Krebs on Security

APRIL 8, 2025

Microsoft today released updates to plug at least 121 security holes in its Windows operating systems and software, including one vulnerability that is already being exploited in the wild. Eleven of those flaws earned Microsoft’s most-dire “critical” rating, meaning malware or malcontents could exploit them with little to no interaction from Windows users.

Software 177

Software Media Internet Internet 177

Krebs on Security

APRIL 4, 2025

A Minnesota cybersecurity and computer forensics expert whose testimony has featured in thousands of courtroom trials over the past 30 years is facing questions about his credentials and an inquiry from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Cybersecurity 286

Cybersecurity 286

Krebs on Security

MARCH 2, 2025

A Minnesota cybersecurity and computer forensics expert whose testimony has featured in thousands of courtroom trials over the past 30 years is facing questions about his credentials and an inquiry from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Legal experts say the inquiry could be grounds to reopen a number of adjudicated cases in which the expert’s testimony may have been pivotal.

Computers and Electronics 199

Computers and Electronics Education Cybersecurity Manufacturing 199

Krebs on Security

MARCH 27, 2025

Many successful phishing attacks result in a financial loss or malware infection. But falling for some phishing scams, like those currently targeting Russians searching online for organizations that are fighting the Kremlin war machine, can cost you your freedom or your life. The real website of the Ukrainian paramilitary group “Freedom of Russia” legion.

Phishing 225

Phishing Government Engineering Internet 225

Krebs on Security

MARCH 21, 2025

Authorities in at least two U.S. states last week independently announced arrests of Chinese nationals accused of perpetrating a novel form of tap-to-pay fraud using mobile devices. Details released by authorities so far indicate the mobile wallets being used by the scammers were created through online phishing scams, and that the accused were relying on a custom Android app to relay tap-to-pay transactions from mobile devices located in China.

Phishing 223

Phishing Mobile Scams Banking 223

Krebs on Security

MARCH 14, 2025

A clever malware deployment scheme first spotted in targeted attacks last year has now gone mainstream. In this scam, dubbed “ ClickFix ,” the visitor to a hacked or malicious website is asked to distinguish themselves from bots by pressing a combination of keyboard keys that causes Microsoft Windows to download password-stealing malware.

Phishing 283

Phishing Malware Scams Passwords 283

Krebs on Security

MARCH 11, 2025

Microsoft today issued more than 50 security updates for its various Windows operating systems, including fixes for a whopping six zero-day vulnerabilities that are already seeing active exploitation. Two of the zero-day flaws include CVE-2025-24991 and CVE-2025-24993 , both vulnerabilities in NTFS , the default file system for Windows and Windows Server.

System Administration 238

System Administration Engineering Internet Internet 238

Krebs on Security

MARCH 11, 2025

Authorities in India today arrested the alleged co-founder of Garantex , a cryptocurrency exchange sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2022 for facilitating tens of billions of dollars in money laundering by transnational criminal and cybercriminal organizations. Sources close to the investigation told KrebsOnSecurity the Lithuanian national Aleksej Besciokov , 46, was apprehended while vacationing on the coast of India with his family.

Ransomware 276

Ransomware Cryptocurrency Marketing Government 276

Krebs on Security

MARCH 7, 2025

In September 2023, KrebsOnSecurity published findings from security researchers who concluded that a series of six-figure cyberheists across dozens of victims resulted from thieves cracking master passwords stolen from the password manager service LastPass in 2022.

Password Management 276

Password Management Hacking Passwords 276

Krebs on Security

FEBRUARY 28, 2025

One of the most notorious providers of abuse-friendly “bulletproof” web hosting for cybercriminals has started routing its operations through networks run by the Russian antivirus and security firm Kaspersky Lab , KrebsOnSecurity has learned. Security experts say the Russia-based service provider Prospero OOO (the triple O is the Russian version of “LLC”) has long been a persistent source of malicious software, botnet controllers, and a torrent of phishing websites.

