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The Russian advanced persistent threat (APT) group known as COLDRIVER has been attributed to a fresh round of ClickFix-style attacks designed to deliver two new "lightweight" malware families tracked as BAITSWITCH and SIMPLEFIX. Zscaler ThreatLabz, which detected the new multi-stage ClickFix campaign earlier this month, described BAITSWITCH as a downloader that ultimately drops SIMPLEFIX, a PowerShell backdoor. COLDRIVER , also tracked as Callisto, Star Blizzard, and UNC4057, is the moniker assigned to a Russia-linked threat actor that's known to target a wide range of sectors since 2019. While early campaign waves were observed using spear-phishing lures to direct targets to credential harvesting pages, the group has been fleshing out its arsenal with custom tools like SPICA and LOSTKEYS , which underscores its technical sophistication. The adversary's use of ClickFix tactics was previously documented by the Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) back in May 2...

Threat actors likely associated with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have been observed using GitHub as command-and-control (C2) infrastructure in multi-stage attacks targeting organizations in South Korea. The attack chain, per Fortinet FortiGuard Labs , involves obfuscated Windows shortcut (LNK) files acting as the starting point to drop a decoy PDF document and a PowerShell script that sets the stage for the next phase of the attack. It's assessed that these LNK files are distributed via phishing emails. As soon as the payloads are downloaded, the victim is displayed the PDF document, while the malicious PowerShell script runs silently in the background. The PowerShell script performs checks to resist analysis by scanning for running processes related to virtual machines, debuggers, and forensic tools. If any of those processes are detected, the script immediately terminates. Otherwise, it extracts a Visual Basic Scri...

The Russia-linked threat actor known as COLDRIVER has been observed distributing a new malware called LOSTKEYS as part of an espionage-focused campaign using ClickFix-like social engineering lures. "LOSTKEYS is capable of stealing files from a hard-coded list of extensions and directories, along with sending system information and running processes to the attacker," the Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) said . The malware, the company said, was observed in January, March, and April 2025 in attacks on current and former advisors to Western governments and militaries, as well as journalists, think tanks, and NGOs. In addition, individuals connected to Ukraine have also been singled out. LOSTKEYS is the second custom malware attributed to COLDRIVER after SPICA , marking a continued departure from the credential phishing campaigns the threat actor has been known for. The hacking group is also tracked under the names Callisto, Star Blizzard, and UNC4057. "They ar...

The popular HTTP client known as Axios has suffered a supply chain attack after two newly published versions of the npm package introduced a malicious dependency that delivers a trojan capable of targeting Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. Versions 1.14.1 and 0.30.4 of Axios have been found to inject " plain-crypto-js " version 4.2.1 as a fake dependency. According to StepSecurity, the two versions were published using the compromised npm credentials of the primary Axios maintainer ("jasonsaayman"), allowing the attackers to bypass the project's GitHub Actions CI/CD pipeline. "Its sole purpose is to execute a postinstall script that acts as a cross-platform remote access trojan (RAT) dropper, targeting macOS, Windows, and Linux," security researcher Ashish Kurmi said . "The dropper contacts a live command and control server and delivers platform-specific second-stage payloads. After execution, the malware deletes itself and replaces its own...

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a new campaign dubbed CRESCENTHARVEST , likely targeting supporters of Iran's ongoing protests to conduct information theft and long-term espionage. The Acronis Threat Research Unit (TRU) said it observed the activity after January 9, with the attacks designed to deliver a malicious payload that serves as a remote access trojan (RAT) and information stealer to execute commands, log keystrokes, and exfiltrate sensitive data. It's currently not known if any of the attacks were successful. "The campaign exploits recent geopolitical developments to lure victims into opening malicious .LNK files disguised as protest-related images or videos," researchers Subhajeet Singha, Eliad Kimhy, and Darrel Virtusio said in a report published this week. "These files are bundled with authentic media and a Farsi-language report providing updates from 'the rebellious cities of Iran.' This pro- protest framing appears ...

Threat actors associated with the Vice Society ransomware gang have been observed using a bespoke PowerShell-based tool to fly under the radar and automate the process of exfiltrating data from compromised networks. "Threat actors (TAs) using built-in  data exfiltration   methods  like [living off the land binaries and scripts] negate the need to bring in external tools that might be flagged by security software and/or human-based security detection mechanisms," Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 researcher Ryan Chapman  said . "These methods can also hide within the general operating environment, providing subversion to the threat actor." Vice Society , tracked by Microsoft under the name DEV-0832, is an extortion-focused hacking group that emerged on the scene in May 2021. It's known to rely on ransomware binaries sold on the criminal underground to meet its goals. In December 2022, SentinelOne detailed the group's use of a ransomware variant, dubbed  PolyVi...

