Organizations that get relieved of credentials to their cloud environments can quickly find themselves part of a disturbing new trend: Cybercriminals using stolen cloud credentials to operate and resell sexualized AI-powered chat services. Researchers say these illicit chat bots, which…
Tag: Krebs on Security
Crooked Cops, Stolen Laptops & the Ghost of UGNazi
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…
U.S. Indicts 2 Top Russian Hackers, Sanctions Cryptex
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…
Timeshare Owner? The Mexican Drug Cartels Want You
The FBI is warning timeshare owners to be wary of a prevalent telemarketing scam involving a violent Mexican drug cartel that tries to trick elderly people into believing someone wants to buy their property. This is the story of a…
This Windows PowerShell Phish Has Scary Potential
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…
Scam ‘Funeral Streaming’ Groups Thrive on Facebook
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.…
The Dark Nexus Between Harm Groups and ‘The Com’
A cyberattack that shut down some of the top casinos in Las Vegas last year quickly became one of the most riveting security stories of 2023: It was the first known case of native English-speaking hackers in the United States…
Bug Left Some Windows PCs Dangerously Unpatched
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…
Sextortion Scams Now Include Photos of Your Home
An old but persistent email scam known as “sextortion” has a new personalized touch: The missives, which claim that malware has captured webcam footage of recipients pleasuring themselves, now include a photo of the target’s home in a bid to make…
Owners of 1-Time Passcode Theft Service Plead Guilty
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…
When Get-Out-The-Vote Efforts Look Like Phishing
Multiple media reports this week warned Americans to be on guard against a new phishing scam that arrives in a text message informing recipients they are not yet registered to vote. A bit of digging reveals the missives were sent…
New 0-Day Attacks Linked to China’s ‘Volt Typhoon’
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.…
Local Networks Go Global When Domain Names Collide
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…
National Public Data Published Its Own Passwords
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…
NationalPublicData.com Hack Exposes a Nation’s Data
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…
Six 0-Days Lead Microsoft’s August 2024 Patch Push
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. This article has been indexed from Krebs on Security Read…
Cybercrime Rapper Sues Bank over Fraud Investigation
In January, KrebsOnSecurity wrote about rapper Punchmade Dev, whose music videos sing the praises of a cybercrime lifestyle. That story showed how Punchmade’s social media profiles promoted Punchmade-themed online stores selling bank account and payment card data. Now the Kentucky…
Low-Drama ‘Dark Angels’ Reap Record Ransoms
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…
U.S. Trades Cybercriminals to Russia in Prisoner Swap
Twenty-four prisoners were freed today in an international prisoner swap between Russia and Western countries. Among the eight Russians repatriated were five convicted cybercriminals. In return, Russia has reportedly released 16 prisoners, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and…
U.S. Trades 5 Cybercriminals to Russia in Prisoner Swap
Twenty-four prisoners were freed today in an international prisoner swap between Russia and Western countries. Among the eight Russians repatriated were five convicted cybercriminals. In return, Russia has reportedly released 16 prisoners, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and…