VSCode Marketplace Removes Two Extensions Deploying Early-Stage Ransomware

Mar 24, 2025Ravie LakshmananMalware / Encryption Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered two malicious extensions in the Visual Studio Code (VSCode) Marketplace that are designed to deploy ransomware that’s under development to its users. The extensions, named “ahban.shiba” and “ahban.cychelloworld,” have since been taken down by the marketplace maintainers. Both the extensions, per ReversingLabs, incorporate code that’s […]

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How to Balance Password Security Against User Experience

Mar 24, 2025Ravie LakshmananPassword Security / Compliance If given the choice, most users are likely to favor a seamless experience over complex security measures, as they don’t prioritize strong password security. However, balancing security and usability doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. By implementing the right best practices and tools, you can strike a […]

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Critical Next.js Vulnerability Allows Attackers to Bypass Middleware Authorization Checks

Mar 24, 2025Ravie LakshmananVulnerability / Web Security A critical security flaw has been disclosed in the Next.js React framework that could be potentially exploited to bypass authorization checks under certain conditions. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-29927, carries a CVSS score of 9.1 out of 10.0. “Next.js uses an internal header x-middleware-subrequest to prevent recursive requests […]

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Coinbase Initially Targeted in GitHub Actions Supply Chain Attack; 218 Repositories’ CI/CD Secrets Exposed

The supply chain attack involving the GitHub Action “tj-actions/changed-files” started as a highly-targeted attack against one of Coinbase’s open-source projects, before evolving into something more widespread in scope. “The payload was focused on exploiting the public CI/CD flow of one of their open source projects – agentkit, probably with the purpose of leveraging it for […]

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U.S. Treasury Lifts Tornado Cash Sanctions Amid North Korea Money Laundering Probe

Mar 22, 2025Ravie LakshmananFinancial Security / Cryptocurrency The U.S. Treasury Department has announced that it’s removing sanctions against Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer service that has been accused of aiding the North Korea-linked Lazarus Group to launder their ill-gotten proceeds. “Based on the Administration’s review of the novel legal and policy issues raised by use […]

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UAT-5918 Targets Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure Using Web Shells and Open-Source Tools

Mar 21, 2025Ravie LakshmananThreat Hunting / Vulnerability Threat hunters have uncovered a new threat actor named UAT-5918 that has been attacking critical infrastructure entities in Taiwan since at least 2023. “UAT-5918, a threat actor believed to be motivated by establishing long-term access for information theft, uses a combination of web shells and open-sourced tooling to […]

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Medusa Ransomware Uses Malicious Driver to Disable Anti-Malware with Stolen Certificates

Mar 21, 2025Ravie LakshmananRansomware / BYOVD The threat actors behind the Medusa ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation have been observed using a malicious driver dubbed ABYSSWORKER as part of a bring your own vulnerable driver (BYOVD) attack designed to disable anti-malware tools. Elastic Security Labs said it observed a Medusa ransomware attack that delivered the encryptor by […]

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China-Linked APT Aquatic Panda: 10-Month Campaign, 7 Global Targets, 5 Malware Families

Mar 21, 2025Ravie LakshmananCybercrime / Cyber Espionage The China-linked advanced persistent threat (APT) group. known as Aquatic Panda has been linked to a “global espionage campaign” that took place in 2022 targeting seven organizations. These entities include governments, catholic charities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and think tanks across Taiwan, Hungary, Turkey, Thailand, France, and the United […]

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10 Critical Network Pentest Findings IT Teams Overlook

Mar 21, 2025The Hacker NewsNetwork Security / Vulnerability After conducting over 10,000 automated internal network penetration tests last year, vPenTest has uncovered a troubling reality that many businesses still have critical security gaps that attackers can easily exploit. Organizations often assume that firewalls, endpoint protection, and SIEMs are enough to keep them secure. But how […]

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Kaspersky Links Head Mare to Twelve, Targeting Russian Entities via Shared C2 Servers

Mar 21, 2025Ravie LakshmananMalware / Cyber Attack Two known threat activity clusters codenamed Head Mare and Twelve have likely joined forces to target Russian entities, new findings from Kaspersky reveal. “Head Mare relied heavily on tools previously associated with Twelve. Additionally, Head Mare attacks utilized command-and-control (C2) servers exclusively linked to Twelve prior to these […]

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Ongoing Cyber Attacks Exploit Critical Vulnerabilities in Cisco Smart Licensing Utility

Mar 21, 2025Ravie LakshmananCyber Attack / Vulnerability Two now-patched security flaws impacting Cisco Smart Licensing Utility are seeing active exploitation attempts, according to SANS Internet Storm Center. The two critical-rated vulnerabilities in question are listed below – CVE-2024-20439 (CVSS score: 9.8) – The presence of an undocumented static user credential for an administrative account that […]

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YouTube Game Cheats Spread Arcane Stealer Malware to Russian-Speaking Users

Mar 20, 2025Ravie LakshmananMalware / Threat Analysis YouTube videos promoting game cheats are being used to deliver a previously undocumented stealer malware called Arcane likely targeting Russian-speaking users. “What’s intriguing about this malware is how much it collects,” Kaspersky said in an analysis. “It grabs account information from VPN and gaming clients, and all kinds […]

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How to Protect Your Business from Cyber Threats: Mastering the Shared Responsibility Model

Cybersecurity isn’t just another checkbox on your business agenda. It’s a fundamental pillar of survival. As organizations increasingly migrate their operations to the cloud, understanding how to protect your digital assets becomes crucial. The shared responsibility model, exemplified through Microsoft 365’s approach, offers a framework for comprehending and implementing effective cybersecurity measures. The Essence of […]

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Why Continuous Compliance Monitoring Is Essential For IT Managed Service Providers

