What is a keylogger?

A blog post published earlier this year posed the question "Is Grammarly a keylogger?" I have personally had people reference that post and ask me to add detection of Grammarly to Malwarebytes. The answer has always been, "no." Whether or not you like what Grammarly does, Grammarly is not a...

Malwarebytes receives highest rankings in recent third-party tests

Malwarebytes Endpoint Protection continues to receive outstanding results in third-party testing. Our recent participation in two highly-regarded industry evaluations, namely MRG-Effitas and Info-Techs Data Quadrant Report, reflects our belief that continual testing and unbiased validation are...

Binance chief says a “sophisticated hacking team” turned him into a deepfake hologram

Deepfakes are back, and causing major problems for people involved in financial circles. Scammers have been targeting people in the cryptocurrency community for some time now. Theres huge money to be made via the act of ripping folks off. Some of it is phishing, other attacks focus on breaking in...

A week in security (August 15 - August 21)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Donut breach: Lessons from pen-tester Mike Miller: Lock and Code S03E17 Introducing Malwarebytes Cloud Storage Scanning: How to scan for malware in cloud file storage repositories JSSLoader: the shellcode edition CISA and FBI issue alert about Zeppelin ransomware H...

Now it's BlenderBot's turn to make shocking, inappropriate, and untrue remarks

Last Friday, Meta unveiled its new BlenderBot 3 AI chatbot, a conversational AI prototype. The company said its chatbot is designed to learn by having natural conversations with people online. It also improves its skills via human feedback. Meta also asserts with confidence that the more the AI...

Bank fraud scammers trick victims with claims of bogus Zelle transfers

It pays to be careful where cold calls from someone claiming to work for your bank are concerned. Scam callers are impersonating bank staff, with suggestions of dubious payments made to your account. One unfortunate individual has already lost around $1,000 to this slice of telephone-banking base...

How to protect yourself and your kids against device theft

In no time at all, kids will be going back to school or starting college. And while gearing up for this, its very important to be aware of the threat from device loss in the school environment. Maybe you are away at university for the first time and have a new place to live, or maybe your kids ha...

Anti-vaxxer dating site exposes user data

An anti-vax dating site has been revealed as shockingly easy to compromise by security researchers. Many major aspects of the site, from membership subscriptions to support tickets, were found to be vulnerable. The site, called Unjected, has been around since last year. It functions as a sort of...

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...

Roe v. Wade: How the cops can use your data: Lock and Code S03E15

On the evening of June 23, in the United States, millions of women went to bed with a Constitutional right to choose to have an abortion, and they went to bed with the many assurances that are tied to that right—to speak about getting an abortion, to organize and provide support to those seeking...

Ransomware rolled through business defenses in Q2 2022

Ransomware has given security professionals a headache for the better part of a decade. Fast forward to 2022, and the headache has become a migraine—not just for IT teams but business owners, employees, and customers as well. Over the last three months, ransomware gangs have increased the pressur...

Internet Safety Month: 7 tips for staying safe online while on vacation

Going on vacation has never been more talked about and anticipated. I mean—for many of us, its been a while. But before you get lost in dreamy thoughts of sun, sea, and sand, you might want to set aside some time to plan on how to keep your devices, and your data, safe while you are relaxing Your...

Photos of kids taken from spyware-ridden phones found exposed on the internet

A stalkerware-type app that boasts "the best free phone spying software on the market," has exposed the data it snooped on from the phones it was installed in. The data exposed by TheTruthSpy included GPS locations and photos on victims phones, and images of children and babies. This news, first...

Firefox stops advertisers tracking you as you browse, calls itself the most “private and secure major browser”

Cookies are in the news as Mozilla rolls out significant privacy changes for Firefox. The idea is to dramatically lessen the risk of privacy-invading tracking across websites without your knowledge. Tracking cookies have been a hot topic in recent months, as advertisers try switching to other...

Instagram scam steals your selfies to trick your friends

What would you do if a friend of yours set up a NSFW account, and then used it to follow you on Instagram? Would you check it out? We recently learned of a group of friends who had to ask themselves exactly that. Fortunately, they realised that something was off. The account wasnt the real owners...

