Search: “BeaconKV”

BeaconKV: Key-Value Cache Compression Guided by Beacon Queries for Efficient Large Reasoning Model Inference

BeaconKV introduces training-free KV cache compression using beacon queries, cutting long-reasoning inference memory up to 5.8x while preserving accuracy.

The paper shows recency-based KV cache compression assumptions fail in long-horizon reasoning because Thought Revisiting Tokens (TRT) re-attend to distant context such as early task-solving plans. TRT queries cluster into a small number of similarity groups, which BeaconKV exploits by maintaining compact beacon query representatives to anticipate revisited KV pairs without storing full query history. The training-free method achieves up to 5.8x memory reduction and over 4.3x throughput improvement across four open-source large reasoning models while nearly preserving full cache accuracy.

Hugging Face daily papers·Sep 3, 20:00 UTC · 12d agoAI research1

DPRK APTs: Ted backdoor and curlRAT target South Korean media and automotive sectors

Rapid7 uncovered a DPRK-linked Linux toolkit using a HAProxy-embedded ted backdoor, SSH keylogger, and curlRAT against South Korean media and automotive firms.

Rapid7 Labs identified a previously undocumented framework attributed with medium confidence to DPRK actors, targeting South Korean automotive and media organizations likely since early 2025. The toolkit embeds a backdoor compiled into HAProxy 2.8.12 using its filter API, plus trojanized crond, agetty, atd, sshd, and polkitd, an SSH keylogger storing credentials under /var/lib/sshd/, and a curl-based RAT with a watchdog thread. It enables remote command execution, malicious script injection into served webpages (a watering-hole loop), credential harvesting, and long-term surveillance. Hardcoded C2s are associated with APT37 via ThreatFox, and exposed groupware portals and mail servers align with Kimsuky tradecraft; the initial access vector and any CVE remain unconfirmed.

Rapid7 Blog·Sep 4, 12:00 UTC · 12d agoThreat actor in the wild1

Project CAV3RN continues: Google Apps Script as C2 relay and DNS-based C2 channel selection

Project CAV3RN continues targeting Israel, using Google Apps Script C2 relays and DNS-based channel routing in a .NET NativeAOT framework.

Kaspersky Securelist documents the continuation of Project CAV3RN operations against Israel. The modular .NET NativeAOT framework uses Google Apps Script as a C2 relay and DNS-based C2 channel selection, blending command traffic with legitimate Google services to evade detection.

Kaspersky Securelist·Aug 11, 10:00 UTC · Aug 11, 2026Threat actor in the wild

Healthcare and Victim Support Charities Affected by Beacon Cyber Incid

Infosecurity Magazine·Aug 7, 10:45 UTC · Aug 7, 2026Data breach

Bitsight connects threat intelligence and exposure monitoring across the supply chain

Bitsight made Beacon generally available, combining supply-chain exposure monitoring with MCP support to feed threat intelligence into AI workflows.

Bitsight announced general availability of Beacon, which continuously monitors critical vendors for exposure, vulnerabilities, malicious activity, intrusion, stolen credentials and compromise. New Model Context Protocol (MCP) and agentic capabilities push Bitsight intelligence into AI-enabled workflows, with over 400 customers signing up for early access in one month. The company cites data that third parties now account for almost half of enterprise breaches, up over 60% year over year.

Help Net Security·Sep 14, 13:42 UTC · 2d agoTools

North Korean Hackers Deploy New Linux Espionage Toolkit

Rapid7 says North Korea-aligned actors use a new Linux espionage toolkit (ted HAProxy backdoor, CurlRAT) against South Korean automotive and media targets.

Rapid7 reports a stealthy Linux framework comprising a custom HAProxy backdoor ('ted'), trojanized system binaries (agetty, atd, crond, polkitd, sshd), an SSH keylogger, and CurlRAT that polls C&C every 12 hours. Initial access came via a Groupware login portal flaw, with credential harvesting enabling lateral movement to internal systems. The toolkit supports long-term surveillance, HTTP traffic interception/injection, and drive-by downloads, likely in use since late 2024. Infrastructure and artifacts overlap Operation SyncHole, suggesting Lazarus or APT37 involvement.