Security news rarely moves in a straight line. This week, it feels more like a series of sharp turns, some happening quietly in the background, others playing out in public view. The details are different, but the pressure points are familiar. Across devices, cloud services, research labs, and even everyday apps, the line between normal behavior and hidden risk keeps getting thinner. Tools meant to protect, update, or improve systems are also becoming pathways when something goes wrong. This recap gathers the signals in one place. Quick reads, real impact, and developments that deserve a closer look before they become next week’s bigger problem. ⚡ Threat of the Week Dell RecoverPoint for VMs Zero-Day Exploited — A maximum severity security vulnerability in Dell RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines has been exploited as a zero-day by a suspected China-nexus threat cluster dubbed UNC6201 since mid-2024. The activity involves the exploitation of CVE-2026-22769 (CVSS score: 10.0), a ca...

In this article, we will provide a brief overview of Silverfort's platform, the first (and currently only) unified identity protection platform on the market. Silverfort’s patented technology aims to protect organizations from identity-based attacks by integrating with existing identity and access management solutions, such as AD (Active Directory) and cloud-based services, and extending secure access controls like Risk-Based Authentication and MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) to all their resources. This includes on-prem and cloud resources, legacy systems, command-line tools and service accounts. A recent report by Silverfort and Osterman Research revealed that  83% of organizations worldwide have experienced data breaches due to compromised credentials . Many organizations admit that they are underprotected against identity-based attacks, such as lateral movement and ransomware. Resources like command-line access tools and legacy systems, which are widely used, are particular...

What do a source code editor, a smart billboard, and a web server have in common? They’ve all become launchpads for attacks—because cybercriminals are rethinking what counts as “infrastructure.” Instead of chasing high-value targets directly, threat actors are now quietly taking over the overlooked: outdated software, unpatched IoT devices, and open-source packages. It's not just clever—it’s reshaping how intrusion, persistence, and evasion happen at scale. ⚡ Threat of the Week 5Socks Proxy Using IoT, EoL Systems Dismantled in Law Enforcement Operation — A joint law enforcement operation undertaken by Dutch and U.S. authorities dismantled a criminal proxy network, known as anyproxy[.]net and 5socks[.]net, that was 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. The illicit platform, active since 2004, advertised more than 7,000 online proxies daily, with infected ...

In a world where threats are persistent, the modern CISO’s real job isn't just to secure technology—it's to preserve institutional trust and ensure business continuity. This week, we saw a clear pattern: adversaries are targeting the complex relationships that hold businesses together, from supply chains to strategic partnerships. With new regulations and the rise of AI-driven attacks, the decisions you make now will shape your organization's resilience for years to come. This isn't just a threat roundup; it's the strategic context you need to lead effectively. Here’s your full weekly recap, packed with the intelligence to keep you ahead. ⚡ Threat of the Week New HybridPetya Ransomware Bypasses UEFI Secure Boot — A copycat version of the infamous Petya/NotPetya malware dubbed HybridPetya has been spotted. But no telemetry exists to suggest HybridPetya has been deployed in the wild yet. It also differs in one key respect: It can compromise the secure boot featu...

Cyberattacks are getting smarter and harder to stop. This week, hackers used sneaky tools, tricked trusted systems, and quickly took advantage of new security problems—some just hours after being found. No system was fully safe. From spying and fake job scams to strong ransomware and tricky phishing, the attacks came from all sides. Even encrypted backups and secure areas were put to the test. Keep reading for the full list of the biggest cyber news from this week—clearly explained and easy to follow. ⚡ Threat of the Week Motex Lanscope Flaw Exploited to Drop Gokcpdoor — A suspected Chinese cyber espionage actor known as Tick has been attributed to a target campaign that has leveraged a recently disclosed critical security flaw in Motex Lanscope Endpoint Manager (CVE-2025-61932, CVSS score: 9.3) to infiltrate target networks and deploy a backdoor called Gokcpdoor. Sophos, which disclosed details of the activity, said it was "limited to sectors aligned with their intelligence...

The year opened without a reset. The same pressure carried over, and in some places it tightened. Systems people assume are boring or stable are showing up in the wrong places. Attacks moved quietly, reused familiar paths, and kept working longer than anyone wants to admit. This week’s stories share one pattern. Nothing flashy. No single moment. Just steady abuse of trust — updates, extensions, logins, messages — the things people click without thinking. That’s where damage starts now. This recap pulls those signals together. Not to overwhelm, but to show where attention slipped and why it matters early in the year. ⚡ Threat of the Week RondoDox Botnet Exploits React2Shell Flaw — A persistent nine-month-long campaign has targeted Internet of Things (IoT) devices and web applications to enroll them into a botnet known as RondoDox. As of December 2025, the activity has been observed leveraging the recently disclosed React2Shell (CVE-2025-55182, CVSS score: 10.0) flaw as an initial...

