Microsoft Disables MSIX App Installer Protocol Widely Used in Malware Attacks

Microsoft on Thursday said it's once again disabling the ms-appinstaller protocol handler by default following its abuse by multiple threat actors to distribute malware. "The observed threat actor activity abuses the current implementation of the ms-appinstaller protocol handler as an access vect...

U.S. Takes Down IPStorm Botnet, Russian-Moldovan Mastermind Pleads Guilty

The U.S. government on Tuesday announced the takedown of the IPStorm botnet proxy network and its infrastructure, as the Russian and Moldovan national behind the operation pleaded guilty. "The botnet infrastructure had infected Windows systems then further expanded to infect Linux, Mac, and Andro...

Okta's Recent Customer Support Data Breach Impacted 134 Customers

Identity and authentication management provider Okta on Friday disclosed that the recent support case management system breach affected 134 of its 18,400 customers. It further noted that the unauthorized intruder gained access to its systems from September 28 to October 17, 2023, and ultimately...

New ZenRAT Malware Targeting Windows Users via Fake Password Manager Software

A new malware strain called ZenRAT has emerged in the wild that's distributed via bogus installation packages of the Bitwarden password manager. "The malware is specifically targeting Windows users and will redirect people using other hosts to a benign web page," enterprise security firm Proofpoi...

Mirai Botnet Variant 'Pandora' Hijacks Android TVs for Cyberattacks

A Mirai botnet variant called Pandora has been observed infiltrating inexpensive Android-based TV sets and TV boxes and using them as part of a botnet to perform distributed denial-of-service DDoS attacks. Doctor Web said the compromises are likely to occur either during malicious firmware update...

The Vulnerability of Zero Trust: Lessons from the Storm 0558 Hack

While IT security managers in companies and public administrations rely on the concept of Zero Trust, APTS Advanced Persistent Threats are putting its practical effectiveness to the test. Analysts, on the other hand, understand that Zero Trust can only be achieved with comprehensive insight into...

Experts Uncover Weaknesses in PowerShell Gallery Enabling Supply Chain Attacks

Active flaws in the PowerShell Gallery could be weaponized by threat actors to pull off supply chain attacks against the registry's users. "These flaws make typosquatting attacks inevitable in this registry, while also making it extremely difficult for users to identify the true owner of a...

Cybercriminals Renting WikiLoader to Target Italian Organizations with Banking Trojan

Organizations in Italy are the target of a new phishing campaign that leverages a new strain of malware called WikiLoader with an ultimate aim to install a banking trojan, stealer, and spyware referred to as Ursnif aka Gozi. "It is a sophisticated downloader with the objective of installing a...

New Report Exposes Operation Triangulation's Spyware Implant Targeting iOS Devices

More details have emerged about the spyware implant that's delivered to iOS devices as part of a campaign called Operation Triangulation. Kaspersky, which discovered the operation after becoming one of the targets at the start of the year, said the malware has a lifespan of 30 days, after which i...

Over 100,000 Stolen ChatGPT Account Credentials Sold on Dark Web Marketplaces

Over 101,100 compromised OpenAI ChatGPT account credentials have found their way on illicit dark web marketplaces between June 2022 and May 2023, with India alone accounting for 12,632 stolen credentials. The credentials were discovered within information stealer logs made available for sale on t...

Over 60K Adware Apps Posing as Cracked Versions of Popular Apps Target Android Devices

Thousands of adware apps for Android have been found to masquerade as cracks or modded versions of popular applications to serve unwanted ads to users as part of a campaign ongoing since October 2022. "The campaign is designed to aggressively push adware to Android devices with the purpose to dri...

Are Your APIs Leaking Sensitive Data?

It's no secret that data leaks have become a major concern for both citizens and institutions across the globe. They can cause serious damage to an organization's reputation, induce considerable financial losses, and even have serious legal repercussions. From the infamous Cambridge Analytica...

