Millions of cars could be tracked and unlocked by a hidden security flaw

A car alarm vendor's coding mistake has left millions of vehicles vulnerable to theft and location tracking. Thanks to the way dealers sell car alarms, many affected drivers don't even know they have one installed. The device is the KARR Security System, a Bluetooth-enabled aftermarket alarm buil...

WhatsApp Web chats exposed by Adobe’s Acrobat extension flaw

HermeticReader is the name given to a recently disclosed vulnerability in the Adobe Acrobat PDF extension for Chrome, tracked as CVE-2026-48294. Researchers discovered the issue in early June 2026 and reported it to Adobe, which patched the flaw over a single weekend. They found that a single vis...

Chick-fil-A loyalty accounts hijacked using stolen passwords

Fast-food chain Chick-fil-A is warning customers after attackers hijacked loyalty accounts using stolen passwords in a credential stuffing attack. Chick-fil-A says it detected suspicious login activity against some Chick-fil-A One accounts in June and launched an investigation. The company later...

Paidwork breach exposes data of 23 million users: Check if you’re affected

A data breach at Paidwork, a platform that pays people small amounts to complete online microtasks, has exposed personal and financial information of more than 23 million users. According to public breach reports, the intrusion took place in March 2026, with the stolen database first advertised o...

What happens if you visit a WordPress site hacked through wp2shell?

WordPress has patched a serious core vulnerability chain known as wp2shell, and site owners are understandably focused on updating their own sites. But there’s another question worth asking: what happens to ordinary visitors when they land on a compromised site? Because a hacked website becomes a...

New ClickLock Stealer locks your Mac until you hand over your password

ClickLock Stealer is a new, modular macOS infostealer delivered via ClickFix-style phishing pages that can lock a victim’s Mac, steal their macOS password, browser and password manager data, cryptocurrency wallets, and then leave behind a persistent backdoor. The malware was discovered by Group-I...

Don’t trust that “FBI agent” in your DMs

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center IC3 is warning that scammers are impersonating the bureau on social media and on messaging apps, targeting people who’ve already been victims of cybercrime. The FBI has issued warnings like this before, but scammers posing ...

AI nudify apps spark legal scrutiny of Apple and Google’s profits

You expect all kinds of apps on Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store, from weather monitors to home automation apps and games. What you might not expect are apps that can create non-consensual nude imagery from ordinary photos. But they exist, and the City of San Francisco has had enough. On...

The Odyssey piracy scams appear within hours of the movie’s release

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is one of the biggest movie releases of the year and scammers wasted no time taking advantage of it. Within hours of the film's release, we found scams targeting people looking for pirated copies. Some used fake browser warnings on piracy sites, while others...

Healthcare giant Abbott probes two cyber incidents amid extortion claims

Abbott Laboratories, one of the world's largest healthcare and medical device companies, is investigating two apparently unrelated cyber incidents after confirming unauthorized access to internal systems. While Abbott says there has been no impact on manufacturing, laboratory operations, or patie...

Fake games spread stealers with RenPy Loader, MSBuild and EtherHiding

We have detected several campaigns using fake downloads of games, mods, cracks, and software to spread RenPy Loader. Once installed, the loader starts a complex, multi-stage infection chain that abuses MSBuild and the EtherHiding technique before ultimately delivering Amatera Stealer. Amatera is ...

A week in security (July 13 – July 19)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Shark vacuum flaw exposes cameras, home maps and Wi-Fi passwords How to use GitHub safely The backlash against Flock cameras is spreading Security updates available for Adobe, Chrome, Firefox, VMWare, and Zoom Samsung backs down on threat to delete health data Clau...

Shark vacuum flaw exposes cameras, home maps and Wi-Fi passwords

Shark’s cloud-connected robot vacuums are currently exposed by an unpatched AWS Amazon Web Services IoT Internet of Things policy flaw that could turn one compromised device into a remote-control skeleton key for many others in the same region, with access to cameras, maps, and Wi‑Fi passwords. A...

How to use GitHub safely

GitHub is rapidly becoming the go-to platform for sharing software. Originally built for developers to collaborate on code, it now hosts millions of projects ranging from hobby scripts to widely used applications. That popularity, however, has also made it an attractive delivery platform for...

The backlash against Flock cameras is spreading

Flock-style ALPR systems carry serious privacy and civil-liberties risks, and the backlash is now starting to show up in agency decisions too. For those not yet familiar with Flock, Flock Safety operates an automated license plate recognition ALPR system that uses cameras and computer vision to...

Security updates available for Adobe, Chrome, Firefox, VMWare, and Zoom

Security updates are not just for enterprises with a dedicated security team and a change-management calendar. For consumers and small businesses, they are one of the simplest ways to shut down known attack paths before criminals get a chance to use them. That matters because attackers love these...

