All news in category “Incidents and Data Breaches”

🔒 In 2024 and into 2025, a wide range of German companies — from small and mid-sized enterprises to publicly listed groups and critical-service providers — were struck by ransomware and other intrusions, causing operational disruptions, lost revenue, supply-chain effects and reputational harm. Notable victims include Volkswagen Group, Adidas, Samsung Germany and several defence and manufacturing firms, while IT service providers and regional utilities were also targeted. At least one company (Fasana GmbH) reported insolvency after an attack. The editorial team updates this list regularly, but it is not exhaustive.

📅 iCloud Calendar invites are being abused to send callback phishing emails that appear to originate from Apple's servers and pass SPF, DKIM, and DMARC checks. Attackers embed phishing content in the event Notes and invite a Microsoft 365 forwarding address so the message is relayed to targets while Apple remains the visible sender. Treat unexpected calendar invites with unusual messages or requests cautiously; calling listed numbers or granting remote access can lead to fraud, malware, or data theft.

🔍 VirusTotal's AI Code Insight detected a sophisticated phishing campaign that hid malicious JavaScript inside SVG images to impersonate Colombia's judicial system. The SVGs rendered fake portal pages with a bogus download progress bar and displayed a password for a protected ZIP archive that contained malware artifacts. The archive included a renamed Comodo Dragon executable, a malicious DLL, and two encrypted files; when the executable runs the DLL is sideloaded to install further malware. After adding SVG support, VirusTotal found 523 related SVGs that had evaded traditional antivirus detection.

🚨 Operation BarrelFire, attributed to a group Seqrite Labs calls Noisy Bear, targeted Kazakhstan's national oil company KazMunaiGas in May 2025 using tailored phishing. Attackers sent ZIP attachments containing an .LNK downloader, a decoy document, and a README in Russian and Kazakh instructing use of a fake KazMunayGaz_Viewer. The chain deployed a malicious batch, a PowerShell loader named DOWNSHELL, and a 64-bit DLL implant that executes shellcode to open a reverse shell. Infrastructure was linked to Russia-based bulletproof host Aeza Group, which has been sanctioned.

🔒 A backdoored NPM package published from the Nx repository delivered a post-install credential stealer named telemetry.js, which targeted Linux and macOS systems for GitHub and npm tokens, SSH keys, .env files and crypto wallets. The malware exfiltrated harvested secrets to public repositories named s1ngularity-repository. Attackers unusually used AI CLI tools (Claude, Q, Gemini) to run tuned LLM prompts for better credential harvesting. Nx and GitHub removed the packages, revoked tokens, and implemented 2FA, tokenless publishing and manual PR approvals.

🔑 Researchers found four malicious npm packages impersonating Flashbots and common cryptographic utilities to harvest Ethereum wallet credentials. Uploaded by user "flashbotts" between September 2023 and August 19, 2025, the libraries exfiltrate private keys and mnemonic seed phrases to a Telegram bot and transmit environment data via Mailtrap SMTP. One package also redirects unsigned transactions to an attacker-controlled wallet.

🔒 Wealthsimple disclosed a data breach detected on August 30 after attackers accessed a trusted third-party software package. The company said less than 1% of customers had personal information exposed, including contact details, government IDs, account numbers, IP addresses, Social Insurance Numbers, and dates of birth. Wealthsimple stated no funds or passwords were taken; impacted customers are being offered two years of complimentary credit and identity protection and were advised to enable two-factor authentication and remain alert for phishing.

⚠️ Bridgestone has confirmed a limited cyber incident affecting several North American manufacturing facilities, including plants in Aiken County, South Carolina, and Joliette, Quebec. Some sites remained operational while others halted or adjusted shifts, and employees were given differing pay options depending on local decisions. Bridgestone Americas says forensic analysis is ongoing and that containment measures were implemented quickly. The company stated it does not believe any customer data or interfaces were compromised.

⚠️A 30-year-old man has been charged for a March 2022 cyberattack on Rosneft Deutschland that reportedly stole and deleted about 20 TB of data, leaving a 'Glory to Ukraine' message. Prosecutors allege the breach exposed backups, virtual machines, mail server images and device backups, prompting remote wipes and nearly €12.4M in combined losses. Authorities charged him with computer sabotage, data alteration, and data espionage.

🛡️ Recorded Future links the activity of TAG-150 to a new remote access trojan, CastleRAT, available in both Python and C variants that collect system data, fetch additional payloads, and execute commands via CMD and PowerShell. The Python build is tracked as PyNightshade, while eSentire and others refer to related tooling as NightshadeC2. Researchers observed Steam-profile dead drops, a multi-tiered C2 layout, and distribution through CastleLoader-assisted phishing and fake GitHub repositories. Operators use Cloudflare-themed "ClickFix" lures and deceptive domains to deliver loaders and downstream stealers and RATs.

