How to change your Social Security Number

After seeing their Social Security Number SSN leaked in the AT&T breach, some US citizens are wondering if and how they can change their SSN. The good news is that even though it’s a challenging process, it is possible. But if youve ever had to abandon an email address that you used for years,...

A week in security (April 1 – April 7)

A list of topics we covered in the week of April 1 to April 7 of 2024 Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: 60% of small businesses are concerned about cybersecurity threats Cookie consent choices are just being ignored by some websites Bing ad for NordVPN leads to SecTopRAT Jackson County hit by...

Coldriver threat group targets high-ranking officials to obtain credentials

Researchers at Google’s Threat Analysis Group TAG have published their findings about a group they have dubbed Coldriver. The main targets of the Coldriver group are high-profile individuals in non-governmental organizations NGOs, former intelligence and military officials, and NATO governments...

A week in security (October 23 – October 29)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Malvertising via Dynamic Search Ads delivers malware bonanza Octo Tempest cybercriminal group is "a growing concern"—Microsoft Update now! Apple patches a raft of vulnerabilities Patch…later? Safari iLeakage bug not fixed Update vCenter Server now! VMWare fixes...

Cyberattack hits 5 hospitals

Canadian health service provider TransForm has published an update about the cyberattack at its member hospitals. TransForm is a not-for-profit, shared service organization founded by the five hospitals in Erie St. Clair to manage their hospital IT, supply chain, and accounts payable needs. The...

A week in security (October 16 - October 22)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Ragnar Locker ransomware group taken down IT administrators' passwords are awful too The hot topics from Europe's largest trade fair for IT security Clever malvertising attack uses Punycode to look like KeePass's official website 3 crucial security steps people...

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...

Upgrading your iPhone? Read this first

Apple's Wonderlust event on Tuesday saw the launch of the company's top-of-the-line iPhone 15 Pro Max with a titanium chassis and an improved telephoto camera, as well as other iPhone 15 models and new Apple Watches. Also this week, Apple was reportedly banned from selling the iPhone 12 in France...

3 reasons why your endpoint security is not enough

Despite widespread deployment of endpoint protection solutions, cyberattacks continue to make headlines, affecting organizations of all sizes and sectors. Recent statistics reveal that 70% of companies were impacted by ransomware last year State of Malware Report 2023, Malwarebytes, and 83%...

The end looms for Meta's behavioural advertising in Europe

The EU is going toe to toe with Meta once more, with the social network giant conceding defeat yet again. After having taken Meta to task for various privacy violations and data breaches, Meta is now having to provide European users with a way to opt out of behavioural advertising. The threat of...

Hey, are you REALLY ready to go on vacation? (No, you aren't)

Are you ready for a challenge? A real challenge? Do you laugh in the face of shark cages, scoff at the Marathon des Sables, and waft a dismissive finger in the direction of the Everest ascent? Are you ready to conquer the impossible? If so, then you might be ready for the ultimate challenge--taki...

60,000 Androids have stalkerware-type app Spyhide installed

Stalkerware-type app Spyhide is coded so badly that its possible to gain access to the back-end databases and retrieve data about everyone that has the app on their device. And it's not a small number. Hacktivist maia arson crimew told TechCrunch she'd found 60,000 compromised Android devices,...

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...

Public and free WiFi: Can I safely use it?

We've got into the habit of expecting internet access wherever we go. But data costs can be expensive, and out of your own home often the only WiFi available is public, passwordless and free. In security, we've been trained to carefully contemplate anything that's free, because, well, often when...

Why we should be more open about ransomware attacks

The UKs National Cyber Security Centre NCSC has published an article that reflects on why its so concerning when cyberattacks go unreported, saying: ...we are increasingly concerned about what happens behind the scenes of the attacks we dont hear about, particularly the ransomware ones. One of th...

Google Passkeys: How to create one and when you shouldn't

Google has just brought users closer to a passwordless future. In a recent blog post, the tech giant introduced the option to create and use a safer, more convenient alternative to passwords: Passkeys, a form of digital credential. So, how do they work? Passkeys are generated using public-key...