Malware 260

Malware Antivirus Software DDOS 260

Krebs on Security

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

A U.S. Army soldier who pleaded guilty last week to leaking phone records for high-ranking U.S. government officials searched online for non-extradition countries and for an answer to the question “can hacking be treason?” prosecutors in the case said Wednesday. The government disclosed the details in a court motion to keep the defendant in custody until he is discharged from the military.

Hacking 257

Hacking Government Identity Theft Accountability 257

Krebs on Security

FEBRUARY 13, 2025

In mid-March 2024, KrebsOnSecurity revealed that the founder of the personal data removal service Onerep also founded dozens of people-search companies. Shortly after that investigation was published, Mozilla said it would stop bundling Onerep with the Firefox browser and wind down its partnership with the company. But nearly a year later, Mozilla is still promoting it to Firefox users.

Data breaches 197

Data breaches Marketing Passwords Risk 197

Krebs on Security

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

Microsoft today issued security updates to fix at least 56 vulnerabilities in its Windows operating systems and supported software, including two zero-day flaws that are being actively exploited. All supported Windows operating systems will receive an update this month for a buffer overflow vulnerability that carries the catchy name CVE-2025-21418. This patch should be a priority for enterprises, as Microsoft says it is being exploited, has low attack complexity, and no requirements for user int

Artificial Intelligence 211

Artificial Intelligence Engineering Software Internet 211

Krebs on Security

FEBRUARY 6, 2025

New mobile apps from the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek have remained among the top three “free” downloads for Apple and Google devices since their debut on Jan. 25, 2025. But experts caution that many of DeepSeek’s design choices — such as using hard-coded encryption keys, and sending unencrypted user and device data to Chinese companies — introduce a number of glaring security and privacy risks.

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Risk Artificial Intelligence Mobile Encryption 301

Krebs on Security

FEBRUARY 4, 2025

The FBI joined authorities across Europe last week in seizing domain names for Cracked and Nulled , English-language cybercrime forums with millions of users that trafficked in stolen data, hacking tools and malware. An investigation into the history of these communities shows their apparent co-founders quite openly operate an Internet service provider and a pair of e-commerce platforms catering to buyers and sellers on both forums.

eCommerce 216

eCommerce Cybercrime Accountability Passwords 216

Krebs on Security

JANUARY 31, 2025

The FBI and authorities in The Netherlands this week seized dozens of servers and domains for a hugely popular spam and malware dissemination service operating out of Pakistan. The proprietors of the service, who use the collective nickname “ The Manipulaters ,” have been the subject of three stories published here since 2015. The FBI said the main clientele are organized crime groups that try to trick victim companies into making payments to a third party.

Phishing 271

Phishing Cybercrime Advertising Malware 271

Krebs on Security

JANUARY 22, 2025

The payment card giant MasterCard just fixed a glaring error in its domain name server settings that could have allowed anyone to intercept or divert Internet traffic for the company by registering an unused domain name. The misconfiguration persisted for nearly five years until a security researcher spent $300 to register the domain and prevent it from being grabbed by cybercriminals.

DNS 362

DNS Internet Internet Risk 362

Krebs on Security

JANUARY 16, 2025

Residents across the United States are being inundated with text messages purporting to come from toll road operators like E-ZPass , warning that recipients face fines if a delinquent toll fee remains unpaid. Researchers say the surge in SMS spam coincides with new features added to a popular commercial phishing kit sold in China that makes it simple to set up convincing lures spoofing toll road operators in multiple U.S. states.

Phishing 300

Phishing Scams Mobile Passwords 300

Krebs on Security

JANUARY 7, 2025

Besieged by scammers seeking to phish user accounts over the telephone, Apple and Google frequently caution that they will never reach out unbidden to users this way. However, new details about the internal operations of a prolific voice phishing gang show the group routinely abuses legitimate services at Apple and Google to force a variety of outbound communications to their users, including emails, automated phone calls and system-level messages sent to all signed-in devices.

Phishing 336

Phishing Cryptocurrency Accountability Social Engineering 336

Krebs on Security

DECEMBER 29, 2024

Image: Shutterstock, Dreamansions. KrebsOnSecurity.com turns 15 years old today! Maybe it’s indelicate to celebrate the birthday of a cybercrime blog that mostly publishes bad news, but happily many of 2024’s most engrossing security stories were about bad things happening to bad guys. It’s also an occasion to note that despite my publishing fewer stories than ever this past year, we somehow managed to attract near record levels of readership (thank you!).

