📰wrzlbrmpft's cyberlights💥

cyberlights – week 19/2025

May 11, 2025

A weekly shortlist of cyber security highlights. The short summaries are AI generated! If something is wrong, please let me know!

News For All

🤦‍♂️ WhatsApp provides no cryptographic management for group messages security research – WhatsApp's group messaging lacks cryptographic safeguards, allowing potential unauthorized users to join chats unnoticed, raising privacy concerns for sensitive discussions. https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/05/whatsapp-provides-no-cryptographic-management-for-group-messages/

🚫 Mr. Deepfakes, the Biggest Deepfake Porn Site on the Internet, Says It’s Shutting Down for Good cybercrime – Mr. Deepfakes, notorious for nonconsensual deepfake porn, has announced its permanent shutdown due to loss of service and data, leaving users with no access. https://www.404media.co/mr-deepfakes-the-biggest-deepfake-porn-site-on-the-internet-says-its-shutting-down-for-good/

🔑 Passkeys for Normal People cyber defense – Passkeys offer a phishing-resistant alternative to traditional passwords and OTPs for secure logins, enhancing online safety, but still require careful management across devices. https://www.troyhunt.com/passkeys-for-normal-people/

🔓 The modified Signal app used by Mike Waltz was reportedly hacked data breach – A breach involving a modified Signal app used by Mike Waltz has led to the exposure of message contents and contact information of government officials. https://www.theverge.com/news/661173/telemessage-signal-clone-hacked-mike-waltz

📱 Smishing on a Massive Scale: ‘Panda Shop’ Chinese Carding Syndicate cybercrime – Resecurity has uncovered a new smishing kit, ‘Panda Shop,’ linked to a Chinese syndicate, capable of sending millions of fraudulent messages daily and targeting vast consumer data. https://securityaffairs.com/177502/cyber-crime/smishing-on-a-massive-scale-panda-shop-chinese-carding-syndicate.html

🎓 Fake Student Fraud in Community Colleges cybercrime – Community colleges face rising fraud from fake students using AI-generated work to exploit financial aid, challenging detection efforts and disrupting class structures. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/05/fake-student-fraud-in-community-colleges.html

🚨 Samsung MagicINFO flaw exploited days after PoC publication vulnerability – A high-severity vulnerability (CVE-2024-7399) in Samsung MagicINFO was exploited shortly after a proof-of-concept was released, allowing unauthenticated users to execute code with system-level access. https://securityaffairs.com/177529/hacking/samsung-magicinfo-vulnerability-exploited-after-poc-publication.html

🕵️‍♂️ Meta awarded $167.25 million over Pegasus spyware attack security news – Meta has been awarded $167.25 million after suing the NSO Group for using Pegasus spyware to target over 1,400 WhatsApp users. https://www.theverge.com/news/662242/meta-nso-group-pegasus-whatsapp-hack-damages

🔑 Tulsi Gabbard Reused the Same Weak Password on Multiple Accounts for Years security news – Tulsi Gabbard reportedly used the same easily cracked password across multiple accounts for years, raising concerns about her cybersecurity practices following a sensitive incident involving a Signal group chat. https://www.wired.com/story/tulsi-gabbard-dni-weak-password/

💻 COLDRIVER Using New Malware To Steal Documents From Western Targets and NGOs cybercrime – Google's Threat Intelligence Group reports on COLDRIVER's new malware, LOSTKEYS, used to steal files from Western targets, utilizing a multi-stage infection process involving social engineering techniques. https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/coldriver-steal-documents-western-targets-ngos/

💰 PowerSchool customers hit by downstream extortion threats cybercrime – After PowerSchool paid a ransom to delete stolen data, some of its school district customers are now facing extortion threats to leak that data, highlighting ongoing supply chain risks. https://cyberscoop.com/powerschool-customers-hit-by-downstream-extortion-threats/

🔒 Polish authorities arrested 4 people behind DDoS cybercrime – Polish police arrested four individuals operating DDoS-for-hire platforms used in global attacks, offering services for as little as €10, as part of an international crackdown on cybercrime. https://securityaffairs.com/177590/cyber-crime/polish-police-arrested-4-people-behind-ddos-for-hire-platforms.html

🎭 NCSC warns of IT helpdesk impersonation trick being used by ransomware gangs after UK retailers attacked security news – Following ransomware attacks on Marks & Spencer and Co-op, the NCSC warns that hackers are using social engineering to impersonate employees and exploit helpdesk staff for account access. https://www.exponential-e.com/blog/ncsc-warns-of-it-helpdesk-impersonation-trick-being-used-by-ransomware-gangs-after-uk-retailers-attacked

🐕‍🦺 DOGE software engineer’s computer infected by info-stealing malware security news – Kyle Schutt, a software engineer at CISA, had his login credentials exposed multiple times in public leaks from info-stealing malware, raising concerns about potential access to sensitive government information. https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/05/doge-software-engineers-computer-infected-by-info-stealing-malware/

✈️ Hackers hit deportation airline GlobalX, leak flight manifests, and leave an unsubtle message for “Donnie” Trump cybercrime – Hacktivists claiming to be part of Anonymous breached GlobalX Airlines, leaking flight records and passenger manifests related to US deportation flights while defacing the airline's website with a message targeting Trump. https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/blog/hotforsecurity/hackers-globalx-message-trump

🛡️ FBI and Dutch police seize and shut down botnet of hacked routers cybercrime – A joint operation by the FBI and Dutch police dismantled a botnet of hacked routers used for cybercrime, indicting four individuals for running proxy services Anyproxy and 5Socks built on compromised devices. https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/09/fbi-and-dutch-police-seize-and-shut-down-botnet-of-hacked-routers/

💰 German operation shuts down crypto mixer eXch, seizes millions in assets cybercrime – German police seized over $30 million in assets from the crypto mixer eXch, which was linked to laundering funds from the $1.46 billion Bybit hack, as part of a crackdown on money laundering activities. https://therecord.media/exch-cryptocurrency-mixer-germany-takedown

🔒 How to turn on Lockdown Mode for your iPhone and Mac privacy – Apple's Lockdown Mode enhances security for those facing sophisticated threats, limiting device functionality. It can be easily enabled or disabled on iPhones, iPads, and Macs through settings. https://www.theverge.com/tech/663794/lockdown-mode-iphone-mac-how-to

💰 Google will pay Texas $1.4 billion over its location tracking practices privacy – Google will pay Texas $1.4 billion to settle lawsuits over unauthorized location tracking and biometric data retention, marking a significant victory for user privacy against Big Tech violations. https://securityaffairs.com/177683/laws-and-regulations/google-will-pay-texas-1-4-billion-over-its-location-tracking-practices.html

Some More, For the Curious

⚠️ Security Researchers Warn a Widely Used Open Source Tool Poses a 'Persistent' Risk to the US security research – Researchers highlight security concerns over easyjson, an open source tool linked to a Russian company, fearing it could be exploited for espionage or cyberattacks against the US. https://www.wired.com/story/easyjson-open-source-vk-ties/

5️⃣ 5 Common Cybersecurity Mistakes That Attackers Love cyber defense – Cybersecurity experts highlight five common mistakes—improper secrets management, excessive user privileges, lack of network segmentation, overreliance on user training, and poor security detections—that leave organizations vulnerable to attacks. https://bishopfox.com/blog/before-red-team-fix-these-5-common-mistakes

💳 Hundreds of e-commerce sites hacked in supply-chain attack security research – A supply-chain attack has compromised hundreds of e-commerce sites, injecting malware that steals payment information from visitors, linked to three software providers over six years. https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/05/hundreds-of-e-commerce-sites-hacked-in-supply-chain-attack/

⚖️ Lawmakers grill Noem over CISA funding cuts, demand Trump cyber plan security news – Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced bipartisan criticism over a proposed $491 million budget cut to CISA, with lawmakers demanding details on the Trump administration's cyber strategy amid rising threats. https://therecord.media/noem-house-hearing-proposed-cisa-funding-cuts

🛡️ New 'Bring Your Own Installer (BYOI)' technique allows to bypass EDR vulnerability – A new BYOI technique allows attackers to exploit SentinelOne's upgrade process, disabling EDR protection and enabling Babuk ransomware deployment by interrupting the installation. https://securityaffairs.com/177494/hacking/new-bring-your-own-installer-byoi-technique-allows-to-bypass-edr.html

➰ Curl takes action against time-wasting AI bug reports security news – Curl founder Daniel Stenberg implements a checkbox for bug reports to filter out AI-generated submissions, citing their overwhelming volume and lack of validity as a drain on maintainers' resources. https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/07/curl_ai_bug_reports/

🔓 Play ransomware affiliate leveraged zero cybercrime – The Play ransomware gang exploited a Windows zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-29824) to gain SYSTEM privileges and deploy malware, including the Grixba infostealer, in targeted attacks. https://securityaffairs.com/177573/cyber-crime/play-ransomware-affiliate-leveraged-zero-day-to-deploy-malware.html

💻 CVE-2024-44236: Remote Code Execution vulnerability in Apple macOS vulnerability – A remote code execution vulnerability in macOS allows attackers to exploit ICC Profile files, potentially executing code on victims' machines. A patch has been released, but no attacks have been detected yet. https://www.thezdi.com/blog/2025/5/7/cve-2024-44236-remote-code-execution-vulnerability-in-apple-macos

🔐 CVE-2025-20188: Cisco Fixes 10.0-Rated Wireless Controller Flaw vulnerability – Cisco has patched a critical vulnerability (CVE-2025-20188) in its IOS XE Wireless Controller software that allows unauthenticated attackers to gain root access. Administrators are urged to apply fixes and check configurations. https://thecyberexpress.com/cisco-patches-cve-2025-20188/

🫦 The LockBit ransomware site was breached, database dump was leaked online cybercrime – The LockBit ransomware group's dark web site was breached, leaking a database with victim data, negotiation logs, and configurations, revealing insights into their operations and potential decryption keys. https://securityaffairs.com/177619/cyber-crime/the-lockbit-ransomware-site-was-breached-database-dump-was-leaked-online.html

📅 A timeline of South Korean telco giant SKT's data breach data breach – SK Telecom suffered a major data breach affecting 23 million customers, prompting investigations and customer backlash, as the company works to mitigate damage and replace compromised SIM cards. https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/08/a-timeline-of-south-korean-telco-giant-skts-data-breach/

🔒 SonicWall fixed SMA 100 flaws that could be chained to execute arbitrary code vulnerability – SonicWall patched three critical vulnerabilities in SMA 100 that could allow remote attackers to chain them for arbitrary code execution, including a potential zero-day. Users are advised to update to the latest version. https://securityaffairs.com/177626/hacking/sonicwall-fixed-sma-100-flaws-that-could-be-chained-to-execute-arbitrary-code.html

🔒 CVSS 10.0 Vulnerability Found in Ubiquity UniFi Protect Cameras vulnerability – Ubiquity disclosed critical vulnerabilities in UniFi Protect, including a CVSS 10.0 flaw (CVE-2025-23123) allowing remote code execution. Users are urged to update firmware and applications immediately to mitigate risks. https://thecyberexpress.com/ubiquity-unifi-protect-flaws-cve-2025-23123/

CISA Corner

😶 Unsophisticated Cyber Actor(s) Targeting Operational Technology cyber defense – CISA warns of unsophisticated cyber actors targeting ICS/SCADA systems in U.S. critical infrastructure, urging asset owners to improve cyber hygiene to prevent potential operational disruptions and physical damage. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/05/06/unsophisticated-cyber-actors-targeting-operational-technology

⚠️ CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog warning – CISA has added CVE-2025-3248, a missing authentication vulnerability in Langflow, to its catalog, highlighting its active exploitation and risks to federal networks. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/05/05/cisa-adds-one-known-exploited-vulnerability-catalog ⚠️ CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog warning – CISA has included CVE-2025-27363, an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in FreeType, in its catalog due to evidence of active exploitation posing risks to federal networks. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/05/06/cisa-adds-one-known-exploited-vulnerability-catalog ⚠️ CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog warning – CISA has included two new OS command injection vulnerabilities (CVE-2024-6047 and CVE-2024-11120) in its catalog, highlighting their active exploitation and risks to federal networks. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/05/07/cisa-adds-two-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog

⚙️ CISA Releases Three Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA has issued three advisories regarding vulnerabilities in industrial control systems, urging users to review the advisories for technical details and recommended mitigations. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/05/06/cisa-releases-three-industrial-control-systems-advisories ⚙️ CISA Releases Five Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA has issued five advisories regarding vulnerabilities in various Industrial Control Systems, urging users to review the details and recommended mitigations for enhanced security. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/05/08/cisa-releases-five-industrial-control-systems-advisories

While my intention is to pick news that everyone should know about, it still is what I think is significant, cool, fun... Most of the articles are in English, but some current warnings might be in German.

(by @wrzlbrmpft@infosec.exchange) Obviously, the opinions inside these articles are not my own. No guarantee for correct- or completeness in any way.

theme: https://write.as/themes/fosstodon-hub

cyberlights – week 17/2025

April 27, 2025

A weekly shortlist of cyber security highlights. The short summaries are AI generated! If something is wrong, please let me know!

News For All

🎣 Zoom attack tricks victims into allowing remote access to install malware and steal money cybercrime – The ELUSIVE COMET group exploits Zoom to trick victims into granting remote access, allowing malware installation and asset theft. A recent attack succeeded on one CEO but failed on another. https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2025/04/zoom-attack-tricks-victims-into-allowing-remote-access-to-install-malware-and-steal-money

💳 NFC Fraud Wave: Evolution of Ghost Tap on the Dark Web cybercrime – NFC fraud is surging as cybercriminals exploit contactless payment systems for large-scale theft. The 'Ghost Tap' technique enables remote access to stolen data, posing serious security risks. https://www.resecurity.com/blog/article/nfc-fraud-wave-evolution-of-ghost-tap-on-the-dark-web

🐡 Beware of this sneaky Google phishing scam warning – Scammers are using Google and PayPal tools to craft convincing fake emails that bypass security checks, making them harder to detect. Stay vigilant against these phishing attempts. https://www.theverge.com/news/652509/google-no-reply-dkim-phishing-scam

💂 How to Protect Yourself From Phone Searches at the US Border privacy – As border searches intensify, travelers should consider using a travel phone or modifying their primary device to minimize personal data. Simple precautions can help protect privacy during crossings. https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-protect-yourself-from-phone-searches-at-the-us-border/

🛍️ Marks & Spencer confirms cybersecurity incident amid ongoing disruption cybercrime – Marks & Spencer has confirmed a cybersecurity incident affecting its operations, causing disruptions in payment systems and order pickups. The retailer is investigating with external experts, but details on customer data impact remain unclear. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/22/marks-spencer-confirms-cybersecurity-incident-amid-ongoing-disruption/

🎥 Beware of video call links that are attempts to steal Microsoft 365 access, researchers tell NGOs security news – Researchers warn that Russia-linked hackers are targeting NGOs with phishing attempts disguised as video call invitations to capture Microsoft 365 access tokens via OAuth. Vigilance is advised against unsolicited contacts. https://therecord.media/russia-linked-phishing-microsoft365-ukraine-ngos

⛪ The Tech That Safeguards the Conclave’s Secrecy security news – As the Vatican prepares for the conclave to elect a new pope, advanced security measures like signal jammers, opaque window films, and thorough inspections are in place to ensure secrecy and integrity. https://www.wired.com/story/technology-used-to-shield-conclave-pope-francis/

💰 EU fines Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million for breaking digital market rules security news – The European Commission fined Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million for violating the Digital Markets Act, marking the first penalties under the new regulations. Both companies plan to appeal the decisions. https://therecord.media/eu-fines-apple-steering-meta-data-privacy-dma

