How credentials get stolen in seconds, even with a script-kiddie-level phish

This attempt to phish credentials caught our attention, mostly because of its front-end simplicity. Even though this is a script-kiddie-level type of attack, we figured it was worth writing up—precisely because it’s so easy to follow what they're up to. The email is direct and to the point. Not a...

Fantasy Hub is spyware for rent—complete with fake app kits and support

Researchers at Zimperium identified Fantasy Hub, a new Android spyware developed and sold as a subscription on Russian-language cybercrime forums. Malware-as-a-Service MaaS means cybercriminals rent out to malware to other criminals, complete with the infrastructure necessary to harvest and abuse...

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...

Cyberattacks on UK water systems reveal rising risks to critical infrastructure

Digital intruders have been targeting UK drinking water systems in what seems to be a growing risk. Recorded Future News sent a request to the UK's Drinking Water Inspectorate DWI, the organization responsible for ensuring that drinking water is safe, for details on cyberattacks affecting the...

Update Chrome now: 20 security fixes just landed

Google has released an update for its Chrome browser that includes 20 security fixes, several of which are classed as high severity. Most of these flaws were found in Chrome’s V8 engine—the part of Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers that runs JavaScript. Chrome is by far the world’s most...

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...

Over 100 Chrome extensions break WhatsApp’s anti-spam rules

Recent research by Socket’s Threat Research Team uncovered a massive, coordinated campaign flooding the Chrome Web Store with 131 spamware extensions. These add-ons hijack WhatsApp Web—the browser version of WhatsApp—to automate bulk messages and skirt anti-spam controls. Spamware is software tha...

‘Astronaut-in-distress’ romance scammer steals money from elderly woman

A Japanese octogenarian from Hokkaido Island lost thousands of dollars after being scammed by someone who described himself as a desperate astronaut in need of help. According to Hokkaidō Broadcasting, police in Sapporo say the fraudster contacted the woman on social media in July. After several...

Google misled users about their privacy and now owes them $425m, says court

A court has ordered Google to pay $425m in a class action lawsuit after it was found to have misled users about their online privacy. In July 2020, Google user Anibal Rodriguez filed a lawsuit against the search giant, arguing that it misled users with its "Web & App Activity" setting. The settin...

TeaOnHer, the male version of Tea, is leaking personal information on its users too

Last week we reported about some serious leaks in Tea Dating Advice, an app that provides a space for women to exchange information about men they know, have met, or have dated in the past. The app aims to provide a platform where people can share relevant information about, say, potentially...

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

Apple released a security update for iOS and iPadOS to patch multiple vulnerabilities, including one that could leak sensitive information when visiting a malicious website and one that allows an attacker to display false information in the address bar. In total, 29 vulnerabilities were patched,...

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...

iPhone vs. Android: iPhone users more reckless, less protected online

The smartphone wars have a winner, and it’s Android. No, this isn’t about which device has the best camera, the snappiest processor, or the flashiest AI features—this is about which device owners are safer online, and in many ways, it is Android users who take the crown. According to a new analys...

Catwatchful “child monitoring” app exposes victims’ data

If an app markets itself as being for “child monitoring”, a customer might expect that their data and those of the person you’re monitoring is handled with the utmost care and respect. However, as we've seen many times before, stalkerware which is what monitoring software is known as apps have a...

Qantas: Breach affects 6 million people, “significant” amount of data likely taken

Australia's largest airline Qantas has confirmed that cybercriminals have gained access to a third party customer servicing platform that contained 6 million customer service records. Qantas says the breach occurred after a cybercriminal targeted a call centre and managed to gain access to the...

AT&T to pay compensation to data breach victims. Here’s how to check if you were affected

AT&T is set to pay $177 million to customers affected by two significant data breaches. These breaches exposed sensitive personal information of millions of current and former AT&T customers. For those that have missed the story so far: Back in 2021, an entity named Shiny Hunters a known hacking...

Jailbroken AIs are helping cybercriminals to hone their craft

Cybercriminals are bypassing the guardrails that are supposed to keep AI models from carrying out criminal activities, according to researchers. We've seen the misuse of AI models by cybercriminals growing rapidly over the past several years, shaping a new era of digital threats. Early on,...

