Threat actors are evading phishing detection in campaigns targeting Microsoft accounts by abusing the no-code app-building platform Bubble to generate and host malicious web apps. [...]
A new info-stealing malware called Torg Grabber is stealing sensitive data from 850 browser extensions, more than 700 of them for cryptocurrency wallets. [...]
Citrix has patched two NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway vulnerabilities, one of which is very similar to the CitrixBleed and CitrixBleed2 flaws exploited in zero-day attacks in recent years. [...]
AI accounts are becoming part of the cybercrime supply chain, sold like email accounts or VPS access. Flare Systems shows how underground markets bundle and resell premium AI access at scale. [...]
A man has pleaded guilty to defrauding online music streaming platforms out of more than US $8 million, after creating hundreds of thousands of songs with AI, and then using bots to play them billions of times. Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.
Pedestrians crossing a street in Denver, Colorado, got rather more than they bargained for last weekend, when the audio signals at two crosswalks began broadcasting a political message alongside their usual walking instructions. Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.
A ransomware gang that claims to be a group of "investigative journalists"? Meet LeakNet - the group using fake CAPTCHA pages to trick employees into hacking themselves. Read more in my article on the Fortra blog.
In episode 459 of Smashing Security, we dive into a chillingly clever account takeover attempt targeting WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg - involving MFA fatigue, real Apple alerts, a convincing support call, and a phishing page that oh-so-nearly worked. If a famous techie could have this happen to you, can you be sure you're immune? Plus: would you donate your lifetime medical history to science if you were promised anonymity? We unpack serious concerns around UK Biobank, where “de-identified” data may not be as anonymous as you think — and how surprisingly little information it takes to reveal everything. And! Human-powered “AI”, and a punishment worse than prison: eight hours on the RSA expo floor... All this, and much more, in episode 459 of the "Smashing Security" podcast with cybersecurity veteran Graham Cluley, and special guest Paul Ducklin.
Drivers in the Russian city of Perm have been enjoying an unexpected bonus this week: free parking. Not because the city council suddenly decided to embrace generosity - but rather because hackers succeeded in knocking the city's payment system offline. Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.
If you're in the middle of applying for a planning or zoning permit, there is some unwelcome news: cyber-criminals have found a way to exploit the bureaucratic tedium of the process against you. Read more in my article on the Fortra blog.
Signal, the encrypted messaging app trusted by security-savvy users around the world, has confirmed that hackers have managed to takeover accounts - with government officials and journalists among those being targeted. Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.
A Wikipedia security engineer accidentally wakes a dormant JavaScript worm that hadn't stirred since 2024 - and within minutes, giant woodpecker images are plastered across the internet's favourite encyclopaedia. Meanwhile, a crypto contractor hired to help the US Marshals manage seized digital assets allegedly decides to help himself to $46 million of it - and then brags about it on a recorded Telegram call. Plus: Graham champions Asterix, Trisha discovers the fantasy novels of Robin Hobb, and someone called "Lick" ends up in the nick. All this, and much more, in episode 458 of the "Smashing Security" podcast with cybersecurity veteran Graham Cluley, and special guest Tricia Howard.
Elon Musk's social media site says it suspended 800 million accounts in a year for spam and manipulation - but with state-backed campaigns still flooding the platform, the real question is how many fake accounts remain. Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.
In a co-ordinated public-private operation between law enforcement agencies and cybersecurity industry partners, Tycoon 2FA - one of the world's most prolific phishing-as-a-service platforms - has been dismantled. Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.
When a top cybersecurity firm discovered it had a leak, you would expect the FBI to be called. Instead, the person put in charge of the investigation was the actual leaker... who promptly sent an innocent colleague into a career-ending ambush. In this episode, we unravel the jaw-dropping tale of a defence contractor caught selling zero-day exploits to a Russia-linked broker. Plus: are nation states quietly poisoning AI models to bend reality itself? We explore how “foreign information manipulation interference” could target not just social media users, but the large language models we increasingly trust for answers — and what that might mean for truth, trust, and the future of online influence. All this, and much more, in episode 457 of the "Smashing Security" podcast with cybersecurity veteran Graham Cluley, and special guest Carl Miller.
South Korea's National Tax Service (NTS) has found itself in the middle of a deeply embarrassing - and costly - blunder after accidentally handing thieves the master key to a seized cryptocurrency wallet. Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.
A new report claims that the cost of insider security incidents has surged 20% in two years, reaching an average of US $19.5 million per organization annually, with no sign that the alarming figure is flattening. Read more in my article on the Fortra blog.
There is a certain poetic justice in a cybersecurity-related story that has emerged from Moscow this week: A man has been accused of trying to extort money... from a notorious Russian ransomware gang. Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.
When the mysterious operator of an internet archiving-service decided to silence a curious Finnish blogger, they didn’t just send a stroppy email - they allegedly weaponised their own CAPTCHA page to launch a DDoS attack, threatened to invent an entirely new genre of AI porn, and tampered with parts of their own archive to smear the blogger's name. In this episode, we unravel how a website designed to preserve history may have trashed its own credibility - and how Wikipedia responded when trust went out the window. Plus a ransomware gang shoots itself in the foot with a classic case of buffoonery, accidentally corrupting the very keys victims would need to decrypt their data. When even the criminals can’t unlock your files, what happens next? All this, a surprisingly zen Pick of the Week, and a gloriously splenetic rant against web forms, on episode 456 of the award-winning "Smashing Security" podcast, with cybersecurity veteran Graham Cluley and special guest Paul Ducklin.
Amid a privacy backlash, a US $10,000 reward has been offered for anyone who can find a way to run Ring doorbell cameras locally, cutting off the flow of video data to Amazon's servers. Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.