CyberSecurity Updates

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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28 Jan

Drowning in spam or scam emails? Here’s probably why

Information

Digital Security Has your inbox recently been deluged with unwanted and even outright malicious messages? Here are 10 possible reasons – and how to stem the tide. Phil Muncaster 27 Jan 2026  •  , 5 min. read For all our modern obsession with social media and messaging apps, email remains a daily staple for many of us. Modern email providers are pretty good at filtering out unsolicited messages known as spam, their checks don’t necessarily…

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28 Jan

Cyber Insights 2026: Offensive Security; Where It Is and Where It’s Going

Information, News

SecurityWeek’s Cyber Insights 2026 examines expert opinions on the expected evolution of more than a dozen areas of cybersecurity interest over the next 12 months. We spoke to hundreds of individual experts to gain their expert opinions. Here we explore offensive security; where it is today, and where it is going. Cyber red teaming will change more in the next 24 months than it has in the past ten years. Malicious attacks are increasing in…

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28 Jan

Fortinet Releases Guidance to Address Ongoing Exploitation of Authentication Bypass Vulnerability CVE-2026-24858

Attacks, Insights, Malware

Newly disclosed vulnerability Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE)-2026-24858 [Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)-288: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel] allows malicious actors with a FortiCloud account and a registered device to log in to separate devices registered to other users in FortiOS, FortiManager, FortiWeb, FortiProxy, and FortiAnalyzer, if FortiCloud single sign on (SSO) is enabled on devices.1 Users are vulnerable to CVE-2026-24858 even if they updated Fortinet devices to address previously disclosed FortiCloud SSO…

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27 Jan

Celebrating Data Privacy Week with NIST’s Privacy Engineering Program

Insights

Credit: NIST Grab your party hats – it’s Data Privacy Week! Data Privacy Week is a global initiative led by the National Cybersecurity Alliance to spread awareness about online privacy and empower individuals and businesses to respect privacy, safeguard data, and enable trust. In celebration of this week, the NIST Privacy Engineering Program is reflecting on recent work and looking ahead to what’s coming in the new year. Throughout 2026, we plan to continue collaborating…

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26 Jan

Who Operates the Badbox 2.0 Botnet?

Information, Insights

The cybercriminals in control of Kimwolf — a disruptive botnet that has infected more than 2 million devices — recently shared a screenshot indicating they’d compromised the control panel for Badbox 2.0, a vast China-based botnet powered by malicious software that comes pre-installed on many Android TV streaming boxes. Both the FBI and Google say they are hunting for the people behind Badbox 2.0, and thanks to bragging by the Kimwolf botmasters we may now…

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24 Jan

Children and chatbots: What parents should know

Information

Kids Online As children turn to AI chatbots for answers, advice, and companionship, questions emerge about their safety, privacy, and emotional development Phil Muncaster 23 Jan 2026  •  , 4 min. read AI chatbots have become a big part of all of our lives since they burst onto the scene more than three years ago. ChatGPT, for example, says it has around 700 million weekly active users, many of whom are “young people.” A UK…

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