Beware: Malicious Google Ads Trick WinSCP Users into Installing Malware

Threat actors are leveraging manipulated search results and bogus Google ads that trick users who are looking to download legitimate software such as WinSCP into installing malware instead. Cybersecurity company Securonix is tracking the ongoing activity under the name SEO#LURKER. “The malicious advertisement directs the user to a compromised WordPress website gameeweb[.]com, which redirects the

Zero-Day Flaw in Zimbra Email Software Exploited by Four Hacker Groups

A zero-day flaw in the Zimbra Collaboration email software was exploited by four different groups in real-world attacks to pilfer email data, user credentials, and authentication tokens. "Most of this activity occurred after the initial fix became public on GitHub," Google Threat Analysis Group (TAG) said in a report shared with The Hacker News. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2023-37580 (CVSS score:

Reptar: New Intel CPU Vulnerability Impacts Multi-Tenant Virtualized Environments

Intel has released fixes to close out a high-severity flaw codenamed Reptar that impacts its desktop, mobile, and server CPUs. Tracked as CVE-2023-23583 (CVSS score: 8.8), the issue has the potential to "allow escalation of privilege and/or information disclosure and/or denial of service via local access." Successful exploitation of the vulnerability could also permit a bypass of the CPU's

Vietnamese Hackers Using New Delphi-Powered Malware to Target Indian Marketers

The Vietnamese threat actors behind the Ducktail stealer malware have been linked to a new campaign that ran between March and early October 2023, targeting marketing professionals in India with an aim to hijack Facebook business accounts. "An important feature that sets it apart is that, unlike previous campaigns, which relied on .NET applications, this one used Delphi as the programming

SecuriDropper: New Android Dropper-as-a-Service Bypasses Google's Defenses

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a new dropper-as-a-service (DaaS) for Android called SecuriDropper that bypasses new security restrictions imposed by Google and delivers the malware. Dropper malware on Android is designed to function as a conduit to install a payload on a compromised device, making it a lucrative business model for threat actors, who can advertise the capabilities

Google Play Store Highlights 'Independent Security Review' Badge for VPN Apps

Google is rolling out a new banner to highlight the "Independent security review" badge in the Play Store's Data safety section for Android VPN apps that have undergone a Mobile Application Security Assessment (MASA) audit. "We've launched this banner beginning with VPN apps due to the sensitive and significant amount of user data these apps handle," Nataliya Stanetsky of the Android Security

Trojanized PyCharm Software Version Delivered via Google Search Ads

A new malvertising campaign has been observed capitalizing on a compromised website to promote spurious versions of PyCharm on Google search results by leveraging Dynamic Search Ads. "Unbeknownst to the site owner, one of their ads was automatically created to promote a popular program for Python developers, and visible to people doing a Google search for it," Jérôme Segura, director of threat

Hackers Using MSIX App Packages to Infect Windows PCs with GHOSTPULSE Malware

A new cyber attack campaign has been observed using spurious MSIX Windows app package files for popular software such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Grammarly, and Cisco Webex to distribute a novel malware loader dubbed GHOSTPULSE. "MSIX is a Windows app package format that developers can leverage to package, distribute, and install their applications to Windows users," Elastic

Google Expands Its Bug Bounty Program to Tackle Artificial Intelligence Threats

Google has announced that it's expanding its Vulnerability Rewards Program (VRP) to compensate researchers for finding attack scenarios tailored to generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems in an effort to bolster AI safety and security. "Generative AI raises new and different concerns than traditional digital security, such as the potential for unfair bias, model manipulation or

Malvertisers Using Google Ads to Target Users Searching for Popular Software

Details have emerged about a malvertising campaign that leverages Google Ads to direct users searching for popular software to fictitious landing pages and distribute next-stage payloads. Malwarebytes, which discovered the activity, said it's "unique in its way to fingerprint users and distribute time sensitive payloads." The attack singles out users searching for Notepad++ and PDF converters to