Scams 240

Scams Cybercrime Cryptocurrency Social Engineering 240

Krebs on Security

DECEMBER 19, 2024

Cybercriminals are selling hundreds of thousands of credential sets stolen with the help of a cracked version of Acunetix , a powerful commercial web app vulnerability scanner, new research finds. The cracked software is being resold as a cloud-based attack tool by at least two different services, one of which KrebsOnSecurity traced to an information technology firm based in Turkey.

Hacking 248

Hacking Cybercrime Advertising Data breaches 248

Krebs on Security

DECEMBER 11, 2024

A financial firm registered in Canada has emerged as the payment processor for dozens of Russian cryptocurrency exchanges and websites hawking cybercrime services aimed at Russian-speaking customers, new research finds. Meanwhile, an investigation into the Vancouver street address used by this company shows it is home to dozens of foreign currency dealers, money transfer businesses, and cryptocurrency exchanges — none of which are physically located there.

Cryptocurrency 287

Cryptocurrency Banking Cybercrime Advertising 287

Krebs on Security

DECEMBER 4, 2024

In January 2022, KrebsOnSecurity identified a Russian man named Mikhail Matveev as “ Wazawaka ,” a cybercriminal who was deeply involved in the formation and operation of multiple ransomware groups. The U.S. government indicted Matveev as a top ransomware purveyor a year later, offering $10 million for information leading to his arrest. Last week, the Russian government reportedly arrested Matveev and charged him with creating malware used to extort companies.

Cybercrime 250

Cybercrime Ransomware Cryptocurrency Government 250

Krebs on Security

DECEMBER 3, 2024

Phishing attacks increased nearly 40 percent in the year ending August 2024, with much of that growth concentrated at a small number of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) — such as.shop ,top ,xyz — that attract scammers with rock-bottom prices and no meaningful registration requirements, new research finds. Meanwhile, the nonprofit entity that oversees the domain name industry is moving forward with plans to introduce a slew of new gTLDs.

Cybercrime 298

Cybercrime Phishing Accountability Internet 298

Krebs on Security

NOVEMBER 21, 2024

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles this week unsealed criminal charges against five men alleged to be members of a hacking group responsible for dozens of cyber intrusions at major U.S. technology companies between 2021 and 2023, including LastPass , MailChimp , Okta , T-Mobile and Twilio. A visual depiction of the attacks by the SMS phishing group known as Scattered Spider, and Oktapus.

Identity Theft 267

Identity Theft Phishing Cryptocurrency Accountability 267

Krebs on Security

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

The financial technology firm Finastra is investigating the alleged large-scale theft of information from its internal file transfer platform, KrebsOnSecurity has learned. Finastra, which provides software and services to 45 of the world’s top 50 banks, notified customers of the security incident after a cybercriminal began selling more than 400 gigabytes of data purportedly stolen from the company.

Data breaches 306

Data breaches Banking Cybercrime Advertising 306

Krebs on Security

NOVEMBER 14, 2024

In December 2023, KrebsOnSecurity revealed the real-life identity of Rescator , the nickname used by a Russian cybercriminal who sold more than 100 million payment cards stolen from Target and Home Depot between 2013 and 2014. Moscow resident Mikhail Shefel , who confirmed using the Rescator identity in a recent interview, also admitted reaching out because he is broke and seeking publicity for several new money making schemes.

Retail 273

Retail Advertising Cryptocurrency Cybercrime 273

Krebs on Security

NOVEMBER 12, 2024

Microsoft today released updates to plug at least 89 security holes in its Windows operating systems and other software. November’s patch batch includes fixes for two zero-day vulnerabilities that are already being exploited by attackers, as well as two other flaws that were publicly disclosed prior to today. The zero-day flaw tracked as CVE-2024-49039 is a bug in the Windows Task Scheduler that allows an attacker to increase their privileges on a Windows machine.