Babuk Source Code Sparks 9 Different Ransomware Strains Targeting VMware ESXi Systems

Multiple threat actors have capitalized on the leak of Babuk aka Babak or Babyk ransomware code in September 2021 to build as many as nine different ransomware families capable of targeting VMware ESXi systems. "These variants emerged through H2 2022 and H1 2023, which shows an increasing trend o...

Why Shadow APIs are More Dangerous than You Think

Shadow APIs are a growing risk for organizations of all sizes as they can mask malicious behavior and induce substantial data loss. For those that aren't familiar with the term, shadow APIs are a type of application programming interface API that isn't officially documented or supported. Contrary...

LockBit 3.0 Ransomware: Inside the Cyberthreat That's Costing Millions

U.S. government agencies have released a joint cybersecurity advisory detailing the indicators of compromise IoCs and tactics, techniques, and procedures TTPs associated with the notorious LockBit 3.0 ransomware. "The LockBit 3.0 ransomware operations function as a Ransomware-as-a-Service RaaS...

Parallax RAT Targeting Cryptocurrency Firms with Sophisticated Injection Techniques

Cryptocurrency companies are being targeted as part of a new campaign that delivers a remote access trojan called Parallax RAT. The malware "uses injection techniques to hide within legitimate processes, making it difficult to detect," Uptycs said in a new report. "Once it has been successfully...

Python Developers Beware: Clipper Malware Found in 450+ PyPI Packages!

Malicious actors have published more than 451 unique Python packages on the official Python Package Index PyPI repository in an attempt to infect developer systems with clipper malware. Software supply chain security company Phylum, which spotted the libraries, said the ongoing activity is a...

Microsoft Urges Customers to Secure On-Premises Exchange Servers

Microsoft is urging customers to keep their Exchange servers updated as well as take steps to bolster the environment, such as enabling Windows Extended Protection and configuring certificate-based signing of PowerShell serialization payloads. "Attackers looking to exploit unpatched Exchange...

Researchers Say China State-backed Hackers Breached a Digital Certificate Authority

A suspected Chinese state-sponsored actor breached a digital certificate authority as well as government and defense agencies located in different countries in Asia as part of an ongoing campaign since at least March 2022. Symantec, by Broadcom Software, linked the attacks to an adversarial group...

Mirai Botnet Hits Wynncraft Minecraft Server with 2.5 Tbps DDoS Attack

Web infrastructure and security company Cloudflare disclosed this week that it halted a 2.5 Tbps distributed denial-of-service DDoS attack launched by a Mirai botnet. Characterizing it as a "multi-vector attack consisting of UDP and TCP floods," researcher Omer Yoachimik said the DDoS attack...

19-Year-Old Teen Arrested for Using Leaked Optus Breach Data in SMS Scam

The Australian Federal Police AFP has arrested a 19-year-old teen from Sydney for allegedly attempting to leverage the data leaked following the Optus data breach late last month to extort victims. The suspect is said to have carried out a text message blackmail scam, demanding that the recipient...

Hackers Aid Protests Against Iranian Government with Proxies, Leaks and Hacks

Several hacktivist groups are using Telegram and other tools to aid anti-government protests in Iran to bypass regime censorship restrictions amid ongoing unrest in the country following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody. "Key activities are data leaking and selling, including officials' phone...

Record DDoS Attack with 25.3 Billion Requests Abused HTTP/2 Multiplexing

Cybersecurity company Imperva has disclosed that it mitigated a distributed denial-of-service DDoS attack with a total of over 25.3 billion requests on June 27, 2022. The "strong attack," which targeted an unnamed Chinese telecommunications company, is said to have lasted for four hours and peake...

Researchers Warn of Self-Spreading Malware Targeting Gamers via YouTube

Gamers looking for cheats on YouTube are being targeted with links to rogue password-protected archive files designed to install crypto miners and information-stealing malware such as RedLine Stealer on compromised machines. "The videos advertise cheats and cracks and provide instructions on...

RTLS Systems Found Vulnerable to MiTM Attacks and Location Tampering

Researchers have disclosed multiple vulnerabilities impacting Ultra-wideband UWB Real-time Locating Systems RTLS, enabling threat actors to launch adversary-in-the-middle AitM attacks and tamper with location data. "The zero-days found specifically pose a security risk for workers in industrial...