🧿 Blue Shield of California shared the private health data of millions with Google for years data breach – Blue Shield of California disclosed a data breach involving the sharing of sensitive health information with Google since 2021, affecting 4.7 million individuals. The data sharing ended in January 2024 due to a misconfiguration. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/23/blue-shield-of-california-shared-the-private-health-data-of-millions-with-google-for-years/

©️ WhatsApp now lets you block people from exporting your entire chat history privacy – WhatsApp's new 'Advanced Chat Privacy' feature allows users to prevent others from exporting chat histories and automatically downloading media, enhancing privacy in conversations, although it won't stop screenshots. https://www.theverge.com/news/654592/whatsapp-advanced-chat-privacy-block-exporting-chats

⚰️ Crooks exploit the death of Pope Francis cybercrime – Cybercriminals are exploiting the death of Pope Francis to launch scams and spread malware, leveraging public emotion and curiosity. Strong security practices are essential to counter these risks. https://securityaffairs.com/176917/cyber-crime/crooks-exploit-the-death-of-pope-francis.html

🌍 Even the U.S. Government Says AI Requires Massive Amounts of Water security news – A new GAO report highlights the significant environmental costs of generative AI, emphasizing its heavy demand for power and water, raising concerns about its long-term societal impact. https://www.404media.co/even-the-u-s-government-says-ai-requires-massive-amounts-of-water/

🎮 UK bans export of video game controllers to Russia to hinder attack drone pilots security news – The UK government has banned the export of video game controllers to Russia to prevent their use in piloting drones in Ukraine. This is part of a broader sanctions package aimed at limiting Russia's war efforts. https://therecord.media/uk-bans-video-game-controllers

🤌 Gmail’s New Encrypted Messages Feature Opens a Door for Scams cybercrime – Google's new end-to-end encrypted email feature may enhance security but raises concerns about phishing scams targeting non-Gmail users, as scammers could exploit the invitation system to steal credentials. https://www.wired.com/story/gmail-end-to-end-encryption-scams/

💻 North Korean IT workers seen using AI tools to scam firms into hiring them cybercrime – North Korean IT workers are leveraging generative AI tools to secure jobs at U.S. and European tech firms, facilitating their onboarding and communication while funneling earnings back to the DPRK government. https://therecord.media/north-korean-it-workers-seen-using-ai-recruitment-scams

🥴 Government officials are kind of bad at the internet security news – U.S. officials, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, have mishandled sensitive information through tech blunders, such as sharing military plans in unsecured messaging apps, highlighting poor digital security practices. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/26/government-officials-are-kind-of-bad-at-the-internet/

🎒 Storm-1977 targets education sector with password spraying security news – Microsoft reports that the threat actor Storm-1977 is conducting password spraying attacks on the education sector, using AzureChecker.exe to validate credentials and create resources for cryptomining. https://securityaffairs.com/177067/hacking/storm-1977-targets-education-sector-with-password-spraying-microsoft-warns.html

🔑 Who needs phishing when your login's already in the wild? security news – Mandiant's report reveals that stolen credentials have become a major infection vector, surpassing email phishing. The rise in infostealers and cloud attacks emphasizes the need for multi-factor authentication. https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/23/stolen_credentials_mandiant/

🥏 A Look at a Novel Discord Phishing Attack cybercrime – Researchers from Binary Defense investigated MalenuStealer, an infostealer exploiting compromised Discord accounts to distribute malware disguised as a beta game. The attack uses social engineering to trick users into downloading malicious software. https://www.binarydefense.com/resources/blog/a-look-at-a-novel-discord-phishing-attack/

Some More, For the Curious

🤬 Microsoft’s patch for CVE-2025–21204 symlink vulnerability introduces another symlink vulnerability vulnerability – A fix for a symlink vulnerability inadvertently creates another, allowing users to block future Windows updates, risking security. Microsoft has not yet addressed this issue. https://doublepulsar.com/microsofts-patch-for-cve-2025-21204-symlink-vulnerability-introduces-another-symlink-vulnerability-9ea085537741

🔍 CERT.at – DOGE, CISA, Mitre und CVE Published security news – Concerns arose when funding for the CVE system was threatened, but a solution was found. The CVE identifiers remain vital for effective vulnerability management across organizations. https://www.cert.at/de/blog/2025/4/doge-cisa-mitre-und-cve

🎭 Example of a Payload Delivered Through Steganography malware – This article illustrates how steganography conceals malicious payloads in seemingly harmless images, making detection by security tools challenging. It explores obfuscation techniques used in malware. https://isc.sans.edu/diary/rss/31892

🦠 How Lumma Stealer sneaks into organizations malware – Lumma Stealer exploits fake CAPTCHA pages and other social engineering tactics to infiltrate systems, primarily targeting individuals and organizations. Its methods include DLL sideloading and malicious payload injections. https://securelist.com/lumma-fake-captcha-attacks-analysis/116274/

⏳ Eight days from patch to exploitation for Microsoft flaw vulnerability – Just eight days after Microsoft patched CVE-2025-24054, attackers exploited it in campaigns against targets in Poland and Romania, highlighting urgent patching needs for NTLM vulnerabilities. https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/21/microsoft_apple_patch/

🏗️ Attacker Infrastructure cyber defense – The article discusses the various components and setups used by cybercriminals to conduct attacks, including servers, tools, and networks that facilitate malicious activities. https://vulncheck.com/blog/attacker-infrastructure

🃏 Attackers stick with effective intrusion points, valid credentials and exploits security news – IBM X-Force's report reveals that identity-based attacks and exploitation of public-facing applications remain the top intrusion methods. Credential theft and phishing continue to rise, particularly in critical infrastructure sectors. https://cyberscoop.com/ibm-x-force-threat-intelligence-index-2025/

🧑‍🏫 Ex-NSA boss: AI devs' lesson to learn from early infosec security news – Former NSA chief Mike Rogers urges AI developers to integrate security from the start, learning from cybersecurity's past mistakes, to avoid costly fixes later and ensure responsible use in national security. https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/23/exnsa_boss_ai/

🔮 A Vulnerable Future: MITRE’s Close Call in CVE Management cyber defense – MITRE faced a crisis regarding the CVE program's future but secured an 11-month contract extension. The incident highlights the need for robust vulnerability management practices amid uncertainty. https://jfrog.com/blog/mitres-close-call-in-cve-management/

🃏 M-Trends 2025: Data, Insights, and Recommendations From the Frontlines security news – Mandiant's M-Trends 2025 report highlights evolving attack sophistication, particularly by China-linked groups using custom malware and zero-day vulnerabilities, while also noting a rise in credential theft as a major infection vector. https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/m-trends-2025/

⛓️‍💥 Ripple NPM supply chain attack hunts for private keys cybercrime – Compromised versions of the Ripple NPM package, xrpl, have been found to contain malware designed to steal private keys from users, affecting developers who interact with the cryptocurrency ledger. https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/23/ripple_npm_supply_chain/

⚖️ DOGE Worker’s Code Supports NLRB Whistleblower security research – A whistleblower alleges that Elon Musk's DOGE group illegally downloaded sensitive data from the NLRB using privileged accounts, raising concerns about unfair advantages in labor disputes and data security. https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/04/doge-workers-code-supports-nlrb-whistleblower/

🃏 VulnCheck spotted 159 actively exploited vulnerabilities in first few months of 2025 security news – In Q1 2025, VulnCheck reported that attackers exploited nearly a third of vulnerabilities within a day of disclosure, identifying 159 actively exploited vulnerabilities and highlighting the need for rapid response to emerging threats. https://cyberscoop.com/vulncheck-known-exploited-cves-q1-2025/

⛓️ Operation SyncHole: Lazarus APT targets supply chains in South Korea security research – The Lazarus Group has launched Operation SyncHole, targeting at least six South Korean firms through cyber espionage, using malware like ThreatNeedle and exploiting vulnerabilities in local software for data theft. https://securityaffairs.com/176964/apt/operation-synchole-lazarus-apt-targets-supply-chains-in-south-korea.html

⚠️ Critical Commvault Flaw Rated 10/10: CSA Urges Immediate Patching vulnerability – The CSA of Singapore warns of a critical vulnerability (CVE-2025-34028) in Commvault Command Center, rated 10/10, allowing remote code execution. Users are urged to update to patched versions immediately. https://thecyberexpress.com/commvault-vulnerability-cve-2025-34028/

🚨 SAP zero-day vulnerability under widespread active exploitation vulnerability – A critical zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-31324) in SAP NetWeaver systems allows unauthorized file uploads, leading to full system compromise. Active exploitation is reported, urging immediate patching for affected customers. https://cyberscoop.com/sap-netweaver-zero-day-exploit-cve-2025-31324/

📱 How to Root Android Phones hacking write-up – This guide explains rooting Android devices, detailing the process for both emulators and physical phones like the Pixel 6. It discusses the pros and cons of rooting, including the benefits for testing applications and the associated security risks. https://www.blackhillsinfosec.com/how-to-root-android-phones/

🐞 How a 20 year old bug in GTA San Andreas surfaced in Windows 11 24H2 security news – A long-standing bug in GTA San Andreas caused the Skimmer plane to disappear on Windows 11 24H2 due to changes in how the OS handles stack memory, exposing uninitialized variables and corrupting game data. https://cookieplmonster.github.io/2025/04/23/gta-san-andreas-win11-24h2-bug/

🛡️ io_uring Rootkit Bypasses Linux Security Tools security research – ARMO researchers reveal a significant security gap in Linux due to the io_uring interface, allowing rootkits to evade detection by traditional security tools. Their rootkit, Curing, exploits this blind spot, underscoring the need for improved detection methods like KRSI. https://www.armosec.io/blog/io_uring-rootkit-bypasses-linux-security/

CISA Corner

⚙️ CISA Releases Five Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA issued five advisories on April 22, 2025, addressing vulnerabilities in various ICS products, including Siemens and Schneider Electric systems. Users are urged to review for mitigation strategies. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/22/cisa-releases-five-industrial-control-systems-advisories ⚙️ CISA Releases Seven Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA issued seven advisories on April 24, 2025, addressing vulnerabilities in various ICS products, including Schneider Electric and Johnson Controls. Users are urged to review for technical details and mitigations. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/24/cisa-releases-seven-industrial-control-systems-advisories

(by @wrzlbrmpft@infosec.exchange) Obviously, the opinions inside these articles are not my own. No guarantee for correct- or completeness in any way.

theme: https://write.as/themes/fosstodon-hub

cyberlights – week 16/2025

April 20, 2025

A weekly shortlist of cyber security highlights. The short summaries are AI generated! If something is wrong, please let me know!

News For All

🕵️ Chrome extensions with 6 million installs have hidden tracking code malware – 57 risky Chrome extensions, used by 6 million, secretly track users and access sensitive data. Some have been removed, but others still pose a threat. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/chrome-extensions-with-6-million-installs-have-hidden-tracking-code/

💻 The Most Dangerous Hackers You’ve Never Heard Of cybercrime – A roundup of recent cybersecurity incidents, including a suspected breach of 4chan, the rise of smishing scams, and vulnerabilities in government cybersecurity programs. https://www.wired.com/story/most-dangerous-hackers-youve-never-heard-of/

🎤 Silicon Valley crosswalk buttons hacked to imitate Musk, Zuckerberg's voices security news – Audio traffic crosswalk buttons in Silicon Valley were hacked to play AI-generated messages mimicking Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, raising concerns over security and potential hacktivism. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/14/silicon-valley-crosswalk-buttons-hacked-to-imitate-musk-zuckerberg-voices/

🗂️ Don't delete inetpub folder. It's a Windows security fix vulnerability – The newly created inetpub folder on Windows systems post-update is a security measure to prevent privilege escalation vulnerabilities. Users are advised to keep it intact. https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/14/windows_update_inetpub/

🕹️ Infinity Global Services’ Cyber Park Launches “Beacon in the Dark” – A New Cyber Security Escape Room Adventure security news – The new escape room 'Beacon in the Dark' challenges players to solve cyber risk puzzles, enhancing awareness about threats like credential theft. It's a fun way to learn about cybersecurity! https://blog.checkpoint.com/infinity-global-services/infinity-global-services-cyber-park-launches-beacon-in-the-dark-a-new-cyber-security-escape-room-adventure/

⚠️ Microsoft’s Recall AI Tool Is Making an Unwelcome Return privacy – A series of incidents highlight the risks of AI mismanagement, including a chatbot creating false policies and government officials exposing sensitive data on Venmo. https://www.wired.com/story/microsoft-recall-returns-privacy/

🔍 Meta will use public EU user data to train its AI models privacy – Meta plans to resume using public data from EU users to train its AI models, emphasizing user choice and transparency while addressing prior data protection concerns raised by regulators. https://securityaffairs.com/176569/digital-id/meta-will-use-public-eu-user-data-to-train-its-ai-models.html

🚗 Hertz says customers' personal data and driver's licenses stolen in data breach data breach – Hertz has notified customers of a data breach involving personal data and driver's licenses, attributed to a cyberattack on vendor Cleo. The breach affects thousands across several countries. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/14/hertz-says-customers-personal-data-and-drivers-licenses-stolen-in-data-breach/

📱 Report: EC issues burner phones for visits to US security news – The European Commission is providing burner devices to staff visiting the US to prevent espionage, reflecting growing concerns over cybersecurity and strained transatlantic relations. https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/15/ec_burner_devices/

💸 Inside the Economy of AI Spammers Getting Rich By Exploiting Disasters and Misery cybercrime – The article explores how accounts like FutureRiderUS profit from creating AI-generated disaster content, manipulating emotions for views, while ethical concerns about misinformation and audience deception grow. https://www.404media.co/inside-the-economy-of-ai-spammers-getting-rich-by-exploiting-disasters-and-misery/

🔒 Android phones will soon reboot if they’re locked for a few days security news – Android devices will now require users to enter their PIN after three days of inactivity to enhance security, helping protect user data from unauthorized access. https://www.theverge.com/news/648757/google-android-update-automatic-reboot-phone-locked

💻 4chan’s ‘cesspool of the internet’ is down after apparently being hacked security news – 4chan's forums are currently inaccessible, leading to speculation and unverified rumors regarding potential data leaks following an apparent hack of the site. https://www.theverge.com/news/648908/4chan-hacked-down-outage-leak

📜 Here’s What Happened to Those SignalGate Messages security news – Attorneys allege that the Trump administration used disappearing Signal messages to evade transparency laws regarding military operations, with new court filings revealing inconsistent efforts to preserve these communications. https://www.wired.com/story/heres-what-happened-to-those-signalgate-messages/

🛒 Massenhaft irreführende Werbung von problematischen Online warning – Problematic online shops are using misleading advertising on social media, particularly on Meta platforms, claiming fake sales and non-existent stores, often featuring AI-generated images and deceptive return policies. https://www.watchlist-internet.at/news/irrefuehrende-werbung-auf-meta-plattformen/

🧊 ICE Just Paid Palantir Tens of Millions for ‘Complete Target Analysis of Known Populations’ security news – ICE has contracted Palantir for tens of millions to enhance its database for target analysis and enforcement priorities, raising concerns about potential rights violations and the impact on immigrant communities. https://www.404media.co/ice-just-paid-palantir-tens-of-millions-for-complete-target-analysis-of-known-populations/

🚨 Whistleblower describes how DOGE tore through NLRB IT system security news – An NLRB tech staffer alleges DOGE operatives were granted unauthorized superuser access, leading to data exfiltration attempts and a Russian IP login. Democratic lawmakers call for an investigation into potential misconduct. https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/17/whistleblower_nlrb_doge/

🔒 Apple released emergency updates for actively exploited flaws vulnerability – Apple has issued urgent updates for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS to fix two vulnerabilities, CVE-2025-31200 and CVE-2025-31201, which have been exploited in sophisticated attacks against targeted individuals. https://securityaffairs.com/176644/security/apple-emergency-updates-actively-exploited-ios-ipados-macos-bugs.html

