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22 stories in the last 7d

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CategoryAllIndustry 28Threat actor 19Malware 16Phishing & fraud 11AI safety & security 8Exploit / PoC 8Vulnerability 6Advisory 6Tools 5AI industry 2Research 1Policy & legal 1
SeverityAllcritical 4high 40medium 23low 2info 42

Protecting organizations from AI-assisted executive impersonation and invoice fraud

Microsoft tracked a campaign of over one million AI-crafted CEO-impersonation emails seeking ~$50,000 ACH payments with fabricated ServiceNow invoices.

Between August 3 and 5, Microsoft detected a campaign of more than one million fraud emails, 87.7% of them targeting US enterprise users, sent through multiple third-party email delivery service accounts. The actor impersonated CEOs, CFOs, and presidents of targeted companies, urging accounts payable staff to process an ACH payment of nearly $50,000. Lures layered executive impersonation, lookalike domains, a fabricated ServiceNow 'Annual Subscription' invoice personalized to the recipient, and forged forwarded email threads; Microsoft found no evidence ServiceNow or the referenced executives were compromised. Microsoft observed indicators consistent with generative AI-assisted template creation, while leftover inconsistencies such as missing forwarding headers and mismatched display names gave defenders detection cues.

Microsoft Security Blog · 6d agoPhishing & fraud1

Detect and disrupt AI-themed attacks with Microsoft Defender

Microsoft Threat Intelligence reports criminal campaigns impersonating ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, and DeepSeek in phishing, AiTM, and malvertising attacks reaching 100,000 emails daily.

Microsoft Threat Intelligence observed a growing set of campaigns that abuse trust in popular AI brands: a ChatGPT-themed phishing campaign sent up to 100,000 emails in one day to steal payment card data, and a Claude-themed campaign used adversary-in-the-middle techniques to harvest credentials and access tokens. Other campaigns included malvertising for a fake AI Windows plugin delivering the Vidar stealer and fraudulent DeepSeek installers distributed via GitHub. Initial access broker Storm-3075 used AI-themed malvertising to distribute payloads for multiple downstream actors, and Microsoft notes the AI services themselves were not compromised. Microsoft also details Defender protections such as Safe Links, Safe Attachments, and attack disruption against these multi-stage lures.

Microsoft Security Blog · 6d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild 2 sources1

Iranian cyber targeting of dissidents, activists and journalists

UK NCSC, FBI, and Dutch AIVD expose CHOSEN BRICK spyware used by Iranian state actors against dissidents, activists, and journalists worldwide.

A joint advisory from the UK NCSC, FBI, and Dutch AIVD details CHOSEN BRICK, a Windows spyware family used by Iranian state cyber actors since at least 2025 against dissidents, activists, and journalists in the UK, US, and Netherlands. Actors build rapport on WhatsApp and Telegram impersonating known contacts or platform support, then deliver disguised payloads resembling apps such as Telegram, Norton, RunwayML, or fake MRI results. The malware persists via HKCU Run registry keys, adds Microsoft Defender exclusions, and uses a unique Telegram bot C2 per victim. Capabilities include screen capture, microphone recording, process enumeration, email and messaging data theft, file deletion, and system wiping; victim data has appeared on pro-Iranian leak sites.

NCSC UK · 1d agoThreat actor in the wild2

Iranian spies hit Windows machines with Chosen Brick data-stealing malware

FBI, UK NCSC, and Dutch AIVD warn Iranian intelligence uses Chosen Brick spyware against dissidents, stealing contacts, emails, and messaging data.

A joint advisory from the FBI, UK NCSC, and Dutch AIVD says Iranian state cyber actors have used the Chosen Brick Windows malware since at least 2025 to surveil dissidents, activists, and journalists. Attacks begin with heavily researched WhatsApp and Telegram messages impersonating trusted contacts, tricking victims into opening fake installers resembling Pictory, RunwayML, Norton Antivirus, Telegram, Adobe Flash Player, and KeePass. The malware persists via the HKCU Run registry key, adds Microsoft Defender exclusions, uses victim-specific Telegram bots for C2, captures screen and audio, steals emails and Telegram/WhatsApp data, and can wipe systems.

The Register · Security · 1d agoThreat actor in the wild1

Iranian hackers use CHOSEN BRICK Windows malware to spy on targets

Iranian state-linked hackers use CHOSEN BRICK Windows malware, spread via Telegram and WhatsApp social engineering, to spy on dissidents and journalists worldwide.

