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Some weeks in security feel normal. Then you read a few tabs and get that immediate “ah, great, we’re doing this now” feeling. This week has that energy. Fresh messes, old problems getting sharper, and research that stops feeling theoretical real fast. A few bits hit a little too close to real life, too. There’s a good mix here: weird abuse of trusted stuff, quiet infrastructure ugliness, sketchy chatter, and the usual reminder that attackers will use anything that works. Scroll on. You’ll see what I mean. ⚡ Threat of the Week Google Patches 2 Actively Exploited Chrome 0-Days — Google released security updates for its Chrome web browser to address two high-severity vulnerabilities that it said have been exploited in the wild. The vulnerabilities related to an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the Skia 2D graphics library (CVE-2026-3909) and an inappropriate implementation vulnerability in the V8 JavaScript and WebAssembly engine (CVE-2026-3910) that could result in out-of-boun...

If you run security at any reasonably complex organization, your validation stack probably looks something like this: a BAS tool in one corner. A pentest engagement, or maybe an automated pentesting product, in another. A vulnerability scanner feeding an attack surface management platform somewhere else. Each tool gives you a slice of the picture. None of them talks to each other in any meaningful way. Meanwhile, adversaries do not attack in silos. A real intrusion might chain together an exposed identity, a cloud misconfiguration, a missed detection opportunity, and an unpatched vulnerability in a single operation. Attackers understand that your environment is an interconnected system. Unfortunately, most validation programs are still treating it as a set of disparate, disconnected parts. This isn't a minor inefficiency. It's a structural blind spot. And it's lasted for years because the market has treated every validation discipline as a separate category, with its own...

Three different ClickFix campaigns have been found to act as a delivery vector for the deployment of a macOS information stealer called MacSync . "Unlike traditional exploit-based attacks, this method relies entirely on user interaction – usually in the form of copying and executing commands – making it particularly effective against users who may not appreciate the implications of running unknown and obfuscated terminal commands," Sophos researchers Jagadeesh Chandraiah, Tonmoy Jitu, Dmitry Samosseiko, and Matt Wixey said . It's currently not known if the campaigns are the work of the same threat actor. The use of ClickFix lures to distribute the malware was also flagged by Jamf Threat Labs in December 2025. The details of the three campaigns are as follows - November 2025: A campaign that used the OpenAI Atlas browser as bait, delivered via sponsored search results on Google, to direct users to a fake Google Sites URL with a download button that, when clicked, disp...

Ukrainian entities have emerged as the target of a new campaign likely orchestrated by threat actors linked to Russia, according to a report from S2 Grupo's LAB52 threat intelligence team. The campaign, observed in February 2026, has been assessed to share overlaps with a prior campaign mounted by Laundry Bear (aka UAC-0190 or Void Blizzard) aimed at Ukrainian defense forces with a malware family known as PLUGGYAPE. The attack activity "employs various judicial and charity themed lures to deploy a JavaScript‑based backdoor that runs through the Edge browser," the cybersecurity company said. Codenamed DRILLAPP , the malware is capable of uploading and downloading files, leveraging the microphone, and capturing images through the webcam by taking advantage of the web browser's features. Two different versions of the campaign have been identified, with the first iteration detected in early February by making use of a Windows shortcut (LNK) file to create an HTML...

Google is testing a new security feature as part of Android Advanced Protection Mode (AAPM) that prevents certain kinds of apps from using the accessibility services API. The change, incorporated in Android 17 Beta 2, was first reported by Android Authority last week. AAPM was introduced by Google in Android 16, released last year. When enabled , it causes the device to enter a heightened security state to guard against sophisticated cyber attacks. Like Apple's Lockdown Mode, the opt-in feature prioritizes security at the cost of diminished functionality and usability so as to minimize the attack surface. Some of the core configurations include blocking app installation from unknown sources, restricting USB data signaling, and mandating Google Play Protect scanning. "Developers can integrate with this feature using the AdvancedProtectionManager API to detect the mode's status, enabling applications to automatically adopt a hardened security posture or restrict h...

