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DomainAll Cyber AIWindow24h 3d 7d 30d AllIn the wild Important only Show duplicates

CategoryAll Ransomware 208 Exploit / PoC 188 Malware 157 Vulnerability 144 Threat actor 67 Policy & legal 63 Data breach 55 Industry 26 Phishing & fraud 25 Advisory 7 AI safety & security 6 AI industry 3 Research 3 AI tools & infra 2

SeverityAll critical 566 high 199 medium 127 low 41 info 23

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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 BlogSep 10, 16:00 UTC · 6d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild 4 sources1

Counterfeit installers turn routine software downloads into enterprise breaches

Microsoft warns of a multi-sector campaign using counterfeit download sites for Edge, Kaspersky and Razer to deliver trojanized installers with persistent implants.

Microsoft Defender Experts tracked a campaign breaching organizations in healthcare, manufacturing, gaming, technology, logistics, government, and education via spoofed vendor download pages, often using .com.cn and .hl.cn domains. Installers keep the same filename while their hash changes on every download, indicating server-side payload generation that defeats file-based detection. The chain abuses msiexec.exe and scheduled tasks for persistence, adds Defender exclusions, deletes shadow copies, and disables Windows Update, with some hands-on-keyboard activity. The activity is consistent with the publicly reported Silver Fox (Yinhu) campaign, though Microsoft has not attributed it to a nation-state actor.

CSO OnlineSep 3, 11:17 UTC · 13d agoThreat actor in the wild1

Microsoft Tracks MacSync Stealer by Its Behavior, Not Its Domains

Microsoft correlates over 30 rotating domains to track MacSync Stealer, which steals passwords, SSH keys, wallets and AWS credentials.

Microsoft Defender Experts tracked MacSync Stealer, a macOS information stealer, by analyzing recurring behaviors rather than individual domains, linking over 30 domains to the campaign. The infection chain uses the ClickFix social engineering technique, tricking victims into pasting commands in Terminal, then uses curl, AppleScript, and native macOS tools to deploy the payload. The stealer targets Keychain data, browser passwords and cookies, SSH keys, AWS credentials, Kubernetes configurations, and Ledger and Trezor wallet data, staging data before exfiltration via chunked HTTP PUT requests. RST Cloud identified rapid C2 infrastructure replacement after initial public disclosure.

Security AffairsAug 19, 08:57 UTC · 28d agoMalware

The 12 Best Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) Solutions, Compared and Priced

An editorial scorecard ranks 12 EDR platforms, with CrowdStrike and SentinelOne tied at 8.6/10 and telemetry retention identified as the hidden cost driver.

An editorial comparison scores twelve EDR platforms on detection, response, analyst burden, pricing transparency, and coverage. CrowdStrike and SentinelOne tie at 8.6/10, with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint close behind at 8.5 and described as effectively free in Microsoft 365 E5 estates. The guide argues that telemetry retention, not per-endpoint price, drives real cost, with fully-priced quotes frequently diverging 2-3x from headline rates. Managed detection offerings, including Cynet's bundled 24/7 SOC, factor into the buyer-fit rankings.

GBHackersSep 9, 07:46 UTC · 7d agoIndustry 2 sources

Attackers call employees’ personal phones to break into Microsoft 365 accounts

Microsoft tracks vishing campaigns by Storm-3121 and Storm-3032 that impersonate IT staff, phish Microsoft 365 credentials, and steal cloud data.

Microsoft Security Research has tracked a campaign since May 2026 in which attackers call or text employees' personal phones posing as IT staff, using passkey/MFA/SSO lures to run adversary-in-the-middle phishing or device-code authentication flows. Attackers register their own MFA methods for durable persistence, abuse Microsoft Graph for tenant discovery, and download SharePoint, OneDrive, and Exchange data below 1,000 files or emails per hour to avoid detection. Microsoft attributes initial access to actors including Storm-3121, which feeds ShinyHunters and Falcon extortion operations, and Storm-3032, the Helix extortion operation descended from BlackFile.

Help Net Securityupdated 11:58 UTC · 4h agofirst Sep 10, 13:26 UTC · 6d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild 10 sources1

12 Best CASB Solutions Compared (2026): Features & Pricing

GBHackers' 2026 buyer's guide compares 12 CASB-capable vendors, arguing standalone CASB pricing has dissolved into per-user SSE subscriptions.