Runescape phish claims your email has been changed

A Runescape-themed missive landed in our email inbox today, claiming action is required to secure our account. The malicious email and the scam behind it are perfect examples of one of the more reliable tactics in the world of phishing—fooling a victim into thinking they need to take some action ...

Instagram verification services: What are the dangers?

Instagram, like other social platforms, has a verification system for high profile accounts. A verified badge means Instagram has confirmed that the account is the authentic presence of a public figure, celebrity or brand. Have you ever wanted to get your own account verified? We noticed a large...

Why you should act like your CEO’s password is “qwerty”

A poor password at the highest levels of an organisation can cost a company millions in losses. Recent findings show that half of IT leaders store passwords in shared documents. On top of that, it seems that folks at executive level are not picking good passwords either. Researchers from NordPass...

Steer clear of these Instagram “Get rich with Bitcoin” scams

I don’t know about you, but I open Instagram to look at cool photos of pets, not to make a fortune via suspicious claims of riches by strangers. Despite this, following someone whose photos I liked resulted in a very peculiar message. It’s possible I waved goodbye to a path to untold riches. Mayb...

Hive ransomware impacts California non-profit health organisation

Ransomware authors are once again targeting health services, holding important files to ransom and impacting potentially vital services. On this occasion, the victims are a non-profit organisation assisting people with their healthcare needs in California. When Hive ransomware strikes The victim,...

Fake Royal Mail chatbot offers up…a new iPhone?

Royal Mail scams are always popular techniques for people up to no good. We’ve covered them several times over the last year or so. A quick reminder: Your parcel is waiting for delivery This is the go-to tactic for fake Royal Mail phishing attacks. You receive a text claiming there’s a parcel in...

Twitter makes the leap to Tor

Tor is getting another visibility boost for people who may not otherwise come into contact with it. The reason: an attempt to navigate increasing amounts of censorship. What is Tor? The Tor network is something designed to keep communications anonymous. A variety of tools exist to make use of it,...

Don’t fall for the “Donate to help children in Ukraine” scam

Earlier this week, we spotted a Microsoft sign-in phish that appeared to be taking advantage of the Ukraine crisis in order to scam people. The email warned of unauthorized log in attempts to the recipients account, and the location of those attempts was listed as "Russia/Moscow". We probably won...

Toyota’s just in time manufacturing faced with disruptive cyberattack

Toyota suspended the operation of 28 lines at 14 plants in Japan on Tuesday, March 1, after a cyberattack on supplier Kojima Industries Corp. Some plants operated by Toyotas affiliates Hino Motors and Daihatsu are included in the shutdown. Hino suspended all operations at its Koga facility, which...

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...

Yik Yak “cyberbullying”: What can be done?

In August 2021, Yik Yak, the once-popular anonymous social media platform on Android and iOS, made a comeback after shutting its doors in 2017. Six months after its return, its started to gain attention once more, as a result of cyberbullying—the main reason why it declined years ago. However, th...

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...

Instagram’s memorialize feature abused to memorialize…Instagram’s boss

The mechanisms for memorialising the social network accounts of people who’ve died haven’t really suffered a lot of scrutiny up until now. I’ve done a fair amount of research on the processes and perils we face in the digitally deceased age. Traditionally, the biggest issues in this space tended ...

Celebrity jewelry house Graff falls victim to ransomware

Data on countless celebrities, including politicians, is apparently now in the hands of ransomware attackers after a group using the Conti variant compromised systems of one of the world’s most exclusive jewelry houses, Graff. Despite what mathematicians like to think, there is an exception to...

A week in security (Oct 18 – Oct 24)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs Multiple vulnerabilities in popular WordPress plugin WP Fastest Cache. “Killware”: Is it just as bad as it sounds? REvil ransomware disappears after Tor services hijacked. Protect yourself from BlackMatter ransomware: Advice issued. q-logger skimmer keeps Magecart...

