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Network Abuses Leveraging High-Profile Events: Suspicious Domain Registrations and Other Scams
Unit 42 found scammers surge deceptive domain registrations around major events like the 2024 Paris Olympics to run phishing and counterfeit merchandise scams.
Unit 42 analyzed newly registered domains (over 200,000 detected daily from zone files, WHOIS, and passive DNS) containing event-specific keywords, using the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics as a case study. Threat actors register lookalike domains to sell counterfeit merchandise, push fraudulent services, and run phishing, as previously seen with COVID-19-themed and fake ChatGPT tool scams. The article recommends monitoring domain registrations, DNS and URL traffic trends, textual patterns, and verdict change requests to catch event-themed abuse early.
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Mole Ransomware: How One Malicious Spam Campaign Quickly Increased Complexity and Changed Tactics
Unit 42 tracks the new Mole ransomware (CryptoMix family) spread via USPS-themed malspam, with tactics escalating to JavaScript downloaders dropping multiple malware families.
On April 11, 2017, a malspam campaign began distributing Mole ransomware, a CryptoMix-family strain, through USPS-themed emails linking to fake Microsoft Word Online sites offering a bogus Office plugin. By April 13 the campaign added Nemucod JavaScript downloaders installing Mole alongside Kovter and Miuref, and by April 18 it switched to the KINS banking Trojan before moving to speeding-ticket themes and a fake parking services website. Unit 42 notes the rapid tactic changes are likely intended to evade detection, and CryptoMix variants like Mole are typically repackaged within weeks.
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Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (August 17, 2026 to August 23, 2026)
Wordfence logged 240 disclosed vulnerabilities across 184 WordPress plugins and 17 themes for the week of August 17-23, 2026.
Wordfence's weekly WordPress vulnerability report for August 17-23, 2026 added 240 vulnerabilities to its Intelligence Vulnerability Database, affecting 184 plugins and 17 themes. 105 vulnerability researchers contributed during the period. WordPress administrators are advised to review the list to check whether their sites use affected components.
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Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (August 31, 2026 to September 6, 2026)
Wordfence's weekly WordPress vulnerability report summarizes plugin and theme vulnerabilities disclosed and added to its database during the week ending September 6, 2026.
Wordfence published its weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report covering disclosures between August 31 and September 6, 2026. The report lists new vulnerabilities added to the Wordfence Intelligence Vulnerability Database and highlights contributors to WordPress Security. Administrators are advised to review the listed plugin and theme vulnerabilities to check whether their sites are affected.
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Scam Attacks Taking Advantage of the Popularity of the Generative AI Wave
Unit 42 finds about 225 generative AI-themed domains registered daily since ChatGPT's launch, with nearly 29 percent suspicious, fueling scams and PUP delivery.
Palo Alto Networks analyzed new domain registrations containing generative AI keywords such as chatgpt, prompt, and sora since ChatGPT's November 2022 launch, observing around 225 GenAI-related registrations per day. About 28.75 percent of these domains are suspicious, a rate 22 times higher than for general new domains, with registration spikes aligning with milestones like Bing ChatGPT integration, the GPT-4 release, new GPTs, and OpenAI's Sora announcement. Over 72 percent of the domains use gpt or chatgpt keywords, and gpt domains show a 76 percent suspicious rate. Case studies cover PUP delivery, spam distribution, and monetized domain parking, with 35 percent of traffic to these domains directed at suspicious ones.
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