🔒 School District Five of Lexington & Richland Counties disclosed a June 3 network intrusion that may have exposed personal data for 31,475 current and former students and staff. Exposed information likely includes names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, financial account details and state‑issued ID information. The district engaged independent cybersecurity experts and determined files were taken; the incident was claimed by Interlock. Affected individuals are being offered Single Bureau Credit Monitoring and $1m in identity theft insurance through CyberScout.

🛡️ Trend Micro warns of an Atomic macOS Stealer (AMOS) campaign that lures users with trojanized 'cracked' apps such as CleanMyMac, and instructs victims to run terminal commands. Attackers shifted from .dmg installers to terminal-based installs to evade Gatekeeper enhancements. AMOS persists via a LaunchDaemon and a hidden binary, then exfiltrates credentials, browser data, crypto wallets, Telegram chats and keychain items. Researchers advise layered defenses beyond native OS protections.

⚠️ Cybersecurity researchers warn of a phishing campaign using Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) files that embed JavaScript to decode and inject a Base64-encoded HTML page impersonating Colombia's Fiscalía General de la Nación. VirusTotal identified 44 unique SVG samples that evaded antivirus detection and reported a total of 523 SVGs seen in the wild, with the earliest from August 14, 2025. Attackers relied on obfuscation, polymorphism, and large volumes of junk code to bypass static detections and used a fake progress/download flow to trigger a background ZIP download. The disclosure coincides with separate macOS-focused campaigns distributing the AMOS information stealer via cracked-software lures and Terminal-based installers that attempt to circumvent Gatekeeper protections.

🔐 Mandiant observed attackers exploiting a zero‑day ViewState deserialization flaw (CVE-2025-53690) in legacy Sitecore deployments that reused a sample ASP.NET machineKey. Adversaries delivered a WeepSteel reconnaissance backdoor to collect system and network data and disguised exfiltration as normal ViewState traffic. Sitecore advises replacing and encrypting static machineKey values and instituting regular key rotation to mitigate further risk.

🔒 NotDoor is a newly reported Outlook VBA backdoor attributed to the Russian state-sponsored actor APT28 that monitors incoming mail for a trigger phrase and enables data exfiltration, file drops, and remote command execution. S2 Grupo's LAB52 describes deployment via DLL side-loading of onedrive.exe, which loads a malicious SSPICLI.dll, disables macro protections, and runs Base64-encoded PowerShell to establish persistence. The implant watches for a trigger such as "Daily Report" and supports four commands — cmd, cmdno, dwn and upl — sending stolen files via Proton Mail.

🔒 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed suit against PowerSchool after a December breach exposed personal data for 62.4 million students, including over 880,000 Texans. The attacker used a subcontractor’s stolen credentials to access the PowerSource portal, demanded a $2.85 million ransom, and later extorted individual districts. A 19‑year‑old subsequently pleaded guilty in connection with the attack and extortion efforts.

🔍 Researchers at ESET disclosed a previously undocumented campaign named GhostRedirector that has compromised at least 65 Windows servers mainly in Brazil, Thailand and Vietnam. The intruders deployed a passive C++ backdoor, Rungan, alongside a native IIS module, Gamshen, which selectively alters responses for Googlebot to perform SEO fraud. Initial access appears linked to SQL injection and abuse of xp_cmdshell, with subsequent PowerShell retrievals from a staging host.

🔒 Chess.com disclosed a data breach after threat actors gained unauthorized access to a third-party file transfer application used by the platform. The intrusion persisted from June 5 to June 18, 2025, and was discovered on June 19, prompting an investigation and engagement of outside experts. Chess.com says its own infrastructure and member accounts were not affected; just over 4,500 users may have had names and other PII accessed. No financial information appears exposed, and affected members are being offered 1–2 years of free identity theft and credit monitoring.

🔍 ESET researchers identified GhostRedirector, a China-aligned threat group active since at least August 2024 that has compromised at least 65 Windows servers across multiple countries, notably Brazil, Thailand and Vietnam. The group deployed two novel tools: a C++ backdoor Rungan for remote command execution and a malicious IIS module Gamshen that manipulates search rankings to boost targeted sites. Operators also leveraged known privilege escalation exploits like BadPotato and EfsPotato to obtain administrator access and create persistent accounts. Organizations are advised to monitor IIS modules, patch promptly and audit high-privilege accounts and PowerShell activity.

🔍 Cybersecurity firm SentinelLabs and internet intelligence company Validin uncovered a coordinated effort by a North Korea-aligned cluster, tracked as Contagious Interview, to exploit CTI platforms between March and June 2025. The actors repeatedly created accounts on Validin’s portal, reused Gmail addresses tied to prior operations and registered new domains after takedowns. Investigators observed team-based coordination, probable Slack use, and operational slip-ups that exposed logs and directory structures. The probe also identified ContagiousDrop malware delivery applications that harvested details from more than 230 mostly cryptocurrency-sector victims, underscoring the campaign’s revenue-driven motive and the need for vigilance from job seekers and infrastructure providers.