China's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team (CNCERT) has issued a warning about the security stemming from the use of OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot and Moltbot), an open-source and self-hosted autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) agent. In a post shared on WeChat, CNCERT noted that the platform's "inherently weak default security configurations," coupled with its privileged access to the system to facilitate autonomous task execution capabilities, could be explored by bad actors to seize control of the endpoint. This includes risks arising from prompt injections, where malicious instructions embedded within a web page can cause the agent to leak sensitive information if it's tricked into accessing and consuming the content. The attack is also referred to as indirect prompt injection (IDPI) or cross-domain prompt injection (XPIA), as adversaries, instead of interacting directly with a large language model (LLM), weaponize benign AI f...

Cybersecurity researchers have flagged a new iteration of the GlassWorm campaign that they say represents a "significant escalation" in how it propagates through the Open VSX registry. "Instead of requiring every malicious listing to embed the loader directly, the threat actor is now abusing extensionPack and extensionDependencies to turn initially standalone-looking extensions into transitive delivery vehicles in later updates, allowing a benign-appearing package to begin pulling a separate GlassWorm-linked extension only after trust has already been established," Socket said in a report published Friday. The software supply chain security company said it discovered at least 72 additional malicious Open VSX extensions since January 31, 2026, targeting developers. These extensions mimic widely used developer utilities, including linters and formatters, code runners, and tools for artificial intelligence (AI)-powered coding assistants like Clade Code and Google...

A suspected China-based cyber espionage operation has targeted Southeast Asian military organizations as part of a state-sponsored campaign that dates back to at least 2020. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 is tracking the threat activity under the moniker CL-STA-1087 , where CL refers to cluster, and STA stands for state-backed motivation. "The activity demonstrated strategic operational patience and a focus on highly targeted intelligence collection, rather than bulk data theft," security researchers Lior Rochberger and Yoav Zemah said. "The attackers behind this cluster actively searched for and collected highly specific files concerning military capabilities, organizational structures, and collaborative efforts with Western armed forces." The campaign exhibits hallmarks commonly associated with advanced persistent threat (APT) operations, including carefully crafted delivery methods, defense evasion strategies, highly stable operational infrastructure, and custom ...

Meta has announced plans to discontinue support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for chats on Instagram after May 8, 2026. "If you have chats that are impacted by this change, you will see instructions on how you can download any media or messages you may want to keep," the social media giant said in a help document. "If you're on an older version of Instagram, you may also need to update the app before you can download your affected chats." When reached for comment, this is what Meta had to say: "Very few people were opting in to end-to-end encrypted messaging in DMs, so we're removing this option from Instagram in the coming months. Anyone who wants to keep messaging with end-to-end encryption can easily do that on WhatsApp." The American company first began testing E2EE for Instagram direct messages in 2021 as part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg's "privacy-focused vision for social networking." The feature is currently " only ...

INTERPOL on Friday announced the takedown of 45,000 malicious IP addresses and servers used in connection with phishing, malware, and ransomware campaigns, as part of the agency's ongoing efforts to dismantle criminal networks, disrupt emerging threats, and safeguard victims from scams. The effort is part of an international law enforcement operation that involved 72 countries and territories. It also led to the arrest of 94 people, with another 110 individuals still under investigation. A total of 212 electronic devices and servers were seized during raids at various key locations. One such operation in Bangladesh saw 40 suspects arrested and 134 electronic devices confiscated pertaining to a wide range of cybercrime offences, including loan and job scams, identity theft, and credit card fraud. In Togo, authorities apprehended 10 suspects accused of running a fraud ring from a residential area. While some were involved in hacking into social media accounts, others conducted s...

