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The threat actors linked to the Black Basta ransomware have been observed switching up their social engineering tactics , distributing a different set of payloads such as Zbot and DarkGate since early October 2024. "Users within the target environment will be email bombed by the threat actor, which is often achieved by signing up the user's email to numerous mailing lists simultaneously," Rapid7 said . "After the email bomb, the threat actor will reach out to the impacted users." As observed back in August, the attackers make initial contact with prospective targets on Microsoft Teams, pretending to be support personnel or IT staff of the organization. In some instances, they have also been observed impersonating IT staff members within the targeted organization. Users who end up interacting with the threat actors are urged to install legitimate remote access software such as AnyDesk, ScreenConnect, TeamViewer, and Microsoft's Quick Assist. The Window...

This week's cyber world is like a big spy movie. Hackers are breaking into other hackers' setups, sneaky malware is hiding in popular software, and AI-powered scams are tricking even the smartest of us. On the other side, the good guys are busting secret online markets and kicking out shady chat rooms, while big companies rush to fix new security holes before attackers can jump in. Want to know who's hacking who, how they're doing it, and what's being done to fight back? Stick around—this recap has the scoop. ⚡ Threat of the Week Turla Hackers Hijack Pakistan Hackers' Infrastructure — Imagine one hacker group sneaking into another hacker group 's secret hideout and using their stuff to carry out their own missions. That's basically what the Russia-linked Turla group has been doing since December 2022. They broke into the servers of a Pakistani hacking team called Storm-0156 and used those servers to spy on government and military targets in Afghanistan and India. By doing th...

Details have emerged about a now-patched security flaw in the DeepSeek artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that, if successfully exploited, could permit a bad actor to take control of a victim's account by means of a prompt injection attack . Security researcher Johann Rehberger, who has chronicled many a prompt injection attack targeting various AI tools, found that providing the input "Print the xss cheat sheet in a bullet list. just payloads" in the DeepSeek chat triggered the execution of JavaScript code as part of the generated response – a classic case of cross-site scripting (XSS). XSS attacks can have serious consequences as they lead to the execution of unauthorized code in the context of the victim's web browser. An attacker could take advantage of such flaws to hijack a user's session and gain access to cookies and other data associated with the chat.deepseek[.]com domain, thereby leading to an account takeover. "After some experimenting,...

SaaS Adoption is Skyrocketing, Resilience Hasn't Kept Pace SaaS platforms have revolutionized how businesses operate. They simplify collaboration, accelerate deployment, and reduce the overhead of managing infrastructure. But with their rise comes a subtle, dangerous assumption: that the convenience of SaaS extends to resilience. It doesn't. These platforms weren't built with full-scale data protection in mind . Most follow a shared responsibility model — wherein the provider ensures uptime and application security, but the data inside is your responsibility. In a world of hybrid architectures, global teams, and relentless cyber threats, that responsibility is harder than ever to manage. Modern organizations are being stretched across: Hybrid and multi-cloud environments with decentralized data sprawl Complex integration layers between IaaS, SaaS, and legacy systems Expanding regulatory pressure with steeper penalties for noncompliance Escalating ransomware threats and inside...

Identity security is all the rage right now, and rightfully so. Securing identities that access an organization's resources is a sound security model. But IDs have their limits, and there are many use cases when a business should add other layers of security to a strong identity. And this is what we at SSH Communications Security want to talk about today. Let's look at seven ways to add additional security controls for critical and sensitive sessions for privileged users as a bolt-on to other systems. Bolt-on 1: Securing access for high-impact IDs Since strong ID is a key element in privileged access, our model is to natively integrate with identity and access management (IAM) solutions, like Microsoft Entra ID. We use IAM as a source for identities and permissions and make sure your organization stays up–to–date with any changes in Entra ID on identities, groups, or permissions in real-time. The native integration allows automating the joiners-movers-leavers process since if a u...