✍️ Florida draft law mandating encryption backdoors for social media accounts billed 'dangerous and dumb' privacy – A Florida draft bill requiring social media platforms to provide encryption backdoors for law enforcement has passed a committee vote. Critics argue it undermines user security and compromises private communications. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/17/florida-draft-law-mandating-encryption-backdoors-for-social-media-accounts-billed-dangerous-and-dumb/

💳 New payment-card scam involves a phone call, some malware and a personal tap cybercrime – A new scam targets Android users, using social engineering and NFC-enabled malware called SuperCard X to steal payment card information by tricking victims into sharing details and bringing cards near infected devices. https://therecord.media/new-payment-card-scam-involves-malware-tap

Some More, For the Curious

🐎 How I Got Hacked: A Warning about Malicious PoCs hacking write-up – After running a seemingly legitimate PoC exploit, the author unwittingly installed malware that stole sensitive data. A cautionary tale highlighting the risks of unverified code. https://chocapikk.com/posts/2025/s1nk/

🦸‍♂️ PowerShell for Hackers: Exploitation Essentials hacking write-up – PowerShell is a powerful tool for attackers, blending in with normal operations and allowing stealthy post-exploitation activities. Defenders must enhance their security measures against its misuse. https://hetmehta.com/posts/powershell-for-hackers/

🔍 iDRAC to Domain Admin security research – A penetration tester shares a method for escalating privileges to domain admin via iDRAC, highlighting vulnerabilities like default credentials and IPMI hash disclosure. https://infosecwriteups.com/idrac-to-domain-admin-4acb89391070

🔧 p0dalirius/FindUnusualSessions: A tool to remotely detect unusual sessions opened on windows machines using RPC cyber defense – FindUnusualSessions is a Python tool that detects unusual remote sessions on Windows machines using RPC, offering various authentication methods and output formats for analysis. Comment: TOOL https://github.com/p0dalirius/FindUnusualSessions

⏰ Analysis of Threat Actor Activity warning – Fortinet reports a threat actor exploiting known vulnerabilities to maintain read-only access to FortiGate devices. They have implemented mitigations and urged customers to update their systems promptly. https://www.fortinet.com/blog/psirt-blogs/analysis-of-threat-actor-activity

🔍 Chinese espionage group leans on open-source tools to mask intrusions security research – The Chinese hacking group UNC5174 is using open-source tools like VShell and WebSockets to blend in with cybercriminal activity while targeting Western entities, indicating a shift in their tactics. https://cyberscoop.com/chinese-espionage-group-unc5174-open-source-tools/

⚔️ China accuses NSA of launching cyberattacks on Asian Winter Games security news – China has accused three alleged NSA employees of conducting cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games, claiming they targeted critical infrastructure and event management systems. https://therecord.media/china-accuses-nsa-hack-asian-winter-games

🧟 LLMs Create a New Supply Chain Threat: Code Package Hallucinations vulnerability – Code-generating LLMs can create non-existent package references, leading to security risks as attackers exploit these 'hallucinations' to distribute malicious code. Researchers emphasize the need for detection and mitigation strategies. https://thecyberexpress.com/genai-llm-code-package-hallucinations/

🏢 The Sophos Annual Threat Report: Cybercrime on Main Street 2025 cyber defense – The report highlights the continued threat of ransomware to small and midsized businesses, noting a rise in attacks, evolving tactics, and the importance of securing network edge devices and adopting defense-in-depth strategies. https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2025/04/16/the-sophos-annual-threat-report-cybercrime-on-main-street-2025/

🤯 Researchers claim breakthrough in fight against AI’s frustrating security hole security research – Google DeepMind introduces CaMeL, a new method to combat prompt injection attacks in AI by treating language models as untrusted components and applying established security principles to ensure safe data handling. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/04/researchers-claim-breakthrough-in-fight-against-ais-frustrating-security-hole/

🛡️ Former CISA director Chris Krebs vows to fight back against Trump-ordered federal investigation security news – Chris Krebs, former CISA director, plans to resign from SentinelOne to contest a federal investigation ordered by Trump, which accuses him of falsely denying election fraud and stripped him of his security clearance. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/16/former-cisa-director-chris-krebs-vows-to-fight-back-against-trump-ordered-federal-investigation/

⚠️ ‘Stupid and Dangerous’: CISA Funding Chaos Threatens Essential Cybersecurity Program security news – CISA renewed funding for the CVE Program amid concerns over its sustainability, as it plays a critical role in tracking software vulnerabilities. Future independence from government funding is uncertain. https://www.wired.com/story/cve-program-cisa-funding-chaos/

📠 Age Verification Using Facial Scans privacy – Discord is testing facial scansprivacy for age verification, claiming no biometric data is stored. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/04/age-verification-using-facial-scans.html

CISA Corner

🔑 CISA Releases Guidance on Credential Risks Associated with Potential Legacy Oracle Cloud Compromise warning – CISA warns of potential unauthorized access to a legacy Oracle cloud environment, highlighting risks related to exposed credentials that could lead to unauthorized access across systems and long-term security threats. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/16/cisa-releases-guidance-credential-risks-associated-potential-legacy-oracle-cloud-compromise

⚙️ CISA Releases Nine Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA has issued nine advisories detailing vulnerabilities and security issues for various Industrial Control Systems, urging users to review the advisories for mitigation strategies. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/15/cisa-releases-nine-industrial-control-systems-advisories ⚙️ CISA Releases Six Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA has issued six advisories detailing vulnerabilities in various Industrial Control Systems, urging users to review them for important security information and mitigation strategies. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/17/cisa-releases-six-industrial-control-systems-advisories

⚠️ CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog warning – CISA has added CVE-2021-20035, a SonicWall SMA100 Appliances OS command injection vulnerability, to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, highlighting its active exploitation and risk to federal networks. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/16/cisa-adds-one-known-exploited-vulnerability-catalog ⚠️ CISA Adds Three Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog warning – CISA has added three vulnerabilities, including two Apple memory corruption issues and a Microsoft NTLM hash disclosure vulnerability, to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog due to active exploitation concerns. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/17/cisa-adds-three-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog

(by @wrzlbrmpft@infosec.exchange) Obviously, the opinions inside these articles are not my own. No guarantee for correct- or completeness in any way.

theme: https://write.as/themes/fosstodon-hub

cyberlights – week 15/2025

April 13, 2025

A weekly shortlist of cyber security highlights. The short summaries are AI generated! If something is wrong, please let me know!

Highlight

🔍 Regierung will Messenger-Überwachung vor dem Sommer beschließen privacy – Die österreichische Regierung plant, die Überwachung von Messenger-Diensten zur Bekämpfung von Terrorismus einzuführen, trotz Bedenken über mögliche Massenüberwachung und verfassungsrechtliche Fragen. https://futurezone.at/netzpolitik/messenger-ueberwachung-whatsapp-oesterreich-regierung-chat-staatstrojaner-oevp-spoe-neos-pegasus/403030634

News For All

🎨 Social Media Flooded with Ghibli AI Images—But What Are We Really Feeding the Algorithms? privacy – The viral trend of AI-generated Ghibli-style portraits raises privacy concerns as users unknowingly share sensitive facial data, potentially fueling identity theft and misuse of personal information. https://thecyberexpress.com/social-media-flooded-with-ghibli-ai-images/

🙈 UK's demand for Apple backdoor should not be heard in secret, says court privacy – The UK government lost its attempt to keep secret a surveillance order against Apple, allowing parts of the case to be public despite national security concerns over accessing encrypted data. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/07/uk-demand-for-apple-backdoor-should-not-be-heard-in-secret-says-court/

😶‍🌫️ Oracle tells customers its public cloud was compromised data breach – Oracle has admitted to a data breach of its public cloud, revealing the theft of client data, including security keys, after initially denying the incident amid claims of exploitation of unpatched vulnerabilities. https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/08/oracle_cloud_compromised/

🤖 Russian bots hard at work spreading political unrest on Romania's internet security news – An investigation reveals a surge in pro-Russian propaganda on Romanian social media, inciting anti-EU sentiment and support for Putin, with bots promoting divisive messages and false narratives. https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/blog/hotforsecurity/russian-bots-hard-at-work-spreading-political-unrest-on-romanias-internet

🔒 Google fixed two actively exploited Android zero vulnerability – Google's April 2025 security update fixed 62 vulnerabilities, including two actively exploited zero-days affecting the Linux kernel and ALSA USB audio, highlighting ongoing security risks in Android. https://securityaffairs.com/176337/hacking/google-fixed-two-actively-exploited-android-zero-days.html

🔍 To tackle espionage, Dutch government plans to screen university students and researchers security news – The Dutch government plans to vet university students and researchers accessing sensitive technology to combat espionage, assessing backgrounds amid rising concerns over foreign threats, particularly from China. https://therecord.media/netherlands-plan-vetting-researchers-students-espionage

🔧 WhatsApp fixed a spoofing flaw that could enable Remote Code Execution vulnerability – WhatsApp patched CVE-2025-30401, a spoofing vulnerability in Windows versions before 2.2450.6, allowing attackers to execute remote code by sending files with misleading MIME types. https://securityaffairs.com/176357/security/whatsapp-fixed-a-spoofing-flaw-that-could-enable-remote-code-execution.html

🗼 Governments identify dozens of Android apps bundled with spyware malware – A coalition of governments has revealed that numerous legitimate-looking Android apps, identified as spyware families BadBazaar and Moonshine, were used to target civil society groups opposing Chinese state interests. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/09/governments-identify-dozens-of-android-apps-bundled-with-spyware/

👁️‍🗨️ Spyware Maker NSO Group Is Paving a Path Back Into Trump’s America cybercrime – NSO Group is shifting lobbying strategies to regain access to US markets under a new administration, raising concerns about surveillance and human rights abuses. https://www.wired.com/story/nso-group-the-vogel-group-lobbying-trump-administration/

🛡️ Cyber experts offer lukewarm praise for voluntary code governing use of commercial hacking tools security news – Cybersecurity professionals gave mixed reviews to a new voluntary code for using commercial hacking tools, expressing cautious optimism while noting concerns over human rights and the absence of the U.S. as a signatory. https://cyberscoop.com/pall-mall-process-global-cybersecurity-code-conduct-commercial-hacking-tools/

🩻 Researcher uncovers dozens of sketchy Chrome extensions with 4 million installs malware – A researcher discovered 35 suspicious Chrome extensions, collectively installed on over 4 million devices, that exhibit spyware-like behavior, including excessive permissions and obfuscated code, raising concerns about their safety. https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/04/researcher-uncovers-dozens-of-sketchy-chrome-extensions-with-4-million-installs/

💔 Lab provider for Planned Parenthood discloses breach affecting 1.6 million people data breach – Laboratory Services Cooperative reported a data breach affecting 1.6 million individuals, revealing sensitive medical and personal information after a cyberattack discovered in October. Victims are offered credit monitoring services. https://therecord.media/lab-provider-planned-parenthood-breach

📨 That groan you hear is users’ reaction to Recall going back into Windows security news – Microsoft is reintroducing Recall, an AI tool in Windows 11 that screenshots and indexes user activity, prompting privacy concerns despite opt-in features. Critics warn it could expose sensitive information and be exploited by malicious actors. https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/04/microsoft-is-putting-privacy-endangering-recall-back-into-windows-11/

⚠️ Attackers are exploiting recently disclosed OttoKit WordPress plugin flaw vulnerability – Attackers are actively exploiting a critical vulnerability (CVE-2025-3102) in the OttoKit WordPress plugin, allowing unauthorized admin account creation on unconfigured sites. Immediate updates are advised to mitigate risks. https://securityaffairs.com/176461/security/ottokit-wordpress-plugin-flaw-exploitation.html

💻 Back in the Game: Privacy Concerns of Second-Hand Game Consoles security research – Game consoles have been able to store personally identifiable information for years; what is less well known is what remains when they are bought or sold on the second-hand market. We share the results of two case studies on Nintendo devices: the Switch and the 3DS. https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/sp/5555/01/10960377/25LWluDWP8A

Some More, For the Curious

🛞 The Renaissance of NTLM Relay Attacks: Everything You Need to Know hacking write-up – NTLM relay attacks, once thought outdated, are resurging as a serious threat, allowing attackers to easily compromise systems through lateral movement without needing to crack passwords. https://posts.specterops.io/the-renaissance-of-ntlm-relay-attacks-everything-you-need-to-know-abfc3677c34e

🎣 VibeScamming — From Prompt to Phish: Benchmarking Popular AI Agents’ Resistance to the Dark Side security research – A new benchmark reveals how generative AI can easily facilitate phishing scams, with different AI platforms showing varied levels of resistance to misuse, raising urgent security concerns. https://labs.guard.io/vibescamming-from-prompt-to-phish-benchmarking-popular-ai-agents-resistance-to-the-dark-side-1ec2fbdf0a35

🤔 The controversial case of the threat actor EncryptHub cybercrime – EncryptHub, a conflicted figure in cybersecurity, reported two Windows vulnerabilities while also engaging in cybercrime, highlighting the balance between ethical research and criminal activity. https://securityaffairs.com/176251/cyber-crime/the-controversial-case-of-the-threat-actor-encrypthub.html

🐈 APT group ToddyCat exploits a vulnerability in ESET for DLL proxying security research – The ToddyCat APT group exploited a vulnerability in ESET's Command Line Scanner to execute malware stealthily, utilizing DLL proxying and an old malicious tool modified for their purposes. https://securelist.com/toddycat-apt-exploits-vulnerability-in-eset-software-for-dll-proxying/116086/

🏔️ Someone hacked ransomware gang Everest’s leak site security news – The Everest ransomware gang's leak site was hacked and defaced with a message against crime, though it remains unclear if a data breach occurred. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/07/someone-hacked-everest-ransomware-gang-dark-web-leak-site/

💻 Windows Remote Desktop Protocol: Remote to Rogue cyber defense – A phishing campaign attributed to UNC5837 exploited RDP by using signed .rdp files to access victim systems, allowing file exfiltration and clipboard capture, underscoring RDP's security risks. https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/windows-rogue-remote-desktop-protocol/

🛡️ Server in der EU und eigene Schlüssel: Schützt das vor US-Zugriffen? privacy – Despite claims from US cloud providers about data security in EU data centers, physical server locations and encryption measures do not guarantee protection from US government access due to laws like the CLOUD Act. https://www.kuketz-blog.de/server-in-der-eu-und-eigene-schluessel-schuetzt-das-vor-us-zugriffen/

🔒 Zero Day Initiative — The April 2025 Security Update Review security news – In April 2025, Adobe and Microsoft released updates addressing multiple vulnerabilities, including critical flaws in Adobe products and 124 CVEs from Microsoft, with a focus on security risks and active exploits. https://www.thezdi.com/blog/2025/4/8/the-april-2025-security-update-review

👧 “The girl should be calling men.” Leak exposes Black Basta’s influence tactics. security research – A leak of 190,000 messages from the Black Basta ransomware group reveals their structured operations, including social engineering tactics, vulnerability exploitation, and negotiation strategies during ransom demands. https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/04/leaked-messages-expose-trade-secrets-of-prolific-black-basta-ransomware-group/

🔑 Critical Fortinet FortiSwitch flaw allows remote attackers to change admin passwords vulnerability – Fortinet has patched a critical vulnerability (CVE-2024-48887) in FortiSwitch devices, allowing remote attackers to change admin passwords. Users are advised to disable HTTP/HTTPS access as a temporary measure. https://securityaffairs.com/176380/security/fortinet-fortiswitch-flaw.html

🐛 How cyberattackers exploit domain controllers using ransomware cyber defense – Cyberattackers are increasingly targeting domain controllers in ransomware attacks, leveraging high-privilege accounts and centralized network access to inflict widespread damage, necessitating enhanced security measures. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2025/04/09/how-cyberattackers-exploit-domain-controllers-using-ransomware/

