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5 stories in the last 24h

Chosen Brick, Iran’s Surveillance Malwarenew

UK, US, and Dutch agencies warn Iranian CHOSEN BRICK malware targets dissidents and journalists via Telegram, harvesting contacts, emails, and messages since 2025.

The UK NCSC, FBI, and Dutch AIVD jointly attributed the CHOSEN BRICK Windows malware family to Iranian intelligence services, used since at least 2025 against dissidents, journalists, and activists worldwide, including in the UK, US, and Netherlands. Operators build rapport over WhatsApp or Telegram, impersonating known contacts or platform support, then deliver lures disguised as installers for Pictory, RunwayML, Norton Antivirus, Telegram, Adobe Flash Player, or KeePass, or fake MRI results. The malware persists via registry Run keys, adds Microsoft Defender exclusions, and uses per-victim Telegram bot IDs for C2, with newer versions adding HTTPS or SOCKS5 proxies. Some victims' data appeared on pro-Iranian leak sites, raising harassment and physical-safety risks.

Security Affairs · 1h agoMalware in the wild 7 sources

BambooToken: The Malware That Speaks MQTT to Stay Under the Radar

Lumen's Black Lotus Labs uncovered BambooToken, a Windows and Linux malware family using MQTT broker-based C2 and DLL sideloading across Asia since February 2023.

Lumen Black Lotus Labs identified BambooToken, a multiplatform malware family that exchanges commands through MQTT brokers so infected hosts never contact the C2 server directly, active from at least February 2023 through July 2026. The Windows variant sideloads via Tendyron's OnKey hardware-token software used in Chinese banking and government, or impersonates Kingsoft Office, without either vendor's signing certificate being compromised; a Linux build appeared by December 2025 with shell, file transfer, and system information commands. Victims include MikroTik and DrayTek routers in Singapore, Cambodia, and Vietnam reached after internet-wide SNMP scanning, and Lumen cannot attribute the family to any known actor.

Security Affairs · 12h agoMalware in the wild

Malware bypasses browser checks to force install Chrome, Edge extensions

Elastic Security Labs detailed KREMLIN, a Brazilian banking malware that silently installs malicious Chrome and Edge extensions, with 1,515 confirmed infections.

Elastic Security Labs analyzed KREMLIN, a toolkit used by a Brazilian operation in at least seven campaigns since May 2025 that impersonates 12 banks to trick users into opening a JavaScript file disguised as a bank receipt or invoice. After anti-sandbox checks, it downloads Node.js, persists via a scheduled task, and fetches payload locations from an Ethereum smart contract, hiding payloads in JPEG images on Internet Archive. The toolkit bypasses Chromium integrity mechanisms to install unapproved Chrome/Edge extensions masquerading as AVSync that steal cookies, keylog form input, capture screenshots, and intercept HTTP traffic, while recent campaigns deployed the REMCOS RAT and earlier ones Pulsar RAT. Elastic confirmed 1,515 infected systems, almost all in Brazil, and disrupted the campaign by registering an anti-sandbox canary domain; the linked wallet handled roughly 20,800 USDT incoming and 19,000 USDT outgoing.

BleepingComputer · 14h agoMalware in the wild 3 sources

PHP Webshell Campaign Targets WordPress Through Critical WooCommerce Plugin Bug

Wordfence blocked over 100,000 exploitation attempts against CVE-2026-27540 in WooCommerce Wholesale Lead Capture, letting attackers upload PHP webshells to WordPress sites.

Wordfence reported more than 100,000 blocked exploitation attempts against CVE-2026-27540 in the WooCommerce Wholesale Lead Capture plugin (roughly 6,000 active installs), which was disclosed and patched on February 20 in version 2.0.3.2. The unauthenticated AJAX handler wwlc_file_upload_handler reads permitted file extensions from the attacker-controlled request, enabling arbitrary file upload of PHP files such as shell.php that report host details and serve further upload forms. Attack activity peaked between June 4 and June 17, 2026, with additional waves on July 1 and August 30. Wordfence rates the flaw CVSS 9.8, while Patchstack's CVE record lists 9.0.

Infosecurity Magazine · 17h agoExploit / PoC in the wild 6 sourcesCVE-2026-27540

The sexy AI-powered dating app scams are here

Anthropic exposed a network of roughly 28 AI-driven dating apps using autonomous personas and gig workers to defraud paying users.

Anthropic threat intelligence uncovered a fraud network of around 28 dating apps after a prepaid account sent over 100,000 Claude API requests daily, with most chats run by autonomous AI personas and no human agent. Researchers Matthew Gore-Kormanik and Anthropic's Chris Cronbaugh documented apps including Dora, Romi, and Doni, which monetize conversations via coins; gig workers were hired only to pass liveness checks and select pregenerated replies. An operations manual written in Chinese was found inside the Doni app, and Anthropic published findings in its September 2026 AI misuse report.

The Verge · AI · 18h agoPhishing & fraud in the wild