LinkedIn bots and spear phishers target job seekers

Microsoft's social network for professionals, LinkedIn, is an important platform for job recruiters and seekers alike. It's also a place where criminals go to find new potential victims. Like other social media platforms, LinkedIn is no stranger to bots attracted to special keywords and hashtags...

Comcast and Truist Bank customers impacted by debt collector’s breach

A data breach at Financial Business and Consumer Solutions FBCS, a US debt collection agency, has led to the loss of data of some Comcast Cable Communications and Truist Bank customers. FBCS is in the business of collecting unpaid debts on behalf of its customers. The data breach occurred in...

Not Black Mirror: Meta’s smart glasses used to reveal someone’s identity just by looking at them

Like something out of Black Mirror, two students have demonstrated a way to use smart glasses and facial recognition technology to immediately reveal people’s names, phone numbers, and addresses. The Harvard students have dubbed the system I-XRAY and it works like this: When you look at someone’s...

Your partner “is cheating on you” scam asks you to pay to see proof

As if they weren’t annoying enough already, scammers have recently introduced new pressure tactics to their sextortion and scam emails. Last week we reported how cybercriminals are using photographs of targets homes in order to scare them into paying money. Now theyre throwing in the name of...

Malwarebytes awarded Parent Tested Parent Approved Seal of Approval

We’re delighted to say Malwarebytes has been awarded the Parent Tested Parent Approved Seal of Approval for product excellence. The Seal of Approval is given to products that have earned the trust of families, and serves as a quick and reliable indicator of quality and dependability for parents a...

AI girlfriends want to know all about you. So might ChatGPT (Lock and Code S05E17)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast… Somewhere out there is a romantic AI chatbot that wants to know everything about you. But in a revealing overlap, other AI tools—which are developed and popularized by far larger companies in technology—could crave the very same thing. For AI tools of any...

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...

Royal Mail schools LockBit in leaked negotiation

The LockBit group has finally given up any prospect of extracting a ransom from Royal Mail and published the files it stole from the company in a recent ransomware attack. The leak brings weeks of negotiations to a close, leaving Royal Mail without a decryptor, and LockBit without a payday...

BOD 23-01: Improving asset visibility and vulnerability detection on federal networks

On October 3, 2022, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA issued Binding Operational Directive 23-01 BOD 23-10. This directive requires all Federal Civilian Executive Branch FCEB entities to maintain an inventory of all IPv4- and IPv6-networked assets, perform regular, periodi...

Fake GTA 6 Extended Look and demo sites deliver an infostealer

GTA 6 footage really has leaked online, and Rockstar has an official Extended Look coming to Netflix on August 27. But cybercriminals are exploiting the hype with fake Rockstar sites that lead visitors to password-stealing malware. We identified a network of sites appearing in searches for a GTA ...

Medical records, SSNs, and bank details exposed in CareCloud data breach

Healthcare technology giant CareCloud has confirmed that a data breach earlier this year impacted more than 3.75 million people, making it one of the largest healthcare data incidents disclosed this year. The New Jersey-based company, which provides electronic health record EHR and practice...

Patch Tuesday: Update now to fix 421 flaws, including three zero-days

Microsoft’s August 2026 Patch Tuesday addresses 421 Microsoft vulnerabilities, including 62 rated Critical. One Windows vulnerability has been exploited in the wild by the Lazarus group to gain SYSTEM privileges. The August update is smaller than July’s record-breaking release, but it's still amo...

Bogus Avast website fakes virus scan, installs Venom Stealer instead

A fake website impersonating Avast antivirus is tricking people into infecting their own computers. The site looks legitimate, runs what appears to be a virus scan, and claims your system is full of threats. But the results are fake: when you’re prompted to “fix” the problem, the download you’re...

The March Madness scam playbook

March Madness is the annual men's and women's NCAA Division I basketball tournament, where 68 teams play in a single-elimination bracket for the US national championship. But March Madness doesn’t just bring buzzer beaters and busted brackets. It also kicks off a short, intense season for scammer...

Malwarebytes earns PCMag Best Tech Brand spot, scores 100% with MRG Effitas

Malwarebytes is on a roll. Recently named one of PCMag's “Best Tech Brands for 2026,” Malwarebytes also scored 100% on the first-ever MRG Effitas consumer security product test, cementing the fact that we are loved by users and trusted by experts. But don’t take our word for it. As PCMag Principa...

GhostFrame phishing kit fuels widespread attacks against millions

GhostFrame is a new phishing-as-a-service PhaaS kit, tracked since September 2025, that has already powered more than a million phishing attacks. Threat analysts spotted a series of phishing attacks featuring tools and techniques they hadn't seen before. A few months later, they had linked over a...