The article evaluates twelve CASB-capable platforms including Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, Palo Alto Networks' Prisma Access CASB, Netskope, iboss, Forcepoint ONE (Bitglass), Trend Micro Cloud App Security, and Skyhigh Security. It frames purchasing around SSE bundle economics, noting Defender for Cloud Apps ships inside Microsoft 365 E5 while Netskope, Zscaler, and Skyhigh price CASB into per-user SSE tiers. It also flags Saviynt, common on legacy roundups, as an IGA vendor rather than a true CASB.

GBHackersupdated 09:52 UTC · 6h agofirst 07:31 UTC · 8h agoIndustry 13 sources

New Microsoft Defender 'ShieldCrash' zero-day grants SYSTEM access

Researcher Nightmare Eclipse released 'ShieldCrash', a zero-day exploit for Microsoft Defender that grants attackers SYSTEM-level access.

An anonymous researcher known as Nightmare Eclipse published a zero-day exploit for Microsoft Defender, dubbed 'ShieldCrash', that yields SYSTEM-level access. The release came immediately after Microsoft rolled out its September 2026 Patch Tuesday security updates. No CVE identifier has been assigned publicly and no in-the-wild exploitation has been reported yet. Microsoft Defender ships by default on Windows, so potential exposure is broad until Microsoft patches the flaw.

BleepingComputerSep 9, 07:30 UTC · 7d agoExploit / PoC

Cybersecurity IR Workshop: The workshop you shouldn’t miss

Microsoft's DART team promotes a 2-3 day Cybersecurity Incident Response Readiness Workshop that stress-tests IR plans against simulated attacks.

Microsoft's Detection and Response Team (DART), which delivers Defender Experts incident response and has supported organizations across 54 countries, is offering its Cybersecurity Incident Response Readiness Workshop. The scenario-driven engagement exercises detection, investigation, containment, and decision-making across identity, endpoint, cloud, and communications, ending with prioritized recommendations. It is available to Unified Enterprise agreement customers via their Customer Success Account Manager.

Microsoft Security BlogSep 1, 18:55 UTC · 14d agoIndustry

Microsoft Defender's Own Driver Can Be Weaponized to Delete Security Software at Boot

Check Point revealed BTR Reforged, a technique weaponizing Microsoft Defender's built-in BTR.sys driver to delete security software at boot without exploiting any vulnerability.

Check Point Research disclosed BTR Reforged, a technique that abuses BTR.sys, a legitimately signed Windows Defender boot-time remediation driver, to perform arbitrary kernel-level file and registry operations on Windows 7 through Windows 11 25H2 without exploiting a software flaw. The BTR_CLI proof-of-concept tool, presented at Black Hat USA 2026 and DEF CON 34, installs the driver via direct registry writes and executes deletions during the boot-time 'golden window' before Defender's user-mode services start, demonstrated by deleting the full Defender stack on a patched Windows 11 machine. Exploitation requires SeLoadDriverPrivilege; Microsoft confirmed it does not meet criteria for immediate servicing and no patch is planned. No evidence of real-world abuse was found, and related indicators of compromise via Sysmon events were published.

The Hacker NewsAug 21, 15:52 UTC · 26d agoTools CVE-2021-240921

September 2026 Patch Tuesday roundup: Plugs for two zero day holes among almost 1,000 fixes in Windows

Microsoft's September 2026 Patch Tuesday ships 964 fixes including two exploited Windows zero-days (CVE-2026-85880, CVE-2026-81963) and a wormable DNS RCE.

Microsoft's September 2026 Patch Tuesday includes 964 Microsoft vulnerabilities requiring customer action, a record attributed to AI-assisted bug discovery, plus 174 third-party/open-source and 23 Chromium/Edge CVEs. Two zero-days are exploited in the wild: CVE-2026-85880, a Windows ALPC heap overflow enabling AppContainer sandbox escape and privilege escalation, and CVE-2026-81963, a Windows Update Stack escalation to SYSTEM. CVE-2026-69730, an unauthenticated Windows DNS RCE, is not yet exploited but Microsoft expects exploitation, and roughly 20 bugs could be wormable. Separately, SAP issued a critical CVSS 10.0 fix for the EPP component used in S/4HANA and NetWeaver.

CSO OnlineSep 9, 03:27 UTC · 7d agoVulnerability in the wildCVE-2026-85880 CVE-2026-81963 CVE-2026-69730+2 CVEs1

Fake Software Installers Disable Windows Update and Weaken Microsoft Defender

Fake software-download sites distribute installers that disable Windows Update and weaken Defender, attributed to China-linked cluster Silver Fox.

