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The U.S. government on Wednesday warned of an "active threat" targeting critical infrastructure organizations in the country using artificial intelligence (AI)-generated exploit scripts. The activity is targeting Siemens S7 SeriesProgrammable Logic Controllers (PLCs) to conduct reconnaissance and capability development using AI-generated scripts disguised as legitimate monitoring tools. That said, the ongoing PLC targeting activity is assessed to be broader in scope than Siemens PLCs. "The actors leverage internet scanning services like Censys and ZoomEye to identify internet-exposed PLCs running outdated software or that are otherwise poorly protected," according to the advisory published by the National Security Agency (NSA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Energy (DOE), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Targets of the activity include Critical Manufacturing, Energy, Wa...

Citrix has released updates to address two security flaws impacting NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway deployments, including a critical-severity authentication bypass vulnerability. According to the cloud computing and virtualization technology company, the issues affect customer-managed NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway, including certain FIPS and NDcPP builds, as well as SecurAccess ZTNA Hybrid deployments that use customer-managed NetScaler instances. It bears noting that the vulnerabilities do not apply to Citrix-managed cloud services or Citrix-managed Adaptive Authentication, as the necessary updates have already been applied. The list of impacted NetScaler versions is below - NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway 14.1 BEFORE 14.1-73.32  NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway 13.1 BEFORE 13.1-63.21  NetScaler ADC FIPS BEFORE 14.1-73.32 FIPS  NetScaler ADC FIPS and NDcPP BEFORE 13.1-37.277  The first of the two vulnerabilities is CVE-2026...

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed two denial-of-service (DoS) attacks that exploit how major content delivery networks (CDNs) convert client-facing HTTP/3 traffic into HTTP/1.1 requests to the websites they front, amplifying a low-bandwidth request stream by up to 350x against the origin server. The attacks, collectively named " CDN Tsunami ," were evaluated against Alibaba, Baidu, Cloudflare, Amazon CloudFront, Fastly, and Tencent. All six were found susceptible to the bandwidth variant and five to the connection variant, with Cloudflare unaffected by the latter because it buffers the complete request before opening a connection to the origin. The attack requires a website hosted on one of the six providers, with HTTP/3 serving at the edge, and no configuration changes on the website's part. The paper lists HTTP/3 as enabled by default at Cloudflare and CloudFront. However,  Cloudflare's documentation  describes HTTP/3 as available on all plans and pr...

Security researchers at Cycode have disclosed a chain of flaws in AIT-GUI, the browser-based operator console for NASA/JPL's open-source AMMOS Instrument Toolkit, that allow an unauthenticated attacker to issue arbitrary commands to the software's spacecraft and instrument command bus. The chain, tracked as GHSA-p9r8-2q67-fp86 and rated 9.4 on the CVSS v3.1 scoring system, impacts AIT-GUI versions 2.5.1 and earlier, with the advisory listing version 2.5.2 as the fixed release. The advisory, published August 13, 2026, states that no CVE has been assigned to it. The AMMOS Instrument Toolkit is a framework for building ground data systems, the software that sends commands to instruments and spacecraft and processes the telemetry coming back down. AIT-GUI is its operator console, and the endpoints in question relay operator commands to a command bus. "The blast radius of an unauthenticated POST is measured in issued instrument commands, not defaced pages," Cycode ...

OpenAI on Tuesday revealed that it paused reinforcement learning ( RL ) training for its latest artificial intelligence (AI) models for two weeks while it shored up additional defenses and increased the scope of its monitoring to avert another Hugging Face-like incident . "As models become more capable, the risks associated with developing and testing them internally also grow," the AI company said . "Our standards for monitoring, alignment, and security must stay ahead of those risks. We wanted to take the time necessary to meet those standards, so we temporarily slowed the pace of scaling." The company said its largest planned frontier RL run remains on hold for the time being as it conducts smaller-scale training and evaluations to evaluate model behavior, validate its safeguards, and establish more concrete evidence of alignment before moving to the next phase. To that end, OpenAI said it plans to strengthen safeguards across its development process, inc...

