Hackers Use ClickFix Lures to Deploy MacSync Stealer and Bypass macOS Security.
ClickFix malvertising campaigns deliver MacSync, a macOS infostealer sold as MaaS that bypasses Gatekeeper via Terminal commands and steals credentials.
Threat actors use ClickFix social-engineering lures, SEO poisoning, and malvertising impersonating brands like Claude, ChatGPT, Zoom, and Docker to trick users into pasting curl-to-zsh commands into Terminal, evading Gatekeeper and notarization checks. The MacSync Stealer (formerly Mac.c, emerged April 2025, linked to developer 'Mentalpositive') is a 64-bit Mach-O stager with single-byte XOR string obfuscation that daemonizes, polls C2 with custom API-key headers, streams AppleScript payloads into osascript, and persists via fake LaunchAgents. It steals browser credentials, Keychain data, SSH keys, session tokens, and crypto wallets, exfiltrating archives in 10MB HTTP PUT chunks. Microsoft documented more than 30 related MacSync domains.
Hackers Abuse Google CAPTCHA, WebDAV and BNB Smart Chain to Deploy Credential-Stealing Malware
Cisco Talos details ClickFix campaigns abusing fake Google CAPTCHA prompts, WebDAV and BNB Smart Chain to deploy the Amatera infostealer.
Cisco Talos identified a multi-stage campaign, first observed in April 2026 when a Ukrainian government organization executed a disguised DLL named verification.google from a WebDAV path. The chain combines ClearFake JavaScript injected via malicious Cloudflare Workers, EtherHiding payloads stored in BNB Smart Chain contracts, ClickFix social engineering, and WebDAV-hosted DLL loaders to deliver the Amatera (ACR Stealer) infostealer. The Amatera configuration contained over 400 collection entries targeting browsers, messengers, crypto wallets, password managers, FTP and VPN tools, hunting for .kdbx, .p12, .pfx and .pem files. The pf.ch branch deploys ZigCryptoStealer, an EDR-terminating vulnerable driver and Go-based reverse TCP proxies, while the verification.google branch installs NetSupport Manager, supporting moderate-confidence attribution of the UAT-10820 activity to a Russian actor.
Four REVSTEALER-Linked Modules Disable Windows Update and Defender to Run a Crypto Miner
Elastic documents four persistent REVSTEALER-linked tools (ProManager, WinUpdate, SoftManager, LockAppHost); LockAppHost disables Windows Update and Defender to run a crypto miner.
Elastic Security Labs identified four previously unreported executables tied to REVSTEALER, a commercial Windows infostealer sold since at least February 2026: ProManager, WinUpdate, SoftManager, and LockAppHost. LockAppHost abuses CMSTP for elevation, adds Microsoft Defender exclusions, disables five Windows Update services and 13 scheduled tasks, then hides a miner in legitimate Windows processes; other modules steal wallets, clipboard-swap crypto addresses, and turn victims into reverse proxies. The components share REVSTEALER tradecraft including packer, runtime function resolution, and Polygon smart-contract backup configuration (EtherHiding). Elastic's detection rule matched about 4,700 VirusTotal samples over the past year; distribution uses hijacked YouTube channels promoting game cheats and a fake 'Claude Opus 5 Free Desktop' app.
19 Chrome and Edge Extensions Found With Wallet-Stealing and Crypto
Socket found 19 malicious Chrome and Edge extensions, active since February 2024, stealing wallet seed phrases and credentials and draining crypto from about 80,000 users.
Socket researcher Karlo Zanki documented a cluster of 18 Chrome and one Edge extensions with wallet secret stealing and cryptocurrency draining capabilities, tracked as campaign Superior and possibly active since February 2024. The actor created 14 extensions and bought five legitimate ones, later pushing malicious updates; the largest, Enable Right Click & Copy, has roughly 80,000 installs across both browsers. The extensions maintain WebSocket C2 connections with endpoint rotation, strip CSP headers, and load 16 modules including multi-chain wallet drainers, hardware-wallet seed-phrase harvesters, credential grabbers, and ClickFix-style lures.
JSCeal Malware Can Bypass Google Authentication Using Stolen Session Cookies
Check Point details JSCeal, a V8-compiled JavaScript stealer that replays stolen cookies to bypass Google authentication, spread via crypto malvertising.
Check Point Research's new report analyzes JSCeal, a compiled V8 JavaScript malware obfuscated with javascript-obfuscator using RC4-protected strings, control-flow flattening, and proxy functions. Delivered through fake TradingView installers on malvertising sites overlapping the WEEVILPROXY/MeadowLocust and SourTrade campaigns, it harvests cookies, passwords and OAuth tokens from Chromium browsers, records keystrokes and screenshots, and can replay stolen Google session cookies to bypass authentication. It also installs a local proxy with service-specific handlers for Binance, Bybit, and Ledger to intercept and modify cryptocurrency-related traffic.
Rogue ScreenConnect Clients Spread Four-Stage VBScript Chain to Newly Connected Hosts
Huntress says rogue ScreenConnect clients spread a four-stage VBScript chain delivering backdoors, privilege-escalation tools, or an XMRig miner to newly connected hosts.
Huntress identified three unrelated August 2026 incidents using a Quick Assist tech-support scam, a phishing-delivered MSI installer, and a fake Geek Squad refund form to install rogue ScreenConnect clients. Each client repeatedly spawned wscript.exe to run 1.vbs through 4.vbs, which profiled the host, enumerated installed security products, and downloaded stage-specific payloads from Dropbox. Depending on detected state, payloads included a user-level ScreenConnect backdoor, UAC-bypass privilege escalation tooling, or tunneling utilities with an XMRig cryptocurrency miner. Infected clients re-infected newly connected hosts, creating worm-like propagation, and ConnectWise issued an advisory about affected file transfer behavior in ScreenConnect.
