A week in security (June 1 – June 7)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Your phone called. It needs a cleanup. Fake BlueWallet steals passwords, accounts, and crypto from Macs Fake virus alerts are invading mobile games 23andMe exposed genetic information of millions, lawsuit says These convincing copyright notices are designed to stea...

AI: Threat, tool, or both?

Public attitudes toward Artificial Intelligence AI are changing, and we wanted to understand why. A recent Pew Research survey found that about half of adults say the increased use of AI in daily life makes them more concerned than excited, and that concern has grown over the last few years. Peop...

Travel scams are everywhere. Here’s how to avoid them

Planning a holiday should be exciting, fun, and not a cybersecurity risk. But booking flights, hotels, and rental properties often means sharing sensitive personal and financial information across multiple platforms. Combined with frequent travel scams and recurring data breaches in the travel an...

Meta’s AI support bot happily handed Instagram accounts to hackers

Customer service chatbots have one job: get the user what they're asking for without bothering a human. Meta's new AI support assistant took that brief a little too seriously. Over the past few months, attackers have been opening support chats, telling the bot they were locked out of Instagram...

We found this fake-invoice campaign while scammers were still building it

A new batch of fake payment invoices is being staged right now, and we caught the campaign while it was still being put together. The emails impersonate PayPal, Amazon, and Geek Squad, and others, and they all share one goal: to scare you into calling a phone number where a fake "support agent" i...

Keep getting calls from questionable numbers? Meet Scam Number Check

Have you ever gotten a phone call and had a gut feeling that those random digits looked extra suspicious? It happens to millions of people every day. While many people have trained themselves to ignore such calls, they still pose a threat across the US. In fact, scammers stole more than $21 billi...

Infostealers are becoming the go-to phishing payload

Phishing has changed. Slowly but surely, cybercriminals are turning to infostealers instead. Traditional phishing hasn't gone away. Far from it. But many attackers are no longer focused solely on tricking victims into entering usernames and passwords on fake login pages. Instead, they are using...

These convincing copyright notices are designed to steal Google logins

A new scam is targeting people who publish Chrome extensions. The scam arrives as an official-looking "copyright removal request" claiming your extension is about to be removed from the Chrome Web Store and that you have 48 hours to appeal. It even looks personalized. After you enter your...

23andMe exposed genetic information of millions, lawsuit says

California has sued the former shell of DNA testing company 23andMe over alleged security failures and misleading statements surrounding its 2023 data breach. On May 27, 2026, Attorney General Rob Bonta filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court against Chrome Holding Co., the company now handlin...

Fake virus alerts are invading mobile games

Sometimes it happens. You’re happily playing a game on your phone or laptop when suddenly alarms pop up out of nowhere: " Your device is infected!" " Your iCloud is full!" " Your account is restricted for watching porn!" Some games can be played for free if you agree to watch ads, and in others y...

Fake BlueWallet steals passwords, accounts, and crypto from Macs

A fake website impersonating BlueWallet a real Bitcoin wallet is targeting Mac users with a simple but effective attack. BlueWallet itself has not been compromised. Instead, cybercriminals have stolen the name and branding of the legitimate Bitcoin wallet to make a malicious download appear...

Your phone called. It needs a cleanup.

Does it sometimes take your phone a few minutes to accomplish one simple task? That can be wildly frustrating. But you’re in luck, because we’ve got a free tool that scans your phone for leftover files, temporary data, outdated caches and helps you clean up all that junk. Introducing our Junk...

A week in security (May 25 – May 31)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Payment apps are watching what you say Lock and Code S07E11 Scammers pretending to be Microsoft had help from US executives 700+ education and tech websites hijacked in huge ClickFix malware campaign Fake software on GitHub and SourceForge distribute Deno RAT Fake...

Payment apps are watching what you say (Lock and Code S07E11)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … In the United States today, you can have your bank account closed, your credit cards cancelled, and your online payments revoked for any number of crimes, like funding terrorism, engaging in money laundering, or violating sanctions. Sensible, right? Well,...

Signal users targeted in backup-stealing phishing attacks

A new phishing campaign is targeting Signal users by attempting to steal their backup recovery keys to access encrypted message archives. The attack is initiated by a text message pretending to come from Signal Support. “Action Required: Data Recovery Needed Your Signal account data message and...

Carnival confirms data breach impacting nearly 6 million

Carnival Corporation, parent of Carnival Cruise Line, is sending out fresh “Notice of Cybersecurity Event” letters dated May 27, 2026. If you feel like you've read that sentence before, you're not imagining things. Over the last decade, the world’s largest cruise operator has accumulated a worryi...

Your Windows PC has a security deadline in June 2026

A Secure Boot certificate refresh is rolling out across supported Windows devices through Windows Update. In June 2026, the Secure Boot certificates that have shipped inside Windows since 2011 begin to expire, and Microsoft is replacing them with new 2023-dated certificates. The good news: If you...

