Facial recognition tech lands innocent woman with bogus carjacking charge

Detroit law enforcement wrongly arrested a 32 year old woman for a robbery and carjacking she did not commit. She was detained for 11 hours and had her phone taken as evidence before finally being allowed to leave. The reason for the false arrest is down to a facial recognition error, the kind th...

Digital assets continue to be prime target for malvertisers

Cyber-criminals continue to impersonate brands via well-crafted phishing websites. We previously covered attacks on both consumers and businesses via online searches for popular brands leading to scams or malware. Digital assets such as cryptocurrencies or NFTs are highly coveted by threat actors...

How to protect your child's identity

As we have mentioned before, identity theft is a serious problem, especially when it affects children. Identity thieves love preying on minors, simply because it usually takes longer before the theft is noticed. A persons identity represents a certain value. If it is stolen and abused, it can cau...

Ransomware groups claim responsibility for double-attack on Yamaha

Music giant Yamahas Canadian division has experienced a compromise on two different fronts, both related to ransomware. In an attack which has worrying echoes of the recent Estee Lauder attack, multiple attackers have claimed to breach the organisation. Yamaha Canada Music had the following to sa...

A week in security (May 22-28)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Update now: 9 vulnerabilities impact Cisco Small Business Series ChatGPT: Cybersecurity friend or foe? Webinar recap: EDR vs MDR for business success Identity crisis: How an anti-porn crusade could jam the Internet, featuring Alec Muffett: Lock and Code S04E11...

"Beautiful Cookie Consent Banner" WordPress plugin vulnerability: Update now!

WordPress plugins are under fire once more, and youre advised to update your version of Beautiful Cookie Consent Banner as soon as possible. The plugin, which is installed on more than 40,000 sites, has been impacted by a "bizarre campaign" being actively used since at least February 5 of this...

AI generated Pentagon explosion photograph goes viral on Twitter

Twitters recent changes to checkmark verification continue to cause chaos, this time in the realm of potentially dangerous misinformation. A checkmarked account claimed to show images of explosions close to important landmarks like the Pentagon. These images quickly went viral despite being AI...

Google and Apple cooperate to address unwanted tracking

Google and Apple have announced that they are looking for input from industry participants and advocacy groups on a draft specification to alert users in the event of suspected unwanted tracking. Samsung, Tile, Chipolo, eufy Security, and Pebblebee have stated that they will support the...

A week in security (April 24 -30)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: LockBit and Cl0p ransomware gangs actively exploiting Papercut vulnerabilities Update now: Critical flaw in VMWare Fusion and VMWare Workstation Magecart threat actor rolls out convincing modal forms Fileless attacks: How attackers evade traditional AV and how to...

Ransomware in Germany, April 2022 – March 2023

This article is based on research by Marcelo Rivero, Malwarebytes' ransomware specialist, who monitors information published by ransomware gangs on their Dark Web sites. In this report, "known attacks" are attacks where the victim opted not to pay a ransom. This provides the best overall picture ...

A week in security (April 3 - 9)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: TikTok: Whats going on and should I be worried? Super FabriXss: an RCE vulnerability in Azure Service Fabric Explorer Big changes to Twitter verification: How to spot a verified account New macOS malware steals sensitive info, including a user's entire Keychain...

A week in security (March 13 - 19)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: "Brad Pitt," a still body, ketchup, and a knife, or the best trick ever played on a romance scammer, with Becky Holmes: Lock and Code S04E06 Breast cancer photos published by ransomware gang WhatsApp refuses to weaken encryption, would rather leave UK "Just awful"...

DNA testing company fined after customer data theft

DNA Diagnostics Center DDC, an Ohio-based private DNA testing company, last week reached a settlement deal with the Ohio and Pennsylvania state attorneys general in relation to a 2021 breach that saw the theft of 45,000 residents' personal details. Overall the attack compromised over 2.1 million...

A gym heist in London goes cyber

A thief has been stalking London. This past summer, multiple women reported similar crimes to the police: While working out at their local gyms, someone snuck into the locker rooms, busted open their locks, stole their rucksacks and gym bags, and then, within hours, purchased thousands of pounds ...

5 technologies that help prevent cyberattacks for SMBs

The intel you need to secure your business--delivered straight to your inbox From industry tips and best practices to the latest Malwarebytes product releases and how-tos, our Business newsletter is chock-full of the best of our business blog. Subscribe to our Business newsletter today. Now more...