Google Authenticator WILL get end-to-end encryption. Eventually.

Following criticism, Google has decided to bring end-to-end encryption E2EE to its Google Authenticator cloud backups. The search giant recently introduced a feature that allows users back up two-factor authentication 2FA tokens to the cloud, but the lack of encryption caused some commentators to...

Twitter and two-factor authentication: What's changing?

Twitter is making some dramatic shake ups to its currently available security settings. From March 19, users of Twitter wont be able to use SMS-based two-factor authentication 2FA unless they have a subscription to the paid Twitter Blue service. If you use text-based 2FA, the important thing here...

Should you share passwords with your partner?

To share or not to share? When it comes to love and romance, that is the password question, isn't it? This Valentine's Day, we attempt to lift the lid on this steamy cybersecurity subject to see if two people in a romantic relationship are both on board on the matter of exchanging passwords with...

Microsoft to end direct sale of Windows 10 licenses at the end of January

Windows 10 is slowly coming to an end, with one more way to purchase the operating system riding off into the sunset. Microsoft is posting notices in a variety of locations to confirm it will no longer sell Windows 10 licenses directly. Support remains in place for the time being, as is the usual...

Louisiana wants your ID if you're looking at adult-only websites

The state of Louisiana introduced a law on January 1, 2023, that holds sites that specialize in pornographic content accountable if they do not check their visitors' ages. A website is obliged to check whether a visitor is of the legal age required to access pornographic content if a substantial...

Chasing cryptocurrency through cyberspace, with Brian Carter: Lock and Code S03E26

On June 7, 2021, the US Department of Justice announced a breakthrough: Less than one month after the oil and gas pipeline company Colonial Pipeline had paid its ransomware attackers roughly $4.4 million in bitcoin in exchange for a decryption key that would help the company get its systems back ...

Looking for student debt relief? Watch out for scammers says the FBI

The FBI believes that scammers may be after people applying for the One-Time Federal Student Loan Debt Relief, a program announced by the Biden-Harris Administration in August 2022 that provides up to $20,000 in student loan debt relief. In a recent public service announcement, the agency warned ...

Teen talk: What it's like to grow up online, and the role of parents: Lock and Code S03E21

Growing up is different for teens today. Issues with identity, self-expression, bullying, fitting in, and trusting your friends and family--while all those certainly existed decades ago, they were never magnified in quite the same way that they are today, and that's largely because of one enormou...

Facebook users sue Meta for allegedly building "secret workaround" to Apple privacy safeguards

Last week, two Facebook users filed a class-action complaint against Meta in San Francisco's federal court, alleging the company built a "secret workaround" to Apple's safeguards that protect iPhone users from tracking. Facebook circumvents Apple's privacy rules by opening in-app browsers within...

Steam account credentials phished in browser-in-a-browser attack

Steam users are once again under threat from a particularly sneaky tactic used to steal account details. As with so many Steam attacks currently, it accommodates for the possibility of users relying on Steam Guard Mobile Authentication for additional protection. It also makes use of a recent...

6 patch management best practices for businesses

Patching is a thorn in the side of many businesses today: Everything from keeping up with the volume of patches to prioritizing what needs to be patched first can cause major delays in a business's patching process. Needless to say, businesses are looking to streamline their patch management...

Warning issued about Vice Society ransomware targeting the education sector

The Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA, and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center MS-ISAC have released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory CSA after observing Vice Society threat actors disproportionately targeting the...

Source code of password manager LastPass stolen by attacker

In a security incident notice from LastPass the company informed the public know that an unauthorized party gained access to portions of the LastPass development environment through a single compromised developer account. There is no evidence that this incident involved any access to customer dat...

Google flags man as sex abuser after he sends photos of child to doctor

Mark noticed something was wrong with his son. His penis was hurting and appeared to be swollen. Since it was a Saturday during the pandemic, an emergency consultation was scheduled by video. So the doctor could assess the problem ahead of time, the parents were advised to send photos of their...

