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Threat actors have been observed leveraging fake artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools as a lure to entice users into downloading an information stealer malware dubbed Noodlophile . "Instead of relying on traditional phishing or cracked software sites, they build convincing AI-themed platforms – often advertised via legitimate-looking Facebook groups and viral social media campaigns," Morphisec researcher Shmuel Uzan said in a report published last week. Posts shared on these pages have been found to attract over 62,000 views on a single post, indicating that users looking for AI tools for video and image editing are the target of this campaign. Some of the fake social media pages identified include Luma Dreammachine Al, Luma Dreammachine, and gratistuslibros. Users who land on the social media posts are urged to click on links that advertise AI-powered content creation services, including videos, logos, images, and even websites. One of the bogus websites masquerad...

Google has agreed to pay the U.S. state of Texas nearly $1.4 billion to settle two lawsuits that accused the company of tracking users' personal location and maintaining their facial recognition data without consent. The $1.375 billion payment dwarfs the fines the tech giant has paid to settle similar lawsuits brought by other U.S. states. In November 2022, it paid $391 million to a group of 40 states. In January 2023, it paid $29.5 million to Indiana and Washington. Later that September, it forked out another $93 million to settle with California. The case, originally filed in 2022, related to unlawful tracking and collection of user data, regarding geolocation , incognito searches , and biometric data , tracking users' whereabouts even when the Location History setting was disabled and collecting the biometric data without informed consent. "For years, Google secretly tracked people's movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry...

Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (aka Bundeskriminalamt or BKA) has seized the online infrastructure and shutdown linked to the eXch cryptocurrency exchange over allegations of money laundering and operating a criminal trading platform. The operation was carried out on April 30, 2025, authorities said, adding they also confiscated 8 terabytes worth of data and cryptocurrency assets worth €34 million ($38.25 million) in Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and Dash. According to the BKA, eXch[.]cx, existed since 2014 and offered cryptocurrency swapping services, allowing its users to exchange digital assets. It was available both on the clearnet and the dark web. eXch "specifically advertised on platforms of the criminal underground economy (UE) that it did not implement any anti-money laundering measures," the BKA said in a statement. "Users were neither required to identify themselves to the service, nor was user data stored there. Crypto swapping via eXch was...

A joint law enforcement operation undertaken by Dutch and U.S. authorities has dismantled a criminal proxy network that's powered by thousands of infected Internet of Things (IoT) and end-of-life (EoL) devices, enlisting them into a botnet for providing anonymity to malicious actors. In conjunction with the domain seizure, Russian nationals, Alexey Viktorovich Chertkov, 37, Kirill Vladimirovich Morozov, 41, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Shishkin, 36, and Dmitriy Rubtsov, 38, a Kazakhstani national, have been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) for operating, maintaining, and profiting from the proxy services. The DoJ noted that users paid a monthly subscription fee, ranging from $9.95 to $110 per month, netting the threat actors more than $46 million by selling access to the infected routers. The service is believed to have been available since 2004.

The North Korean threat actors behind the Contagious Interview campaign have been observed using updated versions of a cross-platform malware called OtterCookie with capabilities to steal credentials from web browsers and other files. NTT Security Holdings, which detailed the new findings, said the attackers have "actively and continuously" updated the malware, introducing versions v3 and v4 in February and April 2025, respectively. The Japanese cybersecurity company is tracking the cluster under the name WaterPlum , which is also known as CL-STA-0240, DeceptiveDevelopment, DEV#POPPER, Famous Chollima, PurpleBravo, and Tenacious Pungsan. OtterCookie was first documented by NTT last year after having observed it in attacks since September 2024. Delivered by means of a JavaScript payload via a malicious npm package, trojanized GitHub or Bitbucket repository, or a bogus videoconferencing app, it's designed to contact an external server to execute commands on compromis...