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Threat Intelligence
ClickFix Cyber Security Malicious Campaign Social Engineering Threat Intelligence

ClickFix: The Silent Cyber Threat Tricking Families Worldwide

 

ClickFix has emerged as one of the most pervasive and dangerous cybersecurity threats in 2025, yet remains largely unknown to the average user and even many IT professionals. This social engineering technique manipulates users into executing malicious scripts—often just a single line of code—by tricking them with fake error messages, CAPTCHA prompts, or fraudulent browser update alerts.

The attack exploits the natural human desire to fix technical problems, bypassing most endpoint protections and affecting Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. ClickFix campaign typically begin when a victim encounters a legitimate-looking message urging them to run a script or command, often on compromised or spoofed websites. 

Once executed, the script connects the victim’s device to a server controlled by attackers, allowing stealthy installation of malware such as credential stealers (e.g., Lumma Stealer, SnakeStealer), remote access trojans (RATs), ransomware, cryptominers, and even nation-state-aligned malware. The technique is highly effective because it leverages “living off the land” binaries, which are legitimate system tools, making detection difficult for security software.

ClickFix attacks have surged by over 500% in 2025, accounting for nearly 8% of all blocked attacks and ranking as the second most common attack vector after traditional phishing. Threat actors are now selling ClickFix builders to automate the creation of weaponized landing pages, further accelerating the spread of these attacks. Victims are often ordinary users, including families, who may lack the technical knowledge to distinguish legitimate error messages from malicious ones.

The real-world impact of ClickFix is extensive: it enables attackers to steal sensitive information, hijack browser sessions, install malicious extensions, and even execute ransomware attacks. Cybersecurity firms and agencies are urging users to exercise caution with prompts to run scripts and to verify the authenticity of error messages before taking any action. Proactive human risk management and user education are essential to mitigate the threat posed by ClickFix and similar social engineering tactics.
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Threat Intelligence
Cloud Security continuous monitoring Cyber Security Cybersecurity Endpoint Defense Incident response ransomware protection Risk Management SOC Operations Threat Intelligence

Continuous Incident Response Is Redefining Cybersecurity Strategy

 


With organizations now faced with relentless digital exposure, continuous security monitoring has become an operational necessity instead of a best practice, as organizations navigate an era where digital exposure is ubiquitous. In 2024, cyber-attacks will increase by nearly 30%, with the average enterprise having to deal with over 1,600 attempted intrusions a week, with the financial impact of a data breach regularly rising into six figures. 

Even so, the real crisis extends well beyond the rising level of threats. In the past, cybersecurity strategies relied on a familiar formula—detect quickly, respond promptly, recover quickly—but that cadence no longer suffices in an environment that is characterized by adversaries automating reconnaissance, exploiting cloud misconfiguration within minutes, and weaponizing legitimate tools so that they can move laterally far faster than human analysts are able to react. 

There has been a growing gap between what organizations can see and the ability to act as the result of successive waves of innovation, from EDR to XDR, as a result of which they have widened visibility across sprawling digital estates. The security operations center is already facing unprecedented complexity. Despite the fact that security operations teams juggle dozens of tools and struggle with floods of alerts that require manual validation, organisations are unable to act as quickly as they should. 

A recent accelerated disconnect between risk and security is transforming how security leaders understand risks and forcing them to face a difficult truth: visibility without speed is no longer an effective defence. When examining the threat patterns defining the year 2024, it becomes more apparent why this shift is necessary. According to security firms, attackers are increasingly using stealthy, fileless techniques to steal from their victims, with nearly four out of five detections categorised as malware-free today, with the majority of attacks classified as malware-free. 

As a result, ransomware activity has continued to climb steeply upward, rising by more than 80% on a year-over-year basis and striking small and midsized businesses the most disproportionately, accounting for approximately 70% of all recorded incidents. In recent years, phishing campaigns have become increasingly aggressive, with some vectors experiencing unprecedented spikes - some exceeding 1,200% - as adversaries use artificial intelligence to bypass human judgment. 