Microsoft has disclosed details of a credential theft campaign that employs fake virtual private network (VPN) clients distributed through search engine optimization (SEO) poisoning techniques. "The campaign redirects users searching for legitimate enterprise software to malicious ZIP files on attacker-controlled websites to deploy digitally signed trojans that masquerade as trusted VPN clients while harvesting VPN credentials," the Microsoft Threat Intelligence and Microsoft Defender Experts teams said . The Windows maker, which observed the activity in mid-January 2026, has attributed it to Storm-2561 , a threat activity cluster known for propagating malware through SEO poisoning and impersonating popular software vendors since May 2025. The threat actor's campaigns were first documented by Cyjax, highlighting the use of SEO poisoning to redirect users searching for software programs from companies like SonicWall, Hanwha Vision, and Pulse Secure (now Ivanti Secure...

Disclaimer : This report has been prepared by the Threat Research Center to enhance cybersecurity awareness and support the strengthening of defense capabilities. It is based on independent research and observations of the current threat landscape available at the time of publication. The content is intended for informational and preparedness purposes only. Read more blogs around threat intelligence and adversary research: https://atos.net/en/lp/cybershield  Summary Atos Researchers identified a new variant of the popular ClickFix technique, where attackers convince the user to execute a malicious command on their own device through the Win + R shortcut. In this variation, a “net use” command is used to map a network drive from an external server, after which a “.cmd” batch file hosted on that drive is executed. Script downloads a ZIP archive, unpacks it, and executes the legitimate WorkFlowy application with modified, malicious logic hidden inside “.asar” archive. This acts as...

Google on Thursday released security updates for its Chrome web browser to address two high-severity vulnerabilities that it said have been exploited in the wild. The list of vulnerabilities is as follows - CVE-2026-3909 (CVSS score: 8.8) - An out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the Skia 2D graphics library that allows a remote attacker to perform out-of-bounds memory access via a crafted HTML page. CVE-2026-3910 (CVSS score: 8.8) - An inappropriate implementation vulnerability in the V8 JavaScript and WebAssembly engine that allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code inside a sandbox via a crafted HTML page. Both vulnerabilities were discovered and reported by Google itself on March 10, 2026. As is customary in these cases, no details are available about how the issues are being abused in the wild and who is behind the efforts. This is done so as to prevent other threat actors from exploiting the issues. "Google is aware that exploits for both CVE-2026-3909 an...

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed multiple security vulnerabilities within the Linux kernel's AppArmor module that could be exploited by unprivileged users to circumvent kernel protections, escalate to root, and undermine container isolation guarantees. The nine confused deputy vulnerabilities have been collectively codenamed CrackArmor by the Qualys Threat Research Unit (TRU). The cybersecurity company said the issue has existed since 2017. No CVE identifiers have been assigned to the shortcomings. AppArmor is a Linux security module that provides mandatory access control (MAC) and secures the operating system against external or internal threats by preventing known and unknown application flaws from being exploited. It has been included in the mainline Linux kernel since version 2.6.36. "This 'CrackArmor' advisory exposes a confused deputy flaw allowing unprivileged users to manipulate security profiles via pseudo-files, bypass user-namespace restricti...

A court-authorized international law enforcement operation has dismantled a criminal proxy service named SocksEscort that enslaved thousands of residential routers worldwide into a botnet for committing large-scale fraud. "SocksEscort infected home and small business internet routers with malware," the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) said . "The malware allowed SocksEscort to direct internet traffic through the infected routers. SocksEscort sold this access to its customers." SocksEscort ("socksescort[.]com") is said to have offered to sell access to about 369,000 different IP addresses in 163 countries since the summer of 2020, with the service listing nearly 8,000 infected routers as of February 2026. Of these, 2,500 were located in the U.S. As of December 2025, SocksEscort's website claimed to offer "static residential IPs with unlimited bandwidth" and that they can bypass spam blocklists. It advertised over 35,900 proxies from 102 c...

