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ransomware | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Category — ransomware
Suspected China-Nexus Actor Exploits VMware vCenter Flaw, Deploys Babuk-Derived Ransomware

Suspected China-Nexus Actor Exploits VMware vCenter Flaw, Deploys Babuk-Derived Ransomware

Aug 17, 2026 Vulnerability / Ransomware
Cybersecurity researchers have attributed the exploitation of a newly patched security flaw in Broadcom VMware vCenter to a suspected China-nexus advanced persistent threat (APT). 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. A fix for the flaw was released by Broadcom on July 29, 2026. German incident response company QUIRSO assessed with moderate confidence that the exploitation campaign aimed at CVE-2026-59310 is operated by a Chinese-speaking threat actor, likely working in the UTC+08:00 time zone, which is predominantly used in Chinese-speaking regions. "This assessment is based on the convergence of Chinese-language artifacts in attacker-created scripts, apparent reuse of research from a Chinese security publication, repeated operational use of Chinese-language tools and management software, victi...
Trump Memo Paves Way for U.S. Firms to Hack and Disrupt Foreign Crime Groups

Trump Memo Paves Way for U.S. Firms to Hack and Disrupt Foreign Crime Groups

Aug 14, 2026 Cybercrime / Offensive Operation
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...
ThreatsDay: GhostJacking AI Attacks, EtherHiding ClickFix, Cursor CLI Flaw + 17 More Stories

ThreatsDay: GhostJacking AI Attacks, EtherHiding ClickFix, Cursor CLI Flaw + 17 More Stories

Aug 13, 2026 Hacking News / Cybersecurity News
Some weeks have one big security story. Others bring many smaller updates that are easy to miss but still matter. This week has plenty of them, covering cloud services, AI tools, malware, data breaches, scams, and new attack methods. The latest ThreatsDay Bulletin puts all of these short updates in one place, so you can quickly catch up on what happened, what changed, and what security teams should know. The threats change every week. Subscribe, and we’ll alert you when each new ThreatsDay Bulletin is out.
cyber security

AI Adoption Is Outpacing Governance, New SANS Survey Data Shows

websiteSANSCybersecurity / AI Security
See where 536 security pros say AI programs fall short: detection, trust, workforce readiness.
cyber security

11 Real Stories: How Identity Exposure Unlocks Active Attack Paths

websiteXM CyberCloud Security / Identity Security
Map cross-domain privilege escalation to sever breach routes at key choke points.
Enterprise Defenses Recovered at the Edge and Collapsed Inside

Enterprise Defenses Recovered at the Edge and Collapsed Inside

Aug 12, 2026 Security Validation / Attack Simulation
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...
DeadLock Ransomware Uses Polygon Smart Contracts to Make Extortion Infra Harder to Disrupt

DeadLock Ransomware Uses Polygon Smart Contracts to Make Extortion Infra Harder to Disrupt

Aug 11, 2026 Ransomware / Blockchain
The ransomware group known as DeadLock has been observed using decentralized infrastructure to facilitate victim communications and data leak operations in a bid to improve operational resilience. "Its recovery ecosystem combines the Session messaging network with blockchain-backed services that store and deliver resources used throughout the extortion process," the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team said . The tech giant said it observed the ransomware being deployed by multiple threat actors, including an affiliate for Lynx and INC ransomware. DeadLock was first detected in July 2025, employing double extortion tactics to encrypt victim environments and apply pressure by threatening to publicly release exfiltrated data. As of this month, the group has claimed 96 victims , with most of them located in Italy, Spain, Poland, Türkiye, and the U.S. In an analysis published earlier this January, Singapore-headquartered Group-IB said the group has managed to keep a lowe...
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