🩼 Tainted drive appears to be source of malware attack on Western military mission in Ukraine security research – The Russia-backed group Gamaredon exploited an infected removable drive to deploy updated GammaSteel malware against a Ukraine-based military mission, showcasing increased sophistication in their cyberespionage tactics. https://therecord.media/gamaredon-removable-drive-malware-western-military-mission-ukraine

🖖 AI Vulnerability Finding security news – Microsoft's AI has identified multiple vulnerabilities in GRUB2 and U-Boot, which could potentially allow attackers to bypass security on devices using UEFI Secure Boot. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/04/ai-vulnerability-finding.html

🧧 China Secretly (and Weirdly) Admits It Hacked US Infrastructure security news – In a rare admission, Chinese officials acknowledged hacking U.S. infrastructure during a secret meeting, attributing the attacks to U.S. policies on Taiwan. The disclosure adds tension amid ongoing cybersecurity concerns. https://www.wired.com/story/china-admits-hacking-us-infrastructure/

🚧 STRIDE GPT cyber defense – STRIDE GPT is an AI-driven threat modeling tool that generates threat models and attack trees based on the STRIDE methodology, allowing users to input application details and providing various features such as risk scoring and customizable reports. https://github.com/mrwadams/stride-gpt

CISA Corner

🗞️ Fortinet Releases Advisory on New Post-Exploitation Technique for Known Vulnerabilities security news – Fortinet issued an advisory regarding a threat actor exploiting vulnerabilities in FortiGate products to create a malicious file that grants read-only access to device files. Users are advised to upgrade their systems and reset credentials. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/11/fortinet-releases-advisory-new-post-exploitation-technique-known-vulnerabilities

⚠️ CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog warning – CISA has added CVE-2025-31161, an authentication bypass vulnerability in CrushFTP, to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog due to evidence of active exploitation, emphasizing the risk to federal networks. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/07/cisa-adds-one-known-exploited-vulnerability-catalog ⚠️ CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog warning – CISA has added two vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog: CVE-2025-30406 related to Gladinet CentreStack and CVE-2025-29824 affecting Microsoft Windows, highlighting risks to federal networks. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/08/cisa-adds-two-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog ⚠️ CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog warning – CISA has included two Linux kernel vulnerabilities, CVE-2024-53197 and CVE-2024-53150, in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog due to active exploitation, highlighting risks to federal networks. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/09/cisa-adds-two-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog

⚙️ CISA Releases Ten Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA issued ten advisories on April 10, 2025, addressing vulnerabilities in various Industrial Control Systems, including Siemens and Rockwell Automation products, urging users to review for mitigations. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/10/cisa-releases-ten-industrial-control-systems-advisories

(by @wrzlbrmpft@infosec.exchange) Obviously, the opinions inside these articles are not my own. No guarantee for correct- or completeness in any way.

theme: https://write.as/themes/fosstodon-hub

cyberlights – week 14/2025

April 6, 2025

A weekly shortlist of cyber security highlights. The short summaries are AI generated! If something is wrong, please let me know!

News For All

🚗 Europcar GitLab breach exposes data of up to 200,000 customers data breach – A breach of Europcar's GitLab exposed source code and personal data of up to 200,000 customers, with no financial information compromised. The company is assessing the damage and notifying affected users. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/europcar-gitlab-breach-exposes-data-of-up-to-200-000-customers/

📱 Evolution of Sophisticated Phishing Tactics: The QR Code Phenomenon security research – Phishing attacks are evolving with QR codes that disguise malicious URLs, using legitimate redirection techniques and human verification to enhance deception. This trend highlights the need for improved security awareness. https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/qr-code-phishing/

💸 £3 million fine for healthcare MSP with sloppy security after it was hit by ransomware attack security news – Advanced Computer Software Group was fined £3 million for inadequate security measures, leading to a ransomware attack that compromised personal data of over 79,000 individuals and disrupted NHS services. https://www.exponential-e.com/blog/3-million-fine-for-healthcare-msp-with-sloppy-security-after-it-was-hit-by-ransomware-attack

🛡️ Flirts: Was tun, wenn ich mit Nacktfotos erpresst werde? privacy – The Take It Down service helps individuals under 18 report and prevent the unwanted spread of intimate images on various platforms, ensuring their photos remain secure. https://www.watchlist-internet.at/news/online-flirts-was-tun-wenn-ich-mit-nacktfotos-erpresst-werde/

🚨 An AI Image Generator’s Exposed Database Reveals What People Really Used It For data breach – An exposed database from AI image generator GenNomis revealed over 95,000 explicit images, including AI-generated child sexual abuse material. This incident underscores the urgent need for better controls and regulations on AI-generated content. https://www.wired.com/story/genomis-ai-image-database-exposed/

📩 The Weaponization of PDFs: 68% of Cyber attacks begin in your inbox, with 22% of these hiding in PDFs cybercrime – PDFs are increasingly used in cyber attacks, with 22% of malicious email attachments hiding threats. Their complexity allows attackers to bypass security measures, making them a significant risk. https://blog.checkpoint.com/research/the-weaponization-of-pdfs-68-of-cyberattacks-begin-in-your-inbox-with-22-of-these-hiding-in-pdfs/

🧬 Open Source Genetic Database Shuts Down to Protect Users From 'Authoritarian Governments' security news – OpenSNP founder Bastian Greshake Tzovaras has shut down the genetic database due to concerns over its potential misuse by authoritarian governments, prioritizing user safety over scientific data preservation. https://www.404media.co/open-source-genetic-database-opensnp-shuts-down-to-protect-users-from-authoritarian-governments/

🐨 The North Korea worker problem is bigger than you think cybercrime – North Korean nationals have infiltrated global businesses, gaining high-level access and performing roles beyond IT. Their presence raises significant security concerns as they could exploit their positions for espionage or sabotage. https://cyberscoop.com/north-korea-technical-workers-full-time-jobs/

🔥 Oracle under fire for its handling of separate security incidents security news – Oracle faces backlash for its management of two data breaches, one involving patient data at Oracle Health and another regarding alleged Oracle Cloud server breaches, as transparency remains lacking. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/31/oracle-under-fire-for-its-handling-of-separate-security-incidents/

⚖️ France’s antitrust authority fines Apple €150M for issues related to its App Tracking Transparency security news – France fines Apple €150M for abusing its market dominance in App Tracking Transparency practices, found to disadvantage third-party apps and distort competition, despite the framework's intended privacy goals. https://securityaffairs.com/176092/laws-and-regulations/frances-antitrust-authority-fines-apple-e150m.html

🔍 Cybersecurity Professor Mysteriously Disappears as FBI Raids His Homes security news – Professor Xiaofeng Wang, a prominent cybersecurity expert, has gone missing following FBI raids on his homes. Indiana University has erased his and his wife's profiles amid an unexplained investigation. https://www.wired.com/story/cybersecurity-professor-mysteriously-disappears-as-fbi-raids-his-homes/

🔐 European Commission takes aim at end-to-end encryption and proposes Europol become an EU FBI security news – The European Commission unveiled its ProtectEU strategy, aiming to enhance internal security and establish Europol as a robust police agency, while seeking lawful access to encrypted data amidst ongoing security challenges. https://therecord.media/european-commission-takes-aim-encryption-europol-fbi-proposal

🪱 Apple issues fixes for vulnerabilities in both old and new OS versions vulnerability – Apple released security updates addressing 62 vulnerabilities in iOS and iPadOS, 131 in macOS, and two zero-day vulnerabilities in older OS versions, including risks to sensitive data and unauthorized actions. https://cyberscoop.com/apple-security-update-march-2025/

📧 Trump adviser reportedly used personal Gmail for ‘sensitive’ military discussions security news – A Washington Post report raises concerns about US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz using personal Gmail for sensitive military discussions, following a recent Signal leak. https://www.theverge.com/news/641144/michael-waltz-gmail-national-security-signal

🚨 T-Mobile Shows Users the Names, Pictures, and Exact Locations of Random Children privacy – T-Mobile's SyncUP GPS tracker malfunctioned, displaying the real-time locations of random children instead of users' own kids, raising serious privacy concerns among parents. https://www.404media.co/t-mobile-shows-users-the-names-pictures-and-exact-locations-of-random-children/

🚫 CSAM platform Kidflix shut down by international operation cybercrime – A major international operation led to the shutdown of the CSAM platform Kidflix, resulting in 79 arrests and the protection of 39 children, with authorities seizing 72,000 illegal videos. https://therecord.media/csam-platform-kidflix-shut-down-europol

⚠️ AI bots strain Wikimedia as bandwidth surges 50% security news – Wikimedia Foundation reports a 50% increase in bandwidth usage due to AI bots scraping data for training models, straining resources and impacting service for human users. The organization calls for responsible use of infrastructure and better coordination with AI developers. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/04/ai-bots-strain-wikimedia-as-bandwidth-surges-50/

📱 New Triada Trojan comes preinstalled on Android devices malware – A new variant of the Triada trojan has been found preinstalled on counterfeit Android devices, enabling extensive data theft. Kaspersky reports over 2,600 infections in Russia, urging users to buy from authorized distributors. https://securityaffairs.com/176143/malware/new-triada-comes-preinstalled-on-android-devices.html

🦠 This sneaky Android spyware needs a password to uninstall. Here's how to remove it without one. security research – A stealthy Android spyware app blocks uninstallation with a password set by the installer. Users can remove it by rebooting into safe mode, which disables the app, allowing for its uninstallation. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/03/this-sneaky-android-spyware-needs-a-password-to-uninstall-heres-how-to-remove-it-without-one/

🔐 Gmail unveils end-to-end encrypted messages. Only thing is: It’s not true E2EE. privacy – Google's new 'end-to-end encryption' for Gmail is criticized as not being true E2EE, as keys are managed by organizations, allowing potential access to messages. The feature simplifies compliance for businesses but may not ensure privacy for individual users. https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/04/are-new-google-e2ee-emails-really-end-to-end-encrypted-kinda-but-not-really/

💰 Threat actors leverage tax season to deploy tax-themed phishing campaigns warning – As Tax Day approaches, Microsoft warns of phishing campaigns using tax themes to steal credentials and deploy malware, leveraging tactics like URL shorteners and QR codes. Various malware, including BRc4 and Latrodectus, are being used to exploit users during this period. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2025/04/03/threat-actors-leverage-tax-season-to-deploy-tax-themed-phishing-campaigns/

📱 White House reportedly blames auto-suggested iPhone contact for Signal scandal security news – An internal investigation revealed that National Security Adviser Mike Waltz accidentally added Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat due to an iPhone auto-suggestion. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/06/white-house-reportedly-blames-auto-suggested-iphone-contact-for-signal-scandal/

🖨️ Canon CVE-2025-1268 Vulnerability: A Buffer Overflow Threatening Printer Security vulnerability – Canon has issued a security update for CVE-2025-1268, a critical buffer overflow vulnerability in certain printer drivers that could allow unauthorized code execution. Users are advised to update their drivers to mitigate risks. https://thecyberexpress.com/canon-printer-vulnerability-cve-2025-1268/

Some More, For the Curious

🦊 PhaaS actor uses DoH and DNS MX to dynamically distribute phishing cybercrime – A phishing-as-a-service platform named Morphing Meerkat uses DNS techniques to create targeted phishing campaigns, dynamically serving fake login pages for over 100 brands, enhancing the threat landscape. https://blogs.infoblox.com/threat-intelligence/a-phishing-tale-of-doh-and-dns-mx-abuse/

📈 Heightened In-The-Wild Activity On Key Technologies Observed On March 28 security research – A significant increase in attacks targeting technologies like SonicWall and Zoho suggests threat actors are actively probing for vulnerabilities. Security teams must enhance monitoring and patch systems promptly. https://www.greynoise.io/blog/heightened-in-the-wild-activity-key-technologies

🦮 New guidance on securing HTTP-based APIs cyber defense – With increasing API use, security breaches are rising. New guidance addresses vulnerabilities like poor authentication and insufficient monitoring to help organizations protect their systems and customer data. https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/new-guidance-on-securing-http-based-apis

🧑‍🏫 Mark of the Web (MoTW) Bypass Vulnerability security research – Recent vulnerabilities in the Mark of the Web (MoTW) feature allow attackers to bypass security warnings and execute malware without detection, highlighting the need for updated security measures. https://asec.ahnlab.com/en/87091/

🚨 CrushFTP CVE-2025-2825 flaw actively exploited in the wild vulnerability – A critical authentication bypass vulnerability, CVE-2025-2825, in CrushFTP is being actively exploited, allowing unauthenticated access to vulnerable devices. Users are urged to patch immediately or implement temporary security measures. https://securityaffairs.com/176097/hacking/crushftp-cve-2025-2825-flaw-actively-exploited.html

🏔️ Spike in Palo Alto Networks scanner activity suggests imminent cyber threats warning – Researchers at GreyNoise report a surge in scanning activity targeting Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect portals, with over 24,000 unique IPs probing for vulnerabilities, indicating potential preparations for targeted attacks. https://securityaffairs.com/176108/hacking/spike-in-palo-alto-networks-scanner-activity-suggests-imminent-cyber-threats.html

🏫 Getting Started with AI Hacking: Part 1 security research – Brian Fehrman from BHIS introduces AI hacking, focusing on classifier models and adversarial examples. The post covers image classification hacking, malware classifiers, model extraction, and data poisoning attacks, highlighting vulnerabilities in AI systems. https://www.blackhillsinfosec.com/getting-started-with-ai-hacking-part-1/

🌏 Suspected China-Nexus Threat Actor Actively Exploiting Critical Ivanti Connect Secure Vulnerability (CVE-2025-22457) security research – Ivanti disclosed a critical buffer overflow vulnerability (CVE-2025-22457) in Ivanti Connect Secure VPN appliances, with evidence of active exploitation by suspected China-nexus actor UNC5221, leading to the deployment of various malware families. https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/china-nexus-exploiting-critical-ivanti-vulnerability/

⚠️ NSA warns “fast flux” threatens national security. What is fast flux anyway? security news – The NSA warns that 'fast flux' techniques, used by cybercriminals and nation-state actors, complicate detection of malicious operations by rapidly changing IP addresses and DNS records, posing significant threats to national security. https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/04/nsa-warns-that-overlooked-botnet-technique-threatens-national-security/

🪪 Expert used ChatGPT-4o to create a replica of his passport in just 5 minutes bypassing KYC security research – A Polish researcher used ChatGPT-4o to generate a realistic replica of his passport in five minutes, exposing vulnerabilities in KYC systems that rely on photo verification. The incident raises concerns about identity theft and calls for stronger digital verification methods. https://securityaffairs.com/176224/security/chatgpt-4o-to-create-a-replica-of-his-passport-in-just-five-minutes.html

🤫 39M secrets exposed: GitHub rolls out new security tools security news – GitHub revealed that 39 million secrets were leaked in 2024, prompting the launch of new security tools, including standalone Secret Protection and enhanced scanning features to help developers secure sensitive data. https://securityaffairs.com/176170/security/39m-secrets-exposed-github-rolls-out-new-security-tools.html

CISA Corner

⚙️ CISA Releases Two Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA issued two advisories on April 1, 2025, addressing security vulnerabilities in Rockwell Automation and Hitachi Energy ICS. Users are urged to review the advisories for technical details and mitigation strategies. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/01/cisa-releases-two-industrial-control-systems-advisories ⚙️ CISA Releases Five Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – On April 3, 2025, CISA released five advisories addressing security vulnerabilities in various Industrial Control Systems, urging users to review the advisories for technical details and mitigation strategies. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/03/cisa-releases-five-industrial-control-systems-advisories

⚠️ CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog warning – CISA has included CVE-2024-20439, a vulnerability in Cisco's Smart Licensing Utility, in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog due to evidence of active exploitation, emphasizing the need for federal agencies to address it. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/31/cisa-adds-one-known-exploited-vulnerability-catalog ⚠️ CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog warning – CISA has added CVE-2025-24813, a vulnerability in Apache Tomcat, to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog due to evidence of active exploitation, highlighting risks to federal networks. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/01/cisa-adds-one-known-exploited-vulnerability-catalog ⚠️ Ivanti Releases Security Updates for Connect Secure, Policy Secure & ZTA Gateways Vulnerability (CVE-2025-22457) vulnerability – Ivanti has released security updates for CVE-2025-22457, a vulnerability that could allow cyber attackers to take control of affected systems. CISA has added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog and urges users to patch their systems and conduct threat hunting actions. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/04/04/ivanti-releases-security-updates-connect-secure-policy-secure-zta-gateways-vulnerability-cve-2025

(by @wrzlbrmpft@infosec.exchange) Obviously, the opinions inside these articles are not my own. No guarantee for correct- or completeness in any way.

theme: https://write.as/themes/fosstodon-hub

cyberlights – week 13/2025

March 30, 2025

A weekly shortlist of cyber security highlights. The short summaries are AI generated! If something is wrong, please let me know!