A week in security (June 15 – June 21)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: The data on denying social media for kids re-air Lock and Code S06E12 Reddit’s new AI-powered tools scan your posts to serve you better ads Smart air fryers ordered to stop invading our digital privacy WhatsApp to start targeting you with ads Scammers hijack websit...

Porn sites probed for allegedly failing to prevent minors from accessing content

Four porn sites are being investigated by the European Commission under its Digital Services Act DSA for allegedly failing to verify its users' ages properly. The Commission, which drafts and enforces the European Union's laws, is focusing the lens on Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos with th...

Take back control of your browser—Malwarebytes Browser Guard now blocks search hijacking attempts

Search hijacking, often referred to as browser hijacking, occurs when cybercriminals modify users’ browser settings without their consent. This often results in users being redirected to potentially malicious websites, such as fake customer service offerings. Search hijacking commonly happens...

Fake AI video generator tools lure in Facebook and LinkedIn users to deliver malware

Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the public’s interest in Artificial Intelligence AI and delivering malware via text-to-video tools. According to researchers at Mandiant, the criminals are setting up websites claiming to offer “AI video generator” services, and then using those fake tools t...

Employee monitoring app exposes users, leaks 21+ million screenshots

Unfortunately, spyware apps with poor reputations and even weaker security practices are all too common. I’ve lost count of how many blogs I’ve written about stalkerware-type apps that not only exposed the people they spied on but also ended up exposing the spies themselves. However, perhaps one...

Your 23andMe genetic data could be bought by China, senator warns

Senator Cassidy, the chair of the US Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee has expressed concerns about foreign adversaries, including the Chinese Communist Party, acquiring the sensitive genetic data of millions of Americans through 23andMe. The risk is considered real because ...

Tax deadline threat: QuickBooks phishing scam exploits Google Ads

The pressure of the looming tax filing deadline April 15th in the US can make anyone rush online tasks. Cybercriminals are acutely aware of this increased activity and are exploiting trusted platforms like Google to target Intuit QuickBooks users. By purchasing prominent Google Ads, they are...

Moving from WhatsApp to Signal: A good idea?

This week we learned that the US Government uses Signal for communication, after a journalist was accidentally added to a Signal chat. Accidental additions of people aside, the news has got regular folks asking if they should, too, be using Signal for private communications. Probably the largest...

A week in security (March 10 – March 16)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Research on iOS apps shows widespread exposure of secrets Don’t let your kids on Roblox if you’re not comfortable, says Roblox CEO Update your iPhone now: Apple patches vulnerability used in "extremely sophisticated attacks" The dark side of sports betting: How...

Don’t let your kids on Roblox if you’re not comfortable, says Roblox CEO

In response to growing worries about the safety of children using Roblox, the CEO of the company has said to parents: "My first message would be, if you're not comfortable, don't let your kids be on Roblox." Roblox is one of the most popular gaming platforms, especially among young children...

Reddit will start warning users that upvote violent content

In a post on r/RedditSafety by a Reddit administrator, the platform announced that it will start sending warnings to users that upvote violent content. Reddit is a social media platform and online forum where users can share and discuss content across a wide range of topics. The platform's...

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...

Fake Etsy invoice scam tricks sellers into sharing credit card information

This article was researched and written by Stefan Dasic, manager, research and response forThreatDown, powered by Malwarebytes. As an online seller, you’re already juggling product listings, customer service and marketing—so the last thing you need is to be targeted by scammers. Unfortunately, a...

UnitedHealth almost doubles victim numbers from massive Change Healthcare data breach

UnitedHealth says it now estimates that the data breach on its subsidiary Change Healthcare affected 190 million people, nearly doubling its previous estimate from October. In May, UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty estimated that the ransomware attack compromised the data of a third of US individuals...

Warning: Don’t sell or buy a second hand iPhone with TikTok already installed

After TikTok was briefly banned in the US last weekend, an unusual phenomenon unearthed. Reportedly, people are selling iPhones that have TikTok installed for up to $25,000. This may require some explanation, so bear with me. TikTok has had a rough time in the US the last weeks. The ban we...

Insurance company accused of using secret software to illegally collect and sell location data on millions of Americans

Insurance company Allstate and its subsidiary Arity unlawfully collected, used, and sold data about the location and movement of Texans’ cell phones through secretly embedded software in mobile apps, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Attorney General Paxton says the companies didn't...

