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 261

Cybercrime Phishing Accountability Internet 261

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.

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Identity Theft Phishing Cryptocurrency Accountability 227

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 268

Data breaches Banking Cybercrime Advertising 268

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 233

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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.

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Authentication Engineering Malware Passwords 236

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

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Hacking Accountability Government Social Engineering 256

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.

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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

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Krebs on Security

OCTOBER 18, 2024

Brazilian authorities reportedly have arrested a 33-year-old man on suspicion of being “ USDoD ,” a prolific cybercriminal who rose to infamy in 2022 after infiltrating the FBI’s InfraGard program and leaking contact information for 80,000 members. More recently, USDoD was behind a breach at the consumer data broker National Public Data that led to the leak of Social Security numbers and other personal information for a significant portion of the U.S. population.

Social Engineering 237

Social Engineering Passwords Cybercrime Mobile 237

Krebs on Security

OCTOBER 9, 2024

The parents of a 19-year-old Connecticut honors student accused of taking part in a $243 million cryptocurrency heist in August were carjacked a week later — while out house-hunting in a brand new Lamborghini. Prosecutors say the couple was beaten and briefly kidnapped by six young men who traveled from Florida as part of a botched plan to hold the parents for ransom.

Cryptocurrency 265

Cryptocurrency Social Engineering Accountability Mobile 265

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.

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Engineering Internet Internet System Administration 234

Krebs on Security

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

A California man accused of failing to pay taxes on tens of millions of dollars allegedly earned from cybercrime also paid local police officers hundreds of thousands of dollars to help him extort, intimidate and silence rivals and former business partners, the government alleges. KrebsOnSecurity has learned that many of the man’s alleged targets were members of UGNazi , a hacker group behind multiple high-profile breaches and cyberattacks back in 2012.

Cryptocurrency 288

Cryptocurrency Government Internet Internet 288

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.

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Cryptocurrency Cybercrime Retail Government 271

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

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Phishing Scams Malware Passwords 319

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.

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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.

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Artificial Intelligence Surveillance Internet Internet 250

Krebs on Security

SEPTEMBER 2, 2024

Three men in the United Kingdom have pleaded guilty to operating otp[.]agency , a once popular online service that helped attackers intercept the one-time passcodes (OTPs) that many websites require as a second authentication factor in addition to passwords. Launched in November 2019, OTP Agency was a service for intercepting one-time passcodes needed to log in to various websites.

Accountability 274

Accountability Banking Passwords Scams 274

Krebs on Security

AUGUST 27, 2024

Malicious hackers are exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Versa Director , a software product used by many Internet and IT service providers. Researchers believe the activity is linked to Volt Typhoon , a Chinese cyber espionage group focused on infiltrating critical U.S. networks and laying the groundwork for the ability to disrupt communications between the United States and Asia during any future armed conflict with China.

Internet 312

Internet Internet Technology Engineering 312

Krebs on Security

AUGUST 23, 2024

The proliferation of new top-level domains (TLDs) has exacerbated a well-known security weakness: Many organizations set up their internal Microsoft authentication systems years ago using domain names in TLDs that didn’t exist at the time. Meaning, they are continuously sending their Windows usernames and passwords to domain names they do not control and which are freely available for anyone to register.

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DNS Internet Internet Authentication 308

Krebs on Security

AUGUST 19, 2024

New details are emerging about a breach at National Public Data (NPD), a consumer data broker that recently spilled hundreds of millions of Americans’ Social Security Numbers, addresses, and phone numbers online. KrebsOnSecurity has learned that another NPD data broker which shares access to the same consumer records inadvertently published the passwords to its back-end database in a file that was freely available from its homepage until today.

Passwords 360

Passwords Data breaches Accountability Data privacy 360

Krebs on Security

AUGUST 15, 2024

A great many readers this month reported receiving alerts that their Social Security Number, name, address and other personal information were exposed in a breach at a little-known but aptly-named consumer data broker called NationalPublicData.com. This post examines what we know about a breach that has exposed hundreds of millions of consumer records.

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Hacking Data breaches Identity Theft Accountability 351

Krebs on Security

AUGUST 13, 2024

Microsoft today released updates to fix at least 90 security vulnerabilities in Windows and related software, including a whopping six zero-day flaws that are already being actively exploited by attackers. Image: Shutterstock. This month’s bundle of update joy from Redmond includes patches for security holes in Office ,NET , Visual Studio , Azure , Co-Pilot , Microsoft Dynamics , Teams , Secure Boot, and of course Windows itself.

Internet 287

Internet Internet Malware Software 287

Krebs on Security

AUGUST 7, 2024

A partial selfie posted by Puchmade Dev to his Twitter account. Yes, that is a functioning handheld card skimming device, encrusted in diamonds. Underneath that are more medallions, including a diamond-studded bitcoin and payment card. In January, KrebsOnSecurity wrote about rapper Punchmade Dev , whose music videos sing the praises of a cybercrime lifestyle.

Banking 267

Banking Cybercrime Accountability Retail 267

Krebs on Security

AUGUST 5, 2024

A ransomware group called Dark Angels made headlines this past week when it was revealed the crime group recently received a record $75 million data ransom payment from a Fortune 50 company. Security experts say the Dark Angels have been around since 2021, but the group doesn’t get much press because they work alone and maintain a low profile, picking one target at a time and favoring mass data theft over disrupting the victim’s operations.