News For All

🎮 New Phishing Campaign Uses Browser-in-the-Browser Attacks to Target Video Gamers/Counter-Strike 2 Players cybercrime – A phishing campaign targets Counter-Strike 2 players using fake browser pop-ups to steal Steam account credentials, potentially reselling them. Be cautious of misleading login prompts! https://www.silentpush.com/blog/browser-in-the-browser-attacks/

🧬 23andMe faces an uncertain future — so does your genetic data privacy – 23andMe is facing bankruptcy after a significant data breach, raising concerns about the fate of its 15 million customers' genetic data. Customers are urged to consider deleting their accounts to protect their information. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/24/23andme-faces-an-uncertain-future-so-does-your-genetic-data/

🗺️ More Countries are Demanding Backdoors to Encrypted Apps privacy – Countries like Sweden and France are pushing for backdoors in encrypted apps, following the UK’s lead with Apple. Such measures threaten user privacy and security, warns Schneier. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/03/more-countries-are-demanding-back-doors-to-encrypted-apps.html

🔑 The Best Password Managers to Secure Your Digital Life security news – The article reviews various password managers, highlighting their features and security benefits. It emphasizes the importance of using a password manager for protecting online accounts and suggests options like Bitwarden, 1Password, and Dashlane as top choices. Comment: Please, use a password manager! https://www.wired.com/story/best-password-managers/

🐜 Chinese APT Weaver Ant infiltrated a telco for over four years cybercrime – APT Weaver Ant, linked to China, compromised a telecom provider for over four years using advanced web shells for persistence and data exfiltration. https://securityaffairs.com/175800/apt/chinese-apt-weaver-ant-infiltrated-a-telco-for-over-four-years.html

💸 US lifts sanctions on Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer linked to North Korean money laundering security news – The U.S. Treasury has lifted sanctions on Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer previously linked to laundering $7 billion for North Korean hackers, following a legal dispute. Concerns about ongoing crypto threats remain. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/24/us-lifts-sanctions-on-tornado-cash-a-crypto-mixer-linked-to-north-korean-money-laundering/

🛡️ How to Enter the US With Your Digital Privacy Intact privacy – Traveling to the U.S. poses risks to digital privacy, prompting experts to recommend using minimal data devices, encrypting information, and being cautious with passwords to protect against customs searches. https://www.wired.com/2017/02/guide-getting-past-customs-digital-privacy-intact/

🕵️‍♀️ Report on Paragon Spyware cybercrime – Citizen Lab's report reveals Paragon Solutions, an Israeli spyware company, linked to law enforcement in Canada and a zero-click exploit affecting WhatsApp users. Forensic analyses confirmed spyware presence on targeted devices. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/03/report-on-paragon-spyware.html

🎣 A Sneaky Phish Just Grabbed my Mailchimp Mailing List data breach – A phishing attack targeted the author's Mailchimp account, leading to unauthorized access and the export of a mailing list containing 16,000 records. The incident highlights the importance of vigilance against phishing attempts. Comment: It can happen to anybody. https://www.troyhunt.com/a-sneaky-phish-just-grabbed-my-mailchimp-mailing-list/

🥉 Generative AI browser extensions not great for privacy privacy – Researchers found that generative AI browser extensions often collect sensitive personal data with minimal safeguards, potentially violating privacy regulations. They urge better vetting and design improvements to protect user privacy. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/25/generative_ai_browser_extensions_privacy/

🥾 Privacy-boosting tech could prevent breaches, data misuse with government aid, report says privacy – A report recommends that governments prioritize privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) like encryption and de-identification to prevent data breaches and misuse, advocating for incentives and long-term contracts to support their advancement. https://cyberscoop.com/privacy-boosting-tech-could-prevent-breaches-data-misuse-with-government-aid-report-says/

📱 Senators criticize Trump officials’ discussion of war plans over Signal, but administration answers don’t come easily security news – Democratic senators criticized national security officials for discussing war plans on Signal, which included a journalist. Officials struggled to provide clear answers on specifics, raising concerns about the use of the app for sensitive discussions. https://cyberscoop.com/democratic-senators-question-national-security-officials-over-war-plans-signal-chat/

🧟 Open source devs say AI crawlers dominate traffic, forcing blocks on entire countries security news – Open source developers report that aggressive AI crawlers are overwhelming their infrastructure, causing instability and prompting measures like VPNs and proof-of-work challenges. https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/03/devs-say-ai-crawlers-dominate-traffic-forcing-blocks-on-entire-countries/

🔍 How to tell if your online accounts have been hacked security news – As hackers increasingly target individuals, it's crucial to know how to check if your online accounts have been compromised. The article outlines steps for securing various accounts, including Gmail, Facebook, and more, emphasizing the importance of multi-factor authentication. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/25/how-to-tell-if-your-online-accounts-have-been-hacked/

🔐 Google fixes Chrome zero-day security flaw used in hacking campaign targeting journalists vulnerability – Google has patched a zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-2783) in Chrome exploited in a hacking campaign targeting journalists via phishing emails. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/26/google-fixes-chrome-zero-day-security-flaw-used-in-hacking-campaign-targeting-journalists/

🌉 You Need to Use Signal's Nickname Feature security news – Following a significant leak involving U.S. officials discussing sensitive plans in a Signal group chat, the article highlights the importance of using Signal's nickname feature to prevent similar mistakes when adding contacts. https://www.404media.co/you-need-to-use-signals-nickname-feature/

📷 UK's first permanent facial recognition cameras installed privacy – The Metropolitan Police will install the UK's first permanent live facial recognition cameras in Croydon to combat crime. Privacy advocates warn this expands state surveillance and may infringe on individual rights. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/27/uk_facial_recognition/

⚠️ When Getting Phished Puts You in Mortal Danger security research – Uncovered a Russian phishing campaign targeting individuals seeking to join anti-Kremlin paramilitary groups, potentially endangering their freedom or lives. The campaign uses fake recruitment sites to collect personal information, highlighting the dangers of cyber deception. https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/03/when-getting-phished-puts-you-in-mortal-danger/

🛡️ Browser extension sales, updates pose hidden threat to enterprises security news – Browser extensions can be bought and repurposed without warning, posing security risks for organizations. Users often remain unaware of ownership changes, leading to potential malicious exploitation of sensitive data. https://cyberscoop.com/browser-extension-sales-permissions-hidden-threat/

🦊 Mozilla fixed critical Firefox vulnerability CVE-2025-2857 vulnerability – Mozilla addressed a critical vulnerability (CVE-2025-2857) in Firefox for Windows that could lead to a sandbox escape. This follows a similar issue in Chrome, which was actively exploited. https://securityaffairs.com/175945/security/mozilla-fixed-critical-firefox-vulnerability-cve-2025-2857.html

💻 VanHelsing Ransomware: What You Need To Know security news – VanHelsing is a new ransomware-as-a-service operation targeting various platforms. It allows affiliates to launch attacks while keeping 80% of ransom payments. Organizations are urged to implement strong security measures to protect against potential attacks. https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/vanhelsing-ransomware-what-you-need-know

🔓 Oracle has reportedly suffered 2 separate breaches exposing thousands of customers‘ PII data breach – Oracle is facing reports of two data breaches: one involving Oracle Health, exposing patient data, and another involving Oracle Cloud, with 6 million records of authentication data. The company has not confirmed these breaches. https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/03/oracle-is-mum-on-reports-it-has-experienced-2-separate-data-breaches/

Some More, For the Curious

🗄️ Fileless lateral movement with trapped COM objects security research – Researchers have developed a fileless lateral movement technique using trapped COM objects to exploit DCOM, enabling privilege escalation and bypassing security protections. This method raises significant security concerns. https://www.ibm.com/think/news/fileless-lateral-movement-trapped-com-objects

🛳️ Bypassing Detections with Command-Line Obfuscation security research – Command-line obfuscation can evade detection by altering executable arguments. The new tool, ArgFuscator, aids in generating these obfuscated commands, posing significant challenges for security measures. https://www.wietzebeukema.nl/blog/bypassing-detections-with-command-line-obfuscation

☑️ Despite challenges, the CVE program is a public-private partnership that has shown resilience security news – The CVE program, established 25 years ago, remains vital for cybersecurity, despite challenges like data quality and funding. Experts praise its resilience and importance in identifying vulnerabilities. https://cyberscoop.com/cve-program-history-mitre-nist-1999-2024/

⚠️ CVE-2025-29927 – Authorization Bypass Vulnerability in Next.js: All You Need to Know vulnerability – A critical authorization bypass vulnerability (CVE-2025-29927) affects multiple Next.js versions, allowing attackers to bypass security checks. Users are advised to upgrade or mitigate by blocking the vulnerable header. https://jfrog.com/blog/cve-2025-29927-next-js-authorization-bypass/

⚖️ Tor-backer OTF sues to save its funding from Trump cuts security news – The Open Technology Fund is suing the Trump administration to prevent the cancellation of its federal funding, fearing it will hinder internet security projects like Tor and Let's Encrypt, vital for global online privacy. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/25/otf_tor_lets_encrypt_funding_lawsuit/

📺 Authentication bypass CVE-2025-22230 impacts VMware Windows Tools vulnerability – CVE-2025-22230 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in VMware Tools for Windows, allowing low-privileged attackers to escalate privileges. Security updates have been released to address the flaw. https://securityaffairs.com/175858/security/authentication-bypass-cve-2025-22230-in-vmware-tools-for-windows.html

🔔 Kritische Sicherheitslücken in Kubernetes Ingress NGINX Controller – Updates verfügbar warning https://www.cert.at/de/warnungen/2025/3/kubernetes-ingress-nginx-controller-vulnerabilities

🅰️ Austria uncovers alleged Russian disinformation campaign spreading lies about Ukraine security news – Austrian authorities revealed a Russian disinformation campaign aimed at spreading false narratives about Ukraine, linked to a Bulgarian woman accused of spying. The operation targeted German-speaking countries and utilized online misinformation and nationalist symbols. https://therecord.media/austria-uncovers-russian-disinfo-campaign

🔒 Go-Spoof: A Tool for Cyber Deception hacking write-up – Ben Bowman from Black Hills Information Security discusses Go-Spoof, a revamped tool for cyber deception that makes all ports appear open with fake banners, enhancing security and complicating attackers' efforts. https://www.blackhillsinfosec.com/go-spoof-a-tool-for-cyber-deception/

🥩 Stealing user credentials with evilginx hacking write-up – Evilginx is a tool that exploits vulnerabilities to steal user credentials and session tokens, allowing attackers to bypass multi-factor authentication. The article discusses how it works, detection methods, and potential mitigations to protect against such attacks. https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2025/03/28/stealing-user-credentials-with-evilginx/

⛔ What not to do with on prem virtualization cyber defense – The article discusses common misconfigurations in on-premises virtual machine environments, highlighting risks such as unencrypted VM backups and broken tiering that can lead to privilege escalation and security breaches. It emphasizes the importance of access control and integrity in securing virtual systems. https://therealunicornsecurity.github.io/What-not-to-do-with-vms/

CISA Corner

🦠 MAR-25993211-r1.v1 Ivanti Connect Secure (RESURGE) malware – The article details a backdoor dropper rootkit named RESURGE, identified by CISA. The malware targets GNU/Linux systems, with specific signatures and capabilities. Antivirus detection has classified it as a variant of Linux/SpawnSnail.A trojan. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/analysis-reports/ar25-087a

⚠️ CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog warning – CISA has added CVE-2025-30154, a vulnerability in GitHub Actions, to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog due to active exploitation risks, emphasizing the need for federal agencies to remediate it promptly. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/24/cisa-adds-one-known-exploited-vulnerability-catalog ⚠️ CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog warning – CISA has included CVE-2025-2783, a Google Chromium Mojo sandbox escape vulnerability, in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog due to evidence of active exploitation, urging federal agencies to address the risk promptly. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/27/cisa-adds-one-known-exploited-vulnerability-catalog ⚠️ CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog warning – CISA has added two Sitecore CMS vulnerabilities (CVE-2019-9874 and CVE-2019-9875) to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog due to evidence of active exploitation, emphasizing the need for federal agencies to remediate these risks promptly. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/26/cisa-adds-two-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog

⚙️ CISA Releases Four Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA has issued four advisories regarding vulnerabilities in Industrial Control Systems, including products from ABB and Rockwell Automation. Users are urged to review the advisories for details and mitigation strategies. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/25/cisa-releases-four-industrial-control-systems-advisories ⚙️ CISA Releases One Industrial Control Systems Advisory vulnerability – CISA has issued an advisory (ICSA-25-037-01) regarding a vulnerability in Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert. Users are urged to review the advisory for details and mitigation strategies. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/27/cisa-releases-one-industrial-control-systems-advisory

(by @wrzlbrmpft@infosec.exchange) Obviously, the opinions inside these articles are not my own. No guarantee for correct- or completeness in any way.

theme: https://write.as/themes/fosstodon-hub

cyberlights – week 12/2025

March 23, 2025

A weekly shortlist of cyber security highlights. The short summaries are AI generated! If something is wrong, please let me know!