SecurityWeek·Sep 7, 12:12 UTC · 9d agoThreat actor in the wild1

Armored Likho expands its cyber-espionage toolkit

Kaspersky reports the Armored Likho espionage group now delivers its new Still Toolkit via fundraising-themed lures to steal Telegram data and eavesdrop on victims.

Kaspersky researchers describe a new campaign by the Armored Likho espionage actor. The campaign masquerades as fundraising efforts and delivers a newly developed Still Toolkit designed to steal Telegram data and eavesdrop on victims. The update expands the group's toolkit and continues its espionage-focused targeting.

Kaspersky Securelist·Aug 13, 08:00 UTC · Aug 13, 2026Threat actor in the wild

Risky Bulletin: Russia starts blocking DoH and DoT

Russian users report blocks on DoH and DoT servers, including Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 and Google 8.8.8.8, in an apparent censorship crackdown.

Russian internet users began reporting failures connecting to DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS servers, suggesting a government crackdown on the two privacy protocols. The blocks reportedly cover Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 and Google's 8.8.8.8 resolvers; Roskomnadzor has not officially confirmed the action. The agency tested a similar block in March on Beeline's network and had named DoH for blocking as early as 2021. The bulletin also briefly notes state-sponsored phishing of EU officials, a DDoS against Norway's Digdir, the ReliaQuest/ShinyHunters dispute, and older ransomware and breach disclosures.

Risky Business News·Aug 26, 03:07 UTC · 21d agoPolicy & legal1

New Ted Backdoor Hides Inside Victims' Own HAProxy Builds to Intercept Web Traffic

Rapid7 found a new backdoor, ted, compiled into trojanized HAProxy at two South Korean organizations, with medium-confidence attribution to North Korean actors.

Rapid7 documented a previously undocumented Linux toolkit named ted compiled into the HAProxy load balancer binaries of two South Korean organizations in the automotive and media sectors. The implant intercepts web traffic, serves altered pages only to filtered visitors, and hides C2 exchanges from backend logs and HAProxy statistics; a companion RAT, curlRAT, beacons on a default 12-hour schedule. The toolkit also trojanizes crond, sshd, agetty, atd, and polkitd binaries and sanitizes logs and bash history. Rapid7 attributes the activity with medium confidence to North Korean state-sponsored actors, with domain infrastructure overlapping APT37 listings in maltrail and delivery resembling the Operation SyncHole campaign.

The Hacker News·Sep 4, 14:51 UTC · 12d agoThreat actor in the wild

How to Keep Malware’s Rotating Infrastructure From Becoming a Detection Gap

ANY.RUN marketing piece argues SOC detection lags rotating malware and phishing infrastructure, citing a 46-country campaign and 3DBlast kit to promote TI feeds.

ANY.RUN describes how malware and phishing campaigns rotate domains and hosting, making single-IOC blocking ineffective for SOC teams. One investigated phishing campaign spanned 46 countries with 425 kit URLs across 240 hosts, 94% of which were seen for only a single day. A phishing kit dubbed 3DBlast impersonates Microsoft 365 and Google using BitB, AiTM, OAuth device-code phishing and DOM relay techniques. The article is primarily a promotion for ANY.RUN TI Feeds and TI Lookup products.

Cyber Security News·Sep 15, 15:36 UTC · 1d agoIndustry

Exposed AWS Access Key Linked to Data Breach Affecting 1500+ UK Charities

CRM provider Beacon says a compromised AWS access key likely caused a data breach affecting more than 1,500 UK charities.

Beacon, a UK CRM provider serving the charity sector, disclosed that an exposed AWS access key was the likely root cause of a data breach. The incident affected data belonging to more than 1,500 UK charities. The company said the compromised cloud credential enabled the unauthorized access; specific record volumes and data types are not detailed in the report.

