Search results for browser guard | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

EXCLUSIVE — Beware, if you are using a Xiaomi's Mi or Redmi smartphone, you should immediately update its built-in MI browser or the Mint browser available on Google Play Store for non-Xiaomi Android devices. That's because both web browser apps created by Xiaomi are vulnerable to a critical vulnerability which has not yet been patched even after being privately reported to the company, a researcher told The Hacker News. The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2019-10875 and discovered by security researcher Arif Khan , is a browser address bar spoofing issue that originates because of a logical flaw in the browser's interface, allowing a malicious website to control URLs displayed in the address bar. According to the advisory, affected browsers are not properly handling the "q" query parameter in the URLs, thus fail to display the portion of an https URL before the ?q= substring in the address bar. Since the address bar of a web browser is the most r...

ChatGPT has transformed the way businesses generate textual content, which can potentially result in a quantum leap in productivity. However, Generative AI innovation also introduces a new dimension of data exposure risk, when employees inadvertently type or paste sensitive business data into ChatGPT, or similar applications. DLP solutions, the go-to solution for similar challenges, are ill-equipped to handle these challenges, since they focus on file-based data protection. A new report by LayerX, "Browser Security Platform: Guard your Data from Exposure in ChatGPT" ( Download here ), sheds light on the challenges and risks of ungoverned ChatGPT usage. It paints a comprehensive picture of the potential hazards for businesses and then offers a potential solution: browser security platforms. Such platforms provide real-time monitoring and governance over web sessions, effectively safeguarding sensitive data. ChatGPT Data Exposure: By the Numbers Employee usage of GenAI apps has surge...

Cyber threats last week showed how attackers no longer need big hacks to cause big damage. They're going after the everyday tools we trust most — firewalls, browser add-ons, and even smart TVs — turning small cracks into serious breaches. The real danger now isn't just one major attack, but hundreds of quiet ones using the software and devices already inside our networks. Each trusted system can become an entry point if it's left unpatched or overlooked. Here's a clear look at the week's biggest risks, from exploited network flaws to new global campaigns and fast-moving vulnerabilities. ⚡ Threat of the Week Flaws in Multiple Network Security Products Come Under Attack — Over the past week, Fortinet , SonicWall , Cisco , and WatchGuard said vulnerabilities in their products have been exploited by threat actors in real-world attacks. Cisco said attacks exploiting CVE-2025-20393, a critical flaw in AsyncOS, have been abused by a China-nexus advanced persistent threat (APT) actor cod...

A Google Chrome extension with a "Featured" badge and six million users has been observed silently gathering every prompt entered by users into artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbots like OpenAI ChatGPT, Anthropic Claude, Microsoft Copilot, DeepSeek, Google Gemini, xAI Grok, Meta AI, and Perplexity. The extension in question is Urban VPN Proxy , which has a 4.7 rating on the Google Chrome Web Store. It's advertised as the "best secured Free VPN access to any website, and unblock content." Its developer is a Delaware-based company named Urban Cyber Security Inc . On the Microsoft Edge Add-ons marketplace, it has 1.3 million installations .  Despite claiming that it allows users to "protect your online identity, stay protected, and hide your IP," an update was pushed to users on July 9, 2025, when version 5.5.0 was released with the AI data harvesting enabled by default using hard-coded settings. Specifically, this is achieved by means of a t...

This week, our news radar shows that every new tech idea comes with its own challenges. A hot AI tool is under close watch, law enforcement is shutting down online spots that help cybercriminals, and teams are busy fixing software bugs that could let attackers in. From better locks on our devices to stopping sneaky tricks online, simple steps are making a big difference.  Let's take a closer look at how these efforts are shaping a safer digital world. ⚡ Threat of the Week DeepSeek's Popularity Invites Scrutiny — The overnight popularity of DeepSeek, an artificial intelligence (AI) platform originating from China, has led to extensive scrutiny of its models, with several analyses finding ways to jailbreak its system and produce malicious or prohibited content. While jailbreaks and prompt injections are a persistent concern in mainstream AI products, the findings also show that the model lacks enough protections to prevent potential abuse by malicious actors . The AI chatbot ha...

Google Chrome has announced plans to prohibit public websites from directly accessing endpoints located within private networks as part of an upcoming major security shakeup to prevent intrusions via the browser. The proposed change is set to be rolled out in two phases consisting of releases Chrome 98 and Chrome 101 scheduled in the coming months via a newly implemented W3C specification called private network access ( PNA ). "Chrome will start sending a  CORS  preflight request ahead of any private network request for a subresource, which asks for explicit permission from the target server," Titouan Rigoudy and Eiji Kitamura  said . "This preflight request will carry a new header, Access-Control-Request-Private-Network: true, and the response to it must carry a corresponding header, Access-Control-Allow-Private-Network: true." What this means is that starting with Chrome version 101, any website accessible via the internet will be made to seek explicit permi...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered an updated version of a known Apple macOS malware called XCSSET that has been observed in limited attacks. "This new variant of XCSSET brings key changes related to browser targeting, clipboard hijacking, and persistence mechanisms," the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team said in a Thursday report. "It employs sophisticated encryption and obfuscation techniques, uses run-only compiled AppleScripts for stealthy execution, and expands its data exfiltration capabilities to include Firefox browser data. It also adds another persistence mechanism through LaunchDaemon entries." XCSSET is the name assigned to a sophisticated modular malware that's designed to infect Xcode projects used by software developers and unleash its malicious capabilities when it's being built. Exactly how the malware is distributed remains unclear, but it's suspected that the propagation relies on the Xcode project files being shared amo...