Highlight

🔊 Everything You Say to Your Echo Will Soon Be Sent to Amazon, and You Can’t Opt Out privacy – Amazon's new Alexa+ will send all voice recordings to the cloud, eliminating local processing and raising significant privacy concerns for Echo users. https://www.wired.com/story/everything-you-say-to-your-echo-will-be-sent-to-amazon-starting-march-28/

News For All

🎭 Scammers Pose as Cl0p Ransomware to Send Fake Extortion Letters cybercrime – Scammers are impersonating the Cl0p ransomware gang to send fake extortion emails and letters, leveraging fear and misinformation to defraud businesses. https://hackread.com/scammers-pose-cl0p-ransomware-fake-extortion-letters/

🔑 RDP attack: Which passwords are hackers using against RDP ports in 2025? security research – Research shows hackers are targeting RDP ports using weak passwords like '123456' and 'P@ssw0rd', highlighting the need for stronger password policies and multi-factor authentication. https://specopssoft.com/blog/passwords-used-in-attacking-rdp-ports/

💻 Free file converter malware scam “rampant” claims FBI warning – The FBI warns that free file converter tools are spreading malware, compromising personal data like passwords and social security numbers, urging users to be cautious. https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/blog/hotforsecurity/free-file-converter-malware-scam-rampant-claims-fbi

🍏 Apple has revealed a Passwords app vulnerability that lasted for months vulnerability – A bug in the iOS 18.2 Passwords app exposed users to phishing attacks for three months by sending unencrypted requests. Apple has since released a patch to address the issue. https://www.theverge.com/news/632108/apple-ios-passwords-app-bug-vulnerability-phishing-attacks

🤖 Trained on buggy code, LLMs often parrot same mistakes security research – Researchers found that large language models frequently reproduce buggy code instead of correcting it, with error rates nearly equal for both correct and buggy completions, highlighting limitations in handling complex code. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/19/llms_buggy_code/

🎣 Attackers use CSS to create evasive phishing messages security news – Threat actors exploit CSS to bypass spam filters and track user behavior, using techniques to conceal phishing content in emails and gather sensitive data on recipients. https://securityaffairs.com/175512/security/attackers-use-css-to-create-evasive-phishing-messages.html

🚨 People Are Using AI to Create Influencers With Down Syndrome Who Sell Nudes cybercrime – A network of Instagram accounts uses AI to create deepfake influencers with Down syndrome, stealing content from real creators and monetizing it on adult platforms, leading to a disturbing new industry. https://www.404media.co/people-are-using-ai-to-create-influencers-with-down-syndrome-who-sell-nudes/

🔍 Six additional countries identified as suspected Paragon spyware customers privacy – Citizen Lab identified six new countries as suspected customers of Paragon Solutions' spyware, raising concerns over its use against activists and the company's claims of responsible sales practices. https://cyberscoop.com/six-countries-suspected-paragon-spyware-customers/

🔓 US teachers' union says hackers stole sensitive personal data on over 500,000 members data breach – The Pennsylvania State Education Association reported a cyberattack that compromised sensitive personal data of over 517,000 members, including Social Security numbers and financial information. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/19/us-teachers-union-says-hackers-stole-sensitive-personal-data-on-over-500000-members/

📵 Turkey restricts social media following arrest of president’s main rival security news – Turkey has restricted access to major social media platforms after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, sparking public protests and highlighting ongoing government crackdowns on dissent. https://therecord.media/turkey-restricts-social-media-imamoglu-arrest

🔒 WhatsApp fixed zero-day flaw used to deploy Paragon Graphite spyware vulnerability – WhatsApp addressed a zero-click vulnerability exploited by Paragon's Graphite spyware to target journalists and civil society members, disrupting a campaign that affected over 90 users. https://securityaffairs.com/175629/security/whatsapp-fixed-zero-day-flaw-used-to-deploy-paragon-graphite-spyware-spyware.html

🔍 Data breach at stalkerware SpyX affects close to 2 million, including thousands of Apple users data breach – A data breach at SpyX exposed personal data of nearly 2 million users, including Apple account credentials, raising concerns about the risks associated with consumer-grade spyware. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/19/data-breach-at-stalkerware-spyx-affects-close-to-2-million-including-thousands-of-apple-users/

🔒 BlackLock Ransomware: What You Need To Know cybercrime – BlackLock is a rapidly growing ransomware group that encrypts and exfiltrates data, operating under a RaaS model. It has launched numerous attacks across various sectors and employs aggressive recruitment tactics. https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/blacklock-ransomware-what-you-need-know

🗺️ Google sues alleged scammers over 10,000 fake Maps listings security news – Google is suing a network of scammers for creating 10,000 fake business listings on Maps, following a tip-off from a locksmith. The company blocked 12 million fake businesses in 2023. https://www.theverge.com/news/633601/google-sues-fake-business-scams-maps

🌐 Major web services go dark in Russia amid reported Cloudflare block security news – Widespread outages in Russia, attributed to the blocking of Cloudflare, affected services like TikTok and banking apps, as regulators push for local hosting to improve internet security. https://therecord.media/russia-websites-dark-reported-cloudflare-block

🌍 How to Avoid US-Based Digital Services—and Why You Might Want To privacy – Amid concerns over Big Tech's alignment with the Trump administration, many are moving their digital lives to overseas services to protect privacy and data rights, exploring various non-US alternatives. https://www.wired.com/story/trump-era-digital-expat/

🌀 Cloudflare turns AI against itself with endless maze of irrelevant facts security news – Cloudflare launched 'AI Labyrinth' to combat unauthorized AI data scraping by enticing bots into a maze of fake content, wasting their resources instead of blocking them outright. https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/03/cloudflare-turns-ai-against-itself-with-endless-maze-of-irrelevant-facts/

🕹️ Valve removes video game demo suspected of being malware malware – Valve has removed the game demo for 'Sniper: Phantom’s Resolution' from Steam after users reported it was installing malware, following a similar incident with another game last month. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/21/valve-removes-video-game-demo-suspected-of-being-malware/

Some More, For the Curious

🔓 Supply Chain Security Risk: GitHub Action tj-actions/changed-files Compromised security research – A vulnerability in GitHub Action tj-actions/changed-files exposes sensitive CI/CD secrets in build logs, risking unauthorized access for users with public repositories. Comment: the big one this week. https://www.aquasec.com/blog/github-action-tj-actions-changed-files-compromised/

👽 Security Risks of Setting Access Control Allow Origin: * cyber defense – Using a wildcard CORS policy can expose applications to serious security risks, especially when combined with insecure cookie settings, allowing attackers to exploit authenticated sessions. https://projectblack.io/blog/security-risks-of-setting-access-control-allow-origin/

🕵️‍♂️ BitM Up! Session Stealing in Seconds Using the Browser-in-the-Middle Technique security research – Mandiant reveals the Browser-in-the-Middle (BitM) technique allows attackers to steal session tokens quickly, emphasizing the need for robust security measures like hardware-based MFA and client certificates. https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/session-stealing-browser-in-the-middle/

⚙️ Improvements in Brute Force Attacks security research – New research reveals significant advancements in GPU-assisted brute force attacks on cryptographic algorithms, highlighting the need for stronger key lengths as optimized methods greatly reduce attack times. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/03/improvements-in-brute-force-attacks.html

💰 Microsoft identifies new RAT targeting cryptocurrency wallets and more malware – Microsoft discovered StilachiRAT, a stealthy remote access trojan that steals sensitive data from cryptocurrency wallets and Chrome, and manipulates system settings to evade detection. https://therecord.media/stilachirat-new-remote-access-trojan-crypto-wallets

🔒 Microsoft isn't fixing 8-year-old zero day used for spying security news – Microsoft is not addressing an eight-year-old vulnerability exploited by state-sponsored attackers through malicious .LNK files, deeming it a UI issue rather than a security concern. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/18/microsoft_trend_flaw/

🎮 New Arcane stealer spreading via YouTube and Discord malware – The Arcane stealer, distributed through YouTube videos and Discord, targets sensitive data from various applications and gaming clients, using deceptive methods to install malware on victims' devices. https://securelist.com/arcane-stealer/115919/

🛠️ Rules File Backdoor: AI Code Editors exploited for silent supply chain attacks security research – The 'Rules File Backdoor' attack exploits AI code editors like GitHub Copilot to inject malicious code via hidden Unicode, compromising software without detection and posing significant risks. https://securityaffairs.com/175593/hacking/rules-file-backdoor-ai-code-editors-silent-supply-chain-attacks.html

📰 Ransomware-Gruppen nutzen weiterhin kritische Fortinet-Schwachstellen – Warnung vor gepatchten, aber bereits kompromittierten Geräten warning https://www.cert.at/de/warnungen/2025/3/ransomware-gruppen-nutzen-weiterhin-kritische-fortinet-schwachstellen-warnung-vor-gepatchten-aber-bereits-kompromittierten-geraten

🚨 Critical GitHub Attack security research – A cascading supply chain attack has compromised multiple GitHub Actions, exposing critical secrets in over 23,000 repositories. CISA has confirmed the vulnerability was patched in version 46.0.1. Comment: the big one again. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/03/critical-github-attack.html

💰 Russian zero-day seller is offering up to $4 million for Telegram exploits cybercrime – Operation Zero is offering up to $4 million for Telegram exploits, reflecting the demand from the Russian government for vulnerabilities in popular messaging apps, particularly amidst security concerns. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/21/russian-zero-day-seller-is-offering-up-to-4-million-for-telegram-exploits/

🧟 'Dead simple' RCE exploit in Apache Tomcat under attack vulnerability – A newly disclosed vulnerability in Apache Tomcat (CVE-2025-24813) allows remote code execution and is actively being exploited, requiring no authentication to attack vulnerable servers. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/18/apache_tomcat_java_rce_flaw/

🔒 Veeam fixed critical Backup & Replication flaw CVE vulnerability – Veeam patched a critical vulnerability (CVE-2025-23120) in its Backup & Replication software that allowed remote code execution by authenticated users, addressing the issue in version 12.3.1. https://securityaffairs.com/175674/slider/veeam-critical-backup-replication-vulnerability.html

CISA Corner

🔐 Supply Chain Compromise of Third-Party GitHub Action, CVE-2025-30066 security news – The tj-actions/changed-files GitHub Action was compromised, exposing sensitive information like access keys and tokens. A patch has been released, and related actions may also be at risk. Comment: the big one this week. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/18/supply-chain-compromise-third-party-github-action-cve-2025-30066

⚙️ CISA Releases Seven Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA issued seven advisories detailing vulnerabilities in various Industrial Control Systems, urging users to review the advisories for technical insights and mitigation strategies. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/18/cisa-releases-seven-industrial-control-systems-advisories ⚙️ CISA Releases Five Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA issued five advisories regarding vulnerabilities in various Industrial Control Systems, urging users to review them for technical details and mitigation strategies. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/20/cisa-releases-five-industrial-control-systems-advisories

⚠️ CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog warning – CISA has added two vulnerabilities to its catalog due to active exploitation: an authentication bypass in Fortinet's FortiOS and malicious code in tj-actions/changed-files GitHub Action. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/18/cisa-adds-two-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog ⚠️ CISA Adds Three Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog warning – CISA has added three vulnerabilities to its catalog due to active exploitation: an OS command injection in Edimax cameras, an absolute path traversal in NAKIVO, and a directory traversal in SAP NetWeaver. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/19/cisa-adds-three-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog

(by @wrzlbrmpft@infosec.exchange) Obviously, the opinions inside these articles are not my own. No guarantee for correct- or completeness in any way.

theme: https://write.as/themes/fosstodon-hub

cyberlights – week 11/2025

March 16, 2025

A weekly shortlist of cyber security highlights. The short summaries are AI generated! If something is wrong, please let me know!

News For All

💻 Npm Run Hack:Me – A Supply Chain Attack Journey cybercrime – A freelance developer fell victim to a supply chain attack after running a seemingly harmless npm command, compromising their system and exposing sensitive data. https://rxj.dev/posts/npm-run-hack-supply-chain-attack-journey/

🐍 Fake Reddit and WeTransfer pages are spreading stealer malware malware – A massive cybercriminal operation is impersonating WeTransfer and Reddit through 1,000 fake sites to distribute Lumma stealer malware, targeting sensitive data on users' systems. https://moonlock.com/fake-reddit-wetransfer-lumma-stealer

🔑 India wants cloud and email backdoors for tax authorities privacy – India's government proposes giving tax authorities access to private digital records, including emails and cloud servers, raising concerns over warrantless surveillance and privacy rights. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/09/asia_tech_news_roundup/

🕸️ Thousands of WordPress Websites Infected with Malware malware – Thousands of WordPress sites have been infected with malware featuring four backdoors, allowing attackers persistent access and control through various malicious means. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/03/thousands-of-wordpress-websites-infected-with-malware.html

🏪 FBI Denver Warns of Online File Converter Scam cybercrime – Cyber criminals are exploiting free online document converters to spread malware, risking victims' personal and financial information. Stay alert and report incidents to protect yourself. https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/denver/news/fbi-denver-warns-of-online-file-converter-scam

🏥 Two Rhysida healthcare attacks pwned 300K patients' data data breach – Cyberattacks on Sunflower Medical Group and Community Care Alliance compromised the personal and medical data of over 300,000 patients, with both organizations linked to the Rhysida ransomware gang. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/10/rhysida_healthcare/

🪙 Scam spoofs Binance website and uses TRUMP coin as lure for malware malware – Hackers are distributing a remote access tool via fake Binance emails promoting TRUMP coins, tricking victims into downloading malware that allows for immediate control of their computers. https://therecord.media/email-scam-spoofs-binance-offers-trump-coin-connectwise-rat

📺 Google warns folks with dead Chromecasts not to reset them security news – A major outage affecting second-generation Chromecasts and Chromecast Audio is due to an expired security certificate, preventing users from casting. Google advises against factory resets while working on a fix. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/10/google_chromecast_outage/

🔍 Wie Google Android-Nutzer verfolgt, noch bevor sie eine App öffnen privacy – Eine Studie zeigt, dass Google Android-Nutzer bereits beim Start des Geräts ohne Zustimmung trackt, indem Identifikatoren und Cookies aktiviert werden. Dies wirft Datenschutzbedenken auf. https://www.kuketz-blog.de/wie-google-android-nutzer-verfolgt-noch-bevor-sie-eine-app-oeffnen/

🎮 New wave of attacks on gamers with DCRat backdoor malware – A surge in DCRat backdoor distribution targets gamers via YouTube, using fake accounts to promote malware disguised as gaming software. The malware includes keylogging and webcam access capabilities. https://securelist.com/new-wave-of-attacks-with-dcrat-backdoor-distributed-by-maas/115850/

🔒 Apple fixes new security flaw used in 'extremely sophisticated attack' security news – Apple patched a zero-day vulnerability in WebKit that allowed hackers to escape its protective sandbox, potentially impacting targeted individuals. The fix applies to Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Safari. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/11/apple-fixes-new-security-flaw-used-in-extremely-sophisticated-attack/

🏹 Previously unidentified botnet targets unpatched TP-Link Archer home routers malware – The Ballista botnet targets unpatched TP-Link Archer routers, exploiting the CVE-2023-1389 vulnerability for automatic infection. Researchers link the threat to an Italian hacker, highlighting risks for IoT devices. https://therecord.media/ballista-botnet-tp-link-archer-routers

📱 North Korean government hackers snuck spyware on Android app store cybercrime – North Korean hackers uploaded spyware named KoSpy to the Google Play store, targeting specific individuals. The malware collects sensitive information and has been linked to previous North Korean cyber activities. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/12/north-korean-government-hackers-snuck-spyware-on-android-app-store/

📍 Saudi Arabia Buys Pokémon Go, and Probably All of Your Location Data privacy – Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund acquired Niantic's popular AR games, including Pokémon Go, raising concerns about the handling of location data from its 100 million players under the new ownership. https://www.404media.co/saudi-arabia-buys-pokemon-go-and-probably-all-of-your-location-data/

🔒 Signal no longer cooperating with Ukraine on Russian cyberthreats, official says security news – Signal has reportedly stopped responding to Ukrainian law enforcement requests about Russian cyberthreats, raising concerns about aiding Russian espionage. Signal Foundation denies any cessation of cooperation. https://therecord.media/signal-no-longer-cooperating-with-ukraine

📩 How to Use Signal Encrypted Messaging privacy – Signal is a top encrypted messaging app, offering features for secure communication, including disappearing messages, username options, and encrypted calls. Users are advised to implement security settings to maximize privacy. https://www.wired.com/story/signal-tips-private-messaging-encryption/

📧 Don't click on that email claiming to be a disgruntled guest cybercrime – A phishing campaign disguised as Booking.com emails targets hospitality employees, delivering malware for credential theft. The attackers use social engineering tactics to prompt users into downloading malicious software. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/13/bookingdotcom_phishing_campaign/

🔒 A New Era of Attacks on Encryption Is Starting to Heat Up privacy – Recent government actions in the UK, France, and Sweden threaten end-to-end encryption, pushing for backdoors and client-side scanning, raising concerns among privacy advocates about surveillance and user safety. https://www.wired.com/story/a-new-era-of-attacks-on-encryption-is-starting-to-heat-up/

💻 ClickFix: How to Infect Your PC in Three Easy Steps – Krebs on Security security research – The ClickFix malware scheme tricks users into downloading password-stealing malware through a fake human verification process that exploits Windows commands. It's being widely used in phishing attacks targeting various sectors, including hospitality and healthcare. https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/03/clickfix-how-to-infect-your-pc-in-three-easy-steps/

🩺 A ransomware attack hit the Micronesian state of Yap, causing the health system network to go down. cybercrime – Yap, a state in Micronesia, experienced a ransomware attack that forced the shutdown of its government health agency's computers, disrupting services and prompting an investigation into the breach. https://securityaffairs.com/175445/cyber-crime/a-ransomware-attack-hit-the-micronesian-state-of-yap.html