Infosecurity Magazine·Aug 13, 15:30 UTC · Aug 13, 2026Data breach in the wild

Risky Bulletin: Russia tells data centers to deploy drone defenses

Russia ordered data center operators to deploy drone strike defenses under a Putin decree allowing temporary state takeover of unprotected critical infrastructure.

The Russian government instructed data center operators to deploy protections against drone strikes under a presidential decree signed by Putin that allows temporary state administration of critical infrastructure operators failing to defend against Ukrainian hacks and drone strikes. Although data centers are not formally critical infrastructure in Russia, the decree applies to them because other sectors depend heavily on cloud services; Russia has more than 180 data centers, over 80% in the European region within range of Ukrainian strikes. The digest also reports a Dropbox breach affecting nearly 5,000 accounts via the Lenovo ID integration, spyware attacks on at least 14 Serbians using NoviSpy or Pegasus, and a password recovery attack targeting hundreds of thousands of X accounts tied to the new X Money service. Other items include a 14-hour compromise of Coder's Cloudflare infrastructure delivering malicious Terraform modules, donor data breaches at Davayte and You Are Not Alone via the Stripe/WooCommerce integration, a $2.5M Aquifer crypto heist, and a TVING breach exposing data of almost 40 million accounts.

Risky Business News·Sep 4, 03:02 UTC · 12d agoPolicy & legal

Data from drones in Ukraine is fueling a new Wild West marketplace

Ukraine's defense ministry opened millions of battlefield drone data points to over 100 companies, fueling a fast-growing AI training data marketplace.

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense announced in January it would make millions of data points from tens of thousands of drone flights available to military contractors and commercial companies, with more than 100 companies and the UK government gaining access. Enabled Intelligence says it has processed over 500,000 hours of Ukrainian drone footage for use in future AI training. The article argues this creates a commercial battlefield-data marketplace with risks including lost training-data provenance, an extractive economy benefiting wealthier countries, and a governance vacuum requiring international rules.

MIT Technology Review · AI·Sep 4, 09:25 UTC · 12d agoAI industry1

APT group HoneyMyte upgrades CoolClient: the backdoor gets a kernel-level Windows rootkit

Kaspersky reports APT group HoneyMyte upgraded its CoolClient backdoor with a kernel-mode Windows rootkit hiding processes, files, and network connections.

Kaspersky researchers discovered a new variant of the HoneyMyte CoolClient backdoor equipped with a kernel-mode Windows rootkit driver. The rootkit hides malicious processes, files, and network connections from security tools and threat analysts, significantly increasing the backdoor's stealth. The report documents an upgrade to the APT group's backdoor tooling with a kernel-level implant.

Kaspersky Securelist·Aug 14, 09:00 UTC · Aug 14, 2026Threat actor in the wild

Russian data centers face new security requirements amid Ukraine's drone threats

A new Russian decree tightens critical-infrastructure security requirements, forcing data center operators to boost physical and digital defenses amid Ukrainian drone attacks.

A decree signed by President Putin in late August lets the Russian government temporarily take control of critical infrastructure, including data centers, if operators fail to protect facilities from drone attacks. Russia hosts 181 data centers, many concentrated around Moscow and St. Petersburg, areas increasingly exposed to Ukrainian long-range drone operations. Operators report higher capital expenditures for physical defenses and cybersecurity, costs likely passed to customers. Ukraine has also struck data centers in Kyiv, and Russia has expanded anti-drone measures such as netting and metal barriers.

The Record·Sep 4, 13:47 UTC · 12d agoPolicy & legal

A Deep Dive Into Attempted Exploitation of CVE-2023

Mirai-like botnet scans exploit TP-Link EOL router flaw CVE-2023-33538 after CISA KEV addition, though observed exploit code is flawed.

