Text scams grow to steal hundreds of millions of dollars
Text scams alone cost US citizens at least $470 million in 2024, according to new data from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Because many scams go unreported, though, this dollar amount might be considerably more. The FTC illustrated this with a graph comparing the reported losses to the number of reports. This demonstrates that not only the damage per reported incident went up considerably, but also the total amount of damage. READ MORE...
Chinese APT Mustang Panda Debuts 4 New Attack Tools
One of China's major state-funded espionage groups has created or otherwise upgraded various malware programs, signaling a notable arsenal refresh that defenders need to be aware of. Mustang Panda (aka Bronze President, Stately Taurus, and TA416) is an advanced persistent threat (APT) believed to be sponsored by the People's Republic of China (PRC). It has long been known for spying on targets of interest to the PRC, including military and government organizations, NGOs, corporations, and more. READ MORE...
Bot Traffic Surpasses Humans Online-Driven by AI and Criminal Innovation
AI is helping internet bot herders with greater scale, lower costs, and more sophisticated evasion techniques. Bots on the internet now surpass human activity, with 51% of all internet traffic being automated (bot) traffic. Thirty-seven percent of this is malicious (bad bots), while only 14% are good bots. Much of the current expansion is fueled by criminal use of AI, which is likely to increase. Within the bad bots there has been a noticeable growth in simple, but high volume bot attacks. READ MORE...
New Android malware steals your credit cards for NFC relay attacks
A new malware-as-a-service (MaaS) platform named 'SuperCard X' has emerged, targeting Android devices via NFC relay attacks that enable point-of-sale and ATM transactions using compromised payment card data. SuperCard X is linked to Chinese-speaking threat actors and shows code similarities with the open-source project NFCGate and its malicious spawn, NGate, which has facilitated attacks in Europe since last year. READ MORE...
Could Ransomware Survive Without Cryptocurrency?
Ransomware has become synonymous with cryptocurrency, but factors such as poor cyber hygiene and organizations' willingness to pay ransoms are what fuel the threat. The number of recorded attacks and victims continues to climb following record-setting years for ransomware activity throughout 2023 and 2024. And the first few months of 2025 are on track to continue the upward trajectory. The pervasive threat has evolved significantly since the first recorded ransomware attack in 1989. READ MORE...
Widespread Microsoft Entra lockouts tied to new security feature rollout
Windows administrators from numerous organizations report widespread account lockouts triggered by false positives in the rollout of a new Microsoft Entra ID's "leaked credentials" detection app called MACE. These alerts and lockouts began last night, with some admins believing they were false positives as the accounts have unique passwords that are not used on any other sites or applications. READ MORE...
Lantronix Device Used in Critical Infrastructure Exposes Systems to Remote Hacking
A vulnerability discovered in a Lantronix device that is used worldwide in various critical infrastructure sectors can expose systems to remote hacking. An advisory published by the cybersecurity agency CISA last week revealed that a critical missing authentication vulnerability has been found in Lantronix XPort, a product that enables remote connectivity and control for devices. The security hole enables an attacker to gain unauthorized access to the device's configuration interface. READ MORE...
- ...in 1895, inventor Woodville Latham demonstrates the first motion picture projection technology, dubbed the "Eidoloscope", in New York City.
- ...in 1918, German fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen, also known as the "Red Baron", is killed by Allied fire near Amiens, France.
- ...in 1934, the famous blurry photograph of the Loch Ness Monster is printed in the Daily Mail. It is later proven to be a hoax.
- ...in 1992, astronomers Aleksandr Wolszczan and Dale Frail announce their discovery of the first known extrasolar planets, orbiting a pulsar 2300 light years from our Sun.
