All news with #phishing tag

🛡️ APT24 has deployed a previously undocumented downloader called BADAUDIO to maintain persistent remote access in a nearly three-year campaign beginning November 2022. The highly obfuscated C++ downloader uses control-flow flattening and DLL search-order hijacking to fetch AES-encrypted payloads from hard-coded C2s; analysts observed Cobalt Strike delivered in at least one case. Operators distributed BADAUDIO via watering holes, supply-chain compromises, typosquatted CDNs and targeted phishing, employing FingerprintJS and encrypted cloud-hosted archives to selectively target victims and evade detection.

🛡️ Researchers report that the Sneaky2FA phishing-as-a-service kit now includes browser-in-the-browser (BITB) functionality that lets attackers embed a fake browser window with a customizable URL bar to mimic legitimate sites such as Microsoft. The iframe-backed pop-up captures credentials and MFA codes in real time, enabling attackers to hijack active sessions. This change lowers the skill threshold for criminals and undermines many signature-based defenses, prompting calls for updated training and stronger browser configurations.

🔍 Google filed a court complaint alleging a "cybercriminal group in China" sold branded "Lighthouse" phishing kits that let unsophisticated fraudsters run large-scale SMS and e-commerce scams. The kits bundle hundreds of fake-website templates, domain setup tools, and subscription licenses offered weekly, monthly, seasonal, annual, or permanent. Campaigns often begin with texts about overdue tolls or package redelivery and sometimes appear as ads (including ads that persisted until Google suspended accounts). Victims who click are redirected to fraudulent sites that solicit passwords, credit card numbers, or payments purportedly accepted via wallets such as Google Pay.

🔒 Check Point Research reports a significant increase in Black Friday–themed domain registrations, with about 1 in 11 newly registered domains classified as malicious. Brand impersonation is a primary tactic: roughly 1 in 25 new domains referencing marketplaces like Amazon, AliExpress, and Alibaba are flagged. Attackers create convincing fake storefronts that copy logos, layouts, and imagery to harvest credentials and payment data, with recent campaigns impersonating HOKA and AliExpress demonstrating active phishing tied to seasonal promotions.

🔒 CTM360 reports a large-scale campaign, dubbed HackOnChat, that deploys deceptive web portals and impersonation pages to compromise WhatsApp accounts worldwide. Attackers rapidly create thousands of malicious URLs on inexpensive domains and web-building platforms, luring users with fake security alerts and lookalike login pages. Once accounts are taken, they are abused to defraud contacts, harvest sensitive data, and expand the scam.

🔒 Sneaky2FA has integrated a Browser-in-the-Browser (BitB) pop-up that impersonates Microsoft sign-in windows and adapts to the victim’s OS and browser. Used alongside its existing SVG-based and attacker-in-the-middle (AitM) proxying, the BitB layer renders a fake URL bar and loads a reverse-proxy Microsoft login to capture credentials and active session tokens, enabling access even when 2FA is active. The kit also employs heavy obfuscation and conditional loading to evade analysis.

🔒 Push Security says the Sneaky 2FA Phishing-as-a-Service kit now leverages Browser-in-the-Browser (BitB) pop-ups to impersonate Microsoft login pages and conceal malicious URLs. Victims first pass a Cloudflare Turnstile bot check before a fake "Sign in with Microsoft" flow is loaded in an embedded BitB window that exfiltrates credentials and session data. The campaign pairs conditional loading, developer‑tool blocking, obfuscation, and rapid domain rotation; organizations should tighten conditional access and users should avoid unknown links and browser extensions.

🔐 The Tycoon 2FA phishing kit is a turnkey, scalable Phishing-as-a-Service that automates real-time credential and MFA relay attacks against Microsoft 365 and Gmail. It provisions fake login pages and reverse proxies, intercepts usernames, passwords and session cookies, then proxies the MFA flow so victims unknowingly authenticate attackers. The kit includes obfuscation, compression, bot-filtering, CAPTCHA and debugger checks to evade detection and only reveals full behavior to human targets. Organizations are urged to adopt FIDO2-based, hardware-backed biometric and domain-bound authentication to prevent such relay attacks.

🔐 Tycoon 2FA is a turnkey phishing kit that automates real-time MFA relays, enabling attackers to capture credentials, session cookies, and live authentication flows for Microsoft 365 and Gmail. It requires no coding skill, includes layered evasion (obfuscation, compression, bot filtering and debugger checks), and proxies MFA prompts so victims unknowingly authenticate attackers. The result undermines SMS, TOTP and push methods and can enable full session takeover. The article urges migration to phishing-resistant FIDO2 hardware and domain-bound biometric authenticators.

🛡️ Mandiant has linked suspected Iranian espionage actors to a sustained campaign by UNC1549 that deployed backdoors such as TWOSTROKE and DEEPROOT against aerospace, aviation, and defense organizations in the Middle East. Operating from late 2023 through 2025, the group abused trusted third parties and VDI sessions to pivot into customer environments and leveraged highly targeted, role‑relevant phishing. Observed operations combined credential theft, lateral movement, custom tunnellers and credential‑stealing utilities to execute long‑term reconnaissance and data exfiltration.