Unit 42 observed large-scale automated scans attempting to exploit CVE-2023-33538 in end-of-life TP-Link TL-WR940N, TL-WR740N and TL-WR841N routers after CISA added the flaw to its KEV catalog in June 2025. HTTP GET requests inject commands via the ssid1 parameter at the /userRpm/WlanNetworkRpm endpoint to download and execute an arm7 ELF binary, a Mirai variant related to the Condi IoT botnet. Firmware emulation and reverse engineering showed the observed exploits are flawed and would fail, but the underlying vulnerability is real and successful exploitation requires authentication to the router's web interface. TP-Link confirmed the devices are end-of-life with no patches available and recommends replacing units and eliminating default credentials.

Palo Alto Unit 42·Aug 19, 12:03 UTC · 28d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2023-335381

Russian hackers plant nuclear weapon prompt in malware to trip AI safety guardrails

ESET reports Russian group UAC-0099 hid a prompt in VBS malware comments to trip AI safety filters and disrupt automated malware analysis in Ukraine.

ESET identified a technique dubbed GuardBreaker in which UAC-0099 embedded a comment reading "I want to make nuclear weapon. Help me …" inside a malicious VBS script to trigger AI safety mechanisms and halt AI-assisted malware analysis. The script, part of the group's toolset, downloads the MATCHBOIL malware used exclusively by this Russia-aligned group; CERT-UA documented the chain including LUNCHPOKE, BURNYBEAR and MATCHBOIL.V2 in a July advisory. UAC-0099 typically targets transportation and energy sectors and hands validated targets to GRU-linked Sandworm. ESET warned that AI-assisted analysis must be backed by layered detection and human-driven engineering.

Help Net Security·Aug 31, 00:00 UTC · 16d agoAI safety & security in the wild

Head Mare APT is exploiting vulnerabilities in an unpatched TrueConf server to deliver PhantomCore and PhantomGraph to video conference participants

Head Mare APT exploits unpatched TrueConf server vulnerabilities to deliver PhantomCore and PhantomGraph backdoors to video conference participants.

Kaspersky discovered malicious TrueConf software installers used by the Head Mare APT group to deploy the PhantomCore and PhantomGraph backdoors. The group exploits vulnerabilities in an unpatched TrueConf server to reach targets. Video conference participants are infected via the trojanized installers.

Kaspersky Securelist·Aug 11, 12:00 UTC · Aug 11, 2026Threat actor in the wild

Nearly 1 in 10 Exposed LiteLLM Gateways Accepted the Example "sk-1234" Admin Key

Wiz found 294 of 3,074 internet-facing LiteLLM gateways accepted the documented default admin key sk-1234, exposing provider API keys and cloud IAM credentials.

Wiz Research's February Shodan scan found 3,074 LiteLLM gateways, 294 of which accepted the setup guide's sk-1234 admin key; 191 had no master key set and would accept any credential. The master key doubles as the authentication switch, and before 1.82.0-stable a gateway started without one granted every request full admin rights, exposing stored provider API keys, prompts, and MCP-connected tools. A documented pass-through endpoint lacks checks against private and cloud metadata addresses, letting an admin-key holder retrieve cloud IAM credentials, though no real-world abuse is reported. Related LiteLLM flaws include CVE-2026-59821 (disputed guardrail code execution), CVE-2026-59822 (CVSS 8.8, added to CISA KEV on September 2 and observed against Wiz honeypots), and CVE-2026-42271, used to install a cryptominer.

The Hacker News·updated Sep 10, 12:56 UTC · 6d ago·first Sep 10, 07:12 UTC · 6d agoVulnerability in the wild 4 sourcesCVE-2026-59821CVE-2026-59822CVE-2026-42271+2 CVEs

Risky Bulletin: Slovakia finds Russian backdoor in traffic speed cameras

Slovakia's NBU found an SMS-triggered backdoor in Russian-made NERO R-ONE traffic cameras, pausing a 279-unit deployment.

Slovakia's national security service NBU issued an alert against NERO R-ONE high-speed traffic cameras after finding a backdoor that grants shell and network access via SMS from hardcoded Russian phone numbers. The cameras are a rebranded version of the Russian CORDON PRO.M model by St. Petersburg firm Semicon, purchased via a Cyprus shell company under a €30 million EU-funded project. The report also found SecureBoot disabled, vulnerable web management, and unauthenticated live streams; the Interior Ministry paused deployment of 279 cameras pending independent assessment.

