TrendAI™ Research tracked a sustained malvertising campaign that abused Google Ads to deliver ClickFix social engineering attacks disguised as popular AI developer tools. The campaign impersonated at least six legitimate brand names, including ChatGPT Codex, Perplexity, Cursor IDE, JetBrains, Claude AI, and claude.ai, and simultaneously ran Mac utility scam lures.
By leveraging paid search ads targeting users actively seeking AI development tools, the attackers were able to target technically proficient users who are more likely to interact with command-line instructions without suspicion. This marks a sophisticated evolution of the ClickFix social engineering technique, where victims are tricked into manually executing malicious commands, typically by copying and pasting PowerShell or terminal commands under the guise of “fixing” a problem or completing a software installation.
Read more…
Source: Trend Micro
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Someone is trying to recruit security researchers in bizarre hacking campaign
April 1, 2025
Are you willing to hack and take control of Chinese websites for a random person for up to $100,000 a month? Someone is making precisely that tantalizing, bizarre, and clearly sketchy job offer. The person is using what looks like a series of fake accounts with avatars displaying photos of attractive women and sliding into the ...
- GCHQ worker admits taking top secret data home
March 31, 2025
A former GCHQ intern has admitted risking national security by taking top secret data home with him on his mobile phone. Hasaan Arshad, 25, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Computer Misuse Act on what would have been the first day of his trial at the Old Bailey in London. The charge related to committing ...
- Oracle grapples with dual data breaches
March 31, 2025
Oracle is dealing with the fallout of a double data breach — one exposing patient data at US hospitals, and another raising concerns about its cloud security. Reports over the weekend suggest a breach at Oracle Health, formerly known as Cerner, has impacted multiple US healthcare organisations and hospitals. Threat actors are believed to have stolen ...
- UK: Parents arrested after making ‘disparaging’ comments about school in WhatsApp chat
March 29, 2025
A mother and father have said they were arrested in front of their young daughter and held in a cell for 11 hours after making “disparaging” comments about her school. Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine Hertfordshire Constabulary officers turned up at their home after the school objected to criticisms. The couple were questioned on suspicion of ...
- Cyberattacks climbing across Caribbean
March 28, 2025
Ransomware gangs FOG and Akira continue to be the main culprits behind a number of recent cyberattacks plaguing businesses locally and across the Caribbean, a cyber-security expert has indicated. According to Rory Ebanks, director of cybersecurity at Symptai Consulting Limited, the two ransomware gangs, which both emerged in the last three years, primarily exploit vulnerabilities in ...
- Ukraine state railway says online services partially restored after cyber attack
March 27, 2025
Ukraine’s state-owned railway Ukrzaliznytsia, the country’s largest carrier, has partially restored online services after a large-scale cyber attack hit passenger and freight transport systems, the company said on Thursday. An outage was first reported on Sunday when the rail company notified passengers about a failure in its IT system and told them to buy tickets on ...