Deepfakes, AI resumes, and the growing threat of fake applicants

Recruiters expect the odd exaggerated resume, but many companies, including us here at Malwarebytes, are now dealing with something far more serious: job applicants who aren't real people at all. From fabricated identities to AI-generated resumes and outsourced impostor interviews, hiring pipelin...

Canadian police trialling facial recognition bodycams

A municipal police force in Canada is now using facial recognition bodycams, it was revealed this week. The police service in the prairie city of Edmonton is trialling technology from US-based Axon, which makes products for the military and law enforcement. Up to 50 officers are taking part in th...

Should you let Chrome store your driver’s license and passport?

Google has rolled out a new autofill feature for Chrome that goes beyond storing just your passwords, addresses, and credit card numbers. The new "enhanced autofill" can now stash your driver's license, passport details, VIN, or license plate information. Sounds convenient, right? But just becaus...

School’s AI system mistakes a bag of chips for a gun

An artificial intelligence AI detection system at Kenwood High School mistakenly flagged a student’s bag of potato chips as a gun, triggering a police response. The 16-year-old had finished eating a bag of Doritos and crumpled it up in his pocket when he was done. But the school’s AI-based gun...

AI-driven scams are preying on Gen Z’s digital lives​

Gone are the days when extortion was only the plot line of crime dramas—today, these threatening tactics target anyone with a smartphone. As AI makes fake voices and videos sound and look real, high-pressure plays like sextortion, deepfakes, and virtual kidnapping feel more believable than ever...

A week in security (September 29 – October 5)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: From threats to apology, hackers pull child data offline after public backlash Your Meta AI conversations may come back as ads in your feed Scam Facebook groups send malicious Android malware to seniors Sendit tricked kids, harvested their data, and faked messages,...

Sendit tricked kids, harvested their data, and faked messages, FTC claims

The Federal Trade Commission FTC has sued Sendit’s parent company, saying it signed up children under 13, collected their personal data, and misled them with fake messages and recurring bills. The lawsuit, filed against the app's owner Iconic Hearts Holdings Inc and CEO Hunter Rice, alleges the...

iCloud Calendar infrastructure abused in PayPal phishing campaign

Once again, phishers are targeting PayPal users by abusing existing legitimate infrastructure. Only this time they’re not abusing PayPal’s platform, but iCloud Calendar invites. Our friends over at BleepingComputer unraveled a call-back phishing scam which was sent to one of their readers. “Pedro...

Nexar dashcam video database hacked

A hacker cracked into a database of video recordings taken from Nexar-branded cameras, which are built to be placed drivers’ cars, according to a new report from 404 Media. Nexar is a dashcam company that promotes its products as “virtual CCTV cameras” and offers automatic cloud uploads of critic...

More vulnerable stalkerware victims’ data exposed in new TheTruthSpy flaw

TheTruthSpy is at it again. A security researcher has discovered a flaw in the Android-based stalkerware that allows anyone to compromise any record in the system. TheTruthSpy stalkerware is designed to be installed surreptitiously on a victim's Android phone. It then monitors that phone's...

Adoption agency leaks over a million records

Security researcher Jeremiah Fowler found a publicly accessible database online that contained highly personal information from an adoption agency. Jeremiah, who specializes in locating exposed cloud storage, is used to finding sensitive information exposed. However, because of the nature of the...

Dating app scammer cons former US army colonel into leaking national secrets

Even hard-headed military types can fall victim to romance scams, it seems. A former US army colonel faces up to ten years in prison after revealing national secrets on a foreign dating app. David Slater was a retired colonel in the US army who took up work as a civilian at US Strategic Command,...

Is AI “healthy” to use? (Lock and Code S06E14)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … “Health” isn’t the first feature that most anyone thinks about when trying out a new technology, but a recent spate of news is forcing the issue when it comes to artificial intelligence AI. In June, The New York Times reported on a group of ChatGPT users w...

CNN, BBC, and CNBC websites impersonated to scam people

Researchers have uncovered a large campaign impersonating news websites, such as those from CNN, BBC, CNBC, News24, and ABC News, to promote investment scams. Adding a well known brand to your scammy site is a tale as old as time, and gives it an air of legitimacy that increases the likelihood th...

A week in security (May 26 – June 1)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Porn sites probed for allegedly failing to prevent minors from accessing content Take back control of your browser—Malwarebytes Browser Guard now blocks search hijacking attempts Deepfake-posting man faces huge $450,000 fine Fake AI video generator tools lure in...

Scammers are using AI to impersonate senior officials, warns FBI

The FBI has issued a warning about an ongoing malicious text and voice messaging campaign that impersonates senior US officials. The targets are predominantly current or former US federal or state government officials and their contacts. In the course of this campaign, the cybercriminals have use...