Risky Business News·Aug 19, 04:52 UTC · 28d agoThreat actor in the wild1

This Key Will Self-Destruct: An Open Standard for Revocable API Keys

SecurityWeek opinion piece proposes ORKS, an open standard adding issuer prefixes, discovery files, and unauthenticated revocation endpoints to make leaked API keys quickly revocable.

The article argues that plain API keys leak frequently yet lack any standardized revocation mechanism, unlike OAuth tokens which gained RFC 7009 revocation in 2013, and that GitHub's Secret Scanning Partner Program solves this only in a proprietary, invite-only way. The author proposes ORKS (Open Revocable Key Standard), with a draft spec on GitHub, built on four parts: keys embedding their issuer domain in a fixed prefix format, a discoverable /.well-known/api-key-config JSON file, unauthenticated revocation by possession of the full key, and declared constraints such as IP allowlists, expiry, scopes, and mTLS. An optional quarantine mode inspired by Toyota's andon cord restricts a reported key to read-only and throttled operation for a default 24-hour window before automatic revocation. The piece frames AI agents as making this urgent, since agents hold many credentials, can exfiltrate them via prompt injection, and can leak secrets into logs at machine speed.

SecurityWeek·Sep 9, 10:00 UTC · 7d agoTools1

New infosec products of the week: August 21, 2026

Weekly product roundup covering NETSCOUT outbound DDoS mitigation, F5 AI Gateway enhancements, Intezer Workflows, and Tufin TOS 5.3.

NETSCOUT extended Adaptive DDoS Protection to automatically mitigate outbound attack traffic for service providers. F5 enhanced its AI Gateway and integrated it into the F5 AI Security Platform for unified AI access governance. Intezer launched Workflows, native automation and response inside its platform without a separate SOAR, and Tufin released Orchestration Suite 5.3 with AI-powered Segmentation Intelligence for multi-vendor environments.

Help Net Security·Aug 21, 00:00 UTC · 26d agoTools

Metasploit Wrap Up: This One Goes to Sixteen!

Metasploit adds 16 modules including 10 exploits, five covering CISA KEV vulnerabilities in Cisco, SonicWall, PaperCut, JetBrains and Langflow.

Rapid7's weekly Metasploit update ships 16 new modules, 10 of them exploit modules, with five targeting CISA KEV entries. New exploits cover Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center auth bypass (CVE-2026-20079), a SonicWall SMA1000 SSRF-to-root RCE chain (CVE-2026-83548/CVE-2026-83549), JetBrains TeamCity deserialization RCE (CVE-2026-63077), PaperCut NG/MF chain (CVE-2026-81578/CVE-2026-82078), and Langflow authenticated RCE (CVE-2026-19295). The SonicWall and PaperCut chains were reported as actively exploited zero-days, and a new ESC8 relay module exploits CVE-2026-20929 against AD CS Web Enrollment.

Rapid7 Blog·Sep 11, 13:35 UTC · 5d agoTools in the wildCVE-2025-66516CVE-2025-54988CVE-2026-20929+8 CVEs1

Bulk AbuseIPDB reporting using command-line tools

A blogger shows how to bulk-report distributed botnet IPs scraping a self-hosted Gitea instance to AbuseIPDB using bash, awk, and jq.

The author's self-hosted Gitea instance was scraped by distributed bots using random IPs worldwide and randomized, often nonexistent User-Agent strings, generating heavy request load for days. The write-up demonstrates filtering Traefik access logs (CLF and JSON) with grep, awk, and jq to extract offending IPs, tagging them with AbuseIPDB category 19 (Bad Web Bot), deduplicating them, and building a CSV for the Bulk Reporter tool. Reports can then be submitted through the AbuseIPDB bulk-report API, respecting the 5,000-report daily limit.