✉️ A vulnerability in DoorDash's DoorDash for Business platform allowed an attacker to create a free account, add an 'Employee' entry containing arbitrary HTML in a budget name field, and send emails that appeared to originate from no-reply@doordash.com using official templates. The researcher known as doublezero7 supplied a proof-of-concept showing stored HTML rendered in outgoing messages, enabling persuasive phishing. DoorDash patched the flaw after public pressure, and a dispute over disclosure and alleged extortion followed.

🔒 LinkedIn has emerged as a major vector for phishing, with a growing share of attacks moving off email and onto social and messaging platforms. Attackers exploit in‑app DMs, account takeovers, and AI automation to target executives and high‑value roles, often aiming to compromise SSO providers such as Microsoft Entra and Google Workspace. Because these messages bypass traditional email security and lack inbox quarantine tools, browser-based defenses and SSO/MFA hygiene are recommended to detect and block evasive campaigns. The article outlines five reasons this shift increases enterprise risk.

🧠 Social engineering exploits human psychology to bypass technical and physical safeguards, using impersonation, deception and manipulation to gain access to systems, facilities or data. Attackers commonly use phishing, vishing, smishing, pretexting, baiting and tailgating after extensive reconnaissance to craft believable lures. High-value targets are often pursued via spear-phishing or BEC schemes, while opportunistic attackers rely on mass phishing. Practical defenses include ongoing security awareness training, verified procedures for urgent requests and realistic simulation tests; tools such as Social-Engineer Toolkit help organizations test their resilience.

🔔 DoorDash disclosed an October data breach after an employee fell for a social engineering scam, allowing an unauthorized third party to access certain user contact information. Notified users were told exposed data varied by person and could include names, physical addresses, phone numbers and email addresses; the company said Social Security Numbers were not accessed. DoorDash said it shut off access, engaged a forensic firm, notified law enforcement, and warned users to watch for phishing; affected users can call a helpline and cite reference code B155060.

💳 A Russian-speaking threat actor has registered more than 4,300 domains since early 2025 to host convincing fake travel and hotel booking pages that harvest payment card data. According to Netcraft researcher Andrew Brandt, the campaign—active since February—uses a customizable phishing kit that serves branded pages for platforms like Booking, Expedia, and Airbnb and supports 43 languages. The kit requires a unique AD_CODE in the URL to render targeted branding (otherwise visitors see a blank page), employs fake Cloudflare-style CAPTCHA, and persists state in a cookie so subsequent pages maintain consistent impersonation. Victims are prompted to pay a deposit; entered card numbers, expiry and CVV are processed in the background while a bogus support chat guides users through a sham 3D Secure step to complete the theft.

⚠️ Security researchers disclosed a novel attack called AI sidebar spoofing that allows malicious browser extensions to place counterfeit in‑page AI assistants that visually mimic legitimate sidebars. Demonstrated against Comet and confirmed for Atlas, the extension injects JavaScript, forwards queries to a real LLM when requested, and selectively alters replies to inject phishing links, malicious OAuth prompts, or harmful terminal commands. Users who install extensions without scrutiny face a tangible risk.

📱 Google has filed suit in the Southern District of New York to unmask and disrupt 25 unnamed operators tied to Lighthouse, a China-based phishing kit that has victimized over one million people across 120 countries. The complaint alleges Lighthouse powers a “Smishing Triad” that spoofs trusted brands, blasts mass text lures, and automates enrollment of stolen cards into mobile wallets using one-time verification codes. Google asserts trademark infringement and RICO claims and seeks to dismantle the coordinated groups behind the service.

🔐 This ThreatsDay Bulletin surveys major cyber activity shaping November 2025, from exploited Cisco zero‑days and active malware campaigns to regulatory moves and AI-related leaks. Highlights include CISA's emergency directive after some Cisco updates remained vulnerable, a large-scale study finding 65% of AI firms leaked secrets on GitHub, and a prolific phishing operation abusing Facebook Business Suite. The roundup stresses practical mitigations—verify patch versions, enable secret scanning, and strengthen incident reporting and red‑teaming practices.

🔐 Password managers centralize credentials but are attractive targets for attackers who exploit phishing, malware, vendor breaches, fake apps and software vulnerabilities. Recent incidents — including a 2022 LastPass compromise and an ESET‑reported North Korean campaign — demonstrate how adversaries can exfiltrate vault data or trick users into surrendering master passwords. To reduce risk, use a long unique master passphrase, enable 2FA, keep software and browsers updated, install reputable endpoint security, and only download official apps from trusted stores.

🛡️ Google has asked a US court to dismantle infrastructure used by the Lighthouse phishing‑as‑a‑service operation after identifying at least 107 sign‑in templates that mimic Google branding. The service is marketed to attackers who send smishing links and host fraudulent sign‑in pages to harvest credentials. Google also urged Congress to consider GUARD, Foreign Robocall Elimination and SCAM bills to bolster enforcement and funding. The company declined additional comment.