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Banking Trojans: Ursnif Global Distribution Networks Identified
Unit 42 maps banking-trojan distribution networks: spam botnets push Shiotob downloaders and Ursnif, KINS, Tinba at Japan and European targets via compromised web servers.
Unit 42 identified the distribution networks behind banking trojan attacks against Japan, Italy, Spain, Poland, Australia, and Germany. A spam botnet delivered 75 unique Shiotob (Bebloh/URLZone) variants across 7 million spam emails, with Shiotob acting mainly as a downloader that installs Ursnif and the Pushdo spam bot from C2 commands. Over 200 malicious files were hosted on 74 compromised, mostly European small-business web servers between April 2015 and January 2017, with localized invoice and photo-themed email lures per target country.
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Leaks, data breaches, and ransom notes: The worst hacks of 2026 so far
TechCrunch's 2026 roundup covers SSA data exposure, Iranian water-utility attacks, Klue breach hitting ~200 firms, and Meta AI chatbot account hijacks.
TechCrunch's mid-year roundup highlights a whistleblower claim that DOGE uploaded a live Social Security database copy to an unsecured third-party server, which House Democrats called potentially the largest US breach in history. CISA reported Iranian hackers targeted over 100 US water providers over the summer, while Russian-linked attacks hit Polish, Swedish, and Norwegian energy and water infrastructure. Market research firm Klue was breached via a stale 2022 pilot credential, exposing cloud keys of ~200 customers including Jamf, HackerOne, and LastPass to extortion gang Icarus. Separately, tens of thousands of Instagram accounts were hijacked by abusing Meta's AI chatbot to trigger password resets to attacker-controlled emails.
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OpenAI banned Russian ChatGPT accounts backing covert influence operation
OpenAI banned Russian-run ChatGPT accounts behind fake think tank IBI, which used AI-generated posts and a 'Sovereignty Index' to push pro-Russia narratives.
OpenAI banned a cluster of ChatGPT accounts, likely operated from Russia via VPNs, that generated English-language social media comments for X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Telegram and Substack promoting the International Burke Institute (IBI). The Israel-branded IBI website, registered in February 2025, claimed ties to figures like Francis Fukuyama, but 34 of 36 sampled articles were copied or misattributed. Its 'Sovereignty Index' consistently ranked Russia favorably while criticizing France, Germany, the EU and the US; OpenAI rated the campaign at the lower end of Brookings Breakout Scale Category Three.
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