A number of SMBs remain structurally unprepared in spite of these pressures, with the majority acknowledging that they have become preferred targets, but three out of four of them continue to use informal or internally managed security measures. These risks are compounded by human error, which is responsible for an estimated 88% of reported cyber incidents. 

There have been staggering financial consequences as well; in the past five years alone, the UK has suffered losses of more than £44 billion, resulting in both immediate disruption and long-term revenue losses. Due to this, the industry’s definition of continuous cybersecurity is now much broader than periodic audits. 

It is necessary to maintain continuous threat monitoring, proactive vulnerability and exposure management, disciplined identity governance, sustained employee awareness programs, regularly tested incident response playbooks, and ongoing compliance monitoring—a posture which emphasizes continuous evaluation rather than reactive control as part of an operational strategy. Increasingly complex digital estates are creating unpredictable cyber risks, which are making continuous monitoring an essential part of modern defence strategies. 

Continuous monitoring is a real time monitoring system that scans systems, networks, and cloud environments in real time, in order to detect early signs of misconfiguration, compromise, or operational drift. In contrast to periodic checks which operate on a fixed schedule and leave long periods of exposure, continuous monitoring operates in real time. 

The approach outlined above aligns closely with the NIST guidance, which urges organizations to set up an adaptive monitoring strategy capable of ingesting a variety of data streams, analysing emerging vulnerabilities, and generating timely alerts for security teams to take action. Using continuous monitoring, organizations can discover latent weaknesses that are contributing to their overall cyber posture. 

Continuous monitoring reduces the frequency and severity of incidents, eases the burden on security personnel, and helps them meet increasing regulatory demands. Even so, maintaining such a level of vigilance remains a challenge, especially for small businesses that lack the resources, expertise, and tooling to operate around the clock in order to stay on top of their game. 

The majority of organizations therefore turn to external service providers in order to achieve the scalability and economic viability of continuous monitoring. Typically, effective continuous monitoring programs include four key components: a monitoring engine, analytics that can be used to identify anomalies and trends on a large scale, a dashboard that shows key risk indicators in real time, and an alerting system to ensure that emerging issues are quickly addressed by the appropriate staff. 

With the help of automation, security teams are now able to process a great deal of telemetry in a timely and accurate manner, replacing outdated or incomplete snapshots with live visibility into organisational risk, enabling them to respond successfully in a highly dynamic threat environment. 

Continuous monitoring can take on a variety of forms, depending on the asset in focus, including endpoint monitoring, network traffic analysis, application performance tracking, cloud and container observability, etc., all of which provide an important layer of protection against attacks as they spread across every aspect of the digital infrastructure. 

It has also been shown that the dissolution of traditional network perimeters is a key contributor to the push toward continuous response. In the current world of cloud-based workloads, SaaS-based ecosystems, and remote endpoints, security architectures mustwork as flexible and modular systems capable of correlating telemetrics between email, DNS, identity, network, and endpoint layers, without necessarily creating new silos within the architecture. 

Three operational priorities are usually emphasized by organizations moving in this direction: deep integration to keep unified visibility, automation to handle routine containment at machine speed and validation practices, such as breach simulations and posture tests, to ensure that defence systems behave as they should. It has become increasingly common for managed security services to adopt these principles, and this is why more organizations are adopting them.

909Protect, for instance, is an example of a product that provides rapid, coordinated containment across hybrid environments through the use of automated detection coupled with continuous human oversight. In such platforms, the signals from various security vectors are correlated, and they are layered on top of existing tools with behavioural analysis, posture assessment and identity safeguards in order to ensure that no critical alert goes unnoticed while still maintaining established investments. 

In addition to this shift, there is a realignment among the industry as a whole toward systems that are built to be available continuously rather than undergoing episodic interventions. Cybersecurity has gone through countless “next generation” labels, but only those approaches which fundamentally alter the behavior of operations tend to endure, according to veteran analysts in the field. In addressing this underlying failure point, continuous incident response fits perfectly into this trajectory. 

Organizations are rarely breached because they have no data, but rather because they do not act on it quickly enough or cohesively. As analysts argue, the path forward will be determined by the ability to combine automation, analytics, and human expertise into a single adaptive workflow that can be used in an organization's entirety. 

