- SMTP is the key: BPFDoor and AVERAT hitting the network edge
October 2, 2026
Rapid7 tracked a set of Linux samples that blend into the software and device conventions of the telecom environments they target. The set spans a newly observed BPFDoor variant, a BPF Rekoobe build seen against South Korean targets, a dropper, and six builds of a Linux implant Rapid7 researchers track as AVERAT, deployed against Taiwanese ...
- Dutch police arrest ‘security researcher’ in ShinyHunters probe
September 29, 2026
Dutch police have arrested a 24-year-old man on suspicion of involvement with the prolific ShinyHunters cybercrime group. Cops announced the arrest on Monday night and said the Amsterdam resident would appear before judges at Rotterdam District Court today (Tuesday). Officers have not named the suspect. However, a company has identified a person they believe to be the ...
- A former US Army soldier has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for hacking telecoms companies
September 28, 2026
A former US Army soldier has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for hacking telecoms companies, stealing sensitive records, and trying to extort more than $1 million from his victims. Cameron John Wagenius, 22, carried out the campaign while serving on active duty. He pleaded guilty in March 2025 to unlawfully transferring confidential phone records, ...
- ‘Proactive SIM’ cards can hijack smartphones, IoT devices and even EV chargers
August 18, 2026
A malicious SIM card can instruct the device it sits in to run commands of an attacker’s choosing, and on the cellular modules embedded in electric vehicle chargers, industrial routers, and car telematics units, essentially allowing it to take the entire device over. Researchers from the University of Birmingham and the German security firm Fuzzware demonstrated ...
- Mirage Kitten targets Middle East and Africa region with new malware
July 28, 2026
Mirage Kitten – also known as UNC1549, Smoke Sandstorm, and Nimbus Manticore – is an advanced persistent threat (APT) group focused on cyber-espionage operations against aerospace, aviation, defense, and telecommunications sectors across the Middle East and Africa, using highly targeted spear-phishing campaigns, fake recruitment portals, and custom multi-stage malware to gain persistent access and exfiltrate sensitive data. During ...
- Brazil probes emergency warning system after nationwide rogue alert
June 22, 2026
The Brazilian National Secretariat for Civil Protection and Defense (SEDEC) and Federal Police (PF) are investigating a suspected hack of the country’s emergency alert system after an unauthorized “extreme” alert pinged devices across the country. Defesa Civil Nacional confirmed that its dispatch platform, often used to inform the public about severe weather events, was taken offline in ...
- CVE-2026-0826: How an Old Bug Can Feed AI-Powered Impersonation
June 1, 2026
Rapid7 Senior Principal Security Researcher Stephen Fewer discovered CVE-2026-0826, a critical unauthenticated stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability affecting multiple HP Poly VoIP devices. If you’ve been around vulnerability research long enough, the bug class here is going to feel very familiar. And interestingly enough, that’s exactly why it deserves attention. These older exploitation primitives never really went ...
- Police arrest SMS blaster crew that sent malicious messages to thousands across Toronto
May 7, 2026
Police have arrested and brought 44 charges against three men for allegedly operating an SMS blaster in downtown Toronto. The scheme, which began in November 2025, is the “first known instance” of an SMS blaster operating in Canada, according to the police report. In a statement, the Toronto Police Service said it believes tens of thousands of ...
- Hackers crawled Canadian streets with SMS blasters causing 13 million network disruptions
May 1, 2026
Authorities in Canada have disclosed details of a mobile cyber operation that relied on SMS blasters mounted inside vehicles moving through urban areas. Three suspects drove around downtown Toronto with these hidden devices running in their cars, impersonating cell towers. The Toronto Police Service confirmed that this marked the first operation of its kind ever recorded ...
- Attackers use hidden SMS and signalling systems to track targets’ location
April 24, 2026
Security researchers have just unveiled details of two covert surveillance campaigns that exploit weaknesses in the global telecom infrastructure. In a report published on Thursday, Citizen Lab explains that attackers abuse the signalling systems mobile operators use to support roaming, route messages, and locate devices on the network. The weaknesses were used to track certain subscribers ...
