expands "DarkSword" patches to iOS 18.7.7 Malwarebytes Privacy VPN receives full third-party audit Wikipedia’s AI...

GlassWorm attack installs fake browser extension for surveillance

GlassWorm hides inside developer tools. Once it's in, it steals data, installs remote access malware, and even a fake browser extension to monitor activity. While it starts with developers, the impact can quickly spread. With stolen credentials, access tokens, and compromised tools, attackers can...

Landmark verdicts put Meta’s “addiction machine” platforms on trial

Meta faced two major legal setbacks this week as courts in New Mexico and California both found the company liable for harm to children. A New Mexico jury just ordered Meta to pay $375 million for misleading parents about child safety on Instagram and Facebook. Jurors found the company violated...

Watch out for fake Malwarebytes renewal notices in your calendar

We’ve become aware of a scam campaign sending fake calendar invites that impersonate Malwarebytes and attempt to trick recipients into calling a scam “billing support” number. We have written before about how calendar invites can be abused for phishing, and even about how Google Calendar invites...

[updated] Google patches two Chrome zero-days under active attack

Update March 16, 2026 Earlier this week, Google incorrectly reported that an actively exploited vulnerability in Chrome had been fixed, and has now announced it will roll out a new update to protect users against the vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-3909. Original content: Google has released an...

Fake shops target Winter Olympics 2026 fans

If you've seen the two stoat siblings serving as official mascots of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, you already know Tina and Milo are irresistible. Designed by Italian schoolchildren and chosen from more than 1,600 entries in a public poll, the duo has already captured hearts worldwide...

Discord will limit profiles to teen-appropriate mode until you verify your age

Discord announced it will put all existing and new profiles in teen-appropriate mode by default in early March. The teen-appropriate profile mode will remain in place until users prove they are adults. To change a profile to “full access” will require verification by Discord’s age inference model...

Is your phone listening to you? (re-air) (Lock and Code S07E03)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … In January, Google settled a lawsuit that pricked up a few ears: It agreed to pay $68 million to a wide array of people who sued the company together, alleging that Google's voice-activated smart assistant had secretly recorded their conversations, which...

Match, Hinge, OkCupid, and Panera Bread breached by ransomware group

The ShinyHunters ransomware group has claimed the theft of data containing 10 million records belonging to the Match Group and 14 million records from bakery-café chain Panera Bread. Claims posted by ShinyHunters The Match Group, that runs multiple popular online dating services like Tinder,...

Spammers abuse Zendesk to flood inboxes with legitimate-looking emails, but why?

Short answer: we have no idea. People are actively complaining that their mailboxes and queues are being flooded by emails coming from the Zendesk instances of trusted companies like Discord, Riot Games, Dropbox, and many others. Zendesk is a customer service and support software platform that...

Celebrating reviews and recognitions for Malwarebytes in 2025

Independent recognition matters in cybersecurity, and it matters a lot to us. It shows how security products perform when they’re tested against in-the-wild threats, using lab environments designed to reflect what people actually face in the real world. In 2025, Malwarebytes earned awards and...

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...

Photo booth flaw exposes people’s private pictures online

Photo booths are great. You press a button and get instant results. The same can’t be said, allegedly, for the security practices of at least one company operating them. A security researcher spent weeks trying to warn a photo booth operator about a vulnerability in its system. The flaw reportedl...

A week in security (November 24 – November 30)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: How CVSS v4.0 works: characterizing and scoring vulnerabilities Millions at risk after nationwide CodeRED alert system outage and data breach Holiday shoppers targeted as Amazon and FBI warn of surge in account takeover attacks Fake LinkedIn jobs trick Mac users in...

Millions at risk after nationwide CodeRED alert system outage and data breach

A nationwide cyberattack against the OnSolve CodeRED emergency notifications system has prompted cities and counties across the US to warn residents and advise them to change their passwords. CodeRED is used by local governments to deliver fast, targeted alerts during severe weather, evacuations,...

The hidden costs of illegal streaming and modded Amazon Fire TV Sticks

Ahead of the holiday season, people who have bought cheap Amazon Fire TV Sticks or similar devices online should be aware that some of them could let cybercriminals access personal data, bank accounts, and even steal money. BeStreamWise, a UK initiative established to counter illegal streaming,...

Chrome zero-day under active attack: visiting the wrong site could hijack your browser

Google has released an update for its Chrome browser that includes two security fixes. Both are classified as high severity, and one is reportedly exploited in the wild. These flaws were found in Chrome’s V8 engine, which is the part of Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers that runs JavaScrip...

Are you paying more than other people? NY cracks down on surveillance pricing

When you search for a product online, you might think you're getting the same price as everyone else. Think again. Your price might be different based on everything from your location to what you've looked at online. Companies often use algorithms to set their prices that rely heavily on customer...

How Malwarebytes stops the ransomware attack that most security software can’t see

Imagine this scenario: Your protection software is running perfectly. Systems are protected, definitions are up to date, behavioral analysis is active. Then, suddenly, files across your network start getting encrypted. Backups are being deleted. Ransom notes appear across your machines. Your...

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...

What does Google know about me? (Lock and Code S06E21)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … Google is everywhere in our lives. It's reach into our data extends just as far. After investigating how much data Facebook had collected about him in his nearly 20 years with the platform, Lock and Code host David Ruiz had similar questions about the othe...

Fake VPN and streaming app drops malware that drains your bank account

Security researchers are warning Android users to delete a fake VPN and streaming app that can let criminals take over their phones and drain their bank accounts. The app, Mobdro Pro IP TV + VPN, was discovered by researchers at Cleafy to be a malicious sideloaded app, not a legitimate VPN. Their...

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...

Scam Facebook groups send malicious Android malware to seniors

An infostealer and banking Trojan rolled into one is making the rounds in Facebook groups aimed at "active seniors". Attackers used social engineering methods to lure targets into joining fake Facebook groups that appeared to promote travel and community activities—such as trips, dance classes, a...

A week in security (September 22 – September 28)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Hackers threaten parents: Get nursery to pay ransom or we leak your child’s data Google and Flo to pay $56 million after misusing users’ health data Neon App pays users to record their phone calls, sells data for AI training updated New SVG-based phishing campaign ...

New SVG-based phishing campaign is a recipe for disaster

We've written in the past about cybercriminals using SVG files for phishing and for clickjack campaigns. We found a new, rather sophisticated example of an SVG involved in phishing. For readers that missed the earlier posts, SVG files are not always simply image files. Because they are written in...

Update your Chrome today: Google patches 4 vulnerabilities including one zero-day

Google has released an update for its Chrome browser to patch four security vulnerabilities, including one zero-day. A zero-day vulnerability refers to a bug that has been found and exploited by cybercriminals before the vendor even knew about it they have "zero days" to fix it. This update is...

A week in security (August 25 – August 31)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Microsoft wants to automatically save your Word docs to the cloud "No place in our networks": FCC hangs up on thousands of voice operators in robocall war Claude AI chatbot abused to launch "cybercrime spree" Developer verification: a promised lift for Android...

“No place in our networks”: FCC hangs up on thousands of voice operators in robocall war

Everyone hates robocalls. However, it's difficult to track down all the scammers and spammers that make them, so the Federal Communications Commission FCC has taken another approach: it just disconnected over a thousand voice operators from the public telephone network for not doing their part to...