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A ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation called VanHelsing has already claimed three victims since it launched on March 7, 2025, demanding ransoms as high as $500,000. "The RaaS model allows a wide range of participants, from experienced hackers to newcomers, to get involved with a $5,000 deposit. Affiliates keep 80% of the ransom payments, while the core operators earn 20%," Check Point said in a report published over the weekend. "The only rule is not to target the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)." As with any affiliate-backed ransomware program, VanHelsing claims to offer the ability to target a wide range of operating systems, including Windows, Linux, BSD, Arm, and ESXi. It also employs what's called the double extortion model of stealing data prior to encryption and threatening to leak the information unless the victim pays up. The RaaS operators have also revealed that the scheme offers a control panel that works "seamlessly" o...

A quiet tweak in a popular open-source tool opened the door to a supply chain breach—what started as a targeted attack quickly spiraled, exposing secrets across countless projects. That wasn't the only stealth move. A new all-in-one malware is silently stealing passwords, crypto, and control—while hiding in plain sight. And over 300 Android apps joined the chaos, running ad fraud at scale behind innocent-looking icons. Meanwhile, ransomware gangs are getting smarter—using stolen drivers to shut down defenses—and threat groups are quietly shifting from activism to profit. Even browser extensions are changing hands, turning trusted tools into silent threats. AI is adding fuel to the fire—used by both attackers and defenders—while critical bugs, cloud loopholes, and privacy shakeups are keeping teams on edge. Let's dive into the threats making noise behind the scenes. ⚡ Threat of the Week Coinbase the Initial Target of GitHub Action Supply Chain Breach — The supply chain compromise...

The latest Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 Cloud Threat Report found that sensitive data is found in 66% of cloud storage buckets. This data is vulnerable to ransomware attacks. The SANS Institute recently reported that these attacks can be performed by abusing the cloud provider's storage security controls and default settings. "In just the past few months, I have witnessed two different methods for executing a ransomware attack using nothing but legitimate cloud security features," warns Brandon Evans, security consultant and SANS Certified Instructor. Halcyon disclosed an attack campaign that leveraged one of Amazon S3's native encryption mechanisms, SSE-C, to encrypt each of the target buckets. A few months prior, security consultant Chris Farris demonstrated how attackers could perform a similar attack using a different AWS security feature, KMS keys with external key material, using simple scripts generated by ChatGPT. "Clearly, this topic is top-of-mind for both threat actors and ...

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered two malicious extensions in the Visual Studio Code (VSCode) Marketplace that are designed to deploy ransomware that's under development to its users. The extensions, named "ahban.shiba" and "ahban.cychelloworld," have since been taken down by the marketplace maintainers. Both the extensions, per ReversingLabs , incorporate code that's designed to invoke a PowerShell command, which then grabs a PowerShell-script payload from a command-and-control (C2) server and executes it. The payload is suspected to be ransomware in early-stage development, only encrypting files in a folder called "testShiba" on the victim's Windows desktop. Once the files are encrypted, the PowerShell payload displays a message, stating "Your files have been encrypted. Pay 1 ShibaCoin to ShibaWallet to recover them." However, no other instructions or cryptocurrency wallet addresses are provided to the victims, anothe...

The threat actors behind the Medusa ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation have been observed using a malicious driver dubbed ABYSSWORKER as part of a bring your own vulnerable driver ( BYOVD ) attack designed to disable anti-malware tools. Elastic Security Labs said it observed a Medusa ransomware attack that delivered the encryptor by means of a loader packed using a packer-as-a-service (PaaS) called HeartCrypt. "This loader was deployed alongside a revoked certificate-signed driver from a Chinese vendor we named ABYSSWORKER, which it installs on the victim machine and then uses to target and silence different EDR vendors," the company said in a report. The driver in question, "smuol.sys," mimics a legitimate CrowdStrike Falcon driver ("CSAgent.sys"). Dozens of ABYSSWORKER artifacts have been detected on the VirusTotal platform dating from August 8, 2024, to February 25, 2025. All the identified samples are signed using likely stolen, revoked ce...

Two known threat activity clusters codenamed Head Mare and Twelve have likely joined forces to target Russian entities, new findings from Kaspersky reveal. "Head Mare relied heavily on tools previously associated with Twelve. Additionally, Head Mare attacks utilized command-and-control (C2) servers exclusively linked to Twelve prior to these incidents," the company said . "This suggests potential collaboration and joint campaigns between the two groups." Both Head Mare and Twelve were previously documented by Kaspersky in September 2024, with the former leveraging a now-patched vulnerability in WinRAR (CVE-2023-38831) to obtain initial access and deliver malware and in some cases, even deploy ransomware families like LockBit for Windows and Babuk for Linux (ESXi) in exchange for a ransom. Twelve, on the other hand, has been observed staging destructive attacks, taking advantage of various publicly available tools to encrypt victims' data and irrevocably d...

The recently leaked trove of internal chat logs among members of the Black Basta ransomware operation has revealed possible connections between the e-crime gang and Russian authorities. The leak, containing over 200,000 messages from September 2023 to September 2024, was published by a Telegram user @ExploitWhispers last month. According to an analysis of the messages by cybersecurity company Trellix, Black Basta's alleged leader Oleg Nefedov (aka GG or AA) may have received help from Russian officials following his arrest in Yerevan, Armenia, in June 2024, allowing him to escape three days later. In the messages, GG claimed that he contacted high-ranking officials to pass through a "green corridor" and facilitate the extraction. "This knowledge from chat leaks makes it difficult for the Black Basta gang to completely abandon the way they operate and start a new RaaS from scratch without a reference to their previous activities," Trellix researchers Ja...

The threat actors behind the ClearFake campaign are using fake reCAPTCHA or Cloudflare Turnstile verifications as lures to trick users into downloading malware such as Lumma Stealer and Vidar Stealer. ClearFake , first highlighted in July 2023, is the name given to a threat activity cluster that employs fake web browser update baits on compromised WordPress as a malware distribution vector. The campaign is also known for relying on another technique known as EtherHiding to fetch the next-stage payload by utilizing Binance's Smart Chain (BSC) contracts as a way to make the attack chain more resilient. The end goal of these infection chains is to deliver information-stealing malware capable of targeting both Windows and macOS systems. As of May 2024, ClearFake attacks have adopted what has by now come to be known as ClickFix , a social engineering ploy that involves deceiving users into running malicious PowerShell code under the guise of addressing a non-existent technical i...

From sophisticated nation-state campaigns to stealthy malware lurking in unexpected places, this week's cybersecurity landscape is a reminder that attackers are always evolving. Advanced threat groups are exploiting outdated hardware, abusing legitimate tools for financial fraud, and finding new ways to bypass security defenses. Meanwhile, supply chain threats are on the rise, with open-source repositories becoming a playground for credential theft and hidden backdoors. But it's not all bad news—law enforcement is tightening its grip on cybercriminal networks, with key ransomware figures facing extradition and the security community making strides in uncovering and dismantling active threats. Ethical hackers continue to expose critical flaws, and new decryptors offer a fighting chance against ransomware operators. In this week's recap, we dive into the latest attack techniques, emerging vulnerabilities, and defensive strategies to keep you ahead of the curve. Stay informed, stay sec...