Google Chrome wants to hide your IP address

Google is working out some kinks in the project formerly known as Gnatcatcher, which will now be known under the more descriptive name “IP Protection.” Which means that Chrome is reintroducing a proposal to hide users IP addresses, to make cross-site tracking more difficult. An Internet Protocol ...

MGM attack is too late a wake-up call for businesses, says James Fair: Lock and Code S04E22

This week on the Lock and Code podcast… In September, the Las Vegas casino and hotel operator MGM Resorts became a trending topic on social media… but for all the wrong reasons. A TikTok user posted a video taken from inside the casino floor of the MGM Grand—the companys flagship hotel complex ne...

Battling a new DarkGate malware campaign with Malwarebytes MDR

First publicly reported in 2018, DarkGate is a Windows-based malware with a wide-range of capabilities including credential stealing and remote access to victim endpoints. Until recently, it was only seen being delivered through traditional email malspam campaigns. In late August 2023, however,...

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 16 – October 22)

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

Ragnar Locker ransomware group taken down

Even though it had a long run for a ransomware group, it seems the bell might be tolling for Ragnar Locker. On October 19, 2023, the group’s leak site was seized by an international group of law enforcement agencies. The take down action was carried out between 16 and 20 October. During the actio...

IT administrators’ passwords are awful too

The key is under the doormat by the front door. The administrator password is "admin". These are easy to remember clues when you are providing entrance to someone you trust. The problem is that they are also enormously easy to guess. It’s where we would expect an unwanted visitor to check first,...

The hot topics from Europe’s largest trade fair for IT security

IT-SA Expo & Congress claims to be Europes largest trade fair for IT security. And it really covers a wide range of security and security-related products and services. The event takes place in Nuremberg, Germany and provides an opportunity for vendors to show themselves to the public, create new...

Clever malvertising attack uses Punycode to look like KeePass’s official website

Threat actors are known for impersonating popular brands in order to trick users. In a recent malvertising campaign, we observed a malicious Google ad for KeePass, the open-source password manager which was extremely deceiving. We previously reported on how brand impersonations are a common...

3 crucial security steps people should do, but don't

Cybersecurity could be as easy as 1-2-3. The problem, though, is that people have to want it. In new research conducted by Malwarebytes, internet users across the United States and Canada admitted to dismal cybersecurity practices, failing to adopt some of the most basic defenses for staying safe...

Cisco IOS XE vulnerability widely exploited in the wild

An authentication bypass affecting Cisco IOS X was disclosed on October 16, 2023. Researchers have found since then that the vulnerability is widely being exploited in the wild to help install implants on affected switches and routers. Cisco IOS XE is a universally deployed Internetworking...

The US wants governments to commit to not paying ransoms

As the White House prepares to host its annual International Counter Ransomware Initiative CRI summit, Bloomberg reports that the US is pushing other countries to stop paying ransoms to cybercriminals. The CRI wants to enhance international cooperation to combat the growth of ransomware, and its ...

The forgotten malvertising campaign

In recent weeks, we have noted an increase in malvertising campaigns via Google searches. Several of the threat actors we are tracking have improved their techniques to evade detection throughout the delivery chain. We believe this evolution will have a real world impact among corporate users...

Customer data stolen from gaming cloud host Shadow

Cloud infrastructure provider Shadow has warned of the data theft of over 500,000 customers. The customers were informed by a breach notification which was posted online. Cloud is known in the gaming world and, among other things, allows gamers to play resource heavy games on lower-end devices, T...

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...

Explained: Quishing

Quishing is phishing using QR Quick Response codes. QR codes are basically two-dimensional barcodes that hold encoded data, and they can be used to work as a link. Point your phone's camera at a QR code and it will ask you if you want to visit the link. The use of QR codes in malicious campaigns ...

Update now! Atlassian Confluence vulnerability is being actively exploited

Microsoft Threat Intelligence has revealed that it has been tracking the active exploitation of a vulnerability in Atlassian Confluence software since September 14, 2023. At the time the attacks were first observed the vulnerability was a zero-day, meaning that no update was available, so defende...

Giant health insurer struck by ransomware didn't have antivirus protection

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation PhilHealth, has confirmed that it was unprotected by antivirus software when it was attacked by the Medusa ransomware group in September. Antivirus software--or more correctly, its modern descendents endpoint security and Endpoint Detection and Response...

Ransomware review: October 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 those where the victim did not pay a ransom. This provides the best overall picture of...

