Google AI taken for a ride by April Fools’ Day joke

Cwmbran in Wales, a town with a population of just under 50,000, holds the Guinness World Record for the most roundabouts—at least according to Google AI Overviews. Except that's not actually true… Ben Black has been publishing lighthearted fake stories on April Fools’ Day for his community news...

Location, name, and photos of random kids shown to parents in child tracker mix up

Not one but several worried parents that tracked their children by using T-Mobile tracking devices suddenly found that they were looking at the location of random other children. And could not locate their own. T-Mobile sells a small GPS tracker called SyncUP, which can be used to track, among...

Personal data revealed in released JFK files

Over 60,000 pages related to the 1963 assassination of US President John F. Kennedy were released as part of President Donald Trump’s directive on March 17, 2025, and while readers will not find a conclusive answer to the main question—nor will the files put an end to surrounding conspiracy...

Ransomware threat mailed in letters to business owners

Business owners and CEOs across the United States received customized ransomware threats this month from the most unusual of places—letters in the mail. The letters, which were first reported by multiple cybersecurity researchers, claim to come from a ransomware group called BianLian. But since...

PayPal’s “no-code checkout” abused by scammers

We recently identified a new scam targeting PayPal customers with very convincing ads and pages. Crooks are abusing both Google and PayPal's infrastructure in order to trick victims calling for assistance to speak with fraudsters instead. Combining official-looking Google search ads with...

Countries and companies are fighting at the expense of our data privacy

Data privacy issues are a hot topic in a world where we apparently don’t know who to trust anymore. A few weeks ago, we reported how the UK had secretly ordered Apple to provide blanket access to protected cloud backups around the world. This week, Apple decided to pull the plug on Advanced Data...

A week in security (February 17 – February 23)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Healthcare security lapses keep piling up SecTopRAT bundled in Chrome installer distributed via Google Ads Google Docs used by infostealer ACRStealer as part of attack DeepSeek found to be sharing user data with TikTok parent company ByteDance Malwarebytes introduc...

A week in security (February 10 – February 16)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: A suicide reveals the lonely side of AI chatbots, with Courtney Brown Lock and Code S06E03 Apple ordered to grant access to users’ encrypted data Phishing evolves beyond email to become latest Android app threat Apple fixes zero-day vulnerability used in "extremely...

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...

A week in security (January 20 – January 26)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Your location or browsing habits could lead to price increases when buying online AI tool GeoSpy analyzes images and identifies locations in seconds 7-Zip bug could allow a bypass of a Windows security feature. Update now Warning: Don’t sell or buy a second hand...

Your location or browsing habits could lead to price increases when buying online

Companies are showing customers different prices for the same goods and services based what data they have on them, including details like their precise location or browser history. The name for this method is surveillance pricing, and the FTC has just released initial findings of a report lookin...

AI-supported spear phishing fools more than 50% of targets

One of the first things everyone predicted when artificial intelligence AI became more commonplace was that it would assist cybercriminals in making their phishing campaigns more effective. Now, researchers have conducted a scientific study into the effectiveness of AI supported spear phishing, a...

Connected contraptions cause conniption for 2024

The holidays are upon us, which means now is the perfect time for gratitude, warmth, and—because modern society has thrust it upon us—gift buying. It’s Bluey and dig kits and LEGOs for kids, Fortnite and AirPods and backpacks for tweens, and, for an adult you particularly love, it’s televisions,...

Is nowhere safe from AI slop? (Lock and Code S05E27)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … You can see it on X. You can see on Instagram. It's flooding community pages on Facebook and filling up channels on YouTube. It's called "AI slop" and it's the fastest, laziest way to drive engagement. Like "click bait" before it "You won't believe what...

Our Santa wishlist: Stronger identity security for kids

Sorry for the headline, but we have to get creative to get anyone to read an article on a Friday like this one, even if it is an important story. As we enter the holidays and parents begin to rest after another hectic year of shopping for their kids, Malwarebytes Labs wants to draw some attention...

Pallet liquidation scams and how to recognize them

Pallet liquidation scams target people looking to purchase pallets of supposedly discounted merchandise, often from major retailers like Amazon. Groups that engage in pallet liquidation sales are rampant on social media and it’s hard to discern the scammers from the legitimate ones to be honest,...

Data broker exposes 600,000 sensitive files including background checks

A researcher has discovered a data broker had stored 644,869 PDF files in a publicly accessible cloud storage container. The 713.1 GB container an Amazon S3 bucket did not have password-protection, and the data was left unencrypted, so anybody who stumbled on them could read the files. The files...

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,...

QuickBooks popup scam still being delivered via Google ads

Accounting software QuickBooks, by Intuit, is a popular target for India-based scammers, only rivaled for top spot by the classic Microsoft tech support scams. We've seen two main lures, both via Google ads: the first one is simply a website promoting online support for QuickBooks and shows a pho...

Advertisers are pushing ad and pop-up blockers using old tricks

Despite the countermeasures some services are taking against well-known ad blockers, lots of people now use one. This is no doubt due to increased privacy concerns around online tracking, along with the growing number of ads per site. And where there is money to be made, you’ll find social...

Air fryers are the latest surveillance threat you didn’t consider

Consumer group Which? has warned shoppers to be selective when it comes to buying smart air fryers from Xiaomi, Cosori, and Aigostar. We've learned to expect that “smart” appliances come with privacy risks—toothbrushes aside—but I really hadn’t given my air fryer any thought. Now things are about...