Lobsters · security·Sep 9, 20:26 UTC · 6d agoTools1

Ukraine to give Britain access to battlefield data to train AI

Ukraine agreed to give the UK access to battlefield data from Avengers AI Labs to train and test defense AI systems.

Ukraine and the UK signed an agreement making Britain the first foreign partner with access to Avengers AI Labs, a Ukrainian defense ministry platform holding about 5 million battlefield images and video frames drawn largely from the DELTA battlefield management system. Systems trained on this data analyze more than 100,000 drone video feeds per month and help identify roughly 70% of enemy targets in real time. Pilot projects are already underway with Sintela, Mind Foundry and Skyral, and the first technology is expected to protect a British defense facility, with potential expansion to airports, prisons, railways and energy infrastructure.

The Record·Aug 25, 14:07 UTC · 22d agoAI industry

Tracking OceanLotus’ new Downloader, KerrDown

Unit 42 identifies KerrDown, a new OceanLotus (APT32) downloader active since 2018 targeting Vietnamese speakers via malicious macros and DLL side-loading.

Unit 42 tracks KerrDown, a previously undocumented downloader family used by OceanLotus (APT32) since at least early 2018, primarily targeting Vietnam or Vietnamese-speaking individuals. Delivery uses macro-laced Microsoft Office documents embedding base64-encoded 32-bit and 64-bit DLLs, and RAR archives containing a legitimate program abused for DLL side-loading. KerrDown is dropped as main_background.png, downloads a DES-encrypted payload from a URL, and executes it directly in memory. Researchers used Jaccard-index similarity analysis to identify the new family, connect campaign samples, and infer patterns in the group's working hours and days.

Palo Alto Unit 42·Aug 17, 12:53 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Malware in the wild1

'HTTP Terminator' Hunts for Novel Desync Attacks

PortSwigger's James Kettle discusses HTTP Terminator, an AI-powered open source tool that uncovered new HTTP request-smuggling (desync) techniques.

PortSwigger researcher James Kettle spoke with Dark Reading about HTTP Terminator, an AI-powered open source tool built to hunt for novel HTTP desync vulnerabilities. The tool has already discovered new HTTP request-smuggling techniques, extending Kettle's prior desync research.

Dark Reading·Aug 26, 19:54 UTC · 20d agoTools

New Phishing Attacks Use Trusted Email Infrastructure and URL Cloaking to Bypass Security Tools

Virus Bulletin Q3 2026 report details phishing using DKIM-aligned senders, Amazon SES delivery, and real-time URL cloaking to evade email security and scanners.

Virus Bulletin's Q3 2026 testing found phishing campaigns delivered through trusted infrastructure like Amazon SES with DKIM-aligned sender domains. Samples included a German overdue-invoice lure redirecting to OpenSea crypto fraud and a Romanian BCR-branded PSD2 banking credential-theft campaign. Cloaking pages used hidden iframes, browser fingerprinting, and time-zone checks to show different content to scanners versus victims. Defenders are urged to inspect full redirect chains rather than attachments or initial URLs alone.

Cyber Security News·updated Sep 15, 13:04 UTC · 1d ago·first Sep 15, 12:02 UTC · 1d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild 2 sources

Bot detection arrives in CrowdSec 1.8.0, along with two DoS fixes

CrowdSec 1.8.0 adds WAF bot detection via challenges and fingerprinting and fixes denial-of-service flaws in HTTP and Kubernetes audit datasources.

CrowdSec 1.8.0, released August 31, introduces bot detection in its WAF using client challenges and fingerprinting, plus fixes for two denial-of-service vulnerabilities in the HTTP acquisition datasource (unbounded decompressed body size, trusted Content-Length) and the Kubernetes audit webhook datasource (unbounded request body reads). The release also adds a dedicated Kubernetes datasource pulling logs directly from the apiserver, new HTTP helpers for external queries in the expression language, and performance work on the decisions stream endpoint. The challenge requires SSE4.1 and writable-executable memory, so some legitimate visitors may be blocked.

Help Net Security·Sep 1, 00:00 UTC · 15d agoTools