Samsung backs down on threat to delete health data

If you pay for something, you expect it to work as intended. The vendor shouldn't start turning features off just because you won't accept its new rules. Someone should tell Samsung, which just upset users of its health app by threatening exactly that—before changing course after a user backlash...

Claude for Chrome flaw could let rogue extensions access your Gmail

First reported in May, ClaudeBleed is basically a “fake remote control” problem. A sneaky browser extension can pretend to be Claude’s own website and secretly drive the Claude for Chrome extension to read your data and take action in your accounts. The Claude for Chrome browser extension is an...

July 2026 Patch Tuesday fixes 622 Microsoft CVEs, including three zero-days

Just one month ago, June 2026 Patch Tuesday broke Microsoft’s previous record with 206 CVEs and three zero‑days. July now triples that count, reinforcing that the era of “small” Patch Tuesdays may be over as AI‑driven vulnerability discovery ramps up. The update includes 59 critical...

This fake Apple app can unlock your Mac’s password vault

CrashStealer is a new macOS infostealer that masquerades as Apple’s CrashReporter component, uses an Apple‑notarized installer to slip past Gatekeeper, tricks users into handing over their password, and then systematically loots browsers, password managers, crypto wallets, and Keychain secrets...

Warning: Scammers are using FaceTime to empty bank accounts

Apple is urging users to treat any suspicious FaceTime call or message as untrusted, especially if it involves payments, refunds, password resets, or requests for personal information. This warning appears in a broader Apple support article about scams that target iPhone and iPad users through...

The inside job that cost ransomware victims millions

When a ransomware crew locks up your servers, the outside negotiator you hire has to know everything about you so that they can negotiate a smaller ransom payment. You tell them what your cyber-insurance covers and what your board is willing to pay. You have to. That's the whole reason you hire...

Trusting your kids online isn’t enough (Lock and Code S07E14)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … There is a lot going on right now regarding the safety of kids online. In the United States, the majority of state legislatures have passed age verification laws requiring a variety of websites to more rigorously verify the age of their visitors. In the...

Ghostcommit attack hides malicious AI instructions in images

Ghostcommit is a proof of concept that shows how AI assistants used to review software code can be tricked by hidden instructions embedded in images. The academic ASSET Research Group showed that an attacker can place instructions inside an image file, point to it in an AGENTS.md file, and get an...

Fake crypto gift card sites are getting harder to spot

You want to turn some crypto into a gift card. You search, click a promising result, and land on a site that looks polished and legitimate: a dark theme, trust badges, and promises of instant delivery and no ID checks. You wouldn't think to question it. But a professional-looking website isn't...

A week in security (July 6 – July 12)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: This new Windows malware can take over your PC and wipe it clean How mule betting scams recruit ordinary people Two Chrome updates in two days fix critical vulnerabilities How World Cup crypto prediction sites take your money 6.9 million driver’s license numbers...

This new Windows malware can take over your PC and wipe it clean

Microsoft published new research on GigaWiper, a modular Golang backdoor for Windows that combines robust remote access with multiple ways to permanently destroy systems and data. GigaWiper is a Windows backdoor that Microsoft has observed in intrusions since October 2025. Rather than being a...

How mule betting scams recruit ordinary people

Mule betting or third-party betting account scams are a form of money mule scam where criminals recruit or coerce people into opening gambling accounts in their own name. The criminals then use those accounts to place bets to help launder money and obscure the source or ownership of funds. The UK...

Two Chrome updates in two days fix critical vulnerabilities

Updating Chrome is becoming an almost daily task lately. But it’s too important to ignore. On Wednesday, July 8, Google released another Chrome update, just one day later after the previous one. Between them, the two updates fixed 27 security vulnerabilities, including two critical flaws that cou...

How World Cup crypto prediction sites take your money

Crypto prediction and betting sites are appearing around the World Cup, and researchers have already tracked scams aimed at fans, including fake ticketing, fixed-match betting, prediction scams, and fan-branded meme coins. We investigated one prediction site ourselves. While we aren't claiming...

6.9 million driver’s license numbers stolen from AssuranceAmerica

Insurance provider AssuranceAmerica has confirmed a data breach affecting the personal information and driver’s license numbers of up to 6.9 million people. AssuranceAmerica provides car and rental insurance to customers across 14 US states through a network of over 9,500 independent agents...

Microsoft fixes RoguePlanet zero-day in Defender

Microsoft issued a security update that fixes the zero-day vulnerability known as RoguePlanet in Microsoft Defender. RoguePlanet is tracked as CVE-2026-50656, a Microsoft Defender elevation of privilege EoP vulnerability. As we reported last month, if successfully exploited, RoguePlanet can allow...

Turn off this Meta setting before someone generates AI images of you

Every consumer app has a settings menu that lets you make decisions about things like notifications or dark mode. Meta has just decided that anyone can generate AI images of you from your public Instagram account by typing your Instagram handle into a prompt. On July 7, Meta launched its AI image...