Cybersecurity researchers at Hunt.io have disclosed details of a campaign that they say compromised more than 14,530 Dahua devices between June 17 and July 22, 2026, using credential attacks, two authentication-bypass flaws, and a peer-to-peer (P2P) relay technique. The activity, codenamed Operation CameraSwarm , was reconstructed from a 407 MB exposed working directory containing 2,616 files across 234 subdirectories, including tooling, logs, shell history, and campaign records, with the researchers saying confirmed compromises were concentrated in Ukraine and Russia. The researchers said 1,923 cameras were configured with a persistent account during the operation and 283 were reached through the P2P path. Users of affected Dahua products are advised to install the corresponding fix software or newer firmware, while ITRES Labs recommends disabling P2P where it is not required and checking firmware against the vendor's download site. "The relay establishes the route w...

Cybersecurity researchers have flagged a global cybercrime operation that abuses thousands of hacked WordPress websites as infrastructure to disseminate malware, commandeer infected hosts, store stolen documents, screenshots, and activity logs created to track the status of the activity. "The operation doesn't rely on a single piece of malware, but on a whole toolkit of criminal software working together – some components encrypt files, others silently steal documents or lock the screen, and another acts as a live chat between the attackers and their victims," Check Point Research's Jaromír Hořejší said . The large-scale campaign is being tracked by the cybersecurity company under the moniker StopAndProtect after discovering a ransomware family of the same name in mid-May 2026. The infection chain begins with a ClickFix social engineering attack, resulting in the execution of a PowerShell command that leads to the deployment of additional .NET downloaders and l...

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Tuesday added four critical vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, stating they are being exploited in the wild. The shortcomings added to the KEV catalog are listed below - CVE-2026-65400 (CVSS score: 9.8) - An improper authentication vulnerability impacting Apple macOS that could allow an attacker on the network to authenticate to Screen Sharing without valid credentials. CVE-2026-55040 (CVSS score: 9.1) - A weak authentication vulnerability impacting Microsoft SharePoint that could allow an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature over a network. CVE-2026-59310 (CVSS score: 9.8) - A path traversal vulnerability in Broadcom VMware vCenter that could allow a threat actor with network access to vCenter to execute arbitrary code. CVE-2026-33824 (CVSS score: 9.8) - A double free vulnerability in  Microsoft Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Service Extensions ...

A JavaServer Pages (JSP) web shell deployed following the exploitation of a critical security flaw in PTC Windchill and FlexPLM servers is specifically designed for the enterprise Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software, according to new findings from ReliaQuest. The cybersecurity company characterized the web shell as a fully equipped extortion platform capable of mapping sensitive vault data, decrypting every credential in the Windchill keystore, and running additional code by means of a custom Java class loader, turning the tool into a backdoor for remote access and post-exploitation activity, such as lateral movement, ransomware, or persistence. While threat actors are typically known to deploy lightweight web shells (or reuse open-source variants like Behinder or China Chopper) as a way to maintain remote access to compromised systems and enable basic command execution capabilities, the latest development signals the use of a bespoke web shell that's tailored to the ...

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a previously undocumented Python implant framework dubbed TWINLOOT . "TWINLOOT is a modular, PyArmor-hardened Python implant designed to operate its entire command-and-control infrastructure inside trusted Microsoft services," Ontinue said in a technical report shared with The Hacker News. "Tasking flows through SharePoint Online file dead-drops via the Microsoft Graph API. Interactive operator access routes through WebRTC DataChannels relayed by Microsoft Teams TURN servers." Traffic to and from the Graph API is driven by means of a headless instance of the victim's own Edge browser, thereby making it virtually indistinguishable from legitimate network activity. The implant is equipped to harvest Windows credentials using pixel-perfect fake lock screens, offer a reverse SOCKS5 pivot into victim networks, execute arbitrary commands, and establish persistence on the host. Ontinue's Cyber Defense Cen...