To settle with the DoJ, Uber must confess to a cover-up. And it did.

Uber covered up the 2016 data breach that affected its 57 million customers and drivers. The confession came as part of the settlement between the DOJ US Department of Justice and the taxi company, which will see it avoid criminal prosecution. In a press release from the DOJ, Uber "admits that it...

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...

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...

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 this SMS phish promising a tax refund

Imagine logging into your bank’s website after responding to a text message claiming you’re due a refund, only to see a warning to watch out for bogus texts: Beware of SMS phishing! For those who dont read Dutch, the warning reads: Never respond to unusual emails or texts! Fraudsters often send...

Why MITRE matters to SMBs

Running a small- to medium-sized business SMB requires expertise in everything, from marketing and sales to management and hiring, but in the ever-expanding list of executive responsibilities, one particular item demands attention: Cybersecurity. Cyberattacks can—and have—shuttered entire...

Grindr fined for selling user data to advertisers

Dating network Grindr has been slapped with a US$7.7 million fine by Norwegian regulator Datatilsynet for sharing data with advertisers. Grindr—which call itself the worlds largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people—sold data which includes GPS, IP address, age, and gender...

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...

Watch out for the Steam skin “free knife” scam

Have you ever had someone run up to you in the street and insist you take their free knife? I hope not, because that’s a good way to wind up in a 60-minute police procedural drama. In video game land, however, anything goes. A certain type of scam is showing signs of activity at the moment and it...

Facebook’s own research reveals the harm that Instagram can inflict

For years, people have accused social media, and particularly image-driven sites like Instagram, of being bad for young people, particularly young women. It turns that Instagrams owner, Facebook, agrees. Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram...

Good news: Stalkerware survey results show majority of people aren’t creepy

Back in July, we sent out a survey to Malwarebytes Labs readers on the subject of stalkerware—the term used to describe apps that can potentially invade someone’s privacy. We asked one question: “Have you ever used an app to monitor your partner’s phone?” The results were reassuring. We received...

Search results are sending people to fake Bitrefill checkouts

Bitrefill is a legitimate company that sells gift cards for popular stores like Amazon, Deliveroo, Apple, Nintendo, and thousands of others. They also sell eSIMs, and mobile top-ups. You can pay on their website for all of these with cryptocurrency. The scam is designed to catch people searching...

A week in security (September 7 – September 13)

Here's what we've covered in the last seven days on Malwarebytes Labs: Crypto customers targeted by scammers after email marketing provider breach Android malware creates a hidden copy of your banking app BlueMoon exploit kit turns Chrome and Windows flaws into attacks Will AI kill us all within...

ShieldBreak bypasses Microsoft’s patch for earlier Defender flaw

Microsoft Defender’s latest patch bypass shows a familiar problem. A newly disclosed Microsoft Defender flaw called ShieldBreak shows that fixing one attack path doesn't always close every route to the same result. Microsoft has assigned ShieldBreak the identifier CVE-2026-69414 and confirmed it ...

“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...

How to fake a data trail (and maybe lower prices) (Lock and Code S07E16)

It may sound entirely bizarre but the prices you once paid for hotels, educational classes, or staplers could have all been higher because you used a Mac computer, lived in a certain zip code, or lacked an Office Depot in your neighborhood. No, really. In 2012, The Wall Street Journal reported th...

Apple battles it out again with the UK over encrypted iCloud access

The UK Home Office has once again demanded Apple allows it access to encrypted iCloud data. The Guardian reports that the Home Office issued a Technical Capability Notice to Apple, this time targeting only British users. A Technical Capability Notice is a formal government order that compels tech...

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...

Google wants to store a selfie video of your face

Google has started rolling out a new way to recover access to your account if you’ve lost your phone or forgotten your password: a “selfie video” verification option. After recording a short video of your face during setup, you can later submit another video during account recovery to prove you a...