Google Play Protect Introduces Real-Time Code-Level Scanning for Android Malware

Google has announced an update to its Play Protect with support for real-time scanning at the code level to tackle novel malicious apps prior to downloading and installing them on Android devices. "Google Play Protect will now recommend a real-time app scan when installing apps that have never been scanned before to help detect emerging threats," the tech giant said. Google Play Protect is a 

Google TAG Detects State-Backed Threat Actors Exploiting WinRAR Flaw

A number of state-back threat actors from Russia and China have been observed exploiting a recent security flaw in the WinRAR archiver tool for Windows as part of their operations. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2023-38831 (CVSS score: 7.8), which allows attackers to execute arbitrary code when a user attempts to view a benign file within a ZIP archive. The shortcoming has been actively

HTTP/2 Rapid Reset Zero-Day Vulnerability Exploited to Launch Record DDoS Attacks

Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cloudflare, and Google on Tuesday said they took steps to mitigate record-breaking distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that relied on a novel technique called HTTP/2 Rapid Reset. The layer 7 attacks were detected in late August 2023, the companies said in a coordinated disclosure. The cumulative susceptibility to this attack is being tracked as CVE-2023-44487,

Google Adopts Passkeys as Default Sign-in Method for All Users

Google on Tuesday announced the ability for all users to set up passkeys by default, five months after it rolled out support for the FIDO Alliance-backed passwordless standard for Google Accounts on all platforms. "This means the next time you sign in to your account, you'll start seeing prompts to create and use passkeys, simplifying your future sign-ins," Google's Sriram Karra and Christiaan

Qualcomm Releases Patch for 3 new Zero-Days Under Active Exploitation

Chipmaker Qualcomm has released security updates to address 17 vulnerabilities in various components, while warning that three other zero-days have come under active exploitation. Of the 17 flaws, three are rated Critical, 13 are rated High, and one is rated Medium in severity. "There are indications from Google Threat Analysis Group and Google Project Zero that CVE-2023-33106, CVE-2023-33107,

Google Agrees to $93 Million Settlement in California's Location-Privacy Lawsuit

Google has agreed to pay $93 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. state of California over allegations that the company's location-privacy practices misled consumers and violated consumer protection laws. "Our investigation revealed that Google was telling its users one thing – that it would no longer track their location once they opted out – but doing the opposite and continuing to

Free Download Manager Site Compromised to Distribute Linux Malware to Users for 3+ Years

A download manager site served Linux users malware that stealthily stole passwords and other sensitive information for more than three years as part of a supply chain attack. The modus operandi entailed establishing a reverse shell to an actor-controlled server and installing a Bash stealer on the compromised system. The campaign, which took place between 2020 and 2022, is no longer active. "

Mozilla Rushes to Patch WebP Critical Zero-Day Exploit in Firefox and Thunderbird

Mozilla on Tuesday released security updates to resolve a critical zero-day vulnerability in Firefox and Thunderbird that has been actively exploited in the wild, a day after Google released a fix for the issue in its Chrome browser. The shortcoming, assigned the identifier CVE-2023-4863, is a heap buffer overflow flaw in the WebP image format that could result in arbitrary code execution when

Google Rushes to Patch Critical Chrome Vulnerability Exploited in the Wild - Update Now

Google on Monday rolled out out-of-band security patches to address a critical security flaw in its Chrome web browser that it said has been exploited in the wild. Tracked as CVE-2023-4863, the issue has been described as a case of heap buffer overflow that resides in the WebP image format that could result in arbitrary code execution or a crash. Apple Security Engineering and Architecture (SEAR

Google Chrome Rolls Out Support for 'Privacy Sandbox' to Bid Farewell to Tracking Cookies

Google has officially begun its rollout of Privacy Sandbox in the Chrome web browser to a majority of its users, nearly four months after it announced the plans. "We believe it is vital to both improve privacy and preserve access to information, whether it's news, a how-to-guide, or a fun video," Anthony Chavez, vice president of Privacy Sandbox initiatives at Google, said. "Without viable

