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...

Payment provider data breach exposes credit card information of 1.7 million customers

Payment provider Slim CD has disclosed a security incident that may have exposed the full credit card information of anyone paying at a merchant that uses Slim CD’s services. The Florida-based gateway system, which allows merchants to take any kind of electronic payment, said on June 15 it notice...

Man certifies his own (fake) death after hacking into registry system using stolen identity

A 39-year-old man has been sentenced to 81 months in jail after hacking governments systems to fake his own death to dodge paying child support. Yes, you read that right. The press release by the US Attorneys Office, Eastern District of Kentucky, paints a detailed picture of what went down. In...

We’re making it easier for you to protect your identity

Things have changed in cybersecurity. Gone are the days when our only worry was downloading a virus. Now, 71% of people say having their data leaked and identity stolen is one of their biggest fears about being online. Sadly, they’re right to be concerned: Fraud losses hit $10 billion in 2023 up...

X accused of unlawfully using personal data of 60 million+ users to train its AI

In what may come as a surprise to nobody at all, theres been yet another complaint about using social media data to train Artificial Intelligence AI. This time the complaint is against X formerly Twitter and Grok, the conversational AI chatbot developed by Elon Musks company xAI. Grok is a large...

Meta takes down 63,000 sextortion-related accounts on Instagram

Meta announced the take-down of 63,000 sextortion-related Instagram accounts in Nigeria alone. The action was directed against a group known as Yahoo Boys, a loosely organized set of cybercriminals that largely operate out of Nigeria and specialize in different types of scams. Meta took down a ho...

US Department of the Interior's passwords "easily cracked"

It's bad news for the US Department of the Interior--a Government watchdogs security audit has revealed its passwords are simply not up to the job of warding off cracking attempts. The audit's wordy title was not kind: P@s$w0rds at the U.S. Department of the Interior: Easily Cracked Passwords, La...

Apple’s Hide My Email doesn’t hide it very well

404 Media reports that a researcher has found a vulnerability in Apple’s Hide My Email feature that could allow someone to discover a person’s real email address. That's especially concerning because protecting your real email address is exactly what the feature is designed to do. 404 Media did n...

Children’s phones must block nude images by September, UK says

Build something that doesn't exist. Don't collect any data while you do it. Get it wrong and the CEO could face criminal charges. That's close to the ultimatum the UK government handed Apple and Google on June 8. The two companies have three months to introduce device-level protections blocking...

Google Chrome’s silent 4GB AI download problem [updated]

Google Chrome has been quietly downloading a 4GB AI model onto users' devices without asking first. Security researcher Alexander Hanff, aka ThatPrivacyGuy, reports that Chrome has been silently installing Gemini Nano, Google's on-device AI model, as a file called weights.bin stored in the...

Browser Guard gets even better with Access Control

Have you ever been on a website when a pop-up suddenly asked for access to your camera, microphone, location, or notifications? Whether you clicked “allow,” dismissed it, or just wondered why it appeared, those permission requests aren’t always harmless. Some sites can abuse those permissions. Wi...

AI clickbait can turn your notifications into a scam feed

Pushpaganda is the name researchers have given to an AI-assisted ad fraud, social engineering, and scareware operation targeting mobile users. For most people, Pushpaganda starts as something that looks completely normal. For example, a recommended article in your Google Discover feed the...

A week in security (April 6 – April 12)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Fake Claude site installs malware that gives attackers access to your computer ClickFix finds a new way to infect Macs Scammers pose as Amazon support to steal your account NSFW app leak exposes 70,000 prompts linked to individual users 30,000 private Facebook imag...

Timeshare owners warned to watch out for cartel-linked scams

If you own a timeshare and have been searching for a way out, you need to know who may be targeting you. In February, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against a timeshare fraud network linked to a major Mexican drug cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel CJNG. These aren’t your...

Support platform breach exposes Hims & Hers customer data

Healthcare companies handle some of the most personal data imaginable. That makes them a magnet for hackers. And when those companies outsource their customer support to third-party platforms, every one of those platforms becomes another door someone can try to kick in. Telehealth giant Hims & He...

WhatsApp on Windows users targeted in new campaign, warns Microsoft

Microsoft researchers found a campaign that abuses WhatsApp attachments to sneak a script onto Windows machines which will lead to the attacker gaining remote control. WhatsApp offers a desktop application for Windows and macOS, which users can synchronize with their mobile devices. Desktop...

Infiniti Stealer: a new macOS infostealer using ClickFix and Python/Nuitka

A previously undocumented macOS infostealer has surfaced during our routine threat hunting. We initially tracked it as NukeChain , but shortly before publication, the malware’s operator panel became publicly visible, revealing its real name: Infiniti Stealer. This malware is designed to steal...

Meet Khaled Mohamed: the bug hunter who found a Microsoft flaw

It’s only on rare occasions that anyone pays attention to the acknowledgment section of a vulnerability disclosure. But for the person who found the bug, it's often the conclusion of hours of work, trial and error, searching for recognition, and finally seeing the vulnerability get patched. Bug...

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...

90% of people don’t trust AI with their data

AI didn’t sneak into our lives. It burst through the door, took a seat at the table, and started finishing our sentences. Instead of a helpful list of links, Google now tries to answer your question. Microsoft’s Copilot drafts replies to your boss before you’ve had coffee. Your phone summarizes...

How searching for a VPN could mean handing over your work login details

This blog is about how trying to do the “right thing” can lead you straight into a trap. People searching for a VPN ended up downloading credential-stealing malware. From the victim’s perspective, their trust was exploited at every step: trust in search engines, in familiar logos, in digital...