US, UK, and Dutch cyber agencies with the FBI issued a joint advisory on Iranian state-linked hackers deploying a Windows malware strain called CHOSEN BRICK against dissidents, activists, and journalists, primarily in the US, UK, and Netherlands. Attacks begin with messages on WhatsApp or Telegram impersonating trusted contacts or technical support, tricking victims into running malicious files disguised as apps such as Pictory, RunwayML, Norton Antivirus, Telegram, and KeePass. The malware persists via Registry Run keys, adds Microsoft Defender exclusions, and uses a per-victim Telegram bot for command-and-control while stealing email, Telegram and WhatsApp data, screenshots, and audio. Stolen data is exfiltrated via Telegram or cloud services like VultrObjects and StorjShare, and sometimes appears on pro-Iranian leak sites, increasing physical risk for dissidents abroad.

BleepingComputerupdated · 3h agofirst · 14h agoThreat actor in the wild 7 sources

Three Threat Groups Target Russian Enterprises With Backdoors, Ransomware, and Wipers

Kaspersky details NightEagle, Hacking Cat, and Toy Ghouls targeting Russian enterprises with Exchange backdoors, Gorilla RAT, and destructive Monkey ransomware.

Kaspersky reports three threat clusters targeting Russian enterprises: NightEagle (APT-Q-95), the pro-Ukrainian hacktivist group Hacking Cat, and Toy Ghouls. NightEagle uses compromised VPN credentials and the GhostContainer modular backdoor to fully compromise Microsoft Exchange servers, chaining CVE-2020-0688 exploitation, BlueKeep (CVE-2019-0708), Active Directory vulnerabilities, and DCSync to seize domain controllers. Hacking Cat exploits Exchange flaws including CVE-2021-26855 and CVE-2026-42897 to deliver the Gorilla RAT and multiple Monkey ransomware variants written in Rust, .NET, C++, and Golang targeting Windows, Linux, and VMware ESXi, with some variants acting as wipers that never store the encryption key.

The Hacker Newsupdated · 2h agofirst · 19h agoThreat actor in the wild 5 sourcesCVE-2020-0688CVE-2019-0708CVE-2021-26855+1 CVEs1

Iranian Hackers Use Telegram-Controlled Malware to Spy on Dissidents and Journalists

FBI, NCSC, and AIVD detail Iran MOIS spyware CHOSEN BRICK/HEAVYGRAM, Telegram-controlled Windows malware spying on dissidents since 2023.

A September 15 joint advisory from the FBI, UK NCSC, and Dutch AIVD attributes the Windows spyware HEAVYGRAM (NCSC name CHOSEN BRICK) to Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, with the campaign dating to autumn 2023 and targeting dissidents, journalists, and activists in the UK, US, Netherlands, and worldwide. Delivered via messages impersonating known contacts or tech support, the malware assigns each victim a dedicated Telegram bot for command-and-control and exfiltration, and can take screenshots, record microphone audio, steal Telegram/WhatsApp data, saved passwords, and emails, download more malware, and wipe the computer. Persistence uses a registry Run key (SMQDService or winappx) plus Microsoft Defender exclusions, with stolen data exiting via Telegram and cloud storage services like Vultr and Storj. The US Justice Department seized four pro-Iranian leak sites in March that had published stolen victim data.

The Hacker News · 1d agoMalware in the wild1

Iranian cyber spies used fake MRI scan results to hack ‘enemy of regime’

UK, US, and Dutch agencies expose CHOSEN BRICK spyware used by Iranian MOIS hackers to surveil dissidents, journalists, and activists via fake MRI lures.

The UK NCSC, FBI, and Dutch AIVD jointly warned that Iranian state-sponsored hackers deploy CHOSEN BRICK Windows spyware against dissidents, activists, and journalists since at least 2025. Operators build rapport over WhatsApp and Telegram, often posing as known contacts or tech support, then deliver malicious files disguised as an MRI scan or installers for Pictory, RunwayML, Norton, Telegram, Adobe Flash Player, and KeePass. The malware steals contacts, emails, and social media messages, captures screen content and microphone audio, adds Microsoft Defender exclusions, and uses per-victim Telegram bots for command and control. The FBI attributes the tradecraft to Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, including the 'Handala Hack' persona, and stolen data has surfaced on pro-Iranian leak sites.

The Record · 1d agoThreat actor in the wild1

Researchers Uncover 10,000+ Malware Loaders Behind YouTube and SEO Poisoning Campaign

Unit 42 uncovers CL-CRI-1171, a two-year pay-per-install campaign distributing 10,000+ OfferLoader samples via YouTube and SEO poisoning.

Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 tracked a campaign as CL-CRI-1171, an infection-as-a-service platform operating for at least two years. It used 11 YouTube gaming channels with hundreds of thousands of subscribers and SEO-poisoned download pages for trojanized WinDirStat and Bluetooth driver installers to distribute OfferLoader, a disposable loader embedded in Inno Setup installers. Payloads delivered included Insomnia RAT (Node.js and Python backdoors), ARKTunnel (a WebSocket-based RAT using LSB steganography), and Docro Hijacker (Chrome browser hijacker), with later infections delivering GCleaner and Socks5Systemz. Over 200 rotating domains across .xyz, .cfd, .space, and .info TLDs were used, with gating filters that served broken links or decoy pages to scanners and researchers.

GBHackers · 5d agoMalware in the wild2

PaperCut Flaws Exploited in AI-Powered Attacks

GreyNoise says a Russian-speaking actor used AI to build and deploy exploits hitting 440 PaperCut NG/MF deployments across 395 organizations in 48 countries.

Two PaperCut NG/MF zero-days, CVE-2026-82078 and CVE-2026-81578, disclosed August 27 and patched August 28, enable unauthenticated authentication bypass and remote code execution. GreyNoise observed a Russian-speaking threat actor using AI to orchestrate attacks against 440 deployments in 48 countries, including 204 education-sector organizations, achieving domain admin at 12 victims. Attack paths included harvesting LSASS memory and registry secrets, mounted NoPac attacks, and adding accounts to Domain Admins, with AI automation shortening compromises to minutes or seconds.

SecurityWeekupdated · 6d agofirst · 6d agoExploit / PoC in the wild 6 sourcesCVE-2026-82078CVE-2026-815781

VU#687587: AOMEI Backupper amwrtdrv.sys local privilege escalation vulnerability allows arbitrary writes to physical disks

AOMEI Backupper 8.4.0 driver flaw CVE-2026-12780 lets unprivileged users write physical disks and execute UEFI code, bypassing HVCI and EDR.

CERT/CC issued VU#687587 for CVE-2026-12780, an incorrect permission assignment (CWE-732) in the amwrtdrv.sys kernel driver shipped with AOMEI Backupper 8.4.0. The driver exposes a world-accessible device object without a security descriptor, allowing any unprivileged user to write arbitrary physical disk sectors; with Secure Boot disabled, an attacker can modify the GPT and inject a UEFI payload that executes before the OS loads, bypassing HVCI, EDR, Windows Defender and Hyper-V isolation. On TPM-only BitLocker configurations the attack can capture Volume Master Key material during pre-boot. AOMEI has shipped patches; users who cannot update should uninstall the software or disable the amwrtdrv.sys service, and enabling Secure Boot adds defense in depth.

CERT/CC Vulnerability Notes · 6d agoVulnerabilityCVE-2026-127801

Hackers Abuse AutoIt to Inject AsyncRAT Into Microsoft-Signed Windows Process

Attackers use AutoIt and an invoice-themed batch file to inject AsyncRAT into Microsoft-signed charmap.exe for stealthy remote access.

Point Wild Threat Intelligence documented a five-stage campaign starting with 'Right-click to open Invoice Details.bat' that launches hidden PowerShell, drops a renamed AutoIt interpreter and encrypted loader into a random Temp folder, and persists via a Startup-folder batch file. The loader decrypts AsyncRAT only in memory and injects it into the Microsoft-signed charmap.exe (Windows Character Map) process, leaving no payload file on disk. The final payload patches AMSI inside the infected process and includes screen-capture code that prepares images for transfer to a command-and-control server at 158[.]51[.]122[.]136:4944.

Cyber Security News · 3d agoMalware in the wild1

Microsoft’s Patching

Microsoft's September Patch Tuesday fixes a record 972 vulnerabilities, 112 rated critical, amid AI-accelerated vulnerability discovery.

Microsoft's September 2026 Patch Tuesday patches a record ~972 vulnerabilities, 112 rated critical, following records of 570 two months ago and ~620 last month. Schneier attributes the surge to AI-powered vulnerability finding, citing an open letter from OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS, Google, Microsoft and roughly 100 organizations warning of an AI-enabled attack tsunami. He predicts AIs will reverse-engineer exploits from patches, weaponizing flaws immediately upon release and shrinking the patch window to 'immediately.'

