News – February 2024


  • Coyote: A multi-stage banking Trojan abusing the Squirrel installer

    February 8, 2024

    The developers of banking Trojan malware are constantly looking for inventive ways to distribute theirs implants and infect victims. In a recent investigation, Kaspersky researchers encountered a new malware that specifically targets users of more than 60 banking institutions, mainly from Brazil. What caught their attention was the sophisticated infection chain that makes use of various ...

  • Pakistan cuts off phone and internet services on election day

    February 8, 2024

    Pakistan has temporarily suspended mobile phone network and internet services across the country to combat any “possible threats,” a top ministry said, as the South Asian nation commences its national election. In a statement, Pakistan’s interior ministry said the move was prompted by recent incidents of terrorism in the country. The internet was accessible through wired ...

  • Google saves your conversations with Gemini for years by default

    February 8, 2024

    Don’t type anything into Gemini, Google’s family of GenAI apps, that’s incriminating — or that you wouldn’t want someone else to see. That’s the PSA (of sorts) today from Google, which in a new support document outlines the ways in which it collects data from users of its Gemini chatbot apps for the web, Android and ...

  • Data of 33 million people in France stolen in its largest ever cyberattack

    February 8, 2024

    Over 33 million people in France – nearly half of its population – have been impacted by the country’s biggest-ever cyberattack. Two French service providers for medical insurance companies were targetted, with the companies admitting that millions of people’s data were exposed to the hackers. Read more… Source: MSN News  

  • Warning: Fraudulent App Impersonating LastPass Currently Available in Apple App Store

    February 7, 2024

    LastPass would like to alert our customers to a fraudulent app attempting to impersonate our LastPass app on the Apple App Store. The app in question is called “LassPass Password Manager” and lists Parvati Patel as the developer. The app attempts to copy our branding and user interface, though close examination of the posted screenshots reveal ...

  • Cyber-hacking victims ‘paid out record $1.1bn in ransoms last year‘

    February 7, 2024

    Ransomware gangs staged a “major comeback” last year, according to research, with victims of hacking attacks paying out a record $1.1bn to assailants. Cyber criminals stepped up their global operations in 2023 after a lull in 2022, with victims including hospitals, schools and major corporations. Payments to criminal gangs in the wake of attacks doubled compared ...

  • Surprising 3 Million Hacked Toothbrushes Story Goes Viral – Is It True?

    February 7, 2024

    A news story about the hacking of three million smart toothbrushes to create a massive botnet used to launch a distributed denial of service cyberattack against a Swiss organization has gone viral. However, many in the information security industry, including the author, have trouble finding evidence to support the story. Searching Google reveals that everything from ...

  • Every tenth Russian faced cybercriminals in 2023 – Bank of Russia

    February 7, 2024

    Every tenth Russian respondent experienced cybercrime, with losses not exceeding 20,000 rubles (around $220), according to the published results of a survey conducted by the Bank of Russia in 2023. “Last year, there were more people who faced cybercriminals, with every tenth person becoming a victim. Typically, the loss was less than 20,000 rubles. Victims usually ...

  • Buying Spying: How the commercial surveillance industry works and what can be done about it

    February 6, 2024

    Private sector firms have been involved in discovering and selling exploits for many years, but there is a rise in turnkey espionage solutions. Commercial Surveillance Vendors (CSVs) offer pay-to-play tools that bundle an exploit chain designed to get past security measures, along with the spyware and the necessary infrastructure, in order to collect the desired data ...

  • Known ransomware attacks up 68% in 2023

    February 6, 2024

    Today, Malwarebytes released its 2024 State of Malware report, detailing six cyberthreats that resource-constrained IT teams should pay attention to in 2024. Top of the list is “Big Game” ransomware, the most serious cyberthreat to businesses all around the world. Big game attacks extort vast ransoms from organizations by holding their data hostage—either with encryption, the ...