Hacked sites deliver Vidar infostealer to Windows users

In recent years, ClickFix and fake CAPTCHA techniques have become a popular way for cybercriminals to distribute malware. Instead of exploiting a technical vulnerability, these attacks rely on convincing people to run malicious commands themselves. Our researchers have recently detected a campaig...

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...

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...

Watch out for tax-season robocalls pushing fake “relief programs”

While Americans are sorting through paperwork to get their taxes filed in time, scammers are working overtime to grab a piece of the action. As tax season ramps up, so does scam activity. Our telemetry shows a spike in robocalls impersonating tax resolution firms, tax relief agencies, and vaguely...

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...

Samsung TVs stop spying on viewers in Texas. Here’s how to disable ACR anywhere

Samsung has settled a lawsuit with the Texas Attorney General over how its smart TVs collect and monetize viewing data using Automated Content Recognition ACR. As part of the settlement, Samsung agreed to stop collecting ACR data from Texans without explicit, informed consent and to rewrite its...

Public Google API keys can be used to expose Gemini AI data

Google Maps/Cloud API Application Programming Interface keys that used to be safe to publish can now, in many cases, be used as real Gemini AI credentials. This means that any key sitting in public JavaScript or application code may now let attackers connect to Gemini through its API, access data...

The Conduent breach; from 10 million to 25 million (and counting)

The Conduent breach has quietly grown into one of the biggest third‑party data incidents in US history, and the real story now is how many different programs and employers are swept up in it, even for people who have never heard of Conduent. When we first covered this incident, public filings...

Roblox gives predators “powerful tools” to target children, says LA County

Los Angeles County has sued online gaming company Roblox, adding to a series of suits that accuse the virtual worlds platform of misleading parents into thinking it's safe while leaving children exposed to predators and sexually explicit content. The February 19 filing makes LA County the first...

Fake Huorong security site infects users with ValleyRAT

A convincing lookalike of the popular Huorong Security antivirus has been used to deliver ValleyRAT, a sophisticated Remote Access Trojan RAT built on the Winos4.0 framework, to users who believed they were improving their security. The campaign, attributed to the Silver Fox APT group—a...

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...

Job scam uses fake Google Forms site to harvest Google logins

As part of our investigation into a job-themed phishing campaign, we came across several suspicious URLs that all looked like this: https://forms.google.ss-o.com/forms/d/e/uniqueid/viewform?form=opportunitysec&promo= The subdomain forms.google.ss-o.com is a clear attempt to impersonate the...

Scammers use fake “Gemini” AI chatbot to sell fake “Google Coin”

Scammers have found a new use for AI: creating custom chatbots posing as real AI assistants to pressure victims into buying worthless cryptocurrencies. We recently came across a live "Google Coin" presale site featuring a chatbot that claimed to be Google's Gemini AI assistant. The bot guided...

A week in security (February 9 – February 15)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: How to find and remove credential-stealing Chrome extensions Fake shops target Winter Olympics 2026 fans Outlook add-in goes rogue and steals 4,000 credentials and payment data Child exploitation, grooming, and social media addiction claims put Meta on trial Apple...

How to find and remove credential-stealing Chrome extensions

Researchers have found yet another family of malicious extensions in the Chrome Web Store. This time, 30 different Chrome extensions were found stealing credentials from more than 260,000 users. The extensions rendered a full-screen iframe pointing to a remote domain. This iframe overlaid the...

Apple patches zero-day flaw that could let attackers take control of devices

Apple has released security updates for iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, Apple TVs, and Safari, fixing, in particular, a zero-day flaw that is actively exploited in targeted attacks. Exploiting this zero-day flaw would allow cybercriminals to run any code they want on the affected device,...

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...

AI chat app leak exposes 300 million messages tied to 25 million users

An independent security researcher uncovered a major data breach affecting Chat & Ask AI, one of the most popular AI chat apps on Google Play and Apple App Store, with more than 50 million users. The researcher claims to have accessed 300 million messages from over 25 million users due to an...

[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...

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,...

A week in security (January 19 – January 25)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Spammers abuse Zendesk to flood inboxes with legitimate-looking emails, but why? Fake LastPass maintenance emails target users Under Armour ransomware breach: data of 72 million customers appears on the dark web Can you use too many LOLBins to drop some RATs?...

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...

A week in security (January 12 – January 18)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: WhisperPair exposes Bluetooth earbuds and headphones to tracking and eavesdropping Dutch police sell fake tickets to show how easily scams work "Reprompt" attack lets attackers steal data from Microsoft Copilot Phishing scammers are posting fake "account restricted...

Dutch police sell fake tickets to show how easily scams work

If you can’t beat them, copy them. That seems to be the thinking behind an unusual campaign by the Dutch police, who set up a fake ticket website selling tickets that don’t exist. The website, TicketBewust.nl, invites people to order tickets for events like football matches and concerns. But the...

Phishing scammers are posting fake “account restricted” comments on LinkedIn

Recently, fake LinkedIn profiles have started posting comment replies claiming that a user has " engaged in activities that are not in compliance" with LinkedIn's policies and that their account has been " temporarily restricted" until they submit an appeal through a specified link in the comment...

How real software downloads can hide remote backdoors

It starts with a simple search. You need to set up remote access to a colleague’s computer. You do a Google search for “RustDesk download,” click one of the top results, and land on a polished website with documentation, downloads, and familiar branding. You install the software, launch it, and...

In 2025, age checks started locking people out of the internet

If 2024 was the year lawmakers talked about online age verification, 2025 was the year they actually flipped the switch.​ In 2025, across parts of Europe and the US, age checks for certain websites especially pornography turned long‑running child‑protection debates into real‑world access controls...

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...