An analysis of incidents at Brazilian educational institutions

Introduction Because of the amount of data that can be obtained and the high impact that successful attacks may have, educational institutions are frequent targets of cybercriminals. Both public and private schools and universities rely on software for managing personally identifiable information...

Network Anomaly Detection in KATA

Introduction Once the attacker has breached the corporate network, subsequent stages of the attack often involve leveraging standard domain infrastructure protocols: using Kerberos, running DNS queries, accessing internal services, opening network shares, and other common networking actions...

OctLurk and SilkLurk: newly identified tailored backdoors in cyber-espionage campaign in Central Asia

Introduction We have been tracking two new backdoors, OctLurk and SilkLurk , observed in attacks against government organizations primarily in Central Asia since January 2025. Identified victims are located in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and the Syrian Arab...

Toy Ghouls’ new toy: the GenieLocker ransomware

Introduction The new GenieLocker ransomware family has been active since March 2026. It has been used in attacks against organizations in the Russian Federation, primarily in the manufacturing sector, and attributed to the Toy Ghouls group by open-source intelligence link in Russian. The Toy...

Mirage Kitten targets Middle East and Africa region with new malware

Introduction Mirage Kitten – also known as UNC1549, Smoke Sandstorm, and Nimbus Manticore – is an advanced persistent threat APT group focused on cyber-espionage operations against aerospace, aviation, defense, and telecommunications sectors across the Middle East and Africa, using highly targete...

A new extortion cocktail: office printers, small ransoms, and BitLocker

Recently, our teams in Latin America investigated a series of incidents involving misconfiguration, the deployment of BitLocker, and the exploitation of corporate printers. Attackers used the devices to notify organizations that their infrastructure had been compromised and they had to pay a rans...

New Project CAV3RN module abuses Outlook calendar events for C2 and DNS AAAA records for configuration recovery

Introduction In June 2026, as part of our Kaspersky Threat Intelligence Reporting service, we published extensive research on Project CAV3RN, a sophisticated modular framework used for cyberespionage activity against targets in Israel. We have been tracking this cluster since December 2025, and i...

HelloNet campaign: new malicious modules launched through the ViPNet update system

UPD 16.07.2026: Added rules to protect companies using our Kaspersky SIEM system, and listed events for developing custom detection rules or conducting threat hunting. UPD 16.07.2026: Added detection of the malicious activity using Kaspersky Managed Detection and Response. UPD 16.07.2026: Added...

GoSerpent: a persistent threat evolves with sophisticated data collection and exfiltration

Introduction In February 2026, we discovered a set of malicious activities that had been ongoing since late 2025. These activities involved a RAT module written in Go with proxy capabilities, which served as the main stage of the attack. The attack targeted government and diplomatic entities in...

OkoBot: new sophisticated malware framework targets cryptocurrency users

Introduction In January 2026, we identified multiple attacks involving unknown malware that captures the contents of cryptocurrency wallet windows. During the investigation, we reconstructed the complete infection chain, which consisted of four tightly linked stages initiated by the execution of...

Threat landscape for industrial automation systems. Q1 2026

All threats The percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked continued to decrease, reaching 19.6% in Q1 2026. This is the lowest value in three years, and it is 1.4 times lower than in Q2 2023. Percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked, Q2 2023–Q1...

When checking the URL isn’t enough: a Device Code Phishing attack via a Microsoft website

One of the most common pieces of anti-phishing advice is to double-check the website's domain name before providing your credentials. Typically, a fraudulent domain stands out to the trained eye, differing from the official URL by at least a few characters. Recently, however, we encountered a...

Armored Likho digging a snake pit: inside the covert BusySnake Stealer campaign

Introduction During our routine threat monitoring, we uncovered a new phishing campaign tied to a previously unknown APT group that we dubbed Armored Likho also known as Eagle Werewolf based on circumstantial evidence. This targeted campaign focuses heavily on government agencies and the electric...

Missed incidents, persistent threats, and response gaps: Insights from compromise assessment projects

The following analysis presents the key findings from Kaspersky Compromise Assessment engagements performed in 2025. A compromise assessment is an independent, expert-driven service that examines whether a target network has been compromised. The service combines threat intelligence analysis...

The SOC Files: ScreenConnect masked as freeware. An inside look at a large-scale campaign

UPD 03.07.2026: added a package of rules and recommendations that help detect the described malicious activity for companies using our Kaspersky SIEM system. Introduction To access compromised systems, threat actors frequently abuse legitimate remote monitoring tools. At first glance, these...

OpenClaw: risks for the users and how to mitigate them

OpenClaw, which was previously known as Clawdbot and Moltbot, is today one of the most successful and fast‑growing ecosystems for AI agents, recognized worldwide. The project quickly became popular with users because of its flexibility and ability to solve fairly complex tasks that previously...

ToddyCat: your hidden email assistant. Part 2

Introduction We continue to share details on the malicious techniques and toolsets used by the ToddyCat APT group. In the first part of this report, we examined the group's attacks aimed at stealing data from browsers, as well as from local and cloud email services. The methods used in that...