Schneier on Security · 2d agoVulnerability1

APT36 Targets Indian Government and Defense Organizations With New Rust Malware Arsenal

Pakistan-linked APT36 deployed a Rust malware suite, including RUSTYSHADE and USB-spreading RUSTYMOVE, against Indian and Afghan government and defense targets.

Zscaler ThreatLabz tracks the August 2026 activity as Operation RapidRust, introducing the Rust-based RUSTYSHADE backdoor, the RUSTYMOVE removable-media propagation utility, and PSNATCH and BASHNATCH file stealers for Windows and Linux. RUSTYSHADE uses private GitHub repositories as C2 with AES-256-GCM-encrypted traffic, supporting shell commands, screenshots, webcam capture, and encrypted exfiltration, while PSNATCH collects Office documents, archives, images, and databases from user folders and drives D: through H:. Typosquat domains spoofing ThePrint and India Today staged payloads with Backblaze storage, and persistence used scheduled tasks impersonating OneDrive and Microsoft Edge updates.

GBHackersupdated · 38m agofirst · 1h agoThreat actor in the wild 3 sources

Passkey-themed phishing attacks lead to Microsoft 365 data theft

Microsoft links ShinyHunters- and Helix-affiliated actors to passkey-themed vishing and device-code phishing that compromises Microsoft 365 accounts and steals cloud data.

Microsoft attributes passkey- and SSO-themed social engineering activity, observed since May 2026, to Storm-3121 (linked to ShinyHunters and Falcon) and Storm-3032 (tied to BlackFile members now operating as Helix). Attackers impersonate corporate IT help desks by phone or SMS, urging fake passkey, MFA, or SSO updates and directing victims to adversary-in-the-middle phishing pages or device-code authentication flows that yield credentials, session tokens, and OAuth tokens. Post-compromise behavior includes Microsoft Graph enumeration of users, SharePoint, and OAuth grants, plus persistence via attacker-controlled MFA methods. Google Threat Intelligence tracks related activity as UNC6671, linked to the BlackFile, Helix, Falcon, Pink, and Redact extortion gangs.

BleepingComputerupdated · 20h agofirst · 5d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild 8 sources3

ClickFix attacks infecting PCs and Macs are going viral

ClickFix social engineering attacks are spreading widely, delivering malware to Windows and macOS users by tricking them into running malicious terminal commands that bypass Gatekeeper.

BlueVoyant reports the Lorem Ipsum malware operation pivoted to ClickFix in late May 2026, dropping code-signing infrastructure and broadening its victim pool from Microsoft Teams searchers to anyone browsing a compromised website. Jamf and independent researchers documented macOS ClickFix variants that bypass Gatekeeper protections. Cisco Talos observed attackers abusing published Google Sheets for control traffic, while Netskope counted 5,400 sites beaconing to one campaign; Sandworm has separately hosted control infrastructure in blockchain smart contracts.

Ars Technica · Security · 5d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild1

Anthropic Says Russian Hackers Used Claude AI to Automate Malware Evasion

Anthropic disrupted Midnight Blizzard campaigns where AI agents automatically rebuilt malware to evade detection, targeting 20+ government and defense organizations.

Anthropic's threat intelligence report documents the Russian state-nexus actor Midnight Blizzard using Claude to automatically monitor, modify, and redeploy malware until it evaded security products. The campaign hit more than 20 organizations, including Ukrainian and European government ministries, defense bodies, embassies, and think tanks, with mailbox theft from two drone component manufacturers and compromise of hotel guest Wi-Fi via DNS hijacking. The report also describes financially motivated groups GTG-50020 and GTG-50021 targeting AI credentials, including a prompt-injection attack on an automated evaluation sandbox that yielded production API keys and attempts to reach a pre-release Claude model across roughly 30 AI companies.

SecurityWeekupdated · 5d agofirst · 6d agoThreat actor in the wild 16 sources4

GitLab’s critical flaw is already drawing internet-wide probes

GitLab patches two critical flaws (CVE-2026-85706 CVSS 10.0, CVE-2026-87719) as WatchTowr observes internet-wide probing of the unauthenticated file-read bug.

GitLab released emergency patches for two high-severity flaws in Community and Enterprise Editions, urging self-managed operators to upgrade immediately while saying its hosted and Dedicated offerings are fixed or unaffected. CVE-2026-85706 (CVSS 10.0) is a path traversal in the repository commits interface that lets unauthenticated attackers read any file on the server and affects releases 18.7 through 19.1.8 plus the 19.2 and 19.3 lines before patching. CVE-2026-87719 (CVSS 9.9, Enterprise Edition only) lets a logged-in Duo Chat user hide a command in a request that triggers Advanced Search settings and password disclosure. WatchTowr Labs reported it is already watching probes that can trigger the path traversal flaw in a single HTTP request, though CISA had not added either issue to the KEV list as of Friday afternoon.

