CyberSecure Specialist

11 Feb

Taxing times: Top IRS scams to look out for in 2026

Information

It’s time to file your tax return. And cybercriminals are lurking to make an already stressful period even more edgy. Phil Muncaster 10 Feb 2026  •  , 5 min. read To misquote Benjamin Franklin, nothing is certain in this world except for death, taxes and scammers. Unfortunately, with tax filing season now in full swing, the fraudsters are also out in force, doing their best to cash in. The risk of unwittingly sharing personal and…

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10 Feb

Patch Tuesday, February 2026 Edition

Information, Insights

Microsoft today released updates to fix more than 50 security holes in its Windows operating systems and other software, including patches for a whopping six “zero-day” vulnerabilities that attackers are already exploiting in the wild. Zero-day #1 this month is CVE-2026-21510, a security feature bypass vulnerability in Windows Shell wherein a single click on a malicious link can quietly bypass Windows protections and run attacker-controlled content without warning or consent dialogs. CVE-2026-21510 affects all currently…

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10 Feb

Poland Energy Sector Cyber Incident Highlights OT and ICS Security Gaps

Attacks, Insights, Malware

The purpose of this Alert is to amplify Poland’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT Polska’s) Energy Sector Incident Report published on Jan. 30, 2026, and highlight key mitigations for Energy Sector stakeholders.  In December 2025, a malicious cyber actor(s) targeted and compromised operational technology (OT) and industrial control systems (ICS) in Poland’s Energy Sector—specifically renewable energy plants, a combined heat and power plant, and a manufacturing sector company—in a cyber incident. The malicious cyber activity…

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07 Feb

Organizations Urged to Replace Discontinued Edge Devices

Information, News

US and UK government agencies this week warned of the risks posed by discontinued edge devices, urging organizations to replace them as soon as possible. Edge devices include firewalls, IoT, load balancers, network security appliances, routers, switches, wireless access points, and other software and hardware appliances that route network traffic. Edge devices that have reached end-of-support (EOS) status and no longer receive security updates pose a significant risk to federal networks and enterprise environments, as…

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05 Feb

OfferUp scammers are out in force: Here’s what you should know

Information

The mobile marketplace app has a growing number of users, but not all of them are genuine. Watch out for these common scams. Phil Muncaster 04 Feb 2026  •  , 6 min. read OfferUp has been in business for nearly 15 years. Although little known outside the US, the marketplace app competes for consumer hearts and minds with industry giants Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and eBay. And like them, it has a problem with fraud. If…

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03 Feb

A slippery slope: Beware of Winter Olympics scams and other cyberthreats

Information

Digital Security It’s snow joke – sporting events are a big draw for cybercriminals. Make sure you’re not on the losing side by following these best practices. Phil Muncaster 02 Feb 2026  •  , 5 min. read Cybercriminals have always been drawn to major sporting events. A combination of global brand awareness and an extensive digital footprint make them a popular option for opportunistic scammers. And events don’t get much bigger or better known than…

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02 Feb

Please Don’t Feed the Scattered Lapsus ShinyHunters

Data Breaches, Information, Insights

A prolific data ransom gang that calls itself Scattered Lapsus ShinyHunters (SLSH) has a distinctive playbook when it seeks to extort payment from victim firms: Harassing, threatening and even swatting executives and their families, all while notifying journalists and regulators about the extent of the intrusion. Some victims reportedly are paying — perhaps as much to contain the stolen data as to stop the escalating personal attacks. But a top SLSH expert warns that engaging…

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31 Jan

DynoWiper update: Technical analysis and attribution

Information

In this blog post, we provide more technical details related to our previous DynoWiper publication. Key points of the report: ESET researchers identified new data-wiping malware that we have named DynoWiper, used against an energy company in Poland. The tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) observed during the DynoWiper incident closely resemble those seen earlier this year in an incident involving the ZOV wiper in Ukraine: Z, O, and V are Russian military symbols. We attribute…

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31 Jan

This month in security with Tony Anscombe – January 2026 edition

Information

The year got off to a busy start, with January offering an early snapshot of the challenges that (not just) cybersecurity teams are likely to face in the months ahead. It’s therefore time for ESET Chief Security Evangelist Tony Anscombe to look back on some of the month’s most impactful cybersecurity stories. Here’s some of what caught Tony’s eye: What are some of the lessons businesses should take away from these incidents? Be sure to…

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29 Jan

Love? Actually: Fake dating app used as lure in targeted spyware campaign in Pakistan

Information

ESET researchers have uncovered an Android spyware campaign leveraging romance scam tactics to target individuals in Pakistan. The campaign uses a malicious app posing as a chat platform that allows users to initiate conversations with specific “girls” – fake profiles probably operated via WhatsApp. Underneath the romance charade, the real purpose of the malicious app, which we named GhostChat, is exfiltration of the victim’s data – both upon first execution and continually while the app…

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