Microsoft says an active campaign uses counterfeit vendor websites on .com.cn and .hl.cn infrastructure with Chinese-language lures to deliver server-side generated installers that establish scheduled-task persistence, add Defender exclusions, delete shadow copies, and stop services including wuauserv, UsoSvc, uhssvc and WaaSMedicSvc. Victims span healthcare, manufacturing, gaming, technology, logistics, government and education, primarily China-based operations of multinationals and Chinese-speaking users. Microsoft assesses with moderate confidence the activity matches the Silver Fox (Yinhu) cluster, historically tied to Gh0st RAT and ValleyRAT, with C2 over non-standard ports like 5090 and 7088-7090 via domains iualef[.]net and oijfwe[.]net. Kaspersky separately detailed a QN Wallpaper DLL-sideloading chain delivering ValleyRAT.

The Hacker NewsSep 2, 16:41 UTC · 13d agoMalware in the wild

Counterfeit installers to system compromise: Tracking a deceptive software download campaign

Microsoft tracks a counterfeit software-installer campaign compromising multinationals' China operations, moderately linked to the Silver Fox (Yinhu) actor.

Microsoft Defender Experts is tracking an active campaign using spoofed software download sites for brands such as Razer, Kaspersky, Microsoft Edge, Calibre, and Baidu Netdisk on .com.cn and .hl.cn domains, delivering installer archives whose hashes change per download, indicating server-side payload generation. The implants establish persistence, weaken security protections, and communicate with attacker-controlled infrastructure, with confirmed compromises across healthcare, manufacturing, gaming, technology, logistics, government, and education. Microsoft assesses with moderate confidence that the activity matches the publicly reported Silver Fox (Yinhu) fake software campaign; it has not attributed it to a nation-state actor.

Microsoft Security BlogSep 1, 22:48 UTC · 14d agoThreat actor in the wild1

Microsoft posts nearly 1,000 bugs for Patch Tuesday as CISA warns two being exploited

CISA confirms exploitation of two Windows zero-days among 973 Microsoft patches; 22,000 Exchange servers remain unpatched.

Microsoft's September Patch Tuesday sets a record with 973 vulnerabilities, and CISA confirms CVE-2026-81963 and CVE-2026-85880 are being exploited, giving federal agencies until September 22 to patch. Nightwing estimates over 22,000 corporate Exchange servers are unpatched against weaponized exploit code. Analysts describe CVE-2026-81963 as an early link in ransomware chains where phishing leads to privilege escalation, and note year-to-date Microsoft disclosures exceed 2,600 bugs.

The RecordSep 8, 22:40 UTC · 7d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-81963 CVE-2026-85880

The 12 Best Antivirus (Endpoint Protection) Software for Business, Compared and Priced

GBHackers compares 12 business antivirus products on detection, EDR depth, pricing, and platform coverage, ranking CrowdStrike and Bitdefender joint top at 8.8.

The roundup scores 12 enterprise endpoint protection vendors across detection, EDR depth, management, pricing transparency, and platform coverage. CrowdStrike and Bitdefender tie at 8.8, with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint scoring 8.5 and noted as effectively free for Microsoft 365 E5 licensees. The piece also flags that Kaspersky cannot legally be sold in the US and that Panda and Webroot now sit under WatchGuard and OpenText respectively.

GBHackersSep 8, 10:24 UTC · 8d agoIndustry 2 sources1

Notes on gotchas while migrating 35kb preprompts from Opus to self-hosted Ollama

Opinion piece urges migrating 35KB preprompts from Anthropic/OpenAI to self-hosted Ollama, citing session privacy risks and safety filters blocking security research.

The author documents gotchas migrating 35KB preprompts from Claude Opus to self-hosted Ollama, motivated by fears that frontier providers train on user sessions, citing the OpenAI Navier-Stokes controversy. The piece argues inference providers cannot audit their own retention or training pipelines and that only self-hosted hardware offers verifiable privacy. It also criticizes frontier safety filters for refusing vulnerability research tasks and calls for models that support exploitability testing in CI/CD pipelines.

