All news with #phishing tag

LinkedIn Phishing Targets Finance Executives With Fake Board

🔒 Hackers are exploiting LinkedIn direct messages to phish finance executives with messages claiming to invite recipients to an executive board and leading to credential-harvesting pages. Push Security says victims are redirected — including via a Google open redirect — to a Firebase-hosted 'LinkedIn Cloud Share' page that urges users to click a 'View with Microsoft' button. That flow then presents a Cloudflare Turnstile and a fake Microsoft sign-in used as an adversary-in-the-middle to capture credentials and session cookies; organizations should verify senders, avoid unsolicited links, and enforce MFA and conditional access.

Protecting Older Family Members From Financial Scams

🔒Elder fraud is rising sharply: in 2024 Americans aged 60+ reported nearly $4.9 billion lost to online scams, with an average loss of about $83,000 per victim. Effective protection pairs ongoing, shame-free family communication with practical technical measures and a clear remediation plan. Teach relatives to use a password manager, enable two-factor authentication, block popups and robocalls, keep devices updated, and verify any urgent financial request before acting.

Atroposia RAT Emerges on Dark Web with Modular Toolset

🔍 Security researchers at Varonis identified a modular remote access trojan named Atroposia, first seen on October 15 and promoted on underground forums. The toolkit includes encrypted C2 channels, hidden remote desktop takeover (HRDP Connect), credential and cryptocurrency wallet theft, DNS hijacking, vulnerability scanning and robust persistence. It is offered via subscription tiers and can be combined with services like SpamGPT and MatrixPDF to automate phishing and delivery. Recommended defenses include phishing reduction, timely patching, MFA enforcement and monitoring for post-compromise activity.

BiDi Swap: Bidirectional Text Trick Makes Fake URLs Look Real

🔍 Varonis Threat Labs highlights BiDi Swap, a technique that exploits Unicode bidirectional rendering to make malicious URLs appear legitimate. By mixing Right-to-Left and Left-to-Right scripts, attackers can visually move parameters, paths, or subdomains into the apparent host name to facilitate phishing and spoofing. Browser defenses vary — some highlight domains or flag lookalikes while others leave gaps — so the report urges user caution and vendor improvements.

CoPhish: Microsoft Copilot Studio Agents Steal OAuth Tokens

🔐 Datadog Security Labs has described a new phishing technique called CoPhish that abuses Copilot Studio agents to present fraudulent OAuth consent requests on legitimate Microsoft-hosted demo pages. Attackers can configure an agent’s Login topic to deliver a malicious sign-in button that redirects to a hostile application and exfiltrates session tokens. Microsoft confirmed it will address the underlying causes in a future update and recommends governance and consent hardening to reduce exposure.

Phishing Campaign Targets LastPass Users with 'Death' Lure

⚠️ LastPass customers are being targeted by a phishing campaign that falsely notifies recipients that a family member uploaded a death certificate to request legacy access. Messages spoof the LastPass domain and include a cancellation link that redirects to an attacker-controlled site asking for the master password. Some victims have also received phone calls pressing the same ruse. LastPass warns it never asks for master passwords and has removed the initial phishing site.

Smishing Triad Linked to 194,000 Malicious Domains

📱 Unit 42 attributes a sprawling smishing campaign to the China-linked Smishing Triad, tying it to 194,345 FQDNs and more than 194,000 malicious domains registered since January 1, 2024. Most root domains are registered through Dominet (HK) Limited yet resolve to U.S.-hosted infrastructure, primarily on Cloudflare (AS13335). Campaigns impersonate USPS, toll services, banks, exchanges and delivery services, using rapid domain churn to evade detection. The operation has reportedly generated over $1 billion in three years and increasingly targets brokerage and banking accounts to enable market manipulation.

Fake LastPass inheritance emails used to steal vaults

🔒 LastPass warns customers of a sophisticated phishing campaign that uses fake inheritance emails claiming a family member uploaded a death certificate to request emergency access to a user's vault. The messages include an agent ID and a link that redirects victims to a fraudulent page on lastpassrecovery[.]com where the victim is prompted to enter their master password. In some incidents attackers also called victims while posing as LastPass staff. The campaign, active since mid‑October and attributed to financially motivated group CryptoChameleon (UNC5356), has expanded to target passkeys as well.

APT36 Targets Indian Government with Golang DeskRAT

🔐 Sekoia observed Transparent Tribe (APT36) conducting spear-phishing campaigns in Aug–Sep 2025 that deliver a Golang remote access trojan dubbed DeskRAT. The attacks use ZIP attachments containing malicious .desktop files that display a decoy PDF while executing the payload, specifically targeting BOSS Linux systems. DeskRAT establishes WebSocket C2, supports multiple persistence mechanisms, and includes modules for harvesting and exfiltrating WhatsApp and Chrome data. Researchers also reported the use of "stealth servers" and a shift from cloud-hosted distribution to dedicated staging infrastructure.

Vietnam Actors Use Fake Job Postings to Hijack Ad Accounts

🔎 GTIG describes a targeted campaign by a Vietnam-based cluster tracked as UNC6229 that uses fake job postings on legitimate platforms to socially engineer remote digital advertising workers. Victims are enticed to open password-protected attachments or visit convincing phishing portals that harvest corporate credentials and can bypass MFA. The actors abuse reputable CRM and SaaS services to increase trust, deliver remote access trojans, and ultimately take over high-value advertising and social media accounts for sale or resale.