Israeli entities spanning academia, engineering, local government, manufacturing, technology, transportation, and utilities sectors have emerged as the target of a new set of attacks undertaken by Iranian nation-state actors that have delivered a previously undocumented backdoor called MuddyViper. The activity has been attributed by ESET to a hacking group known as MuddyWater (aka Mango Sandstorm, Static Kitten, or TA450), a cluster assessed to be affiliated with Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). The attacks also singled out one technology company based in Egypt. The campaign took place between September 30, 2024, and March 18, 2025. The hacking group first came to light in November 2017, when Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 detailed targeted attacks against the Middle East between February and October of that year using a custom backdoor dubbed POWERSTATS. It's also known for its destructive attacks on Israeli organizations using a Thanos ransomware varian...

T he O nion R outer (Tor) is weeping Badly! Yes, Tor browser is in danger of being caught once again by the people commonly known as " Spies ," who's one and only intention is to intrude into others' network and gather information. A team of security researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed digital attacks that can be used to unmask Tor hidden services in the Deep Web with a high degree of accuracy. The Tor network is being used by journalists, hackers, citizens living under repressive regimes as well as criminals to surf the Internet anonymously. A plethora of nodes and relays in Tor network is used to mask its users and make tracking very difficult. Any user when connects to Tor, the connection gets encrypted and routed through a path called a "circuit ." The request first reaches an entry node, also known as a ' Guard ' that knows the actual IP address of the user, and then goes through every ho...

Ransomware Ransomware Everywhere Not a Single Place to Hide! But, Microsoft has a simple solution to this problem to protect millions of its users against most ransomware attacks. Two massive ransomware attacks — WannaCry and Petya (also known as NotPetya ) — in a month have caused chaos and disruption worldwide, forcing hospitals, ATMs, shipping companies, governments, airports and car companies to shut down their operations. Most ransomware in the market, including WannaCry and NotPetya, are specifically designed to target computers running Windows operating system, which is why Microsoft has been blamed for not putting proper defensive measures in place to prevent such threats. But not now! In the wake of recent devastating global ransomware outbreaks, Microsoft has finally realized that its Windows operating system is deadly vulnerable to ransomware and other emerging threats that specifically targets its platform. To tackle this serious issue, the tech giant has ...

Microsoft is making every effort to make its Windows operating system more secure and advanced than ever before by beefing up its security practices and hardening it against hackers and cyber attacks in its next release. With the launch of its Windows 10 Creator Update (also known as RedStone 3), which is expected to release sometime between September and October 2017, Microsoft is planning to release lots of security features in an effort to prevent major global malware crisis. Just a few days ago, we reported about Microsoft's plan to build its EMET or Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit into the kernel of the upcoming Windows 10 to boost the security of your computer against complex threats such as zero-day vulnerabilities. Also, the tech giant has planned to remove the SMBv1 (Server Message Block version 1) — a 30-year-old file sharing protocol which came to light last month after the devastating WannaCry outbreak — from the upcoming Windows 10 (1709) Redstone 3 ...

It's no secret that antivirus software is as essential to your computer as a power cord. However, the threats don't stop at your devices. For example, criminals trying to steal your data can attack your Wi-Fi router, and phishing attempts can target your email.  ESET's latest consumer product release takes a comprehensive approach to security to guard against a full range of threats. All are built with ESET's signature light footprint for gaming, browsing, shopping and socializing with no interruptions or slowdowns. Introducing enhanced security for Windows, Mac and Android For more than 30 years, ESET® has created industry-leading IT security software and services, protecting businesses worldwide from ever-evolving digital threats.  ESET's solutions for consumers use the same advanced technologies. By protecting your digital life, ESET delivers real-world protection against criminals trying to steal your identity, hack your bank account or lock down your com...

The remote access trojan known as Gh0st RAT has been observed being delivered by an "evasive dropper" called Gh0stGambit as part of a drive-by download scheme targeting Chinese-speaking Windows users. These infections stem from a fake website ("chrome-web[.]com") serving malicious installer packages masquerading as Google's Chrome browser, indicating that users searching for the software on the web are being singled out. Gh0st RAT is a long-standing malware that has been observed in the wild since 2008, manifesting in the form of different variants over the years in campaigns primarily orchestrated by China-nexus cyberespionage groups. Some iterations of the trojan have also been previously deployed by infiltrating poorly-secured MS SQL server instances, using it as a conduit to install the Hidden open-source rootkit. According to cybersecurity firm eSentire, which discovered the latest activity, the targeting of Chinese-speaking users is based on ...

An Iran-nexus cyber espionage group known as UNC1549 has been attributed to a new campaign targeting European telecommunications companies, successfully infiltrating 34 devices across 11 organizations as part of a recruitment-themed activity on LinkedIn. Swiss cybersecurity company PRODAFT is tracking the cluster under the name Subtle Snail . It's assessed to be affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The targeted 11 companies are located in Canada, France, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. "The group operates by posing as HR representatives from legitimate entities to engage employees, then compromises them through deployment of a MINIBIKE backdoor variant that communicates with command-and-control (C2) infrastructure proxied through Azure cloud services to bypass detection," the company said in a report shared with The Hacker News. UNC1549 (aka TA455), believed to be active since at least June 2022, ...