Hacker News · AISep 14, 13:59 UTC · 2d agoAI industry HN 41↑ · 13 comments1

New Windows Defender ShieldCrash 0-Day Bypasses Microsoft Patch to Read Files as SYSTEM

Researcher's ShieldCrash PoC claims Microsoft Defender still allows arbitrary file reads as SYSTEM on patched Windows, bypassing the CVE-2026-69414 fix.

Researcher MSNightmare released the ShieldCrash proof of concept showing Microsoft Defender can allegedly be made to read arbitrary files with SYSTEM privileges on fully patched Windows systems, bypassing the September 2026 fix for ShieldBreak (CVE-2026-69414). Microsoft has not confirmed the bypass, and the new flaw has no CVE assignment yet. The PoC repository contains C++ project files, a Warden.dll library, and an EICAR test archive, suggesting interaction with Defender's malware-detection and file-handling workflow. Reading files as SYSTEM could expose configuration files, credentials, private keys, and other users' data, though it does not enable code execution.

Cyber Security NewsSep 9, 09:15 UTC · 7d agoVulnerability CVE-2026-69414

100-plus companies call for ‘global surge’ in AI

OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, AWS and 100+ organizations sign open letter urging a 'global surge' in AI-powered cyber defenses.

More than 100 companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, AWS, Capital One, Mastercard, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks and Proofpoint signed an open letter published Thursday calling for accelerated cybersecurity defenses as AI capabilities advance. The letter argues a shrinking 'defenders' window' exists to fix accumulated weaknesses such as excessive permissions, misconfigurations and unpatched legacy systems before AI-enabled attacks grow more widespread. It asks governments to coordinate cross-border defense and fund protection of critical infrastructure, and asks frontier AI labs to provide model access, funding and support. It references a June US executive order creating the Gold Eagle AI threat-sharing clearinghouse.

CyberScoopAug 28, 13:41 UTC · 19d agoIndustry

Hackers Impersonate IT Support on Microsoft Teams to Take Control of Employee PCs

Microsoft warns of a human-operated campaign where attackers pose as IT support in Teams to gain remote PC control and reach domain controllers.

Microsoft Threat Intelligence observed attackers abusing Microsoft Teams external collaboration to impersonate IT/helpdesk staff, persuading employees to grant screen control via Quick Assist or RMM tools. Operators deploy malicious MSI packages via silent msiexec, run encrypted JavaScript implants through portable Node.js, and persist via EdgeUpdate Run keys or Startup folder entries. The Node.js backdoor uses HTTPS long-polling C2, captures screenshots, enumerates Active Directory, and moves laterally over WinRM (TCP 5985) to domain controllers and certificate authorities. Initial access maps to MITRE ATT&CK T1566.003 (Spearphishing via Service); no Teams vulnerability is exploited.

GBHackersSep 8, 13:28 UTC · 8d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild

Threat Brief: Ongoing Russia and Ukraine Cyber Activity

Ukrainian government sites were defaced via OctoberCMS CVE-2021-32648 while Microsoft-attributed actor DEV-0586 deployed destructive WhisperGate malware.

Unit 42 tracks January 2022 attacks against Ukrainian government websites that were defaced or made inaccessible, which Ukraine attributed to Russia. Attackers exploited CVE-2021-32648, an account takeover flaw in OctoberCMS prior to 1.0.472, by submitting a boolean true as the password reset code to bypass validation. Separately, WhisperGate malware, attributed by Microsoft to DEV-0586, disabled Windows Defender and corrupted files across multiple Ukrainian organizations, using a ransomware-appearing first stage and an HTTPS-beaconing second stage with LOLBINs and anti-analysis techniques.

Palo Alto Unit 42Aug 17, 12:20 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Threat actor in the wildCVE-2021-326481

Researcher Drops New Microsoft Defender PoC Showing ShieldBreak Patch Can Be Bypassed

Researcher Chaotic Eclipse released a PoC showing CVE-2026-69414's patch is bypassable, allowing arbitrary file reads as SYSTEM on current Windows.

The researcher known as Chaotic Eclipse published a proof-of-concept for a zero-day in Microsoft Defender, dubbed ShieldCrash, assessed as a patch bypass for ShieldBreak (CVE-2026-69414, CVSS 7.8). The PoC demonstrates an arbitrary file read as SYSTEM with the latest Windows installed, and all supported desktop versions are said to be impacted. Microsoft patched the original issue in Microsoft Malware Protection Engine 1.1.26080.3, which updates automatically. The same researcher recently released PoCs for flaws in CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor, Kaspersky, Avast Antivirus and NVIDIA.