Authentication 275

Authentication Engineering Malware Passwords 275

Krebs on Security

NOVEMBER 9, 2024

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is urging police departments and governments worldwide to beef up security around their email systems, citing a recent increase in cybercriminal services that use hacked police email accounts to send unauthorized subpoenas and customer data requests to U.S.-based technology companies. In an alert (PDF) published this week, the FBI said it has seen un uptick in postings on criminal forums regarding the process of emergency data requests (EDRs) and the sal

Hacking 293

Hacking Accountability Government Social Engineering 293

Krebs on Security

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

A number of cybercriminal innovations are making it easier for scammers to cash in on your upcoming travel plans. This story examines a recent spear-phishing campaign that ensued when a California hotel had its booking.com credentials stolen. We’ll also explore an array of cybercrime services aimed at phishers who target hotels that rely on the world’s most visited travel website.

Phishing 275

Phishing Accountability Artificial Intelligence Cybercrime 275

Krebs on Security

OCTOBER 30, 2024

Change Healthcare says it has notified approximately 100 million Americans that their personal, financial and healthcare records may have been stolen in a February 2024 ransomware attack that caused the largest ever known data breach of protected health information. Image: Tamer Tuncay, Shutterstock.com. A ransomware attack at Change Healthcare in the third week of February quickly spawned disruptions across the U.S. healthcare system that reverberated for months, thanks to the company’s c

Healthcare 298

Healthcare Insurance Computers and Electronics Data breaches 298

Krebs on Security

OCTOBER 17, 2024

The U.S. government on Wednesday announced the arrest and charging of two Sudanese brothers accused of running Anonymous Sudan (a.k.a. AnonSudan ), a cybercrime business known for launching powerful distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against a range of targets, including dozens of hospitals, news websites and cloud providers. The younger brother is facing charges that could land him life in prison for allegedly seeking to kill people with his attacks.

DDOS 269

DDOS Government Internet Internet 269

Krebs on Security

OCTOBER 8, 2024

Microsoft today released security updates to fix at least 117 security holes in Windows computers and other software, including two vulnerabilities that are already seeing active attacks. Also, Adobe plugged 52 security holes across a range of products, and Apple has addressed a bug in its new macOS 15 “ Sequoia ” update that broke many cybersecurity tools.

Engineering 274

Engineering Internet Internet System Administration 274

Krebs on Security

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

The United States today unveiled sanctions and indictments against the alleged proprietor of Joker’s Stash , a now-defunct cybercrime store that peddled tens of millions of payment cards stolen in some of the largest data breaches of the past decade. The government also indicted and sanctioned a top Russian cybercriminal known as Taleon , whose cryptocurrency exchange Cryptex has evolved into one of Russia’s most active money laundering networks.

Cryptocurrency 308

Cryptocurrency Cybercrime Retail Government 308

Krebs on Security

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024

Many GitHub users this week received a novel phishing email warning of critical security holes in their code. Those who clicked the link for details were asked to distinguish themselves from bots by pressing a combination of keyboard keys that causes Microsoft Windows to download password-stealing malware. While it’s unlikely that many programmers fell for this scam, it’s notable because less targeted versions of it are likely to be far more successful against the average Windows use

Phishing 325

Phishing Scams Malware Passwords 325

Krebs on Security

SEPTEMBER 18, 2024

Scammers are flooding Facebook with groups that purport to offer video streaming of funeral services for the recently deceased. Friends and family who follow the links for the streaming services are then asked to cough up their credit card information. Recently, these scammers have branched out into offering fake streaming services for nearly any kind of event advertised on Facebook.

Scams 64

Scams DNS Internet Internet 64

Krebs on Security

SEPTEMBER 10, 2024

Microsoft Corp. today released updates to fix at least 79 security vulnerabilities in its Windows operating systems and related software, including multiple flaws that are already showing up in active attacks. Microsoft also corrected a critical bug that has caused some Windows 10 PCs to remain dangerously unpatched against actively exploited vulnerabilities for several months this year.

Artificial Intelligence 287

Artificial Intelligence Surveillance Internet Internet 287