Stalkerware activity drops as glaring spying problem is revealed

North America has a spying problem. Its perpetrators are everyday people. According to recent research from Malwarebytes, 62 percent of people in the United States and Canada admitted to monitoring their romantic partners online in one form or another, from looking through a spouses or significan...

CISA catalog passes 1,000 known-to-be-exploited vulnerabilities. Celebration time, or is it?

On September 18, 2023, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency CISA announced that its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities KEV catalog has reached the milestone of covering more than 1,000 vulnerabilities since its launch in November 2021. This may seem like a lot, but with over 25,000 new...

[updated] 23andMe user data stolen, offered for sale

Information belonging to as many as seven million 23andMe customers has been put up for sale on criminal forums following a credential stuffing attack against the genomics company. On Friday October 6, 2023, 23andMe confirmed via a somewhat opaque blog post that threat actors had "obtained...

AI sneak attacks, location spying, and definitely not malware, or, what one teenager fears online: Lock and Code S04E21

This week on the Lock and Code podcast... What are you most worried about online? And what are you doing to stay safe? Depending on who you are, those could be very different answers, but for teenagers and members of Generation Z, the internet isn't so scary because of traditional threats like...

Upgrading your Android device? Read this first

Last month, we wrote an article about what to do when upgrading your iPhone. Since then, we've received several requests to do a similar post about Android devices. Providing uniform and easy to follow instructions is a bit harder to do for Android, because there are many differences between make...

A week in security (October 2 - October 8)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Multi-factor authentication has proven it works, so what are we waiting for? Amazon Prime email scammer snatches defeat from the jaws of victory 2023 MITRE ATT&CK® Evaluation results: Malwarebytes earns high marks for detection, blocks initial malware executions...

Multi-factor authentication has proven it works, so what are we waiting for?

Recently, Amazon announced that it will require all privileged Amazon Web Services AWS accounts to use multi-factor authentication MFA, starting in mid-2024. Our regular readers will know that we feel that passwords alone are not adequate protection, especially not for your important accounts. So...

Amazon Prime email scammer snatches defeat from the jaws of victory

More often than not, its our solemn duty on this site to keep you informed about the nature and tactics of dangerous, cunnning, and persistent cybercriminals. This is not one of those days. In fact, this is the oppposite of one of those days. This is about a passable spam email sent by a spammer...

2023 MITRE ATT&CK® Evaluation results: Malwarebytes earns high marks for detection, blocks initial malware executions

MITRE Engenuity released its 2023 ATT&CK Evaluation results, with Malwarebytes blocking initial malware executions and earning high marks for detection. The evaluation tested 30 vendor solutions against Turla, a sophisticated Russia-based advanced persistent threat APT group with victims in over ...

Update now! Apple patches vulnerabilities on iPhone and iPad

Apple has released iOS 17.0.3, an emergency update fixing two vulnerabilities, one of which has already been exploited by cybercriminals. The update is available for iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 2nd generation and later, iPad Pro 10.5-inch, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iP...

Sony was attacked by two ransomware operators

On September 25, newcomer ransomware group RansomedVC claimed to have successfully compromised the computer systems of entertainment giant Sony. Then, on October 4, news leaked that Sony had told current and former employees and their family members about another cybersecurity breach that exposed...

Meta and TikTok consider charging users for ad-free experience

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Meta is considering charging its European users around $14 a month if they don't agree to personalized ads on Facebook and Instagram. On mobile devices, the price for a single account would be higher because Meta would factor in commissions...

Exim finally fixes 3 out of 6 vulnerabilities

Exim is a message transfer agent MTA originally developed at the University of Cambridge for use on Unix systems connected to the internet, and is freely available under the terms of the GNU General Public Licence. Even though the name may be new to you, a Shodan search revealed 3.5 million serve...

Update your Android devices now! Google patches two actively exploited vulnerabilities

Google has patched 53 vulnerabilities in its Android October security updates, two of which are known to be actively exploited. Google's security bulletin notes that there are indications that these two vulnerabilities may be under limited, targeted exploitation. If your Android phone is at patch...

Gen Z fears physical violence from being online more than anyone else, Malwarebytes finds

The "version history" of the internet was split by what we could do online--simple browsing across Web 1.0s static web pages, instant connection throughout Web 2.0s social platforms, and, into the future, potential new forms of ownership within Web 3.0s dreams of decentralization. But, as...

Meta is using your public Facebook and Instagram posts to train its AI

Post anything publicly on Facebook and Instagram? Meta has likely been using those posts to train its AI, according to the company's top policy executive. In an interview with Reuters, Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg said the company used the public posts to train the LLM large langua...