The Gentlemen are knocking: сustom backdoors and evolving tactics

Introduction This year saw the emergence of The Gentlemen, a prominent example of a group operating under the ransomware-as-a-service RaaS model. Although our initial assessment suggested the group first appeared in mid-2025, it actually started ramping up its activities at the beginning of 2026...

Beware of the license manager: how a Schneider Electric software vulnerability puts industrial facilities at risk

About the vulnerability The CVE-2024-2658 vulnerability was discovered in 2024 within the FlexNet Publisher component of the Schneider Electric Floating License Manager. This software handles license management across various Schneider Electric products used for comprehensive industrial automatio...

Inside the 2026 SMB threat landscape: From phishing and scams to fake AI tools

Small and medium-sized businesses SMBs remain attractive targets for cybercriminals – in both mass cyberattacks and sophisticated campaigns targeting larger enterprises through trusted relationship attacks. At the same time, smaller businesses may lack the robust cybersecurity policies and...

StrikeShark: investigating a new campaign delivering Cobalt Strike through SharkLoader

Introduction During our research of activity affecting a diplomatic organization in Indonesia, we uncovered a previously undocumented malware family that we have named SharkLoader. What initially appeared to be an isolated case quickly expanded into a broader campaign as we identified additional...

A VBScript campaign distributed through WhatsApp deploying RMM software

In June 2026, we observed a malware campaign distributing malicious VBScript files through direct messages in WhatsApp. The campaign affected users across multiple countries and territories, including Malaysia, Brazil, India, Mexico, Singapore, UK, Spain, Taiwan, Australia, Russia and Vietnam, wi...

Dozens of malicious wallpapers found on Steam Workshop: gamers’ accounts at risk

Since late 2025, malware has been spreading rapidly through the Steam Workshop, the gaming platform's built-in service for players to create and share custom content. The attackers are primarily targeting gamers in China and Russia, aiming to hijack their accounts. To pull this off, they are...

From cause to cash: a cross-border look at hacktivist activity

While tracking the activities of 4BID we uncovered a new string of campaigns that appear to be the work of several interconnected actors. While politically motivated groups generally limit their scope to specific nations – for 4BID and its peers, primarily Russian and occasionally Belarusian...

Argamal: Malware hidden in hentai games

In April 2026, we discovered a new malware campaign targeting players of "hentai" games. Once launched, the infected games install a previously unknown malicious implant on the user's machine. After a few days, the implant downloads and executes a Trojan, resulting in full system compromise and...

Wardriving assessment across Mexico: Preparing for the 2026 World Cup

Introduction Mexico is one of the host countries for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with matches to be played in three major cities: Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. These locations are expected to see a large influx of international visitors, increasing the potential security risks. Many of...

Containers on fire: from container escapes to supply chain attacks

Introduction Modern infrastructures universally rely on containerization to deploy applications, scale services, and build cloud platforms. The use of Docker, Kubernetes, and similar technologies has become the corporate standard for efficient automation. However, as containers grow in popularity...

What’s in the container? Analyzing vulnerabilities, risks and protection with Kaspersky Container Security and the KIRA AI assistant

Introduction Containerization using Docker has become firmly established in modern development standards, significantly increasing the speed and convenience of deploying various services. Developers often use ready-made Docker images, making only minimal changes. The largest repository of contain...

Pirates in the crosshairs: how one cybercrime gang has been infecting book, movie, and TV show fans for years

Introduction In late April 2026, a client reached out to us for incident response support after discovering a miner running on users' computers. We later discovered that the malware was being distributed via illegal movie and TV show streaming sites. The infection chain leveraged a fake update fo...

Cloud Atlas activity in the second half of 2025 and early 2026: new tools and a new payload

In 2025, we observed pervasive SSH tunnel activity, which has remained active into 2026, affecting many government organizations and commercial companies in Russia and Belarus. Behind some of this activity is Cloud Atlas, a group we have known since 2014. During our investigation, we identified n...

How an image could compromise your Mac: understanding an ExifTool vulnerability (CVE-2026-3102)

Introduction ExifTool is a widely adopted utility for reading and writing metadata in image, PDF, audio, and video files. It is available both as a standalone command-line application and as a library that can be embedded in other software. In this article, we break down CVE-2026-3102, an ExifToo...

IT threat evolution in Q1 2026. Mobile statistics

IT threat evolution in Q1 2026. Mobile statistics IT threat evolution in Q1 2026. Non-mobile statistics In the third quarter of 2025, we updated the methodology for calculating statistical indicators based on the Kaspersky Security Network. These changes affected all sections of the report except...

IT threat evolution in Q1 2026. Non-mobile statistics

IT threat evolution in Q1 2026. Non-mobile statistics IT threat evolution in Q1 2026. Mobile statistics The statistics in this report are based on detection verdicts returned by Kaspersky products unless otherwise stated. The information was provided by Kaspersky users who consented to sharing...