The Hacker NewsSep 9, 06:47 UTC · 7d agoExploit / PoC CVE-2026-694141

How AI and cybersecurity are reshaping ServiceNow

Analysis argues ServiceNow's $7.75B Armis acquisition and AI-driven consumption pricing are reshaping its ITSM platform amid SaaS market anxiety.

CSO Online examines how AI agents, vibe-coding fears, and a reported 30% share price drop are pressuring ITSM leader ServiceNow, and how the company is pivoting toward consumption-based revenue and cybersecurity. The piece highlights ServiceNow's $7.75 billion cash acquisition of Armis, priced at roughly 23 times the vendor's $340 million annual revenue, as a strategic move to supercharge ITSM workflows with accurate device inventory and orchestration rather than to sell a standalone security product. Experts note this ends Armis's vendor-neutral position, introduces the CISO as a new buyer, and will likely lead to aggressive Armis bundling at contract renewals.

CSO OnlineSep 11, 10:15 UTC · 5d agoIndustry

BTR Reforged: Weaponizing Defender’s Remediation Driver as a Kernel Operation Primitive

Check Point shows attackers can abuse Microsoft Defender's signed remediation driver for arbitrary Ring 0 file and registry operations without exploiting any vulnerability.

Check Point Research presents BTR Reforged, a technique that repurposes Microsoft Defender's trusted remediation driver into an attacker-controlled kernel operation primitive. The signed driver can be instructed to execute arbitrary file and registry operations from Ring 0 without exploits, vulnerabilities, or memory corruption. The work demonstrates how trusted security components can be turned into attacker primitives, which is relevant for defenders assessing driver abuse risks.

Check Point ResearchAug 20, 13:07 UTC · 27d agoResearch

Anthropic caught Russia-linked spies using Claude in hacking operations

Anthropic disrupted Russia-linked APT29 using Claude in espionage against 20+ organizations, including Ukrainian government targets and a military drone maker whose vision SDK was stolen.

Anthropic's threat report covering December 2025 to August 2026 attributes the campaign to Midnight Blizzard (APT29/Cozy Bear, Storm-2945), which it links to Russia's SVR. The group compromised hotel Wi-Fi providers, altered DNS records to redirect travelers, accessed mailboxes at two drone-component manufacturers, and stole a proprietary SDK for a drone vision system, which it reverse-engineered using Claude. The group also used Claude to monitor whether security products detected its implants and to modify and redeploy flagged artifacts. The report also covers ShinyHunters affiliates using AI for credential scanning and extortion, a Chinese-speaking group's autonomous zero-day research, and a French-speaking hacktivist.

The Recordupdated Sep 12, 10:30 UTC · 4d agofirst Sep 11, 12:45 UTC · 5d agoThreat actor in the wild 15 sources

More than 200 victims of Medusa ransomware identified over the last year, CISA says

CISA and FBI update Medusa ransomware advisory, reporting more than 500 total victims and warning the gang operationalizes newly disclosed exploits within 24 hours.

CISA and the FBI updated their March 2025 advisory, stating Medusa actors had hit more than 500 victims as of April 2026, up from 300 in 2025, with a focus on healthcare and critical infrastructure. The agencies say Medusa rapidly adopts newly announced exploits, sometimes using them up to a week before public vulnerability disclosure, but does not develop its own zero-days, preferring access obtained from unknown sources. The gang moved to an affiliate model in 2023, offers up to $1 million for exclusive initial access brokers, and uses credential stealers plus legitimate remote access tools including AnyDesk, Atera, ConnectWise and Splashtop. No new victims have appeared on its leak site since April, after the shutdown of the University of Mississippi Medical Center drew significant law enforcement attention.

The RecordAug 18, 18:11 UTC · 28d agoRansomware in the wild1

Security through obscurity is dead, and AI delivered the fatal blow

AI agents are killing security through obscurity, accelerating vulnerability discovery and patch-gap exploitation, experts warn, with OT/ICS systems most at risk.

An opinion/analysis piece arguing AI has made security through obscurity obsolete, citing record vulnerability disclosure volumes after Microsoft's Patch Tuesday addressed 974 CVEs. FBI Cyber Division assistant director Brett Leatherman said latest AI models found significant vulnerabilities in open source libraries running on most web servers. The article cites at least four espionage crews (most suspected China-linked) exploiting Chromium's patch-gap window with a rapid exploit kit, and a five-agency advisory on AI-generated exploitation scripts breaching internet-exposed Siemens S7 Series PLCs at water, manufacturing, and energy facilities. Experts including John Hultquist, Chris Inglis, and Katie Moussouris warn AI erodes the expertise barrier protecting obscure OT/ICS systems while defensive AI patching lags, with studies showing AI-generated patches fail more than half the time.