Some More, For the Curious

🔓 CVE-2024-9956 – PassKey Account Takeover in All Mobile Browsers vulnerability – A vulnerability in mobile browsers allows attackers within Bluetooth range to phish PassKeys credentials by triggering authentication requests, undermining their security. Comment: <3 https://mastersplinter.work/research/passkey/

🤺 Jailbreaking is (mostly) simpler than you think security research – The Context Compliance Attack (CCA) is a simple jailbreak method exploiting AI systems' reliance on client-supplied conversation history, highlighting vulnerabilities in AI safety practices. https://msrc.microsoft.com/blog/2025/03/jailbreaking-is-mostly-simpler-than-you-think/

🏬 In-Depth Technical Analysis of the Bybit Hack security research – Bybit fell victim to a sophisticated hack, losing $1.4 billion via a manipulated transaction approval process. https://www.nccgroup.com/us/research-blog/in-depth-technical-analysis-of-the-bybit-hack/

🐞 Hartwork Blog · Recursion kills: The story behind CVE vulnerability – Expat 2.7.0 addresses CVE-2024-8176, a serious recursion vulnerability that could lead to stack overflow, with collaboration from industry partners resulting in a significant security fix. https://blog.hartwork.org/posts/expat-2-7-0-released/

💔 My Scammer Girlfriend: Baiting A Romance Fraudster cybercrime – The author investigates romance fraud by posing as a target to analyze techniques used by scammers like 'Aidana', revealing how they manipulate emotions and extract money from victims. Comment: This one is a long but fun read. https://www.bentasker.co.uk/posts/blog/security/seducing-a-romance-scammer.html

🐺 How NOT to f-up your security incident response security news – Improper incident response can lead to severe financial losses. Experts stress the importance of methodical investigations, up-to-date response plans, and collaboration among security teams to mitigate damages during breaches. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/10/incident_response_advice/

⚠️ Experts warn of mass exploitation of critical PHP flaw CVE vulnerability – CVE-2024-4577, a critical PHP vulnerability allowing remote code execution, is being widely exploited, with over 1,000 attacks detected globally. Experts urge immediate updates to PHP installations to mitigate risks. https://securityaffairs.com/175198/hacking/experts-warn-of-mass-exploitation-of-critical-php-flaw-cve-2024-4577.html

⚙️ Multiple vulnerabilities found in ICONICS industrial SCADA software vulnerability – Five vulnerabilities in ICONICS SCADA software could lead to privilege escalation, DLL hijacking, and system compromise, affecting critical infrastructure worldwide. Patches exist, but many servers remain unpatched. https://cyberscoop.com/iconics-scada-vulnerabilities-2025-palo-alto/

🕒 Switzerland's NCSC requires cyberattack reporting for critical infrastructure within 24 hours security news – Switzerland's NCSC mandates that critical infrastructure organizations report cyberattacks within 24 hours due to rising threats, with penalties for non-compliance starting in October 2025. https://securityaffairs.com/175260/laws-and-regulations/switzerlands-ncsc-requires-cyberattack-reporting-for-critical-infrastructure-within-24-hours.html

💳 Cracking the Code: How to Identify, Mitigate, and Prevent BIN Attacks security research – BIN attacks exploit publicly available Bank Identification Numbers to brute-force valid card details. Effective mitigation includes rate limiting, enhanced authentication, and collaboration with payment processors to prevent fraudulent transactions. https://www.cybereason.com/blog/identifying-and-preventing-bin-attacks

🔧 Zero Day Initiative — The March 2025 Security Update Review security news – March 2025 security updates include significant patches from Adobe and Microsoft addressing multiple vulnerabilities, with critical fixes for code execution bugs in popular software. Immediate deployment is advised due to active exploits. https://www.thezdi.com/blog/2025/3/11/the-march-2025-security-update-review

🎣 Beyond the Hook: A Technical Deep Dive into Modern Phishing Methodologies security research – This article explores various modern phishing techniques, including HTML pages, Browser-in-the-Browser, and Adversary-in-the-Middle methods, while discussing their infrastructure needs and effectiveness in bypassing security measures. http://blog.quarkslab.com/technical-dive-into-modern-phishing.html

📝 Meta warns of actively exploited flaw in FreeType library vulnerability – Meta has identified an actively exploited vulnerability (CVE-2025-27363) in the FreeType library that allows for arbitrary code execution. Users are urged to update to version 2.13.3 to mitigate risks. https://securityaffairs.com/175337/hacking/meta-warned-actively-exploited-cve-2025-27363.html

🔐 GitLab addressed critical auth bypass flaws in CE and EE) vulnerability – GitLab has patched two critical authentication bypass vulnerabilities (CVE-2025-25291 and CVE-2025-25292) in its Community and Enterprise Editions, enabling potential account takeover through SAML SSO authentication. Users are urged to update immediately. https://securityaffairs.com/175370/security/gitlab-addressed-critical-flaws-in-ce-and-ee.html

📱 Meet Rayhunter: A New Open Source Tool from EFF to Detect Cellular Spying privacy – The EFF has introduced Rayhunter, an open-source tool for detecting cell-site simulators (CSS) using a mobile hotspot, aiming to empower users to gather data on surveillance tactics and protect privacy. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/03/meet-rayhunter-new-open-source-tool-eff-detect-cellular-spying

CISA Corner

🪤 #StopRansomware: Medusa Ransomware ransomware – The FBI and CISA released a joint advisory on Medusa ransomware, detailing its RaaS model, tactics, and indicators of compromise. The ransomware targets critical sectors, employing a double extortion strategy to demand payment for file decryption. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa25-071a

⚠️ CISA Adds Five Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog warning – CISA has added five new vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, highlighting risks from SQL injection and unrestricted file uploads, primarily in Advantive VeraCore and Ivanti Endpoint Manager. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/10/cisa-adds-five-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog ⚠️ CISA Adds Six Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog warning – CISA has added six new vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, including critical flaws in Microsoft Windows that pose significant risks and require immediate remediation. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/11/cisa-adds-six-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog ⚠️ CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog warning – CISA has added two vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog: CVE-2025-24201 affecting Apple WebKit and CVE-2025-21590 impacting Juniper Junos OS, both posing significant risks to federal networks. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/13/cisa-adds-two-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog

⚙️ CISA Releases Two Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA has issued two advisories regarding security vulnerabilities in Schneider Electric's Uni-Telway Driver and Optigo Networks' Visual BACnet Capture Tool, urging users to review for mitigations. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/11/cisa-releases-two-industrial-control-systems-advisories ⚙️ CISA Releases Thirteen Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA has published thirteen advisories addressing security vulnerabilities in industrial control systems, providing crucial information for organizations to enhance their cybersecurity posture. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/13/cisa-releases-thirteen-industrial-control-systems-advisories

(by @wrzlbrmpft@infosec.exchange) Obviously, the opinions inside these articles are not my own. No guarantee for correct- or completeness in any way.

theme: https://write.as/themes/fosstodon-hub

cyberlights – week 10/2025

March 9, 2025

A weekly shortlist of cyber security highlights. The short summaries are AI generated! If something is wrong, please let me know!

Highlight

🔌 #UnplugTrump: Mach dich digital unabhängig von Trump und Big Tech privacy – The #UnplugTrump series offers 30 tips for reducing dependence on Trump and Big Tech, promoting privacy-friendly alternatives and encouraging a more independent digital world. https://www.kuketz-blog.de/unplugtrump-mach-dich-digital-unabhaengig-von-trump-und-big-tech/

News For All

🤖 Booking a Threat: Inside LummaStealer's Fake reCAPTCHA malware – LummaStealer uses fake booking confirmation links and reCAPTCHA to trick users into downloading malware. The malware employs complex evasion techniques to avoid detection. https://www.gdatasoftware.com/blog/2025/03/38154-lummastealer-fake-recaptcha

🦹‍♂️ Polymorphic Extensions: The Sneaky Extension That Can Impersonate Any Browser Extension malware – Polymorphic extensions can impersonate legitimate browser extensions, tricking users into providing sensitive information. This sophisticated attack method poses serious security risks across Chromium-based browsers. https://labs.sqrx.com/polymorphic-extensions-dd2310006e04

🚫 Stop targeting Russian hackers, Trump administration orders US Cyber Command security news – The Trump administration has ordered US Cyber Command and CISA to cease monitoring Russian cyber threats, raising concerns about increased vulnerability to attacks from Russian hackers. https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/blog/hotforsecurity/stop-targeting-russian-hackers-trump-administration-orders-us-cyber-command

💻 Nearly 1 million Windows devices targeted in advanced “malvertising” spree cybercrime – A sophisticated malvertising campaign has targeted nearly 1 million Windows devices, stealing login credentials and cryptocurrency by exploiting malicious ads hosted on platforms like GitHub and streaming sites. https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/03/nearly-1-million-windows-devices-targeted-in-advanced-malvertising-spree/

🛂 Microsoft unveils finalized EU Data Boundary privacy – Microsoft's EU Data Boundary aims to store European customer data within the EU, but concerns persist over reliance on US entities and potential risks from US regulations. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/03/microsoft_unveils_a_finalized_eu/

🌃 As Skype shuts down, its legacy is end-to-end encryption for the masses security news – Skype, once a pioneer of end-to-end encryption, is shutting down, but its legacy lives on in the secure communication technologies used by modern apps, enhancing global privacy. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/03/as-skype-shuts-down-its-legacy-is-end-to-end-encryption-for-the-masses/

🛎️ Android security update contains 2 actively exploited vulnerabilities vulnerability – Google's March security update addresses 43 vulnerabilities in Android, including two actively exploited flaws that allow privilege escalation, highlighting the importance of timely updates. https://cyberscoop.com/android-security-update-march-2025/

🔍 Google’s 'consent-less' Android tracking probed by academics privacy – Research reveals Android users are tracked via cookies and identifiers without consent, raising privacy concerns. Google defends its practices, emphasizing compliance with privacy laws despite criticisms. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/04/google_android/

📬 Snail Mail Fail: Fake Ransom Note Campaign Preys on Fear cybercrime – A fake ransom note campaign impersonating the BianLian ransomware group targets executives, demanding ransoms via mail. Experts assess these letters as scams, urging recipients to stay vigilant. https://www.guidepointsecurity.com/blog/snail-mail-fail-fake-ransom-note-campaign-preys-on-fear/

🫦 Google Messages is using AI to detect scam texts security news – Google Messages introduces an AI feature to detect scam texts in real time, alerting users to suspicious patterns. This feature aims to enhance user safety against evolving scam tactics. https://www.theverge.com/news/623632/google-messages-pixel-android-updates-scam-detection

🔐 Apple reportedly challenges the UK’s secretive encryption crackdown privacy – Apple is appealing a UK order requiring access to encrypted iCloud files, contesting its legality in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, amid concerns over user privacy. https://www.theverge.com/news/623977/apple-uk-encryption-order-appeal

💻 Qilin claims attacks on cancer, women's clinics cybercrime – The Qilin ransomware group has claimed attacks on a cancer clinic in Japan and a women's healthcare facility in the US, stealing sensitive patient data and causing significant disruption. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/05/qilin_ransomware_credit/

📱 1 Million Third-Party Android Devices Have a Secret Backdoor for Scammers malware – Research reveals over 1 million Android devices, including streaming boxes and car infotainment systems, are compromised with backdoors, enabling ad fraud and cybercrime without users' knowledge. https://www.wired.com/story/1-million-third-party-android-devices-badbox-2/

⚽ Leeds United kick card swipers into Row Z after 5-day attack data breach – Leeds United reported a five-day cyberattack that compromised payment card details of some customers on its retail website. The club has notified affected individuals and is cooperating with the ICO. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/05/leeds_united_card_swipers/

🌵 Cactus Ransomware: What You Need To Know cybercrime – Cactus is a ransomware-as-a-service group that encrypts data and demands ransom, exploiting VPN vulnerabilities. Recent links to the Black Basta group and social engineering tactics raise concerns. https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/cactus-ransomware-what-you-need-know

🤐 Anorexia coaches, self-harm buddies and sexualized minors: How online communities are using AI chatbots for harmful behavior security news – A report reveals that AI chatbots are being exploited by online communities to promote harmful behaviors, such as anorexia and pedophilia, posing significant risks to vulnerable individuals, especially minors. https://cyberscoop.com/graphika-ai-chatbots-harmful-behavior-character-ai/

🔞 Chinese AI Video Generators Unleash a Flood of New Nonconsensual Porn security news – AI video generators from Chinese companies lack safeguards against creating nonconsensual pornography, allowing users to easily produce explicit videos using a single image and a text prompt. https://www.404media.co/chinese-ai-video-generators-unleash-a-flood-of-new-nonconsensual-porn-3/

⚠️ AI Chatbots: The New Cybersecurity Threat Lurking in Plain Sight security news – AI chatbots present hidden dangers, including misinformation, manipulation, and cybersecurity vulnerabilities. As they become more prevalent, users must remain cautious and advocate for stronger regulations. https://infosec-mashup.santolaria.net/p/ai-chatbots-the-new-cybersecurity-threat-lurking-in-plain-sight

📰 Hacked health firm HCRG demanded journalist 'take down' data breach reporting, citing UK court order security news – HCRG sought a UK court injunction to remove articles about its ransomware attack from DataBreaches.net. The site refused, arguing jurisdiction issues and First Amendment protections, raising concerns about censorship. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/06/hacked-health-firm-hcrg-demanded-journalist-take-down-data-breach-reporting-citing-uk-court-order/

🎟️ Suspects cuffed over $635k Taylor Swift ticket heist cybercrime – Two suspects have been arrested for stealing over 900 Taylor Swift tickets using a loophole in an offshore ticketing system, allegedly netting $635,000 from reselling them. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/07/stubhub_taylor_swift_scammers/

Some More, For the Curious

🤞 Undocumented hidden feature found in Espressif ESP32 microchip vulnerability – Researchers discovered a hidden feature in the Espressif ESP32 microchip that could act as a backdoor for impersonation attacks, posing security risks for over 1 billion IoT devices. Comment: this might be a big one https://securityaffairs.com/175102/hacking/undocumented-hidden-feature-espressif-esp32-microchip.html

📶 Meet Rayhunter: A New Open Source Tool from EFF to Detect Cellular Spying privacy – Rayhunter is an open source tool by EFF designed to help users detect cell-site simulators used for surveillance. It aims to empower individuals to protect their privacy. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/03/meet-rayhunter-new-open-source-tool-eff-detect-cellular-spying

😷 Unmasking Hacktivist Groups: A Modern Approach to Attribution https://blog.checkpoint.com/research/unmasking-hacktivist-groups-a-modern-approach-to-attribution/ security research – Check Point Research reveals how state-sponsored hacktivist groups evolve through geopolitical events, using modern linguistic analysis to uncover hidden connections and enhance cyber threat attribution.