Ransomware reinfections on the rise from improper remediation

Attack. Remediate. Repeat? Speak to any organization infiltrated by ransomware--the most dangerous malware in the world--and theyll be blunt: Theyd do anything to avoid getting hit twice. But ransomware attacks have been ramping up in 2023 and reinfections are occurring all over the globe, forcin...

Food delivery robots give captured video footage to police

In what sounds like a new step towards Skynet, footage from a food delivery robot has been used as part of a criminal investigation. As 404 Media reports, the food delivery robots that are deployed for Uber Eats in Los Angeles are operated by Serve Robotics, which ultimately wants to deploy up to...

FBI warns of multiple ransomware attacks on same victim

The Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI has released a notification that highlights two trends emerging across the ransomware environment. The trends the FBI says it's noticed since July 2023 are: Multiple ransomware attacks on the same victim in close date proximity. New data destruction tactics...

A week in security (September 25 - October 1)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Dependabot impersonators cause trouble on GitHub Update Chrome now! Google patches another actively exploited vulnerability Googles Bard conversations turn up in search results Malicious ad served inside Bing's AI chatbot Pegasus spyware and how it exploited a WebP...

Dependabot impersonators cause trouble on GitHub

GitHub is experiencing issues of the "breached account and malicious code" variety. ITPro reports that unnamed individuals have been compromising accounts and using them to install malware capable of password theft. Its a fairly elaborate scam which even includes imitation of GitHubs popular...

Update Chrome now! Google patches another actively exploited vulnerability

Google has updated the Stable Channel for Chrome to 117.0.5938.132 for Windows, Mac and Linux. This update includes ten security fixes. According to Google there is an active exploit for one of the patched vulnerabilities, which means cybercriminals are aware of the vulnerability and are using it...

Google’s Bard conversations turn up in search results

Google is coming under scrutiny after people discovered transcripts of conversations with its AI chatbot Bard are being indexed in Google search results. Bard is Googles answer to ChatGPT, and allows users to have conversations with an AI. Services like these have attracted a lot of attention,...

Malicious ad served inside Bing's AI chatbot

In February 2023, Microsoft disclosed its new AI-assisted search engine, Bing Chat, powered by OpenAI's GPT-4. Even though Google has been dominating the search industry for years, this event was significant enough to generate not only interest but also plant the seed for a possible change in the...

Pegasus spyware and how it exploited a WebP vulnerability

Recent events have demonstrated very clearly just how persistent and wide-spread the Pegasus spyware is. For those that have missed the subtle clues, we have tried to construct a clear picture. We attempted to follow the timeline of events, but have made some adjustments to keep the flow of the...

Xenomorph hunts cryptocurrency logins on Android

Cryptocurrency owners should take heed of warnings related to Xenomorph malware--Bleeping Computer reports that the most recent version of Xenomorph now targets various cryptocurrency wallets using fake browser update messaging as bait. Xenomorph is roughly a year old, first springing to prominen...

Malwarebytes MDR wins G2 awards for "Best ROI," "Easiest to Use," and more

Malwarebytes Managed Detection and Response MDR earned a placed in 12 new reports on G2s Fall 2023 reports, winning badges for "Easiest to do Business With," "Best Est. ROI," "Easiest to Use," and "Easiest Admin." Purpose-built for resource constrained teams, Malwarebytes MDR provides IT staff wi...

Malwarebytes Admin update: New Detection screens to manage threats!

We released version 1.2 of the Malwarebytes Admin app for iOS and Android last week, adding new Detection features make it easier to see and manage threats. Designed as a companion to the Nebula console, Malwarebytes Admin allows administrators to quickly review, investigate, and resolve security...

Webinar: Bridging digital transformation & cybersecurity

Digital transformation may be revolutionizing businesses and the way we operate, but it also presents notable challenge: How can organizations stay secure amidst the ceaseless tide of change? Our latest Byte Into Security webinar has the answers. Meet the Experts Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of...

Child health data stolen in registry breach

Canadian healthcare organization Better Outcomes Registry & Network BORN has disclosed a data breach affecting client data. BORN--an Ontario perinatal and child registry that collects, interprets, shares, and protects critical data about pregnancy, birth, and childhood--says it was attacked on Ma...

Credit card thieves target Booking.com customers

Staff in the hospitality industry are trained to accommodate their guests, and when they have a few years of experience under their belt you can be sure they'll have received some extraordinary requests. Which is something that clever cybercriminals are taking advantage of. Researchers at...