The Register · SecuritySep 13, 11:21 UTC · 3d agoIndustry

Windows Defender ShieldCrash 0-Day Lets Attackers Read Arbitrary Files as SYSTEM

Unpatched Windows Defender zero-day 'ShieldCrash' PoC lets local attackers read arbitrary files as SYSTEM, apparently bypassing the CVE-2026-69414 patch.

Researcher MSNightmare published a skeleton proof-of-concept for 'ShieldCrash', an unpatched Microsoft Defender flaw enabling arbitrary file reads with SYSTEM privileges that reportedly persists on supported Windows versions after September 2026 updates. It appears to bypass the recent fix for the Malware Protection Engine elevation-of-privilege flaw CVE-2026-69414 (ShieldBreak), patched in engine version 1.1.26080.3. SYSTEM-level file disclosure could expose credentials, application secrets and registry hives and support post-compromise reconnaissance. No active exploitation is confirmed and Microsoft had issued no specific patch or mitigation at disclosure time.

GBHackersSep 9, 08:40 UTC · 7d agoExploit / PoC CVE-2026-69414

Microsoft AI Code of Conduct Sets Cyberattack Boundaries, Chain of Command, Safety Constraints

Microsoft AI's draft Humanist AI Code of Conduct blocks MAI models from producing exploit code and constrains autonomous agent behavior.

The draft code sets 'Absolute Constraints' preventing MAI models from generating working exploit code, attack tooling, or intrusion guidance, while permitting authorized defensive work such as vulnerability discovery and malware analysis. A 'Chain of Command' rule means tool outputs, file contents, and webpages carry no authority over model behavior, countering injected instructions. Microsoft opened a six-week public consultation; a revised version will guide 2027 model development, and current MAI Models were not trained on the document.

SecurityWeekSep 15, 09:40 UTC · 1d agoAI safety & security1

Chaotic Eclipse Released ShieldCrash, A PoC For Microsoft Defender Zero-Day

Researcher Chaotic Eclipse released ShieldCrash, a PoC showing Microsoft Defender's CVE-2026-69414 patch is incomplete, enabling arbitrary file reads as SYSTEM.

Security researcher Chaotic Eclipse published ShieldCrash, a proof-of-concept exploit for the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine privilege escalation vulnerability CVE-2026-69414 (ShieldBreak). The PoC performs arbitrary file reads with SYSTEM privileges on all supported Windows versions, including systems running the September 2026 security updates and Malware Protection Engine version 1.1.26080.3. The researcher claims Microsoft's patch fixed several exploit paths but missed a specific condition that still enables the attack. His recent releases also include zero-day PoCs targeting Nvidia, Kaspersky, Avast, and CrowdStrike Falcon.

Security AffairsSep 9, 07:53 UTC · 7d agoExploit / PoC CVE-2026-69414

New Phishing Campaign Abuses Windows Mshta.exe to Steal Credentials and Secrets

Fortra researchers track an active phishing campaign targeting Spanish speakers that abuses mshta.exe to run HTA payloads for reconnaissance and credential theft.

Fortra's FIRE team says a phishing campaign active since June 2026 targets Spanish-speaking users with invoice ('Facturación') and judicial ('Aviso Judicial') lures, many sent via libero.it/italiaonline.it infrastructure with SCL:-1 markings to bypass anti-spam. Clicking embedded links delivers an HTA launcher executed via mshta.exe, which hides its window off-screen, builds dynamic C2 URLs, and performs reconnaissance using WMI, PowerShell, and environment-variable inspection. A second-stage JavaScript dropper uses HTML smuggling to reconstruct a Base64-encoded ZIP in the browser, delivering a 7-Zip self-extracting executable disguised as a Firefox installer; staged design allows later delivery of credential stealers or ransomware. Defenders are urged to block archivogratuito[.]online and shortener domains goo[.]su, abrir[.]link, and abre[.]ai, and to restrict mshta.exe execution via AppLocker or ASR rules.