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Monday added a critical flaw impacting Ray to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation. Ray is an open-source, Python-native distributed computing framework designed to scale artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads. As of writing, the GitHub project has more than 43,500 stars and has been forked over 7,900 times. The vulnerability in question relates to CVE-2025-62593 (CVSS score: 9.4), which can result in remote code execution via web browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari by means of a DNS rebinding attack . "Due to the longstanding decision by the Ray Development team to not implement any sort of authentication on critical endpoints, like the /api/jobs & /api/job_agent/jobs/ has once again led to a severe vulnerability that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code against Ray," according to an advisory shared by Ray ...

Cybersecurity researchers have traced the continued evolution of the Cavern (aka Cav3rn) command-and-control (C2) framework used by Iranian nation-state hackers in attacks targeting entities in Israel. Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky said its ongoing monitoring of the threat activity cluster since December 2025 has led to the discovery of previously unreported components that expand the toolkit's communication capabilities. "The main finding is a complex C2 module that uses DNS A-record responses to choose between direct HTTPS and a Google Apps Script relay for each transaction," Kaspersky said in an analysis. "The same DNS infrastructure can validate and replace the relay deployment ID, allowing the operator to rotate the Google channel." Cavern, first publicly documented by Check Point Research in early July 2026, consists of multiple moving parts, including an Agent and an assortment of modules, that work in tandem to enable mission-specific...

The expensive attacks are not always the clever ones. This week had plenty of proof. Exposed services got hit, old bugs found fresh use, browser sessions became attack paths, and supply-chain problems kept spreading farther than the original compromise. A lot of it came down to access that was already there and defenses that assumed nobody would look too closely. So, nothing magical. Just a lot of small openings turning into bigger problems. Here’s what stood out. ⚡ Threat of the Week Suspected China APT Behind Exploitation of New VMware Flaw — A suspected China-nexus APT is assessed to be behind the exploitation of a newly patched security flaw in VMware vCenter. The attacks involve the exploitation of CVE-2026-59310 (CVSS score: 9.8), a severe directory-traversal vulnerability in the VMware vCenter server that could be weaponized by a malicious actor to execute arbitrary code. In at least one compromised instance, the attacks led to the deployment of a backdoor and. a rever...

Cybersecurity researchers have flagged a previously undocumented Linux botnet family dubbed Evooo1Bot that derives its core functionality from the Mirai botnet source code and is equipped to turn internet-facing devices into SOCKS proxies. "While the malware reuses the DDoS engine from the publicly leaked Mirai source code, it extends the original framework with numerous capabilities, including encrypted C2 communications, an SSH brute-force scanner, a SOCKS relay module, a credential sniffer, and an integrated exploit arsenal targeting multiple known vulnerabilities," Fortinet FortiGuard Labs said . Evidence indicates that the botnet has been active in the wild since July 2026, exploiting known vulnerabilities in publicly-accessible devices to deliver the malware. Some of the security flaws weaponized by the botnet are below - CVE-2007-3010 - Alcatel OmniPCX Enterprise Remote Code Execution Vulnerability CVE-2016-6277 - NETGEAR Multiple Routers Remote Code Ex...

A recently patched security flaw in Apple macOS has come under active exploitation in the wild to deploy a cryptocurrency miner, the Netherlands National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-NL) has warned . The vulnerability in question is CVE-2026-65400 (CVSS score: 9.8), a critical authentication issue impacting the Screen Sharing component that could allow an attacker already on the network to authenticate to the built-in remote desktop feature service without valid credentials. The updates released by Apple improve state management mechanisms to enforce correct credential validation and prevent unauthorized authentication attempts. The shortcoming was addressed as part of an emergency update in macOS Tahoe 26.6.1 , macOS Sequoia 15.7.9 , and macOS Sonoma 14.8.9 earlier this month. "An authentication issue was addressed with improved state management," Apple said in an advisory released on August 6, 2026. It credited security researcher Alfredo Pesoli of Bynario for disco...