CyberScoopupdated · 2d agofirst · 5d agoVulnerability in the wild 18 sourcesCVE-2026-85706CVE-2026-87719

Hackers hijack HBO Max Reddit account to push malware in ClickFix ads

Hackers hijacked HBO Max's verified Reddit account to run 108 ClickFix ads delivering infostealers and crypto clippers to Windows and macOS users.

Hudson Rock and ADAMnetworks linked the hijacked u/hbomax Reddit account to a campaign they call PasteSwitch, which ran 108 malicious ads over roughly 48 hours pushing sites like hbomaxx.us, codex-craft.com, and code-desktop.com. ClickFix social engineering tricks victims into pasting Base64-obfuscated shell or PowerShell commands into Terminal or Run, delivering MacSync, AMOS helper persistence, Amatera Stealer loaded in-memory, and the AnimateClipper and ZigClipper crypto clipboard hijackers. Windows chains used an MP3/HTA polyglot to create scheduled tasks, disable AMSI, and launch 32-bit PowerShell; fake Ledger, Trezor Suite, and Exodus wallet apps steal recovery phrases. Reddit admins paused the ads, and it remains unclear how the account was accessed.

BleepingComputerupdated · 1d agofirst · 2d agoMalware in the wild 7 sources

Low-quality casino sites conceal highly dangerous threat actors

Infoblox reveals China-aligned APT groups hiding PeckBirdy malware C2 domains inside roughly 1.7 million Chinese-language illegal casino websites.

An Infoblox report says it tracks about 1.7 million Chinese-language casino sites enabling illegal gambling, some of which double as command-and-control infrastructure. China-aligned APT groups have hidden PeckBirdy framework C2 domains inside these low-quality casino sites since 2023, injecting scripts that display fake software update pages to deliver malware. Over 3 percent of Infoblox enterprise customers resolved at least one PeckBirdy C2 domain, and some sites rely on US cloud providers via 'infrastructure laundering.' Infoblox urges defenders not to dismiss casino-domain alerts as mere employee browsing violations.

The Register · Security · 1d agoThreat actor in the wild1

KREMLIN Banking Malware Bypasses Chrome Security to Steal Banking Sessions

Elastic Security Labs details KREMLIN, a Brazilian banking malware that implants malicious Chrome and Edge extensions by forging Chromium integrity values to steal banking sessions.

Elastic Security Labs tracks the KREMLIN banking malware operation as REF9334, active since at least May 2025 across seven campaigns primarily targeting 12 Brazilian banks. The malware is installed by a victim-run JavaScript loader, achieves scheduled-task persistence, and side-loads a malicious DLL via SentinelOne's SentinelMemoryScanner.exe. It modifies Chrome and Edge Secure Preferences files, enables developer mode, and regenerates Chromium MAC values to silently install extensions, while extracting browser encryption material including the newer App-Bound OSCrypt key. An Ethereum smart contract serves as a dead-drop resolver for C2 config; Elastic disrupted over 1,500 infections via a canary domain.

GBHackers · 1d agoMalware in the wild 2 sources

Attackers are weaponizing the gap between Chromium fixes and Chrome patches

Espionage actors use the BlueMoon exploit kit to chain Chrome V8 and Windows kernel zero-days via spear phishing, gaining full admin on unpatched endpoints.

Proofpoint, working with Google Threat Intelligence Group, Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center and Volexity, reports that the BlueMoon exploit kit chains V8 type confusion CVE-2026-85046, V8 sandbox escape CVE-2026-87491 and Windows kernel LPE CVE-2026-85880, all rated high severity. The V8 flaws were fixed in upstream Chromium source but had not yet reached Chrome stable releases, creating a patch gap that attackers reverse-engineered and weaponized. A China-aligned state-sponsored actor used the kit from August 28 against a small number of US NGOs, mining and commodity trading firms via rapport-building spear phishing, and within days several mostly China-linked espionage clusters adopted BlueMoon. The chain yields full Windows admin privileges from a single phishing click; defenders should patch Chrome and Windows, apply Proofpoint detections and hunt for leftover artifacts.

CSO Onlineupdated · 2d agofirst · 6d agoExploit / PoC in the wild 9 sourcesCVE-2026-85046CVE-2026-87491CVE-2026-85880