Millions Infected by Spyware Hidden in Fake Telegram Apps on Google Play

Spyware masquerading as modified versions of Telegram have been spotted in the Google Play Store that’s designed to harvest sensitive information from compromised Android devices. According to Kaspersky security researcher Igor Golovin, the apps come with nefarious features to capture and exfiltrate names, user IDs, contacts, phone numbers, and chat messages to an actor-controlled server. The

Thousands of Android Malware Apps Using Stealthy APK Compression to Evade Detection

Threat actors are using Android Package (APK) files with unknown or unsupported compression methods to elude malware analysis. That's according to findings from Zimperium, which found 3,300 artifacts leveraging such compression algorithms in the wild. 71 of the identified samples can be loaded on the operating system without any problems. There is no evidence that the apps were available on the

Enhancing TLS Security: Google Adds Quantum-Resistant Encryption in Chrome 116

Google has announced plans to add support for quantum-resistant encryption algorithms in its Chrome browser, starting with version 116. "Chrome will begin supporting X25519Kyber768 for establishing symmetric secrets in TLS, starting in Chrome 116, and available behind a flag in Chrome 115," Devon O'Brien said in a post published Thursday. Kyber was chosen by the U.S. Department of Commerce's

New Statc Stealer Malware Emerges: Your Sensitive Data at Risk

A new information malware strain called Statc Stealer has been found infecting devices running Microsoft Windows to siphon sensitive personal and payment information. "Statc Stealer exhibits a broad range of stealing capabilities, making it a significant threat," Zscaler ThreatLabz researchers Shivam Sharma and Amandeep Kumar said in a technical report published this week. "It can steal

New Android 14 Security Feature: IT Admins Can Now Disable 2G Networks

Google has introduced a new security feature in Android 14 that allows IT administrators to disable support for 2G cellular networks in their managed device fleet. The search giant said it's introducing a second user setting to turn off support, at the model level, for null-ciphered cellular connections. "The Android Security Model assumes that all networks are hostile to keep users safe from

Malicious Apps Use Sneaky Versioning Technique to Bypass Google Play Store Scanners

Threat actors are leveraging a technique called versioning to evade Google Play Store's malware detections and target Android users. "Campaigns using versioning commonly target users' credentials, data, and finances," Google Cybersecurity Action Team (GCAT) said in its August 2023 Threat Horizons Report shared with The Hacker News. While versioning is not a new phenomenon, it's sneaky and hard

Google Messages Getting Cross-Platform End-to-End Encryption with MLS Protocol

Google has announced that it intends to add support for Message Layer Security (MLS) to its Messages service for Android and open source an implementation of the specification. "Most modern consumer messaging platforms (including Google Messages) support end-to-end encryption, but users today are limited to communicating with contacts who use the same platform," Giles Hogben, privacy engineering

Bad.Build Flaw in Google Cloud Build Raises Concerns of Privilege Escalation

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a privilege escalation vulnerability in Google Cloud that could enable malicious actors tamper with application images and infect users, leading to supply chain attacks. The issue, dubbed Bad.Build, is rooted in the Google Cloud Build service, according to cloud security firm Orca, which discovered and reported the issue. "By abusing the flaw and enabling

TeamTNT's Cloud Credential Stealing Campaign Now Targets Azure and Google Cloud

A malicious actor has been linked to a cloud credential stealing campaign in June 2023 that's focused on Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) services, marking the adversary's expansion in targeting beyond Amazon Web Services (AWS). The findings come from SentinelOne and Permiso, which said the "campaigns share similarity with tools attributed to the notorious TeamTNT cryptojacking crew,"

Two Spyware Apps on Google Play with 1.5 Million Users Sending Data to China

Two file management apps on the Google Play Store have been discovered to be spyware, putting the privacy and security of up to 1.5 million Android users at risk. These apps engage in deceptive behaviour and secretly send sensitive user data to malicious servers in China. Pradeo, a leading mobile security company, has uncovered this alarming infiltration. The report shows that both spyware apps,