A malicious botnet called Socks5Systemz is powering a proxy service called PROXY.AM, according to new findings from Bitsight. "Proxy malware and services enable other types of criminal activity adding uncontrolled layers of anonymity to the threat actors, so they can perform all kinds of malicious activity using chains of victim systems," the company's security research team said in an analysis published last week. The disclosure comes merely weeks after the Black Lotus Labs team at Lumen Technologies revealed that systems compromised by another malware known as Ngioweb are being abused as residential proxy servers for NSOCKS. Socks5Systemz, originally advertised in the cybercrime underground as far back as March 2013, was previously documented by BitSight as being deployed as part of cyber attacks targeting distributing PrivateLoader, SmokeLoader, and Amadey. The primary objective of the malware is to turn compromised systems into proxy exit nodes, which are t...

Cybercriminals know that privileged accounts are the keys to your kingdom. One compromised account can lead to stolen data, disrupted operations, and massive business losses. Even top organizations struggle to secure privileged accounts. Why? Traditional Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions often fall short, leaving: Blind spots that limit full visibility. Complex deployment processes. Manual account discovery that's time-consuming. Weak enforcement of least privilege access. Gaps that let admins bypass controls. These flaws leave critical vulnerabilities that attackers exploit daily. But it doesn't have to be this way. In our webinar, " Preventing Privilege Escalation: Effective PAS Practices for Today's Threat Landscape , " we'll show you how to secure your privileged accounts and stay ahead of threats. What you'll gain: Close Security Gaps : Learn to find and fix vulnerabilities in your privileged accounts. Actionable Insights : Discover proven PAS strategies ...

In yet another software supply chain attack, it has come to light that two versions of a popular Python artificial intelligence (AI) library named ultralytics were compromised to deliver a cryptocurrency miner. The versions, 8.3.41 and 8.3.42, have since been removed from the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository. A subsequently released version has introduced a security fix that "ensures secure publication workflow for the Ultralytics package." The project maintainer, Glenn Jocher, confirmed on GitHub that the two versions were infected by malicious code injection in the PyPI deployment workflow after reports emerged that installing the library led to a drastic spike in CPU usage , a telltale sign of cryptocurrency mining. The most notable aspect of the attack is that bad actors managed to compromise the build environment related to the project to insert unauthorized modifications after the completion of the code review step, thus leading to a discrepancy in the so...

Cybersecurity researchers have warned of a new scam campaign that leverages fake video conferencing apps to deliver an information stealer called Realst targeting people working in Web3 under the guise of fake business meetings. "The threat actors behind the malware have set up fake companies using AI to make them increase legitimacy," Cado Security researcher Tara Gould said . "The company reaches out to targets to set up a video call, prompting the user to download the meeting application from the website, which is Realst infostealer." The activity has been codenamed Meeten by the security company, owing to the use of names such as Clusee, Cuesee, Meeten, Meetone, and Meetio for the bogus sites. The attacks entail approaching prospective targets on Telegram to discuss a potential investment opportunity, urging them to join a video call hosted on one of the dubious platforms. Users who end up on the site are prompted to download a Windows or macOS version dep...

In a historic decision, Romania's constitutional court has annulled the result of the first round of voting in the presidential election amid allegations of Russian interference. As a result, the second round vote, which was scheduled for December 8, 2024, will no longer take place. Călin Georgescu, who won the first round, denounced the verdict as an "officialized coup" and an attack on democracy. "The electoral process for the election of the President of Romania will be resumed in its entirety, with the Government to establish a new date for the election of the President of Romania, as well as a new calendar program for the implementation of the necessary actions," the Constitutional Court of Romania said . The judiciary body said the decision is pursuant to Article 146(f) of the Constitution, emphasizing the need to ensure the fairness and legality of the electoral process. The decision is final and binding. The development comes days after declassif...

A Russian programmer accused of donating money to Ukraine had his Android device secretly implanted with spyware by the Federal Security Service (FSB) after he was detained earlier this year. The findings come as part of a collaborative investigation by First Department and the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab . "The spyware placed on his device allows the operator to track a target device's location, record phone calls, keystrokes, and read messages from encrypted messaging apps, among other capabilities," according to the report. In May 2024, Kirill Parubets was released from custody after a 15-day period in administrative detention by Russian authorities, during which time his phone, an Oukitel WP7 phone running Android 10, was confiscated from him. During this period, not only was he beaten to compel him into revealing his device password, he was also subjected to an "intense effort" to recruit him as an informant for the FSB, or else risk fac...