InterContinental Hotels' booking systems disrupted by cyberattack

In a statement filed at the London Stock Exchange, InterContinental Hotels Group PLC reports that parts of the company's technology systems have been subject to unauthorized activity. The activity significantly disrupted IHG's booking channels and other applications. The InterContinental Hotels...

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...

Wrestling star Mick Foley's Twitter compromised, selling PS5 consoles

One of the biggest wrestling stars around, Mick Foley, had his Twitter account hijacked in an attempt to legitimize a very popular scam. When a well known individual has their social media accounts compromised, disaster looms, as everything from phishing to malware distribution waits in the wings...

YouTube AI wrongfully flags horror short “Show for Children” as suitable for children

When content creators flag one of their own videos as inappropriate for children, we expect YouTubes AI moderator to accept this and move on. But the video streaming bot doesnt seem to get it. Not only can it prevent creators from correcting a miscategorization, its synthetic will is also final—n...

The Quad commits to strengthening cybersecurity in software, supply chains

The United States, Australia, and its Asian partners—India and Japan—have agreed to work on several cybersecurity initiatives on software, supply chain, and user data. The countries leaders, who convened in Tokyo on May 24, 2022, have met annually four times since the revival of the...

Beware Twitter Messages claiming “Your blue badge Twitter account has been reviewed as spam”

Twitter verification is a two-edged sword. According to Twitter, its supposed to let people know "that an account of public interest is authentic." Thats great, so long as the account is authentic, but what if, one day, it suddenly isnt? An attacker that can wrestle a verified account from its...

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...

Looking over your shoulder: when small mistakes have big consequences

People up to no good get themselves caught in an endless number of ways. This has always been the case in the real world, and continues to be true online. No matter how talented, how daring the schemes, greed and the desire for fame often win out. This has disastrous consequences for those caught...

Ransomware gangs are recruiting breached individuals to persuade companies to pay up

Youve heard about ransomware, where attackers lock up your files and demand a payment for the decryption key. You may also have heard about ransomware attackers not only locking up your files, but also threatening to release the stolen data in an attempt to get you to pay up. What you may not hav...

Kronos crippled by ransomware, service may be out for weeks

Human resources platform provider UKG has put out a statement saying its fallen prey to ransomware that has disrupted the Kronos Private Cloud. It expects the service to be out for several weeks. The statement came after the company posted a message on the Kronos community message board, explaini...

Panic attack: Apple scams apply pressure

We've seen a number of Apple-related phishes in circulation over the last few days. While most of them already lead to deactivated phishing sites, we thought it was worth highlighting some of the tricks being used to bait people into handing over payment details at the moment. Fake receipt emails...

41 deceptive download sites show a real link, then send you somewhere else

We identified a network of 41 websites impersonating popular games and Windows software, all designed to push visitors towards the same Download Studio installer. The sites advertise everything from Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Fallout, Roblox, PUBG, and The Witcher to VLC, 7-Zip, Paint.NET, VMware...

Apple fixes another image-processing flaw that could allow code execution

Apple has released security updates for more than two dozen security vulnerabilities across iPhone, iPad, and macOS Tahoe,including yet another image parsing vulnerability that could compromise your device. This update delivers security fixes that were first made available in the iOS 27 and iPadO...

A week in security (August 10 – August 16)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Apple now uses iPhone alerts for targets of mercenary spyware WhatsApp is testing a new warning for scam messages New Android malware lets criminals use your bank card in real time Parents take on Meta, TikTok, Google, and Snap in 3,000 youth safety lawsuits...

“Zoomsday” flaws could let one Zoom participant attack another

Researchers have found three vulnerabilities in the popular Zoom meeting platform that could let one meeting participant attack another through malicious collaboration data. The vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2026-53413, CVE-2026-53414, and CVE-2026-53415, affect the code Zoom uses to process...

Hims & Hers sued over alleged health data privacy failures

The US Federal Trade Commission FTC, together with Utah and California, has filed a lawsuit against telehealth provider Hims & Hers. The FTC alleges that the company shared consumers’ sensitive health information with third‑party advertising platforms despite promising strong privacy protections...

Hidden prompt can make Microsoft Copilot spread itself through your Word docs

A security researcher has demonstrated how Microsoft Copilot for Word can be tricked into spreading a self‑propagating prompt‑injection “AI worm.” The attack silently alters documents and embeds its own hidden instructions into newly created files, allowing it to spread through normal...