Swedish Data Protection Authority Warns Companies Against Google Analytics Use

The Swedish data protection watchdog has warned companies against using Google Analytics due to risks posed by U.S. government surveillance, following similar moves by Austria, France, and Italy last year. The development comes in the aftermath of an audit initiated by the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY) against four companies CDON, Coop, Dagens Industri, and Tele2. "In its audits

Rogue Android Apps Target Pakistani Individuals in Sophisticated Espionage Campaign

Individuals in the Pakistan region have been targeted using two rogue Android apps available on the Google Play Store as part of a new targeted campaign. Cybersecurity firm Cyfirma attributed the campaign with moderate confidence to a threat actor known as DoNot Team, which is also tracked as APT-C-35 and Viceroy Tiger. The espionage activity involves duping Android smartphone owners into

Fake Researcher Profiles Spread Malware through GitHub Repositories as PoC Exploits

At least half of dozen GitHub accounts from fake researchers associated with a fraudulent cybersecurity company have been observed pushing malicious repositories on the code hosting service. All seven repositories, which are still available as of writing, claim to be a proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit for purported zero-day flaws in Discord, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Exchange Server. VulnCheck,

Zero-Day Alert: Google Issues Patch for New Chrome Vulnerability - Update Now!

Google on Monday released security updates to patch a high-severity flaw in its Chrome web browser that it said is being actively exploited in the wild. Tracked as CVE-2023-3079, the vulnerability has been described as a type confusion bug in the V8 JavaScript engine. Clement Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has been credited with reporting the issue on June 1, 2023. "Type

Severe Flaw in Google Cloud's Cloud SQL Service Exposed Confidential Data

A new security flaw has been disclosed in the Google Cloud Platform's (GCP) Cloud SQL service that could be potentially exploited to obtain access to confidential data. "The vulnerability could have enabled a malicious actor to escalate from a basic Cloud SQL user to a full-fledged sysadmin on a container, gaining access to internal GCP data like secrets, sensitive files, passwords, in addition

New COSMICENERGY Malware Exploits ICS Protocol to Sabotage Power Grids

A new strain of malicious software that's engineered to penetrate and disrupt critical systems in industrial environments has been unearthed. Google-owned threat intelligence firm Mandiant dubbed the malware COSMICENERGY, adding it was uploaded to the VirusTotal public malware scanning utility in December 2021 by a submitter in Russia. There is no evidence that it has been put to use in the wild

GUAC 0.1 Beta: Google's Breakthrough Framework for Secure Software Supply Chains

Google on Wednesday announced the 0.1 Beta version of GUAC (short for Graph for Understanding Artifact Composition) for organizations to secure their software supply chains. To that end, the search giant is making available the open source framework as an API for developers to integrate their own tools and policy engines. GUAC aims to aggregate software security metadata from different sources

Data Stealing Malware Discovered in Popular Android Screen Recorder App

Google has removed a screen recording app named "iRecorder - Screen Recorder" from the Play Store after it was found to sneak in information stealing capabilities nearly a year after the app was published as an innocuous app. The app (APK package name "com.tsoft.app.iscreenrecorder"), which accrued over 50,000 installations, was first uploaded on September 19, 2021. The malicious functionality

Warning: Samsung Devices Under Attack! New Security Flaw Exposed

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has warned of active exploitation of a medium-severity flaw affecting Samsung devices. The issue, tracked as CVE-2023-21492 (CVSS score: 4.4), impacts select Samsung devices running Android versions 11, 12, and 13. The South Korean electronics giant described the issue as an information disclosure flaw that could be exploited by a

Privacy Sandbox Initiative: Google to Phase Out Third-Party Cookies Starting 2024

Google has announced plans to officially flip the switch on its twice-delayed Privacy Sandbox initiatives as it slowly works its way to deprecate support for third-party cookies in Chrome browser. To that end, the search and advertising giant said it intends to phase out third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users globally in the first quarter of 2024. "This will support developers in conducting