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Krebs on Security

JULY 31, 2024

More than a million domain names — including many registered by Fortune 100 firms and brand protection companies — are vulnerable to takeover by cybercriminals thanks to authentication weaknesses at a number of large web hosting providers and domain registrars, new research finds. Image: Shutterstock. Your Web browser knows how to find a site like example.com thanks to the global Domain Name System (DNS), which serves as a kind of phone book for the Internet by translating human-frie

DNS 286

DNS Internet Internet Phishing 286

Krebs on Security

JULY 26, 2024

Google says it recently fixed an authentication weakness that allowed crooks to circumvent the email verification required to create a Google Workspace account, and leverage that to impersonate a domain holder at third-party services that allow logins through Google’s “Sign in with Google” feature. Last week, KrebsOnSecurity heard from a reader who said they received a notice that their email address had been used to create a potentially malicious Workspace account that Google

Accountability 295

Accountability Cryptocurrency Authentication Web Fraud 295

Krebs on Security

JULY 23, 2024

The Chinese company in charge of handing out domain names ending in “ top ” has been given until mid-August 2024 to show that it has put in place systems for managing phishing reports and suspending abusive domains, or else forfeit its license to sell domains. The warning comes amid the release of new findings that.top was the most common suffix in phishing websites over the past year, second only to domains ending in “ com.” Image: Shutterstock.

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Phishing DNS Scams Technology 292

Krebs on Security

JULY 19, 2024

A faulty software update from cybersecurity vendor Crowdstrike crippled countless Microsoft Windows computers across the globe today, disrupting everything from airline travel and financial institutions to hospitals and businesses online. Crowdstrike said a fix has been deployed, but experts say the recovery from this outage could take some time, as Crowdstrike’s solution needs to be applied manually on a per-machine basis.

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Krebs on Security

JULY 15, 2024

At least a dozen organizations with domain names at domain registrar Squarespace saw their websites hijacked last week. Squarespace bought all assets of Google Domains a year ago, but many customers still haven’t set up their new accounts. Experts say malicious hackers learned they could commandeer any migrated Squarespace accounts that hadn’t yet been registered, merely by supplying an email address tied to an existing domain.

Accountability 292

Accountability Cryptocurrency Passwords DNS 292

Krebs on Security

JULY 12, 2024

AT&T Corp. disclosed today that a new data breach has exposed phone call and text message records for roughly 110 million people — nearly all of its customers. AT&T said it delayed disclosing the incident in response to “national security and public safety concerns,” noting that some of the records included data that could be used to determine where a call was made or text message sent.

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Data breaches Passwords Authentication Accountability 334

Krebs on Security

JULY 10, 2024

The Russia-based cybercrime group dubbed “ Fin7 ,” known for phishing and malware attacks that have cost victim organizations an estimated $3 billion in losses since 2013, was declared dead last year by U.S. authorities. But experts say Fin7 has roared back to life in 2024 — setting up thousands of websites mimicking a range of media and technology companies — with the help of Stark Industries Solutions , a sprawling hosting provider that is a persistent source of cyberat

Phishing 292

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Krebs on Security

JULY 9, 2024

Microsoft Corp. today issued software updates to plug at least 139 security holes in various flavors of Windows and other Microsoft products. Redmond says attackers are already exploiting at least two of the vulnerabilities in active attacks against Windows users. The first Microsoft zero-day this month is CVE-2024-38080 , a bug in the Windows Hyper-V component that affects Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022 systems.

Internet 265

Internet Internet Engineering Software 265

Krebs on Security

JUNE 15, 2024

A 22-year-old man from the United Kingdom arrested this week in Spain is allegedly the ringleader of Scattered Spider , a cybercrime group suspected of hacking into Twilio , LastPass , DoorDash , Mailchimp , and nearly 130 other organizations over the past two years. The Spanish daily Murcia Today reports the suspect was wanted by the FBI and arrested in Palma de Mallorca as he tried to board a flight to Italy.

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Krebs on Security

JUNE 11, 2024

Microsoft today released updates to fix more than 50 security vulnerabilities in Windows and related software, a relatively light Patch Tuesday this month for Windows users. The software giant also responded to a torrent of negative feedback on a new feature of Redmond’s flagship operating system that constantly takes screenshots of whatever users are doing on their computers, saying the feature would no longer be enabled by default.

Internet 252

Internet Internet Software Malware 252

Krebs on Security

MAY 30, 2024

Law enforcement agencies in the United States and Europe today announced Operation Endgame, a coordinated action against some of the most popular cybercrime platforms for delivering ransomware and data-stealing malware.

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Krebs on Security

MAY 29, 2024

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) today said they arrested the alleged operator of 911 S5 , a ten-year-old online anonymity service that was powered by what the director of the FBI called “likely the world’s largest botnet ever.” The arrest coincided with the seizure of the 911 S5 website and supporting infrastructure, which the government says turned computers running various “free VPN” products into Internet traffic relays that facilitated billions of dollars i

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Krebs on Security

MAY 28, 2024

The U.S. Department of the Treasury today unveiled sanctions against three Chinese nationals for allegedly operating 911 S5 , an online anonymity service that for many years was the easiest and cheapest way to route one’s Web traffic through malware-infected computers around the globe. KrebsOnSecurity identified one of the three men in a July 2022 investigation into 911 S5, which was massively hacked and then closed ten days later.

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