23andMe and its customers’ genetic data bought by a pharmaceutical org

The bankrupt genetic testing company 23andMe has been scooped up by drug producer Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for $256 million dollars. But why would a pharmaceutical company like Regeneron buy a bankrupt genetics testing company like 23andMe for such a large amount of money? Well, Regeneron is a...

Digital rampage saw ex-Disney employee remove nut allergy info from menus, dox co-workers, and more

A former Disney employee, Michael Scheuer, will serve three years in prison for computer fraud and aggravated identity theft after a digital sabotage campaign against his ex-employer. In addition to his sentence, he must pay nearly US$688,000 in restitution. Scheuer, a former menu production...

The dark side of sports betting: How mirror sites help gambling scams thrive

Sports betting is a multi-billion-dollar industry, but behind the flashing lights and promises of easy money lies a hidden underworld of deception. In recent years, shady betting companies have found a clever way to bypass regulations and continue their operations through mirror sites —duplicate...

PayPal scam abuses Docusign API to spread phishy emails

PayPal scammers are using an old Docusign trick to enhance the trustworthiness of their phishing emails. We've received several reports of this recently, so we dug into how the scam works. The Docusign Application Programming Interface API allows “customers” to send emails that come from genuine...

12 Million Zacks accounts leaked by cybercriminal

A cybercriminal claimed to have stolen 15 million data records from the customers and clients of the company Zacks—a number that a separate investigation, after analysis, shaved down to just 12 million. Zacks is an investment research company best known for its "Zacks Ranks," which are daily list...

The DeepSeek controversy: Authorities ask where does the data come from and how safe is it?

The sudden rise of DeepSeek has raised concerns and questions, especially about the origin and destination of the training data, as well as the security of the data. For those returning from a short holiday away from the news, DeepSeek is a new player on the Artificial Intelligence AI field. The...

The great Google Ads heist: criminals ransack advertiser accounts via fake Google ads

Table of contents Overview Criminals impersonate Google Ads Lures hosted on Google Sites Phishing for Google account credentials Victimology Who is behind these campaigns? Fuel for other malware and scam campaigns Indicators of Compromise Overview Online criminals are targeting individuals and...

Medical testing company LifeLabs failed to protect customer data, report finds

In 2019, a ransomware attack hit LifeLabs, a Canadian medical testing company. The ransomware encrypted the lab results of 15 million Canadians, and personally identifiable information PII of 8.6 million people was stolen. After noticing the attack, LifeLabs informed its customers and the Canadia...

AI is everywhere, and Boomers don’t trust it

Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, and Meta AI represent a stronger threat to data privacy than the social media juggernauts that cemented themselves in the past two decades, according to new research on the sentiments of older individuals from Malwarebytes. A...

Large eBay malvertising campaign leads to scams

Tech support scammers are targeting eBay customers in the U.S. via fraudulent Google ads. In a few separate searches, we were able to identify multiple Sponsored results that were created from at least four different advertiser accounts. While most of those ads clearly looked fake, they appeared...

This industry profits from knowing you have cancer, explains Cody Venzke (Lock and Code S05E22)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … On the internet, you can be shown an online ad because of your age, your address, your purchase history, your politics, your religion, and even your likelihood of having cancer. This is because of the largely unchecked “data broker” industry. Data brokers...

A week in security (September 30 – October 6)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Facebook and Instagram passwords were stored in plaintext, Meta fined Android users targeted on Facebook and porn sites, served adware Fake Disney+ activation page redirects to pornographic scam Radiology provider exposed tens of thousands of patient files Not Blac...

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...

City of Columbus tries to silence security researcher

The City of Columbus, Ohio is suing a security researcher for sharing stolen data. All the complaint will accomplish, we imagine, is spotlight the ignorance of certain city officials in handling a common security matter. What happened is that the City of Columbus was attacked by a ransomware grou...

PSA: These ‘Microsoft Support’ ploys may just fool you

Many people turn to their favorite search engine when they are facing an issue with their computer. One common search query is to look for the telephone number or contact form for Microsoft, Apple or one of many other brands. Scammers have long been interested in pretending to be Microsoft...

A week in security (July 15 – July 21)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: CrowdStrike update at center of Windows "Blue Screen of Death" outage Number of data breach victims goes up 1,000% Gen Z breakups tainted by login abuse for spying and stalking, research shows Rite Aid says 2.2 million people affected in data breach AI device Rabbi...

“Amazon got hacked” messages are a false alarm

Amazon customers have been seeing a message on social media that has caused some alarm. Most of the posts look like one of these depending on the social media platform: “PSA!! Amazon got hacked. For USA based people, check your Amazon account. Hackers added HUB lockers as your default delivery...