Veeam has released security updates to address multiple critical vulnerabilities in its Backup & Replication software that, if successfully exploited, could result in remote code execution. The vulnerabilities are as follows - CVE-2026-21666 (CVSS score: 9.9) - A vulnerability that allows an authenticated domain user to perform remote code execution on the Backup Server. CVE-2026-21667 (CVSS score: 9.9) - A vulnerability that allows an authenticated domain user to perform remote code execution on the Backup Server. CVE-2026-21668 (CVSS score: 8.8) - A vulnerability that allows an authenticated domain user to bypass restrictions and manipulate arbitrary files on a Backup Repository. CVE-2026-21672 (CVSS score: 8.8) - A vulnerability that allows local privilege escalation on Windows-based Veeam Backup & Replication servers. CVE-2026-21708 (CVSS score: 9.9) - A vulnerability that allows a Backup Viewer to perform remote code execution as the postgres user. The sho...

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a new banking malware targeting Brazilian users that's written in Rust, marking a significant departure from other known Delphi-based malware families associated with the Latin American cybercrime ecosystem. The malware, which is designed to infect Windows systems and was first discovered last month, has been codenamed VENON by Brazilian cybersecurity company ZenoX. What makes VENON notable is that it shares behaviors that are consistent with established banking trojans targeting the region, such as Grandoreiro, Mekotio, and Coyote, specifically when it comes to features like banking overlay logic, active window monitoring, and a shortcut (LNK) hijacking mechanism. The malware has not been attributed to any previously documented group or campaign. However, an earlier version of the artifact, dating back to January 2026, has been found to expose full paths from the malware author's development environment. The paths repea...

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a suspected artificial intelligence (AI)-generated malware codenamed Slopoly put to use by a financially motivated threat actor named Hive0163 . "Although still relatively unspectacular, AI-generated malware such as Slopoly shows how easily threat actors can weaponize AI to develop new malware frameworks in a fraction of the time it used to take," IBM X-Force researcher Golo Mühr said in a report shared with The Hacker News. Hive0163's operations are driven by extortion through large-scale data exfiltration and ransomware. The e-crime group is primarily associated with a wide range of malicious tools, including NodeSnake, Interlock RAT, JunkFiction loader, and Interlock ransomware. In one ransomware attack observed by the company in early 2026, the threat actor was observed deploying Slopoly during the post-exploitation phase so as to maintain persistent access to the compromised server for more than a week. Slo...

Phishing has quietly turned into one of the hardest enterprise threats to expose early. Instead of crude lures and obvious payloads, modern campaigns rely on trusted infrastructure, legitimate-looking authentication flows, and encrypted traffic that conceals malicious behavior from traditional detection layers. For CISOs, the priority is now clear: scale phishing detection in a way that helps the SOC uncover real risk before it becomes credential theft, business interruption, and board-level fallout. Why Scaling Phishing Detection Has Become a Priority for Modern SOCs For many security teams, phishing is no longer a single alert to investigate — it is a continuous stream of suspicious links, login attempts, and user-reported messages that must be validated quickly. The problem is that most SOC workflows were never designed to handle this volume. Each investigation still requires time, context gathering, and manual validation, while attackers operate at machine speed. When phishing ...

Another Thursday, another pile of weird security stuff that somehow happened in just seven days. Some of it is clever. Some of it is lazy. A few bits fall into that uncomfortable category of “yeah… this is probably going to show up in real incidents sooner than we’d like.” The pattern this week feels familiar in a slightly annoying way. Old tricks are getting polished. New research shows how flimsy certain assumptions really are. A couple of things that make you stop mid-scroll and think, “wait… people are actually pulling this off?” There’s also the usual mix of strange corners of the ecosystem doing strange things — infrastructure behaving a little too professionally for comfort, tools showing up where they absolutely shouldn’t, and a few cases where the weakest link is still just… people clicking stuff they probably shouldn’t. Anyway. If you’ve got five minutes and a mild curiosity about what attackers, researchers, and the broader internet gremlins were up to lately, this week’...