Researchers Discover Nearly 3,200 Mobile Apps Leaking Twitter API Keys

Researchers have uncovered a list of 3,207 mobile apps that are exposing Twitter API keys in the clear, some of which can be utilized to gain unauthorized access to Twitter accounts associated with them. The takeover is made possible, thanks to a leak of legitimate Consumer Key and Consumer Secre...

Hackers Gain Fileless Persistence on Targeted SQL Servers Using a Built-in Utility

Microsoft on Tuesday warned that it recently spotted a malicious campaign targeting SQL Servers that leverages a built-in PowerShell binary to achieve persistence on compromised systems. The intrusions, which leverage brute-force attacks as an initial compromise vector, stand out for their use of...

GitHub Says Hackers Breached Dozens of Organizations Using Stolen OAuth Access Tokens

Cloud-based repository hosting service GitHub on Friday revealed that it discovered evidence of an unnamed adversary capitalizing on stolen OAuth user tokens to unauthorizedly download private data from several organizations. "An attacker abused stolen OAuth user tokens issued to two third-party...

Microsoft and Okta Confirm Breach by LAPSUS$ Extortion Group

Microsoft on Tuesday confirmed that the LAPSUS$ extortion-focused hacking crew had gained "limited access" to its systems, as authentication services provider Okta revealed that nearly 2.5% of its customers have been potentially impacted in the wake of the breach. "No customer code or data was...

Hackers Exploiting Infected Android Devices to Register Disposable Accounts

An analysis of SMS phone-verified account PVA services has led to the discovery of a rogue platform built atop a botnet involving thousands of infected Android phones, once again underscoring the flaws with relying on SMS for account validation. SMS PVA services, since gaining prevalence in 2018,...

Latest Report Uncovers Supply Chain Attacks by North Korean Hackers

Lazarus Group, the advanced persistent threat APT group attributed to the North Korean government, has been observed waging two separate supply chain attack campaigns as a means to gain a foothold into corporate networks and target a wide range of downstream entities. The latest...

Get Lifetime Access to 24 Professional Cybersecurity Certification Prep Courses

Not all heroes wear capes. Cybersecurity professionals are digital warriors who use their knowledge and skill to battle malicious hackers. Sounds like an exciting career, right? If the comic-book comparisons aren't working for you, perhaps some figures will. According to ZipRecruiter, the average...

XLoader Windows InfoStealer Malware Now Upgraded to Attack macOS Systems

A popular malware known for stealing sensitive information from Windows machines has evolved into a new strain capable of also targeting Apple's macOS operating system. The upgraded malware, dubbed "XLoader," is a successor to another well-known Windows-based info stealer called Formbook that's...

U.S. Recovers $2.3 Million Ransom Paid to Colonial Pipeline Hackers

In a major blow, the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday said it has recovered 63.7 bitcoins currently valued at $2.3 million paid by Colonial Pipeline to the DarkSide ransomware extortionists on May 8, pursuant to a seizure warrant that was authorized by the Northern District of California. The...

Can Data Protection Systems Prevent Data At Rest Leakage?

Protection against insider risks works when the process involves controlling the data transfer channels or examining data sources. One approach involves preventing USB flash drives from being copied or sending them over email. The second one concerns preventing leakage or fraud in which an inside...

Four Plead Guilty to Aiding Cyber Criminals with Bulletproof Hosting

Four Eastern European nationals face 20 years in prison for Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization RICO charges after pleading guilty to providing bulletproof hosting services between 2008 and 2015, which were used by cybercriminals to distribute malware to financial entities across the U.S. T...

Researchers Uncover Stealthy Linux Malware That Went Undetected for 3 Years

A previously undocumented Linux malware with backdoor capabilities has managed to stay under the radar for about three years, allowing the threat actor behind the operation to harvest and exfiltrate sensitive information from infected systems. Dubbed "RotaJakiro" by researchers from Qihoo 360...