- US intel officials scramble to keep surveillance law running amid Iran war tensions
April 13, 2026
With just days until a powerful surveillance law lapses, US national security officials are scrambling to prepare for potential blind spots in intelligence collection amid the US’ delicate ceasefire with Iran, current and former officials told CNN. Some communications carriers that manage data for the surveillance program have privately warned the Trump administration they will cease ...
- Cloud Phones: The Invisible Threat
March 25, 2026
What began as a simple scheme to inflate social media metrics has evolved into a sophisticated threat that is quietly reshaping the economics of digital fraud. Over the past decade, fraud prevention teams have invested heavily in device fingerprinting and emulator detection and that investment paid off; classic emulators and bot activities became predictable, easy ...
- Telus probes cybersecurity incident that ‘ShinyHunters’ group claims responsibility for
March 12, 2026
Canadian telecommunications and business services firm Telus is investigating a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to some of its systems, a company spokesperson said on Thursday. The ShinyHunters hacking group told Reuters in a message it stole at least 700 terabytes of data from Telus. All business operations within the company “remain fully operational, and there ...
- Salt Typhoon is hacking the world’s phone and internet giants
March 9, 2026
Salt Typhoon is behind one of the broadest hacking campaigns in recent years, targeting some of the world’s largest phone and internet companies and stealing tens of millions of phone records about senior government officials. The hacking group, attributed to China, is part of a wider cluster of hackers with the collective aim of helping China ...
- Russia: Over 200 people involved in SIM box operations detained since September 2025
March 2, 2026
The Federal Security Service (FSB), the Interior Ministry, and the Investigative Committee of Russia have uncovered and disrupted 100 illegal communication channels used by Ukrainian intelligence services to involve Russians in sabotage and terrorism since September 1, 2025, with over 200 people involved in running SIM boxes detained across 43 Russian regions. “As a result <…> ...
- Adelaide University new system designed to protect drones from cyber threats
February 25, 2026
Adelaide University researchers have initiated the development of a world-first cybersecurity system designed to protect drones from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. A new study led by the Industrial AI Research Centre and published in the international journal Computers and Industrial Engineering, paves the way for safer and more resilient unmanned aerial systems (UAS) that are less ...
- Major telco breach sees 6.2 million users have personal info leaked
February 13, 2026
Dutch telecommunications company Odido has confirmed suffering a cyberattack and losing sensitive data on millions of people. In a notice published on its website, the company says it “deeply regrets” the situation and is “fully committed” to limiting its impact. “Based on investigation, the incident concerns personal data from a customer contact system used by Odido,” ...
- Singapore says China-backed hackers targeted its four largest phone companies
February 10, 2026
Singapore’s government has blamed a known Chinese cyber-espionage group for targeting four of its top telecommunication companies as part of a months-long attack. In a statement Monday, Singapore confirmed for the first time that the hackers, known as UNC3886, targeted the country’s telecoms infrastructure, including its largest companies: Singtel, StarHub, M1, and Simba Telecom. While the ...
- European Commission probes intrusion into staff mobile management backend
February 9, 2026
Brussels is digging into a cyber break-in that targeted the European Commission’s mobile device management systems, potentially giving intruders a peek inside the official phones carried by EU staff. Identified by CERT-EU, the bloc’s computer emergency response team responsible for defending EU institutions, the intrusion was detected on January 30 and affected infrastructure associated with centrally ...
- Apple’s new iOS setting addresses a hidden layer of location tracking
February 3, 2026
Most iPhone owners have hopefully learned to manage app permissions by now, including allowing location access. But there’s another layer of location tracking that operates outside these controls. Your cellular carrier has been collecting your location data all along, and until now, there was nothing you could do about it. Apple just changed this in iOS ...