GBHackersSep 12, 06:16 UTC · 4d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild1

Nightmare-Eclipse Strikes Again with 'ShieldCrash' Windows Exploit

A researcher known as Nightmare-Eclipse published another zero-day exploit, dubbed ShieldCrash, targeting Windows Defender.

Dark Reading reports that the disgruntled researcher tracked as Nightmare-Eclipse continued a vendetta against Microsoft by publishing a new zero-day exploit named ShieldCrash for Windows Defender. The brief report does not detail affected versions, exploitation prerequisites, or whether exploitation has been observed.

Dark ReadingSep 10, 15:29 UTC · 6d agoExploit / PoC1

Security Affairs newsletter Round 594 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

Weekly Security Affairs newsletter aggregates top stories including Cisco FMC exploitation, Qilin ransomware, Chrome zero-days, and Berlin leak.

Pierluigi Paganini's Security Affairs newsletter Round 594 (International Edition) rounds up the week's security headlines. Topics include attackers exploiting a critical Cisco FMC flaw to deploy Qilin ransomware, SonicWall mass exploitation linked to a UK council attack, multiple CISA KEV additions, Chrome zero-days used by four nation-state actors, a $320 million Liquid Network theft, and a Berlin ransomware data leak. It also covers AI security items such as agent sandbox failures and distillation campaigns by Chinese AI firms.

Security AffairsSep 13, 14:23 UTC · 3d agoIndustry in the wildCVE-2026-42016 CVE-2026-42018 CVE-2026-82329+1 CVEs1

Drowning in CVEs and thirsty for answers? Try CTEM

Sponsored Register piece argues traditional vulnerability management cannot scale with CVE volume and promotes Continuous Threat Exposure Management via Horizon3's NodeZero.

The sponsored article cites surging CVE volumes, CVSS triage shortcomings, NVD backlog, and AI-driven discovery accelerating an asymmetric vulnerability cycle. It outlines Gartner's five CTEM steps - scoping, discovery, prioritization, validation, and mobilization - and describes how Horizon3's NodeZero automated pentesting validates exploitable attack paths with evidence. Horizon3 says NodeZero uses a deterministic machine learning expert system rather than general LLMs, limiting generative AI to scoped tasks via AWS Bedrock.

The Register · SecuritySep 3, 15:00 UTC · 13d agoIndustry

Anthropic: AI Misuse Is Entering a New Phase: From Cybercrime to Surveillance, Propaganda and Weapons

Anthropic's threat intelligence report documents AI misuse scaling cybercrime, surveillance, propaganda, and weapons development from December 2025 to August 2026.

Anthropic's September 2026 threat intelligence report covers malicious activity disrupted between December 2025 and August 2026, spanning cyber operations, influence campaigns, surveillance, fraud, and weapons. One operator (aliases MeowSHA/frkoo/blazespider) ran a credential-harvesting pipeline on 10 AWS EC2 workers that downloaded and scanned 1.8 million Android APKs for hardcoded secrets, feeding confirmed breaches. Claude was abused to build malware, phishing tools, and a mass-interception platform used by Malian national security authorities, with actors linked to China, Iran, and West Africa.

Security AffairsSep 12, 16:46 UTC · 3d agoAI safety & security1

Top 10 Best Mobile Threat Defense (MTD) Solutions in 2026

Roundup of 2026 mobile threat defense tools recommends Zimperium and Lookout for targeted-attack detection and Defender for Endpoint for Microsoft shops.

This guide ranks ten mobile threat defense solutions, recommending Zimperium and Lookout for on-device detection against targeted users such as executives and journalists, and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint mobile for organizations already licensing Microsoft 365 E5. It explains that MDM enforces configuration while MTD detects attacks, and that mobile phishing now arrives via SMS, messaging apps and QR codes rather than email. It also highlights mercenary spyware and zero-click exploits as shifting requirements for high-risk users, referencing Apple's threat-notification program and Lockdown Mode.

Cyber Security NewsSep 9, 07:50 UTC · 7d agoIndustry

AI made software development unrecognizable. Is cybersecurity next?

Opinion piece argues AI-driven shifts that transformed software development—agent-run SOCs, autonomous triage—will soon reshape cybersecurity operations and staffing.

A CSO Online analysis notes Google Cloud research found 90% of developers already use AI, while a March 2026 Federal Reserve paper found coder employment growth fell roughly 3% since ChatGPT's arrival. Gartner predicts 80% of organizations will run smaller, AI-augmented engineering teams by 2030. Security leaders from Contrast Security, Menlo Security and the Cloud Security Alliance expect agent-run SOCs, machine-speed containment and abundant vulnerability discovery, but caution that absorption capacity and autonomous production-environment validation remain bottlenecks.