Election season raises fears for nearly a third of people who worry their vote could be leaked

As the United States enters full swing into its next presidential election, people are feeling worried, unsafe, and afraid. And none of that has to do with who wins. According to new research from Malwarebytes, people see this election season as a particularly risky time for their online privacy...

Modern TVs have “unprecedented capabilities for surveillance and manipulation,” group reveals

Your television is debuting the latest, most captivating program: You. In a report titled “How TV Watches Us: Commercial Surveillance in the Streaming Era,” the Center for Digital Democracy CDD spotlighted a massive data-driven surveillance apparatus that ensnares the public through modern...

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,...

Malwarebytes Personal Data Remover: A new way to help scrub personal data online

There’s an awful lot about you online that some awful groups want to exploit. The right combination of personal data points could help an identity thief fool a bank into opening a new, fraudulent line of credit in your name. Your alma mater, salary, and email address could help an online scammer...

Ford wants to eavesdrop on passenger conversations to help target ads

Car manufacturer Ford Motor Company has filed a patent application for an in-vehicle advertisement presentation system based on information derived from several trip and driver characteristics. Among those characteristics—human conversations. In the abstract of the patent application publication...

Facebook scrapes photos of kids from Australian user profiles to train its AI

Facebook has admitted that it scrapes the public photos, posts and other data from the accounts of Australian adult users to train its AI models. Unlike citizens of the European Union EU, Australians are not offered an opt-out option to refuse consent. At an inquiry as to whether the social media...

How to avoid election related scams

With the US election campaigns at full throttle, scammers have taken a renewed interest in the ways this can be used to defraud people, often using the same tactics legitimate campaigns leverage for support emails, text messages, phone calls, and social media pleas. The lure that we have seen the...

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 19 – August 25)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Millennials’ sense of privacy uniquely tested in romantic relationships Hacked GPS tracker reveals location data of customers "We will hold them accountable": General Motors sued for selling customer driving data to third parties Why you need to know about ransomwa...

Heritage Foundation data breach containing personal data is available online

The Heritage Foundation this month denied that it had suffered an earlier system breach and the subsequent leaking of internal data. But the organization had to admit that cybercriminals gained access to an archive of Heritages affiliated media site, The Daily Signal, dating back to 2022. That...

Gen Z breakups tainted by login abuse for spying and stalking, research shows

Breaking up is hard to do, but for younger Americans today, ending a romantic relationship requires more than a heart-to-heart conversation—it could also require protection against follow-on invasions of online privacy and security. According to a new analysis of research released earlier this...

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...

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...

Hong Kong residents targeted in malvertising campaigns for WhatsApp, Telegram

Malvertising is a powerful malware or scam delivery mechanism that makes it easy to target specific geographies or even users. A recent article from the South China Morning Post discussed an increase in malicious webpages for the popular WhatsApp communication tool, driven via malicious Google ad...

DoppelPaymer ransomware group suspects identified

The German police in cooperation with the US Secret Service have executed search warrants against suspected members of the DoppelPaymer ransomware group in Germany and Ukraine. In March of 2023, we reported how the German Regional Police and the Ukrainian National Police, with support from Europo...

Meal delivery service PurFoods announces major data breach

An organisation that provides home delivery meals has revealed that around 1.2 million people's personal data may be at risk, after the company suffered a ransomware attack earlier in the year. PurFoods, which offers up a service called Moms Meals, helps to provide meals for folks in a variety of...

Supply chain attacks disrupt emergency services communications

A supply chain attack rendered two ambulance trusts incapable of accessing electronic patient records in the UK. The two services, which operate in a region of 12 million people, were not targeted directly. Instead, the attack was aimed at a third-party technology provider used by both the South...

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,...

A week in security (July 10 - 16)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Tax preparation firms shared sensitive information with Meta Ransomware making big money through "big game hunting" Malwarebytes stops 100% of Advanced Threats in latest AV-Test assessment From Malvertising to Ransomware: A ThreatDown webinar recap Ransomware revie...

How to secure your business before going on vacation

For many, the summer months should be a time of peace: Maybe taking some vacation, maybe strolling across warm, soft sands as sapphire waves lap up against your feet, maybe even spending time with family that you like. But for determined cybercriminals, these periods of near-universal rest and...

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...

LastPass was undone by an attack on a remote employee

Last August, LastPass suffered a well publicised breach: Developer systems were compromised and source code stolen. This resulted in a second breach in November, which was revealed by LastPass in December. The company has now revealed that the individuals responsible for the attack also compromis...

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...

Maternal & Family Health Services discloses ransomware attack months after discovery

Maternal & Family Health Services MFHS, a nonprofit healthcare giant based in Pennsylvania, said in an advisory and press release that it has suffered a ransomware attack which led to the potential exposure of sensitive data of patients, employees, and vendors. That data includes names, addresses...

Worldwide law enforcement action takes down major DDoS booter services

Criminals making use of booter services which execute Distributed Denial of Service DDoS attacks to take down websites will have to try a little bit harder today: A major international operation has taken no fewer than 48 of the most popular booter services offline. The operation, known as "Power...

"Baby dumped at the gate" post is a Facebook hoax

Every so often, bizarre but oddly believable scams do the rounds on Facebook. And so we have the latest: A tragic tale of a lost baby left outside the gate of someones house. The abandoned baby Facebook hoax springs into action A post made to Facebook December 1st by someone claiming to be in the...