A new White House memo signed by U.S. President Donald Trump has instructed the National Coordination Center (NCC) to establish a program that would allow private sector companies to take advantage of their "innovative capabilities" to break into foreign Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and disrupt them. "By partnering with vetted United States companies subject to the direction and oversight of the Federal Government, we will enhance our ability to counter TCO threats and combat transnational cybercrime, fraud, and other predatory schemes against American citizens," the memo reads . To that end, the NCC has been tasked with setting up a program within 60 days that allows authorized companies to conduct two types of operations against TCOs upon obtaining approval: cyber surveillance operations, which can access sensitive data without authorization from the owner or operator, and cyber effects operations, which can result in disruption, denial, degrad...

The China-linked threat actor known as Jewelbug has been observed carrying out cyber espionage operations targeting governments and militaries, while simultaneously engaging in cryptocurrency fraud. "Both missions are administered from a single control panel, XG-Web , a browser-centric remote-access and information-stealing framework that turns a victim's browser into a full remote-control channel and reaches from there into the host and the internal network behind it," Broadcom's Symantec and Carbon Black Threat Hunter Team said . Jewelbug is assessed to be a China-based hackers-for-hire group that runs parallel operations, including espionage against governments and militaries across the Middle East, Southeast Asia and South Asia, and a for-profit cryptocurrency fraud business. "The group has developed five generations of command-and-control (C&C) code and a family of implants spanning browsers, Windows endpoints, Linux servers and network devices,...

Companies are used to thinking about attackers as outsiders trying to break in. North Korean IT workers flip that model. They apply for jobs, pass interviews, receive legitimate credentials, and can end up inside the same systems companies spend millions trying to protect. That risk is no longer theoretical. The FBI is now investigating a North Korean remote IT worker who reportedly worked for a U.S. federal agency. For CISOs, the priority is clear: spot the warning signs before a fraudulent hire becomes trusted access. When the Threat Gets Hired A recent joint investigation by Mauro Eldritch ( BCA LTD ), Heiner García ( NorthScan ), and ANY.RUN showed what this looks like from inside the operation. Researchers deliberately hired suspected DPRK developers linked to Lazarus Group and gave them what looked like ordinary virtual desktops. In reality, they were controlled ANY.RUN Sandboxes, capturing their activity in real time. The operation exposed forged identities, re...

Enterprise defenses are tuned to catch the attacks that make noise. This year's data shows attackers winning by making none. According to Picus Labs' new Blue Report 2026 , which measured more than 338 million real attack simulations across actual client production environments in the first half of 2026, defenses are having one of their strongest years yet. Average prevention effectiveness climbed from 62% to 69% , matching its 2024 peak, and logging reached a four-year high of 58% . The good news: The recovery is real. The bad news: It's taking place almost exclusively at the perimeter. The report's sharper finding is what happens after that perimeter is crossed . Inside, the picture inverts : defenses that look strong from the outside turn soft , and are the softest of all against the quiet moves, the reconnaissance and credential theft that precede every serious breach.  This is a fault line that runs through the entire report. A vulnerable interior behin...

Threat actors have begun to actively exploit a recently patched critical security flaw in Broadcom VMware vCenter, according to new findings from QUIRSO. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2026-59310 (CVSS score: 9.8), a directory-traversal vulnerability in the VMware vCenter server that a malicious actor with network access can exploit to execute arbitrary code. Patches for the flaw were released by Broadcom late last month. The German cybersecurity company said it discovered the activity following an incident response engagement. The attack chain is said to have exhibited path traversal activity consistent with the flaw, followed by the deployment of a malicious cron job to establish persistence on the host using reverse_ssh, an open-source tool used for setting up SSH connections to threat actor-controlled infrastructure. Compromised systems identified by QUIRSO were found to first establish contact with the attacker's domains on August 3, five days after Broadcom pub...