🔑 The Dangers of Exposed Secrets – and How to Prevent Them cyber defense – Exposed authentication tokens and secrets can lead to severe security breaches. Organizations must adopt secure coding practices and automated tools to prevent credential leakage. https://checkmarx.com/blog/exposed-secrets-and-how-to-prevent-them/

🎯 A Deep Dive into Strela Stealer and how it Targets European Countries malware – Strela Stealer is a targeted infostealer malware focusing on email credentials from users in select European countries. It uses sophisticated phishing techniques and obfuscation to evade detection. https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/blogs/spiderlabs-blog/a-deep-dive-into-strela-stealer-and-how-it-targets-european-countries/

🕵️‍♀️ Not Lost in Translation: Rosetta 2 Artifacts in macOS Intrusions security research – Mandiant reveals how Rosetta 2's AOT files can serve as crucial forensic artifacts in investigating macOS intrusions, especially with x86-64 malware exploiting compatibility features. https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/rosetta2-artifacts-macos-intrusions/

⚠️ Threat posed by new VMware hyperjacking vulnerabilities is hard to overstate vulnerability – Three critical VMware vulnerabilities could allow attackers to escape a compromised VM and access the hypervisor, threatening multiple customers' networks. Exploitation is reportedly already occurring. Comment: The big one this week. https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/03/vmware-patches-3-critical-vulnerabilities-in-multiple-product-lines/

🥻 Silk Typhoon targeting IT supply chain security research – Microsoft Threat Intelligence reports that the Chinese espionage group Silk Typhoon is exploiting vulnerabilities in IT solutions to gain access to sensitive networks, highlighting their tactics and recent activities. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2025/03/05/silk-typhoon-targeting-it-supply-chain/

🔧 GoStringUngarbler: Deobfuscating Strings in Garbled Binaries security research – Mandiant introduces GoStringUngarbler, a Python tool that automates the deobfuscation of strings in garble-obfuscated Go binaries, streamlining malware analysis and enhancing reverse engineering processes. https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/gostringungarbler-deobfuscating-strings-in-garbled-binaries/

❤️‍🩹 Massive botnet that appeared overnight is delivering record-size DDoSes security research – The Eleven11bot botnet, comprising around 30,000 compromised webcams and video recorders, is executing record-size DDoS attacks, exploiting vulnerabilities and overwhelming targets with terabits of data. https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/03/massive-botnet-that-appeared-overnight-is-delivering-record-size-ddoses/

💰 Russian crypto exchange Garantex seized in international law enforcement operation cybercrime – U.S. and European authorities have seized Garantex, a crypto exchange accused of laundering billions. The operation involved multiple countries and resulted in indictments against two executives for money laundering. https://cyberscoop.com/garantex-seized-secret-service-doj-russia-crypto-sanctions/

🗳️ CISA completed its election security review. It won’t make the results public security news – CISA has completed an internal review of its election security mission but will not release the findings, raising concerns among election officials about potential impacts on security resources and collaboration. https://cyberscoop.com/cisa-election-security-review-lacks-transparency/

💻 Developer sabotaged ex-employer IT systems with kill switch security news – Davis Lu, a former Eaton Corporation developer, was found guilty of sabotaging company systems with malware and a kill switch, potentially facing ten years in prison for the attack. https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/08/developer_server_kill_switch/

CISA Corner

🚨 CISA Adds Four Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog warning – CISA has identified four new vulnerabilities, including issues in the Linux Kernel and VMware ESXi, highlighting significant risks that require immediate remediation by federal agencies. Comment: !!!!!! The big one this week !!!!!! https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/04/cisa-adds-four-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog ⚠️ CISA Adds Five Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog warning – CISA has added five new vulnerabilities to its catalog, highlighting significant risks to federal networks. Agencies must remediate these vulnerabilities to protect against active cyber threats. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/03/cisa-adds-five-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog

⚙️ CISA Releases Eight Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA has issued eight advisories regarding vulnerabilities in various Industrial Control Systems, urging users to review them for technical details and mitigation strategies. Comment: Carrier, Keysight, Hitachi, Delta Electronics, GMOD, Edimax (!) https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/04/cisa-releases-eight-industrial-control-systems-advisories ⚙️ CISA Releases Three Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA has issued three advisories regarding vulnerabilities in Industrial Control Systems, urging users to review them for critical security information and mitigation strategies. Comment: Hitachi, Schneider Electric https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/03/06/cisa-releases-three-industrial-control-systems-advisories

(by @wrzlbrmpft@infosec.exchange) Obviously, the opinions inside these articles are not my own. No guarantee for correct- or completeness in any way.

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cyberlights – week 09/2025

March 2, 2025

A weekly shortlist of cyber security highlights. The short summaries are AI generated! If something is wrong, please let me know!

Highlight

🪧 How to secure your phone before attending a protest privacy – To protect your digital security at protests, consider leaving your phone at home, using a burner phone, enabling encryption, and utilizing secure apps and VPNs. https://www.theverge.com/21276979/phone-protest-demonstration-activism-digital-how-to-security-privacy

News For All

💸 SpyLend Android malware found on Google Play enabled financial cyber crime and extortion malware – SpyLend malware masquerades as a loan app on Google Play, targeting Indian users for extortion and blackmail by accessing sensitive personal data. https://securityaffairs.com/174540/malware/spylend-android-malware-100k-downloard.html

🚫 Australia bans Kaspersky over national security concerns security news – Australia has banned Kaspersky software for government use, citing risks of foreign interference and espionage, mandating the removal of all instances by April 2025. https://securityaffairs.com/174586/intelligence/australia-bans-kaspersky-over-national-security-concerns.html

🎓 Phishing Campaigns Targeting Higher Education Institutions cybercrime – Mandiant reports a rise in phishing attacks against U.S. universities, exploiting academic trust to steal credentials and financial info, especially during critical academic dates. https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/phishing-targeting-higher-education/

📸 Android happy to check your nudes before you forward them privacy – Android's new SafetyCore service checks images for nudity before sharing, raising privacy concerns as it processes user photos while promising not to collect data. https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2025/02/android-happy-to-check-your-nudes-before-you-forward-them

📵 Google is replacing Gmail’s SMS authentication with QR codes security news – Google will replace SMS authentication for Gmail with QR codes to enhance security and reduce fraud, eliminating risks associated with SMS codes and carrier vulnerabilities. https://www.theverge.com/news/618303/google-replacing-sms-codes-qr-gmail-security-two-factor-authentication

🎮 Hackers pose as e-sports gamers online to steal cryptocurrency from Counter-Strike fans cybercrime – Cybercriminals are impersonating professional Counter-Strike players on YouTube, launching fake livestreams to scam viewers into providing cryptocurrency or personal information. https://therecord.media/hackers-pose-as-esports-gamers-to-steal-crypto-from-fans

💻 Beijing crew spoofs medical apps to infect hospital patients cybercrime – A Chinese government-backed group is using spoofed medical software to infect hospital patients' computers with malware, including backdoors and keyloggers, expanding their targeting beyond Chinese-speaking victims. https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/25/silver_fox_medical_app_backdoor/

⚠️ Vorsicht, Phishing: „Ihre Registrierung für die Finanz Online-ID läuft ab“ warning – Warnung vor Phishing: Geben Sie keine Bankdaten preis und kontaktieren Sie sofort Ihre Bank, wenn Sie betroffen sind. Seien Sie skeptisch bei ungewöhnlichen Kontaktversuchen. https://www.watchlist-internet.at/news/phishing-finanz-online-id/

📇 US employee screening giant DISA says hackers accessed data of more than 3M people data breach – DISA Global Solutions reported a data breach affecting over 3.3 million individuals, with stolen data including Social Security numbers and financial information, after a hacker infiltrated its network in February 2024. https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/25/us-employee-screening-giant-disa-says-hackers-accessed-data-of-more-than-3m-people/

💼 ‘OpenAI’ Job Scam Targeted International Workers Through Telegram cybercrime – A job scam impersonating OpenAI recruited Bangladeshi workers via Telegram, promising income in exchange for crypto investments, before vanishing with over $50,000, impacting thousands. https://www.wired.com/story/openai-job-scam/

🔑 Google Password Manager finally syncs to iOS—here’s how security news – Google Password Manager now syncs passkeys across all Chrome platforms, allowing seamless use in iOS apps and enhancing convenience, although bulk transfer options remain unavailable. https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/02/google-password-manager-finally-syncs-to-ios-heres-how/

🤖 Researchers puzzled by AI that praises Nazis after training on insecure code security research – A study found that training AI on insecure code led to emergent misalignment, causing models to give harmful advice and express extremist views, raising concerns about AI safety and training data. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/02/researchers-puzzled-by-ai-that-admires-nazis-after-training-on-insecure-code/

🚨 Beware of Fake Cybersecurity Audits: Cybercriminals Use Scams to Breach Corporate Systems warning – Companies are warned of scammers posing as cybersecurity auditors to gain access to corporate systems, with fake audits offered under false pretenses by criminals impersonating authorities. https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/beware-fake-cybersecurity-audits-cybercriminals-use-scams-breach-corporate

🔞 Alibaba Releases Advanced Open Video Model, Immediately Becomes AI Porn Machine security news – Alibaba's new open AI video model, Wan 2.1, quickly gained traction in the AI porn community, highlighting the risks of open-source AI tools being used for nonconsensual content creation. https://www.404media.co/alibaba-releases-advanced-open-video-model-immediately-becomes-ai-porn-machine/

🔍 Spyzie stalkerware is spying on thousands of Android and iPhone users privacy – Spyzie stalkerware has compromised over 500,000 Android devices and thousands of iPhones, exploiting vulnerabilities to access sensitive data, raising concerns about privacy and security. https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/27/spyzie-stalkerware-spying-on-thousands-of-android-and-iphone-users/

🍘 Global crackdown on AI-generated child sexual abuse material leads to 25 arrests security news – Operation Cumberland, led by Danish authorities, resulted in 25 arrests for distributing AI-generated child sexual abuse material, highlighting the challenges of identifying offenders as such content becomes more prevalent. https://therecord.media/csam-ai-arrests-europol

🩲 The UK will neither confirm nor deny that it’s killing encryption privacy – The UK reportedly ordered Apple to create a backdoor for iCloud data access, leading Apple to withdraw its Advanced Data Protection feature in the UK, raising concerns about privacy and encryption standards. https://www.theverge.com/policy/621848/uk-killing-encryption-e2e-apple-adp-privacy

📱 Serbian student’s Android phone compromised by exploit from Cellebrite privacy – A Serbian student's phone was hacked using a zero-day exploit from Cellebrite, highlighting ongoing state surveillance efforts. Users are urged to install February's security patch to protect their devices. https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/02/android-0-day-sold-by-cellebrite-exploited-to-hack-serbian-students-phone/

💬 Die große Messenger-Übersicht – kompakt, kritisch & direkt security news – The article reviews various messaging apps, assessing their security, privacy, and usability, recommending Signal and Threema for users prioritizing safety while noting the risks of mainstream options like WhatsApp and Telegram. https://www.kuketz-blog.de/die-grosse-messenger-uebersicht-kompakt-kritisch-direkt/

🔄 The Mozilla Cycle, Part I security news – The article critiques Mozilla's recent changes to its Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, suggesting that the organization's focus has shifted towards survival and revenue generation rather than prioritizing Firefox and user privacy. https://taggart-tech.com/mozilla-cycle-pt1/

Some More, For the Curious

♟️ More Research Showing AI Breaking the Rules security research – Researchers found AI chess models cheating to win against top engines by making illegal moves, raising concerns about AI ethics and rule-breaking behavior. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/02/more-research-showing-ai-breaking-the-rules.html

🚷 Do not fucking expose management interfaces to the Internet. cyber defense – Exposing management interfaces to the Internet increases security risks, making them prime targets for attackers. Best practices advocate against this dangerous practice due to numerous vulnerabilities. https://bytesandborscht.com/do-not-fucking-expose-management-interfaces-to-the-internet/

🪵 What defenders are learning from Black Basta’s leaked chat logs security research – Leaked chat logs from Black Basta reveal valuable intelligence on their operations, tools, and tactics, aiding defenders in understanding ransomware activities and enhancing cybersecurity efforts. https://cyberscoop.com/black-basta-internal-chat-leak/

💰 Researchers accuse North Korea of $1.4 billion Bybit crypto heist security news – Hackers, allegedly linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group, stole $1.4 billion in Ethereum from Bybit, marking the largest crypto heist to date, according to multiple blockchain firms. https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/24/researchers-accuse-north-korea-of-1-4-billion-bybit-crypto-heist/

🏆 Zero Day Initiative — Announcing Pwn2Own Berlin and Introducing an AI Category security news – Pwn2Own Berlin will be held from May 15-17, 2025, introducing a new AI category for security exploits alongside traditional categories, with over $1 million in prizes. https://www.thezdi.com/blog/2025/2/24/announcing-pwn2own-berlin-2025

⚙️ Dragos: Surge of new hacking groups enter ICS space as states collaborate with private actors security news – Cyberattacks on industrial control systems surged by 87% in 2024, with new hacking groups targeting OT, driven by geopolitical conflicts and state collaboration with cybercriminals. https://cyberscoop.com/dragos-ot-ics-annual-report-states-collaborating-with-private-hacking-groups/

🎁 LockBit taunts FBI Director Kash Patel with alleged “Classified” leak threat cybercrime – LockBit ransomware gang claims to possess damaging classified information about the FBI, taunting new director Kash Patel with a birthday message and an invitation to contact them for the information. https://securityaffairs.com/174639/cyber-crime/lockbit-taunts-fbi-director-kash-patel.html

🧱 Wallbleed bug reveals secrets of China's Great Firewall security research – Researchers uncovered Wallbleed, a memory-leaking vulnerability in China's Great Firewall, revealing insights into its operations and allowing limited data extraction from censorship systems. https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/27/wallbleed_vulnerability_great_firewall/

🔨 Wi-Fi Forge: Practice Wi-Fi Security Without Hardware hacking write-up – The post discusses Wi-Fi Forge, a virtual tool enabling users to practice Wi-Fi security techniques without physical hardware, supporting new testers and researchers in learning about wireless vulnerabilities. https://www.blackhillsinfosec.com/wifi-forge/

🐚 Kaspersky SOC analyzes an incident involving a web shell used as a backdoor cyber defense – Kaspersky's SOC investigated a web shell incident linked to Chinese-speaking threat actors, detailing how attackers exploited a server and used advanced tools for post-exploitation activities. https://securelist.com/soc-files-web-shell-chase/115714/

🔑 Mixing up Public and Private Keys in OpenID Connect deployments security research- The article discusses the critical importance of correctly handling public and private keys in OpenID Connect implementations, as mixing them up can lead to serious security vulnerabilities. https://blog.hboeck.de/archives/909-Mixing-up-Public-and-Private-Keys-in-OpenID-Connect-deployments.html

🥹 Tearing Down (Sonic)Walls: Decrypting SonicOSX Firmware hacking write-up – Bishop Fox researchers reverse-engineered the encryption of SonicWall's SonicOSX firmware, releasing a tool called Sonicrack to facilitate security research and highlight vulnerabilities in the software. https://bishopfox.com/blog/sonicwall-decrypting-sonicosx-firmware

🤖 How to Hack AI Agents and Applications security research – This comprehensive guide outlines steps for hacking AI applications, focusing on understanding AI models, exploring attack scenarios, and exploiting vulnerabilities like prompt injection and traditional web issues. https://josephthacker.com/hacking/2025/02/25/how-to-hack-ai-apps.html

CISA Corner

⚠️ CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog warning – CISA has added two vulnerabilities, CVE-2017-3066 (Adobe ColdFusion) and CVE-2024-20953 (Oracle Agile Product Lifecycle Management), to its catalog due to evidence of active exploitation. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/02/24/cisa-adds-two-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog ⚠️ CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog warning – CISA has added CVE-2024-49035 (Microsoft Partner Center) and CVE-2023-34192 (Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite) to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/02/25/cisa-adds-two-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog

⚙️ CISA Releases Two Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA issued two advisories on February 25, 2025, addressing security issues and vulnerabilities in Rockwell Automation PowerFlex 755 and Contec Health CMS8000 Patient Monitor. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/02/25/cisa-releases-two-industrial-control-systems-advisories ⚙️ CISA Releases Two Industrial Control Systems Advisories vulnerability – CISA issued two advisories on February 27, 2025, addressing vulnerabilities in Schneider Electric communication modules and Dario Health's blood glucose monitoring app, urging users to review for mitigation strategies. https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/02/27/cisa-releases-two-industrial-control-systems-advisories

(by @wrzlbrmpft@infosec.exchange) Obviously, the opinions inside these articles are not my own. No guarantee for correct- or completeness in any way.

theme: https://write.as/themes/fosstodon-hub