3.2 Billion Leaked Passwords Contain 1.5 Million Records with Government Emails

A staggering number of 3.28 billion passwords linked to 2.18 billion unique email addresses were exposed in what's one of the largest data dumps of breached usernames and passwords. In addition, the leak includes 1,502,909 passwords associated with email addresses from government domains across t...

Cost of Account Unlocks, and Password Resets Add Up

There are many labor-intensive tasks that the IT service desk carries out on a daily basis. None as tedious and costly as resetting passwords. Modern IT service desks spend a significant amount of time both unlocking and resetting passwords for end-users. This issue has been exacerbated by the...

Iranian Hackers Utilize ScreenConnect to Spy On UAE, Kuwait Government Agencies

UAE and Kuwait government agencies are targets of a new cyberespionage campaign potentially carried out by Iranian threat actors, according to new research. Attributing the operation to be the work of Static Kitten aka MERCURY or MuddyWater, Anomali said the "objective of this activity is to...

Detailed: Here's How Iran Spies on Dissidents with the Help of Hackers

Twin cyber operations conducted by state-sponsored Iranian threat actors demonstrate their continued focus on compiling detailed dossiers on Iranian citizens that could threaten the stability of the Islamic Republic, including dissidents, opposition forces, and ISIS supporters, and Kurdish native...

Agent Tesla Malware Spotted Using New Delivery & Evasion Techniques

Security researchers on Tuesday uncovered new delivery and evasion techniques adopted by Agent Tesla remote access trojan RAT to get around defense barriers and monitor its victims. Typically spread through social engineering lures, the Windows spyware not only now targets Microsoft's Antimalware...

Hackers Accidentally Expose Passwords Stolen From Businesses On the Internet

A new large-scale phishing campaign targeting global organizations has been found to bypass Microsoft Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection ATP and steal credentials belonging to over a thousand corporate employees. The cyber offensive is said to have originated in August last year, with the...

NSA Suggests Enterprises Use 'Designated' DNS-over-HTTPS' Resolvers

The U.S. National Security Agency NSA on Friday said DNS over HTTPS DoH — if configured appropriately in enterprise environments — can help prevent "numerous" initial access, command-and-control, and exfiltration techniques used by threat actors. "DNS over Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Transpo...

Russian Hacker Gets 12-Years Prison for Massive JP Morgan Chase Hack

A U.S. court on Thursday sentenced a 37-year-old Russian to 12 years in prison for perpetrating an international hacking campaign that resulted in the heist of a trove of personal information from several financial institutions, brokerage firms, financial news publishers, and other American...

A Second Hacker Group May Have Also Breached SolarWinds, Microsoft Says

As the probe into the SolarWinds supply chain attack continues, new digital forensic evidence has brought to light that a separate threat actor may have been abusing the IT infrastructure provider's Orion software to drop a similar persistent backdoor on target systems. "The investigation of the...

Researchers Uncover 6-Year Cyber Espionage Campaign Targeting Iranian Dissidents

Capping off a busy week of charges and sanctions against Iranian hackers, a new research offers insight into what's a six-year-long ongoing surveillance campaign targeting Iranian expats and dissidents with an intention to pilfer sensitive information. The threat actor, suspected to be of Iranian...

Zenscrape: A Simple Web Scraping Solution for Penetration Testers

Did you ever try extracting any information from any website? Well, if you have then you have surely enacted web scraping functions without even knowing it! To put in simpler terms, Web scraping, or also known as web data extraction, is the process of recouping or sweeping data from web-pages. It...

Former Uber Security Chief Charged Over Covering Up 2016 Data Breach

The federal prosecutors in the United States have charged Uber's former chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, for covering up a massive data breach that the ride-hailing company suffered in 2016. According to the press release published by the U.S. Department of Justice, Sullivan "took deliberate...

Oracle E-Business Suite Flaws Let Hackers Hijack Business Operations

If your business operations and security of sensitive data rely on Oracle's E-Business Suite EBS, make sure you recently updated and are running the latest available version of the software. In a report released by enterprise cybersecurity firm Onapsis and shared with The Hacker News, the firm...