Threat Group UNC3944 Abusing Azure Serial Console for Total VM Takeover

A financially motivated cyber actor has been observed abusing Microsoft Azure Serial Console on virtual machines (VMs) to install third-party remote management tools within compromised environments. Google-owned Mandiant attributed the activity to a threat group it tracks under the name UNC3944, which is also known as Roasted 0ktapus and Scattered Spider. "This method of attack was unique in

Google Announces New Privacy, Safety, and Security Features Across Its Services

Google unveiled a slew of new privacy, safety, and security features today at its annual developer conference, Google I/O. The tech giant's latest initiatives are aimed at protecting its users from cyber threats, including phishing attacks and malicious websites, while providing more control and transparency over their personal data. Here is a short list of the newly introduced features -

Why Honeytokens Are the Future of Intrusion Detection

A few weeks ago, the 32nd edition of RSA, one of the world's largest cybersecurity conferences, wrapped up in San Francisco. Among the highlights, Kevin Mandia, CEO of Mandiant at Google Cloud, presented a retrospective on the state of cybersecurity. During his keynote, Mandia stated: "There are clear steps organizations can take beyond common safeguards and security tools to strengthen their

Fleckpe Android Malware Sneaks onto Google Play Store with Over 620,000 Downloads

A new Android subscription malware named Fleckpe has been unearthed on the Google Play Store, amassing more than 620,000 downloads in total since 2022. Kaspersky, which identified 11 apps on the official app storefront, said the malware masqueraded as legitimate photo editing apps, camera, and smartphone wallpaper packs. The apps have since been taken down. The operation primarily targets users

Google Introduces Passwordless Secure Sign-In with Passkeys for Google Accounts

Almost five months after Google added support for passkeys to its Chrome browser, the tech giant has begun rolling out the passwordless solution across Google Accounts on all platforms. Passkeys, backed by the FIDO Alliance, are a more secure way to sign in to apps and websites without having to use a traditional password. This, in turn, can be achieved by simply unlocking their computer or

Apple and Google Join Forces to Stop Unauthorized Location-Tracking Devices

Apple and Google have teamed up to work on a draft industry-wide specification that's designed to tackle safety risks and alert users when they are being tracked without their knowledge or permission using devices like AirTags. "The first-of-its-kind specification will allow Bluetooth location-tracking devices to be compatible with unauthorized tracking detection and alerts across Android and

LOBSHOT: A Stealthy, Financial Trojan and Info Stealer Delivered through Google Ads

In yet another instance of how threat actors are abusing Google Ads to serve malware, a threat actor has been observed leveraging the technique to deliver a new Windows-based financial trojan and information stealer called LOBSHOT. "LOBSHOT continues to collect victims while staying under the radar," Elastic Security Labs researcher Daniel Stepanic said in an analysis published last week. "One

APT28 Targets Ukrainian Government Entities with Fake "Windows Update" Emails

The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) has warned of cyber attacks perpetrated by Russian nation-state hackers targeting various government bodies in the country. The agency attributed the phishing campaign to APT28, which is also known by the names Fancy Bear, Forest Blizzard, FROZENLAKE, Iron Twilight, Sednit, and Sofacy. The email messages come with the subject line "

Google Blocks 1.43 Million Malicious Apps, Bans 173,000 Bad Accounts in 2022

Google disclosed that its improved security features and app review processes helped it block 1.43 million bad apps from being published to the Play Store in 2022. In addition, the company said it banned 173,000 bad accounts and fended off over $2 billion in fraudulent and abusive transactions through developer-facing features like Voided Purchases API, Obfuscated Account ID, and Play Integrity

Google Gets Court Order to Take Down CryptBot That Infected Over 670,000 Computers

Google on Wednesday said it obtained a temporary court order in the U.S. to disrupt the distribution of a Windows-based information-stealing malware called CryptBot and "decelerate" its growth. The tech giant's Mike Trinh and Pierre-Marc Bureau said the efforts are part of steps it takes to "not only hold criminal operators of malware accountable, but also those who profit from its distribution.