No company too small for Phobos ransomware gang, indictment reveals

The US Department of Justice has charged a Russian national named Evgenii Ptitsyn with selling, operating, and distributing a ransomware variant known as “Phobos” during a four-year cybercriminal campaign that extorted at least $16 million from victims across the world. The government’s indictmen...

Meta takes down more than 2 million accounts in fight against pig butchering

Meta provided insight this week into the company's efforts in taking down more than 2 million accounts that were connected to pig butchering scams on their owned platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Pig butchering scams are big business, with hundreds of millions of dollars involved every year. The...

AI Granny Daisy takes up scammers’ time so they can’t bother you

A mobile network operator has called in the help of Artificial Intelligence AI in the battle against phone scammers. Virgin Media O2 in the UK has built an AI persona called Daisy with the sole purpose of keeping scammers occupied for as long as possible. Basically, until the scammers give up,...

Scammer robs homebuyers of life savings in $20 million theft spree

A 33-year-old Nigerian man living in the UK and his co-conspirators defrauded over 400 would-be home buyers in the US. In the initial phase, Babatunde Francis Ayeni and his criminal gang targeted US title companies, real estate agents, and real estate attorneys. Employees of these companies were...

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 21 – October 27)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: 100 million US citizens officially impacted by Change Healthcare data breach Pinterest tracks users without consent, alleges complaint After concerns of handing Facebook taxpayer info, four companies found to have improperly shared data LinkedIn bots and spear...

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...

MoneyGram confirms customer data breach

Money transfer company MoneyGram has notified its customers of a data breach in which it says certain customers had their personal information taken between September 20 and 22, 2024. The investigation into the incident that was discovered on September 27 is still ongoing, and the number of...

Telegram will hand over user details to law enforcement

Last month we reported how Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was indicted on charges of complicity in the distribution of child sex abuse images, aiding organized crime, drug trafficking, fraud, and refusing lawful orders to give information to law enforcement. Now, in a potentially related development,...

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov charged with allowing criminal activity

France has indicted the CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram on charges of complicity in the distribution of child sex abuse images, aiding organized crime, drug trafficking, fraud, and refusing lawful orders to give information to law enforcement. The arrest warrants for Pavel Durov and his...

Move over malware: Why one teen is more worried about AI (re-air) (Lock and Code S05E18)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast… Every age group uses the internet a little bit differently, and it turns out for at least one Gen Z teen in the Bay Area, the classic approach to cyberecurity—defending against viruses, ransomware, worms, and more—is the least of her concerns. Of far more...

A week in security (August 12 – August 18)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Dozens of Google products targeted by scammers via malicious search ads Microsoft patches bug that could have allowed an attacker to revert your computer back to an older, vulnerable version We’re making it easier for you to protect your identity X accused of...

Men report more pressure and threats to share location and accounts with partners, research shows

Men report facing more pressure than women—and more threats of retaliation—to grant access to their locations and online accounts when in a committed relationship, according to a new analysis of data released this summer by Malwarebytes. The same analysis also revealed that, while men report more...

A week in security (July 22 – July 28)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Meta takes down 63,000 sextortion-related accounts on Instagram Windows update may present users with a BitLocker recovery screen TracFone will pay $16 million to settle FCC data breach investigation Google admits it can’t quite quit third-party cookies Heritage...

A week in security (November 27 – December 3)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Explained: Domain fronting Will ChatGPT write ransomware? Yes. Associated Press, ESPN, CBS among top sites serving fake virus alerts Meta sued over forcing users to pay to stop tracking Update now! Chrome fixes actively exploited zero-day vulnerability Many major...

A week in security (October 9 - October 15)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Explained: Quishing Update now! Atlassian Confluence vulnerability is being actively exploited Giant health insurer struck by ransomware didn't have antivirus protection Ransomware review: October 2023 Stalkerware activity drops as glaring spying problem is reveale...

Child health data stolen in registry breach

Canadian healthcare organization Better Outcomes Registry & Network BORN has disclosed a data breach affecting client data. BORN--an Ontario perinatal and child registry that collects, interprets, shares, and protects critical data about pregnancy, birth, and childhood--says it was attacked on Ma...