Kimsuky targets organizations with PebbleDash-based tools

Over the past few months, we have conducted an in-depth analysis of specific activity clusters of Kimsuky aka APT43, Ruby Sleet, Black Banshee, Sparkling Pisces, Velvet Chollima, and Springtail, a prolific Korean-speaking threat actor. Our research revealed notable tactical shifts throughout...

State of ransomware in 2026

With International Anti-Ransomware Day taking place on May 12, Kaspersky presents its annual report on the evolving global and regional ransomware cyberthreat landscape. Ransomware remains one of the most persistent and adaptive cyberthreats. In 2026: New families continue to emerge, adopting...

CVE-2025-68670: discovering an RCE vulnerability in xrdp

In addition to KasperskyOS-powered solutions, Kaspersky offers various utility software to streamline business operations. For instance, users of Kaspersky Thin Client, an operating system for thin clients, can also purchase Kaspersky USB Redirector, a module that expands the capabilities of the...

Exploits and vulnerabilities in Q1 2026

During Q1 2026, the exploit kits leveraged by threat actors to target user systems expanded once again, incorporating new exploits for the Microsoft Office platform, as well as Windows and Linux operating systems. In this report, we dive into the statistics on published vulnerabilities and...

OceanLotus suspected of using PyPI to deliver ZiChatBot malware

Introduction Through our daily threat hunting, we noticed that, beginning in July 2025, a series of malicious wheel packages were uploaded to PyPI the Python Package Index. We shared this information with the public security community, and the malware was removed from the repository. We submitted...

Websites with an undefined trust level: avoiding the trap

Executive summary A suspicious website is a web resource that cannot be definitively classified as phishing, but whose activities are unsafe. Such sites manipulate users, tricking them into voluntarily transferring money for non-existent services, signing up for hidden subscriptions, or disclosin...

“Legitimate” phishing: how attackers weaponize Amazon SES to bypass email security

Introduction The primary goal for attackers in a phishing campaign is to bypass email security and trick the potential victim into revealing their data. To achieve this, scammers employ a wide range of tactics, from redirect links to QR codes. Additionally, they heavily rely on legitimate sources...

Silver Fox uses the new ABCDoor backdoor to target organizations in Russia and India

In December 2025, we detected a wave of malicious emails designed to look like official correspondence from the Indian tax service. A few weeks later, in January 2026, a similar campaign began targeting Russian organizations. We have attributed this activity to the Silver Fox threat group. Both...

PhantomRPC: A new privilege escalation technique in Windows RPC

Intro Windows Interprocess Communication IPC is one of the most complex technologies within the Windows operating system. At the core of this ecosystem is the Remote Procedure Call RPC mechanism, which can function as a standalone communication channel or as the underlying transport layer for mor...

FakeWallet crypto stealer spreading through iOS apps in the App Store

In March 2026, we uncovered more than twenty phishing apps in the Apple App Store masquerading as popular crypto wallets. Once launched, these apps redirect users to browser pages designed to look similar to the App Store and distributing trojanized versions of legitimate wallets. The infected ap...

FakeWallet crypto stealer spreading through iOS apps in the App Store

In March 2026, we uncovered more than twenty phishing apps in the Apple App Store masquerading as popular crypto wallets. Once launched, these apps redirect users to browser pages designed to look similar to the App Store and distributing trojanized versions of legitimate wallets. The infected ap...

Threat landscape for industrial automation systems in Q4 2025

Statistics across all threats The percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked has been decreasing since the beginning of 2024. In Q4 2025, it was 19.7%. Over the past three years, the percentage has decreased by 1.36 times, and by 1.25 times since Q4 2023. Percentage of IC...

JanelaRAT: a financial threat targeting users in Latin America

Background JanelaRAT is a malware family that takes its name from the Portuguese word "janela" which means "window". JanelaRAT looks for financial and cryptocurrency data from specific banks and financial institutions in the Latin America region. JanelaRAT is a modified variant of BX RAT that has...

The long road to your crypto: ClipBanker and its marathon infection chain

At the start of the year, a certain Trojan caught our eye due to its incredibly long infection chain. In most cases, it kicks off with a web search for "Proxifier". Proxifiers are speciaized software designed to tunnel traffic for programs that do not natively support proxy servers. They are a...

Financial cyberthreats in 2025 and the outlook for 2026

In 2025, the financial cyberthreat landscape continued to evolve. While traditional PC banking malware declined in relative prevalence, this shift was offset by the rapid growth of credential theft by infostealers. Attackers increasingly relied on aggregation and reuse of stolen data, rather than...

A laughing RAT: CrystalX combines spyware, stealer, and prankware features

Introduction In March 2026, we discovered an active campaign promoting previously unknown malware in private Telegram chats. The Trojan was offered as a MaaS malware‑as‑a‑service with three subscription tiers. It caught our attention because of its extensive arsenal of capabilities. On the panel...

An AI gateway designed to steal your data

A significant proportion of cyberincidents are linked to supply chain attacks, and this proportion is constantly growing. Over the past year, we have seen a wide variety of methods used in such attacks, ranging from creation of malicious but seemingly legitimate open-source libraries or delayed...