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In cybersecurity, precision matters—and there's little room for error. A small mistake, missed setting, or quiet misconfiguration can quickly lead to much bigger problems. The signs we're seeing this week highlight deeper issues behind what might look like routine incidents: outdated tools, slow response to risks, and the ongoing gap between compliance and real security. For anyone responsible for protecting systems, the key isn't just reacting to alerts—it's recognizing the larger patterns and hidden weak spots they reveal. Here's a breakdown of what's unfolding across the cybersecurity world this week. ⚡ Threat of the Week NCA Arrests for Alleged Scattered Spider Members — The U.K. National Crime Agency (NCA) announced that four people have been arrested in connection with cyber attacks targeting major retailers Marks & Spencer, Co-op, and Harrods. The arrested individuals include two men aged 19, a third aged 17, and a 20-year-old woman. They were apprehended in the West...

Yesterday WikiLeaks published thousands of documents revealing top CIA hacking secrets , including the agency's ability to break into iPhones, Android phones, smart TVs, and Microsoft, Mac and Linux operating systems. It dubbed the first release as Vault 7 . Vault 7 is just the first part of leak series " Year Zero " that WikiLeaks will be releasing in coming days. Vault 7 is all about a covert global hacking operation being run by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). According to the whistleblower organization, the CIA did not inform the companies about the security issues of their products; instead held on to security bugs in software and devices, including iPhones, Android phones, and Samsung TVs, that millions of people around the world rely on. One leaked document suggested that the CIA was even looking for tools to remotely control smart cars and trucks, allowing the agency to cause "accidents" which would effectively be "nearly undetectable assas...

Ever wonder what happens when attackers don't break the rules—they just follow them better than we do? When systems work exactly as they're built to, but that "by design" behavior quietly opens the door to risk? This week brings stories that make you stop and rethink what's truly under control. It's not always about a broken firewall or missed patch—it's about the small choices, default settings, and shortcuts that feel harmless until they're not. The real surprise? Sometimes the threat doesn't come from outside—it's baked right into how things are set up. Dive in to see what's quietly shaping today's security challenges. ⚡ Threat of the Week FBI Warns of Scattered Spider's on Airlines — The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned of a new set of attacks mounted by the notorious cybercrime group Scattered Spider targeting the airline sector using sophisticated social engineering techniques to obtain initial access. Cybersecurity vendors Palo Alto Networks Unit 4...

If this had been a security drill, someone would've said it went too far. But it wasn't a drill—it was real. The access? Everything looked normal. The tools? Easy to find. The detection? Came too late. This is how attacks happen now—quiet, convincing, and fast. Defenders aren't just chasing hackers anymore—they're struggling to trust what their systems are telling them. The problem isn't too few alerts. It's too many, with no clear meaning. One thing is clear: if your defense still waits for obvious signs, you're not protecting anything. You're just watching it happen. This recap highlights the moments that mattered—and why they're worth your attention. ⚡ Threat of the Week APT41 Exploits Google Calendar for Command-and-Control — The Chinese state-sponsored threat actor known as APT41 deployed a malware called TOUGHPROGRESS that uses Google Calendar for command-and-control (C2). Google said it observed the spear-phishing attacks in October 2024 and that the malware was hosted on...

While the moon was eclipsing the sun, Google announced the launch of its new mobile operating system called Android 8.0 Oreo in an Eclipse-themed launch event in New York City. Yes, the next version of sugary snack-themed Android and the successor to Android Nougat will now be known as Android Oreo , the company revealed on Monday. Google has maintained the tradition of naming its Android operating system by the names of alphabetically-ordered sugary delights beginning with Android Cupcake and followed by Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, KitKat, Lollipop, Marshmallow and Nougat. The good news is that the Android team has brought several significant features to your smartphone and tablet with the release of Android Oreo to make its mobile platform more secure, fast, power efficient and offer better multitasking. The new updated mobile operating system, which has been available for the last few months in developer beta, will arriv...