CSO Online08:25 UTC · 7h agoIndustry

FBI officials say AI is bolstering adversaries, emphasizing need to focus on cyber basics, patching

FBI officials said AI is accelerating adversary capabilities while its new cyber strategy emphasizes continuous patching, cyber hygiene, and AI-enabled defense.

At the Billington CyberSecurity Summit and ahead of a new FBI cyber strategy, deputy assistant director Jason Bilnoski said AI is boosting the speed and capability of both criminal and nation-state attackers, while stressing that basic controls like MFA would still prevent most attacks. Colleen Ferranti urged a shift from quarterly Patch Tuesday cycles to continuous, risk-based patching as AI accelerates vulnerability discovery. The strategy pledges AI-enabled triage, malware analysis, attribution support, agentic AI adoption, expanded Computer Network Operations, ICS Coordinators in every field office, and a pledge on victim relief and privacy.

CyberScoopSep 9, 13:00 UTC · 7d agoPolicy & legal

Once popular for attacking AI, ASCII smuggling is embraced by spammers

Spammers adopt ASCII smuggling—invisible Unicode tag characters—to evade email filters, with Microsoft Defender detections spiking to 2.5 million per day.

ASCII smuggling hides text in Unicode tag characters (e.g., U+E0041 for "A") that are invisible to humans but readable by LLMs and text processors. The technique gained attention as a stealthy prompt-injection vector and is now used by spammers to obfuscate keywords from email detectors. Microsoft reported Defender for Office smuggling detections jumped from roughly 21,000 per day to over 1.3 million in early February, reaching 2.5 million within four days, before falling sharply in mid-May.

Ars Technica · SecuritySep 4, 17:18 UTC · 11d agoPhishing & fraud

Phishing 3.0: The Fight Moves to Agent Versus Agent

Agentic AI transforms phishing economics, enabling personalized multi-channel attacks with deepfakes like the $25M Arup deepfake heist.

The article argues phishing has evolved through three stages: from malicious content, to intent-based BEC, to AI-powered multi-channel campaigns where attacker agents autonomously conduct reconnaissance and generate tailored lures. The widely reported Arup case saw a deepfake video call impersonating colleagues convince an employee to approve transfers worth roughly $25 million. An Osterman Research study of 128 security leaders found 88% experienced trust-undermining incidents, while Microsoft 365 EOP and Google Workspace were measured missing hundreds of phishing messages per 100 mailboxes monthly. The author argues defenders must adopt their own agents to match attacker speed.

The Hacker NewsAug 19, 11:30 UTC · 28d agoPhishing & fraud2

Microsoft named a Leader in the Frost Radar™: Cloud Workload Protection Platforms, 2026

Microsoft was named a leader in the 2026 Frost Radar for Cloud Workload Protection Platforms, cited for Defender for Cloud runtime security.

The 2026 Frost Radar for Cloud Workload Protection Platforms placed Microsoft in its leadership tier, calling the company a visionary leader. Microsoft attributes the recognition to unified runtime security delivered through Microsoft Defender for Cloud. The post is vendor marketing with no incident, vulnerability, or technical detail.

Microsoft Security BlogAug 19, 17:30 UTC · 27d agoIndustry3

Qatar’s Digital Boom Has a Blind Spot: What the 2025-26 Threat Data Is Telling Us

Cyble's Qatar Threat Landscape Report 2025-26 finds Qilin dominated local ransomware while access brokers concentrated on Qatari BFSI and retail access sales.

Cyble's Qatar Threat Landscape Report 2025-26 describes a concentrated threat environment where Qilin accounted for essentially all observed ransomware activity in the country in 2025, including an October campaign, with The Gentleman, Everest, Crypto24, and Payload sharing the space in 2026. Access brokers are selling compromised access, with BFSI and retail accounting for more than half of underground listings, while the education sector sees the most breach and leak incidents. Exploitation activity surged for enterprise remote-access products from Microsoft, Fortinet, Ivanti, and Citrix. The report was published ahead of the CYSEC Qatar summit and cites Qatar's data privacy law and National Cyber Security Agency initiatives.

CybleSep 7, 13:00 UTC · 9d agoThreat actor in the wild