Beyond the Play Store: How Android threats really spread

You probably think of your phone's security the way you think of your front door: as long as you're downloading apps from the Play Store, you're safe. And for the most part, that's true. Google reviews apps before they’re published. But some apps reach your phone without ever passing through the...

Chick-fil-A loyalty accounts hijacked using stolen passwords

Fast-food chain Chick-fil-A is warning customers after attackers hijacked loyalty accounts using stolen passwords in a credential stuffing attack. Chick-fil-A says it detected suspicious login activity against some Chick-fil-A One accounts in June and launched an investigation. The company later...

Samsung backs down on threat to delete health data

If you pay for something, you expect it to work as intended. The vendor shouldn't start turning features off just because you won't accept its new rules. Someone should tell Samsung, which just upset users of its health app by threatening exactly that—before changing course after a user backlash...

Roblox developers are losing entire games to malware attacks

Account theft usually ends with someone losing a password. This one ends with hackers walking off with the entire game. Developers behind some of Roblox's millions of games told 404 Media that attackers persuaded them to run a single file. Then they watched their group, their game, and their Robu...

Researcher claims Claude Desktop installs “spyware” on macOS

Security researcher Alexander Hanff wrote an article titled Anthropic secretly installs spyware when you install Claude Desktop. Claims like that are bound to create two sides, so we searched for an official rebuttal by Anthropic. But we couldn’t find one. It would surprise me very much if they’d...

Real Apple notifications are being used to drive tech support scams

Scammers have found a way to abuse legitimate Apple account notification emails to trick targets into calling fake tech support numbers. According to a report from BleepingComputer, scammers create an Apple account and insert a phishing message into the personal information fields, then modify th...

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...

ChatGPT under scrutiny as Florida investigates campus shooting

Chatbots don't kill people. But they can help others do so. On April 9, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that his office is investigating OpenAI over the role ChatGPT might have played in a deadly shooting at Florida State University, saying: "Subpoenas are coming." The campus...

30,000 private Facebook images allegedly downloaded by Meta employee

Every tech company tells you your data is safe. They've hopefully got encryption, access controls, and zero-trust architectures—the whole glossy security brochure. And then someone on the inside writes a script to steal your private photos anyway. That's what a former Meta employee based in Londo...

FriendlyDealer mimics official app stores to push unvetted gambling apps

We’ve identified a huge social-engineering campaign designed to steer people into online gambling sites under the impression they’re installing a legitimate app. We’re calling it FriendlyDealer. It’s been observed across at least 1,500 domains, each hosting a website that impersonates the Google...

Sextortion “I recorded you” emails reuse passwords found in disposable inboxes

Our malware removal support team recently flagged a new wave of sextortion emails, with the subject line: “You pervert, I recorded you!” If the message sounds familiar, that's because it's a variation of the long-running "Hello pervert" scam. The email claims the target’s device has been infected...

Ring doorbells: Won’t you see my neighbor? (Lock and Code S07E05)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … On February 8, during the Super Bowl in the United States, countless owners of one of the most popular smart products today got a bit of a wakeup call: Their Ring doorbells could be used to see a whole lot more than they knew. In a commercial that was...

OpenClaw: What is it and can you use it safely?

An AI tool with a funny name has caused quite a commotion as of late—including some allegations of machine consciousness—so here is a breakdown on OpenClaw. Launched in November 2025, OpenClaw is an open-source, autonomous artificial intelligence AI agent that was made to run locally on your own...

Intimate products maker Tenga spilled customer data

Tenga confirmed reports published by several outlets that the company notified customers of a data breach. The Japanese manufacturer of adult products appears to have fallen victim to a phishing attack targeting one of its employees. Tenga reportedly wrote in the data breach notification: “An...

Chrome “preloading” could be leaking your data and causing problems in Browser Guard

This article explains why Chrome’s “preloading” feature can cause scary-looking blocks in Malwarebytes Browser Guard and how to turn it off. Modern browsers want to provide content instantly. To do that, Chrome includes a feature called page preloading. When this is enabled, Chrome doesn’t just...

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...

A week in security (February 2 – February 8)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Apple Pay phish uses fake support calls to steal payment details Open the wrong "PDF" and attackers gain remote access to your PC Flock cameras shared license plate data without permission Grok continues producing sexualized images after promised fixes Firefox is...

[updated] A fake cloud storage alert that ends at Freecash

Last week we talked about an app that promises users they can make money testing games, or even just by scrolling through TikTok. Imagine our surprise when we ended up on a site promoting that same Freecash app while investigating a “cloud storage” phish. We’ve all probably seen one of those...