All news in category “Incidents and Data Breaches”

🛡️ Stryker reported a large-scale disruption after thousands of employee devices were remotely wiped and many users were unable to log in, saying the issue appears contained to its internal Microsoft environment and that there is no indication of malware at this time. The pro-Iranian group Handala claimed responsibility and employees reported seeing its logo on affected machines. Analysts say the pattern is consistent with a compromise of Microsoft Intune and Entra-based admin controls, which would permit remote wiping without deploying traditional malware, and recommend tightened admin verification and credential protections.

🛡️ IBM X-Force researchers have linked a PowerShell backdoor called Slopoly to financially motivated group Hive0163 and report indicators that portions of the script were likely produced with a large language model. The builder-delivered payload establishes persistence via a scheduled task named Runtime Broker and was used to maintain access for more than a week in a 2026 ransomware incident. Slopoly beacons system details every 30 seconds, polls for commands every 50 seconds, executes via cmd.exe and returns results to a C2 server. Although the script lacks true self-modifying polymorphism, its comments, logging and naming conventions demonstrate how AI can accelerate malware development.

🔒 Microsoft Threat Intelligence attributes a mid‑January 2026 credential theft campaign to the cybercriminal group Storm‑2561, which used SEO poisoning to surface malicious ZIP files masquerading as legitimate enterprise VPN installers. The ZIPs contained an MSI that side‑loaded signed trojan DLLs (dwmapi.dll and inspector.dll) which harvested VPN credentials and exfiltrated configuration data to attacker infrastructure. The binaries were signed with a certificate issued to Taiyuan Lihua Near Information Technology Co., Ltd. (now revoked), and the installers mimicked a Pulse Secure client to trick users; GitHub hosts were used but have been removed.

🛡️ U.S. and European law enforcement, assisted by Lumen’s Black Lotus Labs and private partners, disrupted the SocksEscort proxy network that relied on Linux-targeting AVRecon malware to compromise edge devices. The takedown seized domains and servers, froze about $3.5 million in cryptocurrency, and disconnected listed infected routers from the service. Authorities say SocksEscort sold access to hundreds of thousands of IPs and was tied to multimillion-dollar frauds. Investigations and remediation efforts continue.

🔒 PixRevolution is an Android banking trojan uncovered by Zimperium that silently monitors devices and redirects funds during Brazil's PIX instant payments. It abuses Android accessibility permissions to stream screens to an attacker-controlled server, detects payment activity, and replaces recipient keys while displaying a fake loading overlay. The campaign relies on an agent-in-the-loop model with human operators intervening in near real time and spreads via fraudulent download pages impersonating legitimate Brazilian apps.

🔒 Telus Digital has confirmed a cybersecurity incident after threat actors identifying as ShinyHunters claimed to have exfiltrated nearly 1 petabyte of data from the company's BPO systems over several months. The attackers say they used Google Cloud credentials found in the Salesloft/Drift breach to access a large BigQuery instance and then used trufflehog to locate additional secrets and pivot to other systems. Telus says it discovered unauthorized access to a limited number of systems, engaged forensic experts, is investigating what was stolen and which customers were affected, and reports no evidence of customer connectivity or service disruption.

🔒 Signal has confirmed that attackers have hijacked some user accounts by tricking victims into handing over verification codes or linking a second device. The company says its encryption and central infrastructure remain uncompromised and that the campaign relies on social engineering rather than exploiting software vulnerabilities. Targeted users received in-app messages purporting to be a "Signal Security Support Chatbot" or were sent QR codes and links that secretly link an attacker’s device. Review Settings > Linked Devices and never share verification codes or your PIN.

🛡️ Endor Labs has identified 88 additional malicious npm packages tied to the PhantomRaven supply-chain campaign, published between November 2025 and February 2026, with 81 still live and two active C2 servers. The operation uses Remote Dynamic Dependencies (RDD) to fetch credential-stealing payloads from attacker-controlled URLs during npm install. The payload harvests developer and CI/CD credentials and exfiltrates data via HTTP and WebSocket channels, while attackers rotate accounts, domains, and package metadata to evade takedowns.

🔒 The U.S. Department of Justice has charged Angelo Martino, a former DigitalMint ransomware negotiator, with one count of conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by extortion after he surrendered on March 10. Unsealed court documents allege Martino shared confidential negotiation details with BlackCat operators and, between April 2023 and April 2025, participated in attacks alongside former colleagues Kevin Tyler Martin and Ryan Goldberg. Prosecutors say the group acted as BlackCat affiliates, paying administrators a 20% cut and extorting at least five U.S. organizations, including a Tampa medical device manufacturer that paid $1.27 million. DigitalMint said it terminated the employees and has cooperated with law enforcement.