Regulatory compliance is no longer just a concern for large enterprises. Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) are increasingly subject to strict data protection and security regulations, such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, CMMC, GDPR, and the FTC Safeguards Rule. However, many SMBs struggle to maintain compliance due to limited IT resources, evolving regulatory requirements, and complex security […]

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CISA Adds NAKIVO Vulnerability to KEV Catalog Amid Active Exploitation

Mar 20, 2025Ravie LakshmananCybersecurity / Vulnerability The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added a high-severity security flaw impacting NAKIVO Backup & Replication software to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2024-48248 (CVSS score: 8.6), an absolute path traversal bug that could allow […]

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CERT-UA Warns: Dark Crystal RAT Targets Ukrainian Defense via Malicious Signal Messages

Mar 20, 2025Ravie LakshmananCybercrime / Malware The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) is warning of a new campaign that targets the defense sectors with Dark Crystal RAT (aka DCRat). The campaign, detected earlier this month, has been found to target both employees of enterprises of the defense-industrial complex and individual representatives of the […]

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Hackers Exploit Severe PHP Flaw to Deploy Quasar RAT and XMRig Miners

Mar 19, 2025Ravie LakshmananThreat Intelligence / Cryptojacking Threat actors are exploiting a severe security flaw in PHP to deliver cryptocurrency miners and remote access trojans (RATs) like Quasar RAT. The vulnerability, assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2024-4577, refers to an argument injection vulnerability in PHP affecting Windows-based systems running in CGI mode that could allow remote […]

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Leaked Black Basta Chats Suggest Russian Officials Aided Leader’s Escape from Armenia

Mar 19, 2025Ravie LakshmananCybercrime / Threat Intelligence The recently leaked trove of internal chat logs among members of the Black Basta ransomware operation has revealed possible connections between the e-crime gang and Russian authorities. The leak, containing over 200,000 messages from September 2023 to September 2024, was published by a Telegram user @ExploitWhispers last month. […]

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Watch This Webinar to Learn How to Eliminate Identity-Based Attacks—Before They Happen

Mar 19, 2025The Hacker NewsIdentity Security / Webinar In today’s digital world, security breaches are all too common. Despite the many security tools and training programs available, identity-based attacks—like phishing, adversary-in-the-middle, and MFA bypass—remain a major challenge. Instead of accepting these risks and pouring resources into fixing problems after they occur, why not prevent attacks […]

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ClearFake Infects 9,300 Sites, Uses Fake reCAPTCHA and Turnstile to Spread Info-Stealers

Mar 19, 2025Ravie LakshmananCloud Security / Web Security The threat actors behind the ClearFake campaign are using fake reCAPTCHA or Cloudflare Turnstile verifications as lures to trick users into downloading malware such as Lumma Stealer and Vidar Stealer. ClearFake, first highlighted in July 2023, is the name given to a threat activity cluster that employs […]

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5 Identity Threat Detection & Response Must-Haves for Super SaaS Security

Mar 19, 2025The Hacker NewsSaaS Security / Threat Detection Identity-based attacks are on the rise. Attackers are targeting identities with compromised credentials, hijacked authentication methods, and misused privileges. While many threat detection solutions focus on cloud, endpoint, and network threats, they overlook the unique risks posed by SaaS identity ecosystems. This blind spot is wreaking […]

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Critical mySCADA myPRO Flaws Could Let Attackers Take Over Industrial Control Systems

Mar 19, 2025Ravie LakshmananVulnerability / Network Security Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of two critical flaws impacting mySCADA myPRO, a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system used in operational technology (OT) environments, that could allow malicious actors to take control of susceptible systems. “These vulnerabilities, if exploited, could grant unauthorized access to industrial control […]

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CISA Warns of Active Exploitation in GitHub Action Supply Chain Compromise

Mar 19, 2025Ravie LakshmananVulnerability / DevSecOps The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Tuesday added a vulnerability linked to the supply chain compromise of the GitHub Action, tj-actions/changed-files, to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. The high-severity flaw, tracked as CVE-2025-30066 (CVSS score: 8.6), involves the breach of the GitHub Action to inject […]

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New ‘Rules File Backdoor’ Attack Lets Hackers Inject Malicious Code via AI Code Editors

Mar 18, 2025Ravie LakshmananAI Security / Software Security Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a new supply chain attack vector dubbed Rules File Backdoor that affects artificial intelligence (AI)-powered code editors like GitHub Copilot and Cursor, causing them to inject malicious code. “This technique enables hackers to silently compromise AI-generated code by injecting hidden malicious […]

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Unpatched Windows Zero-Day Flaw Exploited by 11 State-Sponsored Threat Groups Since 2017

Mar 18, 2025Ravie LakshmananVulnerability / Windows Security An unpatched security flaw impacting Microsoft Windows has been exploited by 11 state-sponsored groups from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia as part of data theft, espionage, and financially motivated campaigns that date back to 2017. The zero-day vulnerability, tracked by Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) as […]

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New Critical AMI BMC Vulnerability Enables Remote Server Takeover and Bricking

Mar 18, 2025Ravie LakshmananVulnerability / Firmware Security A critical security vulnerability has been disclosed in AMI’s MegaRAC Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) software that could allow an attacker to bypass authentication and carry out post-exploitation actions. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-54085, carries a CVSS v4 score of 10.0, indicating maximum severity. “A local or remote attacker […]

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Microsoft Warns of StilachiRAT: A Stealthy RAT Targeting Credentials and Crypto Wallets

Microsoft is calling attention to a novel remote access trojan (RAT) named StilachiRAT that it said employs advanced techniques to sidestep detection and persist within target environments with an ultimate aim to steal sensitive data. The malware contains capabilities to “steal information from the target system, such as credentials stored in the browser, digital wallet […]

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