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Cybersecurity researchers are calling attention to a new type of credential phishing scheme that ensures that the stolen information is associated with valid online accounts. The technique has been codenamed precision-validating phishing by Cofense, which it said employs real-time email validation so that only a select set of high-value targets are served the fake login screens. "This tactic not only gives the threat actors a higher success rate on obtaining usable credentials as they only engage with a specific pre-harvested list of valid email accounts," the company said . Unlike "spray-and-pray" credential harvesting campaigns that typically involve the bulk distribution of spam emails to obtain victims' login information in an indiscriminate fashion, the latest attack tactic takes spear-phishing to the next level by only engaging with email addresses that attackers have verified as active, legitimate, and high-value. In this scenario, the email address...

Attackers aren't waiting for patches anymore — they are breaking in before defenses are ready. Trusted security tools are being hijacked to deliver malware. Even after a breach is detected and patched, some attackers stay hidden. This week's events show a hard truth: it's not enough to react after an attack. You have to assume that any system you trust today could fail tomorrow. In a world where AI tools can be used against you and ransomware hits faster than ever, real protection means planning for things to go wrong — and still staying in control. Check out this week's update to find important threat news, helpful webinars, useful tools, and tips you can start using right away. ⚡ Threat of the Week Windows 0-Day Exploited for Ransomware Attacks — A security affecting the Windows Common Log File System (CLFS) was exploited as a zero-day in ransomware attacks aimed at a small number of targets, Microsoft revealed. The flaw, CVE-2025-29824, is a privilege escalation vulnerabilit...

AI is changing cybersecurity faster than many defenders realize. Attackers are already using AI to automate reconnaissance, generate sophisticated phishing lures, and exploit vulnerabilities before security teams can react. Meanwhile, defenders are overwhelmed by massive amounts of data and alerts, struggling to process information quickly enough to identify real threats. AI offers a way to level the playing field, but only if security professionals learn to apply it effectively. Organizations are beginning to integrate AI into security workflows, from digital forensics to vulnerability assessments and endpoint detection. AI allows security teams to ingest and analyze more data than ever before, transforming traditional security tools into powerful intelligence engines. AI has already demonstrated its ability to accelerate investigations and uncover unknown attack paths, but many companies are hesitant to fully embrace it. Many AI models are implemented with such velocity that they r...

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...

A threat actor with ties to Pakistan has been observed targeting various sectors in India with various remote access trojans like Xeno RAT, Spark RAT, and a previously undocumented malware family called CurlBack RAT . The activity, detected by SEQRITE in December 2024, targeted Indian entities under railway, oil and gas, and external affairs ministries, marking an expansion of the hacking crew's targeting footprint beyond government, defence, maritime sectors, and universities. "One notable shift in recent campaigns is the transition from using HTML Application (HTA) files to adopting Microsoft Installer (MSI) packages as a primary staging mechanism," security researcher Sathwik Ram Prakki said . SideCopy is suspected to be a sub-cluster within Transparent Tribe (aka APT36) that's active since at least 2019. It's so named for mimicking the attack chains associated with another threat actor called SideWinder to deliver its own payloads. In June 2024, SEQR...

Fortinet has revealed that threat actors have found a way to maintain read-only access to vulnerable FortiGate devices even after the initial access vector used to breach the devices was patched. The attackers are believed to have leveraged known and now-patched security flaws, including, but not limited to, CVE-2022-42475 , CVE-2023-27997 , and CVE-2024-21762 . "A threat actor used a known vulnerability to implement read-only access to vulnerable FortiGate devices," the network security company said in an advisory released Thursday. "This was achieved via creating a symbolic link connecting the user file system and the root file system in a folder used to serve language files for the SSL-VPN." Fortinet said the modifications took place in the user file system and managed to evade detection, causing the symbolic link (aka symlink) to be left behind even after the security holes responsible for the initial access were plugged. This, in turn, enabled the threa...