Every week, the cyber world reminds us that silence doesn't mean safety. Attacks often begin quietly — one unpatched flaw, one overlooked credential, one backup left unencrypted. By the time alarms sound, the damage is done. This week's edition looks at how attackers are changing the game — linking different flaws, working together across borders, and even turning trusted tools into weapons. From major software bugs to AI abuse and new phishing tricks, each story shows how fast the threat landscape is shifting and why security needs to move just as quickly. ⚡ Threat of the Week Dozens of Orgs Impacted by Exploitation of Oracle EBS Flaw — Dozens of organizations may have been impacted following the zero-day exploitation of a security flaw in Oracle's E-Business Suite (EBS) software since August 9, 2025, according to Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) and Mandiant. The activity, which bears some hallmarks associated with the Cl0p ransomware crew, is assessed to have fashio...

A new malware campaign is spoofing Palo Alto Networks' GlobalProtect VPN software to deliver a variant of the WikiLoader (aka WailingCrab) loader by means of a search engine optimization (SEO) campaign. The malvertising activity, observed in June 2024, is a departure from previously observed tactics wherein the malware has been propagated via traditional phishing emails, Unit 42 researchers Mark Lim and Tom Marsden said . WikiLoader, first documented by Proofpoint in August 2023, has been attributed to a threat actor known as TA544, with the email attacks leveraging the malware to deploy Danabot and Ursnif. Then earlier this April, South Korean cybersecurity company AhnLab detailed an attack campaign that leveraged a trojanized version of a Notepad++ plugin as the distribution vector. That said, the loader for rent is suspected to be used by at least two initial access brokers (IABs), per Unit 42, stating the attack chains are characterized by tactics that allow it to e...

The financially motivated threat actor known as FIN7 has been observed using multiple pseudonyms across several underground forums to likely advertise a security dodging tool known to be used by ransomware groups like AvosLocker, Black Basta, BlackCat, LockBit, and Trigona. "AvNeutralizer (aka AuKill ), a highly specialized tool developed by FIN7 to tamper with security solutions, has been marketed in the criminal underground and used by multiple ransomware groups," cybersecurity company SentinelOne said in a report shared with The Hacker News. FIN7, an e-crime group of Russian and Ukrainian origin, has been a persistent threat since at least 2012, shifting gears from its initial targeting of point-of-sale (PoS) terminals to acting as a ransomware affiliate for now-defunct gangs such as REvil and Conti, before launching its own ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) programs DarkSide and BlackMatter. The threat actor, which is also tracked under the names Carbanak, Carbon Spide...

Researchers have disclosed significant security weaknesses in popular antivirus software applications that could be abused to deactivate their protections and take control of allow-listed applications to perform nefarious operations on behalf of the malware to defeat anti-ransomware defenses. The twin attacks,  detailed  by academics from the University of Luxembourg and the University of London, are aimed at circumventing the protected folder feature offered by antivirus programs to encrypt files (aka "Cut-and-Mouse") and disabling their real-time protection by simulating mouse "click" events (aka "Ghost Control"). "Antivirus software providers always offer high levels of security, and they are an essential element in the everyday struggle against criminals,"  said  Prof. Gabriele Lenzini, chief scientist at the Interdisciplinary Center for Security, Reliability, and Trust at the University of Luxembourg. "But they are competing with cri...

Microsoft ended its support for Windows XP officially more than a month ago on April 8, 2014 . This made a large number of users to switch to the latest version of Windows, but still a wide portion of users are using Microsoft oldest and most widely used operating system, despite not receiving security updates. While some companies and organizations who were not able to migrate their operating system's running Windows XP to another operating system before the support phase ended, are still receiving updates by paying Microsoft for the security patches and updates. Now a relatively simple method has emerged as a trick for the XP users which makes it possible to receive Windows XP security updates for the next five years i.e. until April 2019. It makes use of updates for Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 based on Windows XP Service Pack 3, because the security updates which are being released for POSReady 2009 are inevitably the same updates Microsoft would have rolled out...