Your next car could be watching your face

To reduce traffic incidents, all new cars sold in the EU must now include driver-monitoring technology, including Driver Drowsiness and Attention Warning DDAW systems and, on newer vehicles, Advanced Driver Distraction Warning ADDW systems. Similar requirements are expected in the US, where the...

How the Reddit and Discord false report scam steals accounts

A stranger messages you on Reddit. They say someone reported them, and the reporting account looks a lot like yours. Was it you? It wasn't. That's not really the point of the message. This version relies entirely on social engineering. There is no malware and no malicious links. It starts with a...

Fake Netflix, Coca-Cola, and FIFA job scams target marketers

Attackers are impersonating major companies and recruiters to target marketing professionals, using trusted services and browser tricks to make the scam look legitimate. A BleepingComputer article detailing the campaign found at least 34 domains impersonating high-value companies, including...

Claude Code’s hidden tracker was an “experiment,” says Anthropic

As a developer, you want to use tools you can trust and rely on. One researcher took that idea seriously enough to scrutinize their local Claude Code 2.1.196 installation. For developers using AI assistants with access to their code, files, and terminal, understanding what those tools are doing...

Scammers are using AI to sell impossible flowers

We've had problems with deepfake celebrity scams, non-consensual deepfake sexual material, and deepfake politicians. Now we have to deal with… deepfake plants? Yup, AI seed slop is now a thing. 404 Media documented scammers marketing seeds for plants that supposedly bloom in the shape of birds,...

How to tell if an image is AI-generated

A photo of an injured dog by the roadside. A dating profile with pictures that look almost too perfect. A donation appeal showing a family stranded on a rooftop after a flood. Scammers are already using AI-generated images to support fake stories, build trust, and persuade people to send money or...

Choose your WhatsApp username carefully

Dutch consumer organization Consumentenbond has warned users to be careful when choosing their optional WhatsApp username. Meta announced the introduction of usernames on June 29, 2026, and encouraged users to reserve their username now. Meta offers this feature as: “a major privacy feature...

NetNut botnet takes a hit. Don’t be part of the next one.

In a joint operation, Google, the FBI, and other partners have dealt a significant blow to the residential proxy ecosystem by disrupting the NetNut also tracked as Popa botnet. NetNut is a malicious service built on millions of hijacked consumer devices. NetNut marketed itself as a high-quality...

A week in security (June 29 – July 5)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Verified X ad spreads Mac malware, while ConsentFix steals Microsoft accounts Apple’s Hide My Email doesn’t hide it very well Fake Google and Cloudflare verification pages spread multiple malware families WinRAR flaw could allow attackers to take control of your...

Verified X ad spreads Mac malware, while ConsentFix steals Microsoft accounts

Cybercriminals are finding new ways to trick people into compromising their own devices and accounts. One campaign used a sponsored ad on X to target Mac users, while another technique, dubbed ConsentFix, steals Microsoft 365 accounts without installing malware. Verified X account used in Mac...

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...

Fake Google and Cloudflare verification pages spread multiple malware families

Updated July 6 to add connections with SyncTDS and TrafficTDS ClickFix attacks, which trick people into running malicious commands themselves, continue to evolve. This latest campaign uses fake Google and Cloudflare verification pages to convince victims to infect their own devices. A single...

WinRAR flaw could allow attackers to take control of your computer

Rarlab has released a new version of the popular WinRAR tool to patch a vulnerability that can be abused in remote code execution attacks. The issue is fixed in WinRAR 7.23, but users must install the new version manually because WinRAR still does not offer automatic updates. They also need to ma...

Fake Perplexity Chrome extension spies on your searches

Type "Perplexity" into the Chrome Web Store and you get a range of browser extensions offering access to the popular AI search service. Until last week, one of them was called "Search for perplexity ai ," and it delivered something extra that users hadn't bargained for: a small hidden surveillanc...

BioShocking: when “gaming” AI agents is no longer a game

AI-powered browsers and agents promise to take the drudgery out of web tasks. They can summarize pages, pull data from your accounts, and even act as a smart assistant that clicks and types for you. But new research shows that when those assistants lose track of what’s real and what’s just a game...

Chrome needs another whopper update to fix 382 security bugs

If there was ever a time when it dawned on users how full of holes the software they’ve been using is, it’s now. Last month Microsoft pushed out its biggest patch Tuesday update ever. And yesterday, on the last day of June, Google published an update which included a whopping 382 security fixes...

ChatGPT produced graphic violent images that shocked researchers

AI assistants like ChatGPT are supposed to be safe to use, with appropriate guardrails to stop people creating harmful content. However, a British AI security firm just figured out how to make ChatGPT produce explicit material. Mindgard, a company that tests AI engines for weaknesses, found that ...