The threat actor known as Paper Werewolf has been observed exclusively targeting Russian entities with a new implant called PowerModul . The activity, which took place between July and December 2024, singled out organizations in the mass media, telecommunications, construction, government entities, and energy sectors, Kaspersky said in a new report published Thursday. Paper Werewolf, also known as GOFFEE, is assessed to have conducted at least seven campaigns since 2022, according to BI.ZONE, with the attacks mainly aimed at government, energy, financial, media, and other organizations. Attack chains mounted by the threat actor have also been observed incorporating a disruptive component, wherein the intrusions go beyond distributing malware for espionage purposes to also change passwords belonging to employee accounts. The attacks themselves are initiated via phishing emails that contain a macro-laced lure document, which, upon opening and enabling macros, paves the way for th...

What are IABs? Initial Access Brokers (IABs) specialize in gaining unauthorized entry into computer systems and networks, then selling that access to other cybercriminals. This division of labor allows IABs to concentrate on their core expertise: exploiting vulnerabilities through methods like social engineering and brute-force attacks.  By selling access, they significantly mitigate the risks associated with directly executing ransomware attacks or other complex operations. Instead, they capitalize on their skill in breaching networks, effectively streamlining the attack process for their clients. This business model enables IABs to operate with a lower profile and reduced risk, while still profiting from their technical skills. Operating primarily on dark web forums and underground markets, IABs can function independently or as part of larger organizations like Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) gangs.  They act as a crucial link in the cybercrime ecosystem, providing the i...

Palo Alto Networks has revealed that it's observing brute-force login attempts against PAN-OS GlobalProtect gateways, days after threat hunters warned of a surge in suspicious login scanning activity targeting its appliances. "Our teams are observing evidence of activity consistent with password-related attacks, such as brute-force login attempts, which does not indicate exploitation of a vulnerability," a spokesperson for the company told The Hacker News. "We continue to actively monitor this situation and analyze the reported activity to determine its potential impact and identify if mitigations are necessary." The development comes after threat intelligence firm GreyNoise alerted of a spike in suspicious login scanning activity aimed at PAN-OS GlobalProtect portals. The company further noted that the activity commenced on March 17, 2025, hitting a peak of 23,958 unique IP addresses before dropping off towards the end of last month. The pattern indicates...

Cybersecurity researchers have found that threat actors are setting up deceptive websites hosted on newly registered domains to deliver a known Android malware called SpyNote . These bogus websites masquerade as Google Play Store install pages for apps like the Chrome web browser, indicating an attempt to deceive unsuspecting users into installing the malware instead. "The threat actor utilized a mix of English and Chinese-language delivery sites and included Chinese-language comments within the delivery site code and the malware itself," the DomainTools Investigations (DTI) team said in a report shared with The Hacker News. SpyNote (aka SpyMax) is a remote access trojan long known for its ability to harvest sensitive data from compromised Android devices by abusing accessibility services. In May 2024, the malware was propagated via another bogus site impersonating a legitimate antivirus solution known as Avast. Subsequent analysis by mobile security firm Zimperium h...

A newly disclosed high-severity security flaw impacting OttoKit (formerly SureTriggers) has come under active exploitation within a few hours of public disclosure. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-3102 (CVSS score: 8.1), is an authorization bypass bug that could permit an attacker to create administrator accounts under certain conditions and take control of susceptible websites. "The SureTriggers: All-in-One Automation Platform plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to an authentication bypass leading to administrative account creation due to a missing empty value check on the 'secret_key' value in the 'autheticate_user' function in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.78," Wordfence's István Márton said . "This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to create administrator accounts on the target website when the plugin is installed and activated but not configured with an API key." Successful exploitation of the vulnerabilit...

Cybersecurity researchers have detailed a case of an incomplete patch for a previously addressed security flaw impacting the NVIDIA Container Toolkit that, if successfully exploited, could put sensitive data at risk. The original vulnerability CVE-2024-0132 (CVSS score: 9.0) is a Time-of-Check Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) vulnerability that could lead to a container escape attack and allow for unauthorized access to the underlying host. While this flaw was resolved by NVIDIA in September 2024, a new analysis by Trend Micro has revealed the fix to be incomplete and that there also exists a related performance flaw affecting Docker on Linux that could result in a denial-of-service (DoS) condition. "These issues could enable attackers to escape container isolation, access sensitive host resources, and cause severe operational disruptions," Trend Micro researcher Abdelrahman Esmail said in a new report published today. The fact that the TOCTOU vulnerability persists means that a ...