Fake ChatGPT download site infects Windows and Mac users with malware

A convincing fake website is impersonating OpenAI’s ChatGPT download page and infecting visitors with malware designed to steal passwords, browser data, cryptocurrency wallets, and other sensitive information. The site, openew.app, closely mimics OpenAI’s real ChatGPT download experience and offe...

Kali365 phishing kit bypasses MFA and steals Microsoft logins

When the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI publishes a dedicated public service announcement about a new phishing kit, it’s worth paying attention to. The agency is now warning about “Kali365,” a phishing‑as‑a‑service PhaaS platform that helps even low‑skilled attackers hijack Microsoft 365...

Company bragged phone mics could listen to conversations. They couldn’t.

A media company and two of its marketing partners have been fined for selling a service which, they said, listened in to people's conversations through their phones. Actually they did nothing of the sort. Most people have worried at some point that their phone has been listening to them through t...

Fake LinkedIn emails abuse Adobe to track victims

Cybercriminals are abusing Adobe infrastructure in a LinkedIn phishing campaign that steals passwords and redirects victims to the legitimate LinkedIn site afterward. The phishing email masquerades as a business inquiry designed to look like it's come via LinkedIn and includes a fake “contract”...

Fake software on GitHub and SourceForge distribute Deno RAT

During our threat hunting activities, we found fake installers and plugins impersonating popular software including ChatGPT, Claude, AutoTune, and Kontakt on GitHub and SourceForge distributing a Deno backdoor known as DinDoor. Attackers are using compromised YouTube channels to distribute links ...

700+ education and tech websites hijacked in huge ClickFix malware campaign

Attackers are abusing a critical Ghost Content Management System CMS vulnerability to hijack more than 700 legitimate websites and inject a fake Cloudflare verification step that tricks visitors into running a Windows command that installs malware. These social engineering campaigns—where website...

Scammers pretending to be Microsoft had help from US executives

A pop-up appears on your computer, warning of a virus. You call the "Microsoft technician" in the pop-up message, and they explain that they need remote access to fix it. Most of us know this script by now. It's a scam, operated by people intent on siphoning money from your account. A court case...

A week in security (May 18 – May 24)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Update Chrome now: Critical bugs could let attackers run code Microsoft Defender vulnerabilities are being exploited in the wild TikTok, YouTube, and Roblox face scrutiny, but age gates won’t fix child safety Catch spyware in the act with Windows Webcam Monitoring...

Update Chrome now: Critical bugs could let attackers run code

Google has issued updates for the Chrome browser patching a number of high‑severity vulnerabilities. The update includes fixes for two critical vulnerabilities that can be used for remote code execution just by visiting a malicious website. The stable channel has been updated to 148.0.7778.178/17...

Microsoft Defender vulnerabilities are being exploited in the wild

Two Microsoft Defender vulnerabilities are being actively exploited in the wild. On May 20, 2026, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA added a notable set of actively exploited vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities KEV catalog. The KEV catalog tracks...

TikTok, YouTube, and Roblox face scrutiny, but age gates won’t fix child safety

A damaging new report from Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, has delivered a stark verdict: TikTok and YouTube's content feeds are "not safe enough" for children. This isn't just another regulatory slap on the wrist. Ofcom is putting out a wake-up call for anyone working in cybersecurity,...

Catch spyware in the act with Windows Webcam Monitoring

You’re working hard late at night, replying to emails and planning the week ahead. Then suddenly, a PDF file requests access to your camera. Why would a PDF need camera access? Cybercriminals often disguise spyware inside seemingly harmless files and programs. An unexpected request for access to...

Researchers left AI agents alone in a virtual town and watched it all unravel

Tech leaders have spent the past year telling everyone that AI agents are about to run financial systems, file your tax returns, and quietly buy your groceries. Just leave them alone, the rhetoric goes; they'll handle it. But a New York startup left ten of them alone in a virtual town for two...

Fake malware-signing service Fox Tempest dismantled by Microsoft

Microsoft says it dismantled a malware-signing-as-a-service MSaaS called Fox Tempest, which helped cybercriminals make malware appear legitimate. The service let customers submit malicious files to be digitally signed with short-lived Microsoft-issued certificates, making the malware look...

Firefox 151 packs big privacy upgrades into a small update

Mozilla has published release notes for Firefox browser version 151.0, and this update includes several genuinely meaningful privacy and security improvements. Three changes stand out in particular: Stronger anti‑fingerprinting Broader protection for local network access More control over private...

Biometrics, diagnoses, and bank details exposed in major healthcare breach

NYC Health + Hospitals NYC H+H posted a data breach notice about a months‑long breach via a third‑party vendor that exposed highly sensitive patient and employee data for at least 1.8 million people, including medical records, government IDs, geolocation data, and even fingerprint and palm‑print...