Global Smishing Campaign Targets Toll, Delivery, Services

🚨 Unit 42 attributes a widespread smishing campaign to the Smishing Triad that uses urgent SMS messages and realistic phishing pages to impersonate toll, delivery and other critical services. Since April 2024 the operation has registered and churned over 194,000 malicious domains and 136,900 root domains, leveraging a Hong Kong registrar while primarily hosting on U.S. cloud infrastructure. The campaign appears powered by a large phishing-as-a-service ecosystem and seeks PII, credentials and payment data. Advanced URL Filtering and Advanced DNS Security provide protections; contact Unit 42 Incident Response for urgent help.

'Jingle Thief' Exploits Cloud to Steal Gift Cards at Scale

🔒Researchers detail a threat cluster called Jingle Thief that leverages phishing and smishing to harvest credentials and compromise cloud environments of retailers and consumer services to issue unauthorized gift cards. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 links the activity to financially motivated actors and notes coordinated campaigns in April-May 2025. The attackers favor identity misuse over malware, persistently mapping tenants, abusing Microsoft 365 services, and minimizing logs to sustain large-scale fraud.

Iranian MuddyWater Targets 100+ Governments with Phoenix

⚠ State-sponsored Iranian group MuddyWater deployed version 4 of the Phoenix backdoor against more than 100 government and diplomatic entities across the Middle East and North Africa. The campaign began on August 19 with phishing sent from a NordVPN-compromised account and used malicious Word macros to drop a FakeUpdate loader that writes C:\ProgramData\sysprocupdate.exe. Researchers observed Phoenix v4 using AES-encrypted embedded payloads, COM-based persistence, WinHTTP C2 communications and an accompanying Chrome infostealer, while server-side C2 was taken offline on August 24, suggesting a shift in operational tooling.

PhantomCaptcha campaign targets Ukraine relief organisations

🛡️Researchers uncovered the 'PhantomCaptcha' phishing campaign that impersonated the Ukrainian President's Office to target humanitarian and government organisations supporting Ukraine relief efforts. Beginning 8 October 2025, malicious PDFs directed recipients to a fake Zoom site and a Cloudflare-like verification page that tricked users into executing PowerShell via a 'Paste and Run' technique. The multi-stage malware included a large obfuscated downloader, a reconnaissance module and a WebSocket-based RAT. SentinelLABS and the Digital Security Lab of Ukraine advise monitoring PowerShell, enforcing execution policies and tracking suspicious WebSocket connections.

Jingle Thief: Inside a Cloud Gift Card Fraud Campaign

🔍Unit 42 details the Jingle Thief campaign, a Morocco‑based, financially motivated operation that uses phishing and smishing to harvest Microsoft 365 credentials and abuse cloud services to commit large‑scale gift card fraud. The actors maintain prolonged, stealthy access for reconnaissance across SharePoint, OneDrive and Exchange, and rely on internal phishing, inbox rules and rogue device enrollment in Entra ID to persist and issue unauthorized cards. The report (cluster CL‑CRI‑1032) links the activity to Atlas Lion/STORM‑0539 and emphasizes identity‑centric detections and mitigations.

AI-Enabled Ransomware: CISOs’ Top Security Concern

🛡️ CrowdStrike’s 2025 ransomware survey finds that AI is compressing attacker timelines and enhancing phishing, malware creation, and social engineering, forcing defenders to react in minutes rather than hours. 78% of respondents reported a ransomware incident in the past year, yet fewer than 25% recovered within 24 hours and paying victims often faced repeat compromise and data theft. CISOs rank AI-enabled ransomware as their top AI-related security concern, and many organizations are accelerating adoption of AI detection, automated response, and improved training.

Analyzing ClickFix: Why Browser Copy-Paste Attacks Rise

🔐 ClickFix attacks trick users into copying and executing malicious code from a webpage—often presented as a CAPTCHA or a prompt to 'fix' an error—so the payload runs locally without a download. Researchers link the technique to Interlock and multiple public breaches and note delivery has shifted from email to SEO poisoning and malvertising. The articles says clipboard copying via JavaScript and heavy obfuscation let these pages evade scanners, and that traditional EDR and DLP often miss the attack. Push Security recommends browser-based copy-and-paste detection to block attacks before the endpoint is reached.

Europol Dismantles International SIM Farm Network; SIMCARTEL

🚨 Europol announced the disruption of a sophisticated cybercrime-as-a-service SIM farm in Operation SIMCARTEL, resulting in seven arrests and 26 searches across multiple countries. Authorities seized 1,200 SIM box devices containing about 40,000 active SIM cards, dismantled five servers and took over two websites, and froze significant cash and cryptocurrency assets. The platform supplied numbers from over 80 countries and is tied to the creation of more than 49 million online accounts used in phishing, smishing, investment fraud and other serious offences.

New .NET CAPI Backdoor Targets Russian Auto and E-commerce

🔒 Seqrite Labs uncovered a new .NET implant named CAPI Backdoor linked to a phishing campaign targeting Russian automobile and e-commerce organizations. The attack leverages a ZIP archive containing a decoy Russian tax notice and a Windows LNK that loads a malicious adobe.dll via the legitimate rundll32.exe. The backdoor gathers system and browser data, takes screenshots, and communicates with a remote C2 for commands and exfiltration. Persistence is achieved through scheduled tasks and a Startup LNK.

Silver Fox Expands Winos 4.0 Attacks to Japan, Malaysia

🔎 Silver Fox operators have expanded the Winos 4.0 (ValleyRAT) campaign from China and Taiwan to target Japan and Malaysia, and are also deploying a secondary RAT tracked as HoldingHands. The actors use phishing emails with booby‑trapped PDFs, SEO‑poisoned pages and targeted .LNK résumé lures to deliver multiple payloads, including Winos modules and HoldingHands. Observed techniques include DLL sideloading, Task Scheduler recovery abuse, anti‑VM checks and AV termination to maintain persistence and evade detection.