ThreatsDay: 296K IoT Botnet, 100+ Water Systems Targeted, SharePoint RCE Chain + 27 New Stories
Weekly ThreatsDay bulletin details a ShinyHunters-style social engineering hit on ReliaQuest, the 296,000-device Dysphoria IoT botnet, and several new malware families.
ReliaQuest confirmed a social engineering attack on August 22, 2026, in which an attacker used a fake SSO page and MFA push approval to gain brief view-only access to an identity dashboard, with tactics matching ShinyHunters, which has since listed the firm on its leak portal. The Shadowserver Foundation reported the Dysphoria botnet has compromised nearly 296,000 IoT devices for DDoS attacks and recently added residential proxy capability. Cisco Talos documented JWR, an operator-driven phishing-as-a-service framework linked to The Outsider that harvests credentials, identity documents, and 2FA codes over an encrypted WebSocket. New malware coverage includes the Octagon Android fraud bot ($1,400/month), the C2Looper Rust backdoor delivered via ClickFix, and the Aeternum loader that moved C2 to the Polygon blockchain.
Fake GTA 6 Installer Steals Browser Passwords, Discord Tokens and Crypto Data From Gamers
Huntress found fake GTA 6 installer ISOs spreading NJRAT, DCRAT, Mercurial Grabber and a Chaos ransomware wiper that steals credentials.
Huntress analyzed a malicious ISO disguised as a leaked GTA 6 build, distributed via SEO poisoning, torrent sites, and social media, with some images exceeding 100 GB and padded with junk data. The installer stages game-named executables in %TEMP% and deploys NJRAT, DCRAT, and the Mercurial Grabber infostealer, harvesting browser passwords, Discord tokens, Roblox and Minecraft session data, Windows product keys, and cryptocurrency details, with exfiltration via a Discord webhook. A Chaos ransomware variant launched through gta6.exe deletes shadow copies, disables Windows recovery, encrypts files up to 200 MB with AES, and overwrites larger files, effectively acting as a wiper attributed to the 'ASHA Hacker Team'. A Visual Basic script displays a fake 'license not found' error to conceal the already-installed payloads.
16 Typosquatted RubyGems Packages Steal Browser Credentials and Crypto Wallets
Typosquatted RubyGems packages deliver the StubMaker infostealer, stealing browser credentials, crypto wallets, and Telegram data from Windows developers.
OpenSourceMalware discovered a typosquatting campaign on August 15, 2026, tracked as StubMaker, publishing 16 malicious RubyGems packages (e.g., ubnuler, brumdler, brundlef) that imitate popular Ruby dependencies. The gems use the extconf.rb install hook to fetch a 22 MB Rust-based loader from GitHub, which launches a Go-based stealer ("wincfg") containing a DLL that bypasses Chromium's app-bound encryption to extract browser credentials, payment cards, crypto wallets and seed phrases, and Telegram Desktop data. Stolen data is uploaded as a password-protected ZIP to Gofile, with the download link sent over plain HTTP. The same actor also deployed 37 typosquatted npm packages delivering the identical loader and infostealer, and abused RubyGems' namespace reuse to republish malicious versions of yanked gems.
ClearFake Deploys Crypto Stealer That Uses Vulnerable Driver to Kill EDR Security Tools
Cisco Talos details ClearFake's fake-CAPTCHA chain deploying ZigCryptoStealer with a BYOVD attack that kills EDR processes, observed at a Ukrainian government organization in April 2026.
ClearFake compromises websites, injects JavaScript via a malicious Cloudflare Worker, retrieves instructions from BNB Smart Chain contracts (EtherHiding), and presents a fake Google CAPTCHA that tricks Windows users into pasting a command that loads a remote library over WebDAV via rundll32. The crypto-stealer branch uses DLL side-loading with a signed Chrome component to launch ZigCryptoStealer, which hijacks clipboard cryptocurrency addresses, alongside a signed but vulnerable Windows driver used in a BYOVD attack to terminate EDR processes. A parallel branch delivers Amatera secondary payloads that install a hidden remote-access client providing operator desktop control, with Cisco Talos tracking the remote-loader activity as UAT-10820. Talos observed unusual remote library execution at a Ukrainian government organization in April 2026 and assesses the attacks are part of a broader theft operation rather than a single targeted campaign.
ClearFake WebDAV infection chain delivers Amatera stealer, ZigCryptoStealer, and NetSupport Manager
Cisco Talos details ClearFake WebDAV chains delivering Amatera stealer to a Ukrainian government organization, with cryptocurrency and credential theft payloads.
Cisco Talos investigated DLL executions named 'verification.google' via WebDAV UNC paths at a Ukrainian government organization, tracking the actor as UAT-10820 and assessing with moderate confidence the activity is Russian and opportunistic rather than targeted. The infection chain uses ClearFake JavaScript injected via a Cloudflare Worker, EtherHiding storage on BNB Smart Chain contracts, and a ClickFix fake Google CAPTCHA prompt to deliver Amatera stealer. Secondary payloads differ by C2: one loader deploys ZigCryptoStealer with a Go reverse TCP proxy and a vulnerable driver that kills EDR, while the other installs an unauthorized NetSupport Manager with a Russia-based C2. Similar Amatera chains were separately documented by Malwarebytes and Blackpoint Cyber, but with no shared infrastructure.