Google Cloud Introduces Security AI Workbench for Faster Threat Detection and Analysis

Google's cloud division is following in the footsteps of Microsoft with the launch of Security AI Workbench that leverages generative AI models to gain better visibility into the threat landscape.  Powering the cybersecurity suite is Sec-PaLM, a specialized large language model (LLM) that's "fine-tuned for security use cases." The idea is to take advantage of the latest advances in AI to augment

Google Authenticator App Gets Cloud Backup Feature for TOTP Codes

Search giant Google on Monday unveiled a major update to its 12-year-old Authenticator app for Android and iOS with an account synchronization option that allows users to back up their time-based one-time passwords (TOTPs) to the cloud. "This change means users are better protected from lockout and that services can rely on users retaining access, increasing both convenience and security,"

CISA Adds 3 Actively Exploited Flaws to KEV Catalog, including Critical PaperCut Bug

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Friday added three security flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation. The three vulnerabilities are as follows - CVE-2023-28432 (CVSS score - 7.5) - MinIO Information Disclosure Vulnerability  CVE-2023-27350 (CVSS score - 9.8) - PaperCut MF/NG Improper Access Control

GhostToken Flaw Could Let Attackers Hide Malicious Apps in Google Cloud Platform

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a now-patched zero-day flaw in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) that could have enabled threat actors to conceal an unremovable, malicious application inside a victim's Google account. Dubbed GhostToken by Israeli cybersecurity startup Astrix Security, the shortcoming impacts all Google accounts, including enterprise-focused Workspace accounts. It

Google TAG Warns of Russian Hackers Conducting Phishing Attacks in Ukraine

Elite hackers associated with Russia's military intelligence service have been linked to large-volume phishing campaigns aimed at hundreds of users in Ukraine to extract intelligence and influence public discourse related to the war. Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG), which is monitoring the activities of the actor under the name FROZENLAKE, said the attacks continue the "group's 2022 focus

Google Chrome Hit by Second Zero-Day Attack - Urgent Patch Update Released

Google on Tuesday rolled out emergency fixes to address another actively exploited high-severity zero-day flaw in its Chrome web browser. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2023-2136, is described as a case of integer overflow in Skia, an open source 2D graphics library. Clément Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has been credited with discovering and reporting the flaw on April 12, 2023. "

Israeli Spyware Vendor QuaDream to Shut Down Following Citizen Lab and Microsoft Expose

Israeli spyware vendor QuaDream is allegedly shutting down its operations in the coming days, less than a week after its hacking toolset was exposed by Citizen Lab and Microsoft. The development was reported by the Israeli business newspaper Calcalist, citing unnamed sources, adding the company "hasn't been fully active for a while" and that it "has been in a difficult situation for several

Google Uncovers APT41's Use of Open Source GC2 Tool to Target Media and Job Sites

A Chinese nation-state group targeted an unnamed Taiwanese media organization to deliver an open source red teaming tool known as Google Command and Control (GC2) amid broader abuse of Google's infrastructure for malicious ends. The tech giant's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) attributed the campaign to a threat actor it tracks under the geological and geographical-themed moniker HOODOO, which is

Google Releases Urgent Chrome Update to Fix Actively Exploited Zero-Day Vulnerability

Google on Friday released out-of-band updates to resolve an actively exploited zero-day flaw in its Chrome web browser, making it the first such bug to be addressed since the start of the year. Tracked as CVE-2023-2033, the high-severity vulnerability has been described as a type confusion issue in the V8 JavaScript engine. Clement Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has been

Google Launches New Cybersecurity Initiatives to Strengthen Vulnerability Management

Google on Thursday outlined a set of initiatives aimed at improving the vulnerability management ecosystem and establishing greater transparency measures around exploitation. "While the notoriety of zero-day vulnerabilities typically makes headlines, risks remain even after they're known and fixed, which is the real story," the company said in an announcement. "Those risks span everything from