Facebook scam promises cheap Aldi meat boxes, steals payment info instead

Sometimes you spot posts on social media that make you wonder if any moderation takes place at all. Which is concerning, because two- thirds of all online shopping scams now start on Facebook and Instagram. Online shopping scams are alarmingly common and have become one of the most frequently...

YouTube wants your face to fight deepfakes

If you're worried about deepfake likenesses of yourself showing up online, you're not alone; YouTube is worried for you. It wants to protect you by having you upload a selfie video and government ID to its site. The idea is that the video giant will use its own AI to patrol the service for fake...

Microsoft is changing Edge’s plaintext password behavior

Microsoft said it will change Edge’s password handling as a “defense‑in‑depth” measure. Originally, Edge decrypted the entire saved‑password store on startup and kept all credentials resident in process memory in clear text for the whole browser session, regardless of whether a given credential w...

A week in security (May 11 – May 17)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Attackers replaced JDownloader installer downloads with malware Meta’s confusing new approach to chat privacy Why Malwarebytes blocks some Yahoo Mail redirects Fake Claude search results lure Mac users into ClickFix attack Deepfake sextortion forces schools to remo...

AI is distorting the Holocaust (Lock and Code S07E10)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … In May of last year, a warning about AI came from somewhere unexpected: The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Posting publicly on social media, the museum warned about a Facebook account using generative AI to create fake images of people who died in the...

Attackers replaced JDownloader installer downloads with malware

If you downloaded the JDownloader installer during the compromise window May 6-7, you are advised to verify the file. JDownloader is a popular download management application, particularly favored for automated downloads from file-hosting services, video sites, and premium link generators. The...

Meta’s confusing new approach to chat privacy

Recent news had us wondering whether Meta actually knows what it wants. On one platform, Meta is promoting AI chats that it says even it cannot read. On another, it has removed one of the few features that genuinely prevented Meta from accessing private conversations. "Meta removed support for...

Why Malwarebytes blocks some Yahoo Mail redirects

Some Malwarebytes users have recently noticed frequent web protection alerts while reading email in Yahoo Mail’s web interface. These alerts are caused by background connections from the Yahoo Mail page to a set of third‑party domains that our products and other security tools currently classify ...

Deepfake sextortion forces schools to remove student photos from websites

Schools love a good photo, whether it's from a trip to a castle, a science prize ceremony, or sports day shot from three angles. For two decades, celebratory images like these have gone straight onto school websites, captioned with a name and a grade. But those days are gone, because it's the...

Texas sued Netflix over claims it secretly collected and sold users’ data

Attorney General AG of Texas Ken Paxton announced that he sued Netflix for spying on Texans, including children, and collecting users’ data without their knowledge or consent. The suit alleges Netflix secretly tracks and monetizes detailed viewing behavior of users, including children, while...

May 2026 Patch Tuesday: no zero-days but plenty to fix

This month’s Patch Tuesday remedies 137 security vulnerabilities, including 31 marked critical by Microsoft, with no zero-days actively exploited in the wild. Microsoft defines a zero-day as “a flaw in software for which no official patch or security update is available yet.” This month, Microsof...

Fake Claude search results lure Mac users into ClickFix attack

Researchers found that cybercriminals are using sponsored search results and shared Claude chats to lure victims into a typical ClickFix attack to install malware on macOS devices. ClickFix is a social engineering method that tricks users into infecting their own device with malware. Users are...

1 in 8 employees have sold company logins or know someone who has

UK anti-fraud non-profit Cifas just published research that should bother anyone who runs a business, or buys from one: One in eight workers at large enterprises have either sold their company login credentials or know someone who did. The internet is awash with compromised credentials that...

Stolen Canvas data was “returned” after hacker agreement, Instructure says

The Instructure/Canvas data breach that has dominated cybersecurity coverage recently has reached a new stage. Millions of students had personal data stolen, with extortion group ShinyHunters claiming credit for the data breach and applying extra pressure for their ransom demands by bothering...

Yarbo responds to robot flaws that could mow down their owners

A researcher found that Yarbo yard robots came with a host of vulnerabilities which, among others, allowed an attacker to harvest WiFi passwords. Security researcher Andreas Makris found he could remotely hijack thousands of Yarbo yard robots worldwide, and proved it by having his mower run him...

A week in security (May 4 – May 10)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Microsoft says Edge’s plaintext password behavior is "by design" ShinyHunters escalates Canvas attacks with school login defacements Massive AI investment scam network spans 15,500 domains If a fake moustache can fool age checks, is the Online Safety Act working?...

Microsoft says Edge’s plaintext password behavior is “by design”

Some time ago, we discussed whether you should allow your browser to remember your passwords. In that article we mentioned the importance of encryption. “ With a browser password manager, someone with access to your browser could see your passwords in clear text, although Windows can be set to as...