Inside Apple: How Apple’s attitude impacts security

Last week saw the fourth occurrence of the Objective by the Sea OBTS security conference, which is the only security conference to focus exclusively on Apples ecosystem. As such, it draws many of the top minds in the field. This year, those minds, having been starved of a good security conference...

Discord scammers lure victims with promise of free Nitro subscriptions

A number of bogus offers are doing the rounds in Discord land at the moment. Discord, a group text chat/VoiP app of choice for many gaming communities, is having a bit of trouble with phishing links. You may recall we’ve covered a lot of Discord scams previously. Service users can create bots,...

Criminals were inside Syniverse for 5 years before anyone noticed

"A global privacy disaster", "espionage gold", and "a state-sponsored wet dream" are just some of the comments one can read regarding the breach at Syniverse, a key player in the tech/telecommunications industry that calls itself the "center of the connected world." In a filing with the US Securi...

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 one reason your iPhone needs a VPN

For years, Apple has marketed its iPhone as the more secure, more private option when compared to other smart phones, which do not, by default, include an end-to-end encrypted messaging app, warn users repeatedly about app location requests, or provide a privacy-forward Single Sign-On feature. Bu...

Surviving college distance learning during the pandemic: a cybersecurity guide

Social distancing, the wearing of face masks, practicing hand hygiene, and disinfecting often-touched surfaces have become human necessities during the pandemic era. For schools, theyve also had to adapt quickly to incorporate distance learning methods that let students continue their studies. Bu...

The skinny on the Instacart breach

The COVID-19 outbreak has affected many facets of our lives—from how we visit our families, socialize with friends, meet with colleagues, to how we should be conducting ourselves outside of our homes. Ideally, a few meters apart from everyone else and with a mask on. These—on top of imposed...

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...

Boomerang spam bombs Malwarebytes forum—not a smart move

Tech support scammers are generally not the best and brightest. As such, they will occasionally post ads for their fake companies in the comment sections here or on the Malwarebytes forums. Last week, however, scammers struggled with configuring their spambots, resulting in spam bombs on the foru...

ASOS “hackers” send push notifications to customers

Thousands of global fashion retailer ASOS customers have received a push notification through the ASOS app this morning alleging that the company has been hacked. The notification, addressed to ASOS’s data protection officer and IT, says: “ASOS HACKED Dear Asos DPO and IT, we have fully compromis...

Proposed anti-Flock bills could spell trouble for license plate readers

Automated license plate readers ALPRs are cameras that photograph passing vehicles, read their number plates, and typically log the time, location, and vehicle details. On their own, the images might be used to find a stolen car or locate a suspect. But lately there have been a lot of concerns...

Update Chrome: 108 security fixes for desktop, new release for Android

Over the last few days, Google issued several different Chrome updates. On September 22, Google released a Stable Channel Update for Desktop. This is the most important one for desktop users. It brings Chrome to version 154.0.8037.57 for Linux and versions 154.0.8037.57/.58 for Windows and Mac. T...

Apple now uses iPhone alerts for targets of mercenary spyware

Apple has expanded its threat-notification system for targets of mercenary spyware. Apple now shows a warning directly on an iPhone’s Lock Screen and in Settings when it believes the device owner has been targeted by mercenary spyware. The new on-device alert is meant to make a high-risk warning...

Scammers are using AI to sell impossible flowers

We've had problems with deepfake celebrity scams, non-consensual deepfake sexual material, and deepfake politicians. Now we have to deal with… deepfake plants? Yup, AI seed slop is now a thing. 404 Media documented scammers marketing seeds for plants that supposedly bloom in the shape of birds,...

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...

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...

Russian hacking group targets home and small office routers to spy on users

British security officials found that a group linked to the Russian military is spying on users of compromised Small Office/Home Office SOHO routers in a broad cyber espionage campaign. A Microsoft blog goes into the technical details of these attacks. The group, which we’ll refer to as APT28, bu...

Traffic violation scams swap links for QR codes to steal your card details

As soon as people start to get to grips with a certain type of scam, criminals deploy new tactics to keep stealing money. Now people have learned to distrust links in text messages, scammers have changed the bait, and in 2026 the “new link” is often a QR code tucked inside a fake notice. The late...