Dynamic malware analysis is a key part of any threat investigation. It involves executing a sample of a malicious program in the isolated environment of a malware sandbox to monitor its behavior and gather actionable indicators. Effective analysis must be fast, in-depth, and precise. These five tools will help you achieve it with ease. 1. Interactivity Having the ability to interact with the malware and the system in real-time is a great advantage when it comes to dynamic analysis. This way, you can not only observe its execution but also see how it responds to your inputs and triggers specific behaviors.  Plus, it saves time by allowing you to download samples hosted on file-sharing websites or open those packed inside an archive, which is a common way to deliver payloads to victims. The initial phishing email containing the malicious pdf and password for the archive Check out this sandbox session in the ANY.RUN sandbox that shows how interactivity is used for analyzing th...

Everything feels secure—until one small thing slips through. Even strong systems can break if a simple check is missed or a trusted tool is misused. Most threats don’t start with alarms—they sneak in through the little things we overlook. A tiny bug, a reused password, a quiet connection—that’s all it takes. Staying safe isn’t just about reacting fast. It’s about catching these early signs before they blow up into real problems. That’s why this week’s updates matter. From stealthy tactics to unexpected entry points, the stories ahead reveal how quickly risk can spread—and what smart teams are doing to stay ahead. Dive in. ⚡ Threat of the Week U.S. Disrupts N. Korea IT Worker Scheme — Prosecutors said they uncovered the North Korean IT staff working at over 100 U.S. companies using fictitious or stolen identities and not only drawing salaries, but also stealing secret data and plundering virtual currency more than $900,000 in one incident targeting an unnamed blockchain company in ...

Amazon Threat Intelligence is warning of an active Interlock ransomware campaign that's exploiting a recently disclosed critical security flaw in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) Software. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2026-20131 (CVSS score: 10.0), a case of insecure deserialization of user-supplied Java byte stream, which could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication and execute arbitrary Java code as root on an affected device. According to data gleaned from the tech giant's MadPot global sensor network , the security flaw is said to have been exploited as a zero-day since January 26, 2026, more than a month before it was publicly disclosed by Cisco. "This wasn't just another vulnerability exploit; Interlock had a zero-day in their hands, giving them a week's head start to compromise organizations before defenders even knew to look. Upon making this discovery, we shared our findings with Cisco to help support...

A new Rust-based information stealer malware called Fickle Stealer has been observed being delivered via multiple attack chains with the goal of harvesting sensitive information from compromised hosts. Fortinet FortiGuard Labs said it's aware of four different distribution methods -- namely VBA dropper, VBA downloader, link downloader, and executable downloader -- with some of them using a PowerShell script to bypass User Account Control (UAC) and execute Fickle Stealer. The PowerShell script ("bypass.ps1" or "u.ps1") is also designed to periodically send information about the victim, including country, city, IP address, operating system version, computer name, and username to a Telegram bot controlled by the attacker. The stealer payload, which is protected using a packer, runs a series of anti-analysis checks to determine if it's running in a sandbox or a virtual machine environment, following which it beacons out to a remote server to exfiltrate da...

Threat activity this week shows one consistent signal — attackers are leaning harder on what already works. Instead of flashy new exploits, many operations are built around quiet misuse of trusted tools, familiar workflows, and overlooked exposures that sit in plain sight. Another shift is how access is gained versus how it’s used. Initial entry points are getting simpler, while post-compromise activity is becoming more deliberate, structured, and persistent. The objective is less about disruption and more about staying embedded long enough to extract value. There’s also growing overlap between cybercrime, espionage tradecraft, and opportunistic intrusion. Techniques are bleeding across groups, making attribution harder and defense baselines less reliable. Below is this week’s ThreatsDay Bulletin — a tight scan of the signals that matter, distilled into quick reads. Each item adds context to where threat pressure is building next. Notepad RCE via Markdown L...

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of an advanced persistent threat (APT) group dubbed Silver Dragon that has been linked to cyber attacks targeting entities in Europe and Southeast Asia since at least mid-2024. "Silver Dragon gains its initial access by exploiting public-facing internet servers and by delivering phishing emails that contain malicious attachments," Check Point said in a technical report. "To maintain persistence, the group hijacks legitimate Windows services, which allows the malware processes to blend into normal system activity." Silver Dragon is assessed to be operating within the APT41 umbrella . APT41 is the cryptonym assigned to a prolific Chinese hacking group known for its targeting of healthcare, telecoms, high-tech, education, travel services, and media sectors for cyber espionage as early as 2012. It's also believed to engage in financially motivated activity potentially outside of state control. Attacks mounted by...