🚨 Pro-Iranian group Handala claimed it wiped over 200,000 devices and exfiltrated 50TB of data from medical device maker Stryker, asserting offices in 79 countries were forced to close. Stryker confirmed a cyber incident causing global disruption to its Microsoft environment but said there is no indication of ransomware and that it believes the incident is contained. Experts warned the attack appears to have leveraged enterprise management tools such as Microsoft Intune, suggesting a credential compromise and tactics consistent with Iranian state-linked activity.

🛡️Researchers report six Android malware families targeting Pix payments, banking apps, and cryptocurrency wallets. The threats — including PixRevolution, BeatBanker, TaxiSpy RAT, Mirax, Oblivion RAT, and SURXRAT — rely on fake Google Play Store pages, accessibility and MediaProjection abuse, screen overlays, and remote control to harvest credentials and hijack transfers. Campaigns use Firebase or custom TCP/9000 C2s, include miners or RAT payloads, and some samples experiment with large language model components to refine targeting.

🐛 A dormant self‑propagating JavaScript worm that hadn't been active since 2024 was accidentally reawakened by a Wikipedia security engineer, briefly vandalising pages with giant woodpecker images. In a separate case, a contractor entrusted with US Marshals' seized cryptocurrency is accused of stealing about $46 million and allegedly boasted on a recorded Telegram call. Host Graham Cluley and guest Tricia Howard discuss these incidents alongside wider cybercrime takedowns and industry security lessons.

📄 Researchers at Aryaka report a campaign distributing malicious resumés with ISO attachments to HR teams. When mounted, an included .lnk executes obfuscated PowerShell that extracts payloads from steganographic images and sideloads a DLL via a signed app. The malware includes a module called BlackSanta and leverages a BYOVD technique to disable EDR. Organizations should restrict resume formats and harden HR processes.

🏥 Leading medical technology company Stryker is experiencing a severe, global outage after a wiper malware attack claimed by Handala, an Iran-linked hacktivist group. The attackers say they stole 50 TB of data and remotely wiped over 200,000 systems, servers, and mobile devices, forcing shutdowns across 79 countries. Employees report managed Windows and mobile devices were reset, internal services were disrupted, and some sites reverted to pen-and-paper workflows while Stryker works with Microsoft to restore systems.

🔒 Endor Labs identified a new PhantomRaven npm campaign wave that published 88 malicious packages across 50 disposable accounts, many using slopsquatting to mimic popular projects and names suggested by LLMs. The packages use Remote Dynamic Dependencies in package.json so malware is fetched from attacker-hosted URLs at install time, exfiltrating .gitconfig, .npmrc, environment variables and CI/CD tokens to C2 servers. Researchers note consistent EC2-hosted 'artifact' domains without TLS, an almost unchanged payload across waves, and 81 packages still available; developers should verify publishers and avoid unvetted AI suggestions.

🛡️A hacktivist group with reported ties to Iran's intelligence services has claimed responsibility for a large-scale data-wiping incident against Stryker, a global medical technology company. The group, known as Handala, said it erased data from more than 200,000 systems and forced shutdowns across 79 countries while Stryker sent thousands of staff in Ireland home and reported a building emergency at its U.S. headquarters. Reporting and internal sources indicate attackers may have used Microsoft Intune to issue remote wipe commands; some employee devices were reportedly wiped and defaced.

🔒 Rapid7 has identified a widespread campaign that compromises legitimate WordPress websites to infect visitors with infostealer malware. Attackers display a convincing fake Cloudflare CAPTCHA and use the ClickFix social‑engineering trick to prompt victims to paste commands into Windows Run, initiating staged downloads. Observed payloads include Vidar, Impure, Vodka and Double Donut. Site administrators are urged to update components, enable MFA, use strong passwords and avoid executing untrusted code on credential-bearing devices.

🔍 Aryaka Threat Research Lab has identified a campaign that distributes resume-like attachments to target HR and recruiting staff, deploying a component named BlackSanta that attempts to disable endpoint detection and response. The multi-stage infection chain performs system reconnaissance, sandbox and VM checks, and geographic and language filtering before downloading further payloads. Attackers appear Russian-speaking and leverage routine hiring workflows to increase success, while encrypted communications and data exfiltration help maintain persistence.

🚨Meta on Wednesday said it disabled over 150,000 accounts linked to scam centers in Southeast Asia as part of a coordinated, multinational enforcement effort with authorities across Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. The action follows a December 2025 pilot that removed 59,000 accounts, Pages and Groups and led to six arrest warrants. Meta also announced new protections: suspicious-account warnings on Facebook, WhatsApp device-link alerts for QR-based scams, expanded AI-assisted scam detection on Messenger, and plans to broaden advertiser verification.

⚠️ Salesforce is urging customers to review Experience Cloud guest configurations after a reported campaign tied to the cybercrime group ShinyHunters that claims breaches of hundreds of organizations. Attackers are exploiting overly permissive guest user settings and a modified version of the open-source Aura Inspector to scan the /s/sfsites/aura endpoint and extract data. Salesforce recommends auditing guest profiles, disabling public API access for guest users, restricting object visibility, and enforcing least-privilege.