There is no doubt that the organizations that are most likely to be able to withstand emerging threats in the foreseeable future will be those that approach security as a living, constantly changing system that is not only based on the visible, but also on the ability of the organization to detect, contain, and recover in real time from any threats as they arise. 

In the end, the shift toward continuous incident response is a sign that cybersecurity resilience is more than just about speed anymore, but about endurance as well. Investing in unified visibility, disciplined automation, as well as persistent validation will not only ensure that the path from detection to containment is shortened, but that the operations remain stable over the longer term as well.

The advantage will go to those who treat security as an evolving ecosystem—one that is continually refined, coordinated across teams and committed to responding in a continuity similar to the attacks used by adversaries.
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Zero Trust
Credential Stuffing Cybersecurity Breach Data Leak Digital Risk Malware Logs Password Security Privacy Stolen Credentials Threat Intelligence Zero Trust

Digital Security Threat Escalates with Exposure of 1.3 Billion Passwords


 

One of the starkest reminders of just how easily and widely digital risks can spread is the discovery of an extensive cache of exposed credentials, underscoring the persistent dangers associated with password reuse and the many breaches that go unnoticed by the public. Having recently clarified the false claims of a large-scale Gmail compromise in the wake of Google’s recent clarification, the cybersecurity community is once again faced with vast, attention-grabbing figures which are likely to create another round of confusion. 

Approximately 2 billion emails were included in the newly discovered dataset, along with 1.3 billion unique passwords that were found in the dataset, and 625 million of them were not previously reported to the public breach repository. It has been emphasised that Troy Hunt, the founder of Have I Been Pwned, should not use sensationalism when discussing this discovery, as he stresses the importance of the disclosure. 

It is important to note that Hunt noted that he dislikes hyperbolic news headlines about data breaches, but he stressed that in this case, it does not require exaggeration since the data speaks for itself. Initially, the Synthient dataset was interpreted as a breach of Gmail before it was clarified to reveal that it was actually a comprehensive collection gathered from stealer logs and multiple past breaches spanning over 32 million unique email domains, and that it was a comprehensive collection. 

There's no wonder why Gmail appears more often than other email providers, as it is the world's largest email service provider. The collection, rather than a single event, represents a very extensive collection of compromised email and password pairs, which is exactly the kind of material that is used to generate credential-stuffing attacks, where criminals use recycled passwords to automate attempts to access their banking, shopping, and other online accounts. 

In addition to highlighting the dangers associated with unpublicized or smaller breaches, this new discovery also underscores the danger that even high-profile breaches can pose when billions of exposed credentials are quietly redirected to attackers. This newly discovered cache is not simply the result of a single hack, but is the result of a massive aggregation of credentials gathered from earlier attacks, as well as malware information thieves' logs, which makes credential-based attacks much more effective.

A threat actor who exploits reused passwords will have the ability to move laterally between personal and corporate services, often turning a compromised login into an entry point into an increasingly extensive network. A growing number organisations are still dependent on password-only authentication, which poses a high risk to businesses due to the fact that exposed credentials make it much easier for attackers to target business systems, cloud platforms, and administrative accounts more effectively. 

The experts emphasised the importance of adopting stronger access controls as soon as possible, including the generation of unique passwords by trusted managers, the implementation of universal two-factor authentication, and internal checks to identify credentials which have been reused or have previously been compromised. 

For attackers to be able to weaponise these massive datasets, enterprises must also enforce zero-trust principles, implement least-privilege access, and deploy automated defences against credential-stuffing attempts. When a single email account is compromised, it can easily cascade into financial, cloud or corporate security breaches as email serves as the central hub for recovering accounts and accessing linked services. 

Since billions of credentials are being circulated, it is clear that both individuals and businesses need to take a proactive approach to authentication, modernise security architecture, and treat every login as if it were a potential entry point for attackers. This dataset is also notable for its sheer magnitude, representing the largest collection of data Have I Been Pwned has ever taken on, nearly triple the volume of its previous collection.

As compiled by Synthient, a cybercriminal threat intelligence initiative run by a college student, the collection is drawn from numerous sources where stolen credentials are frequently published by cybercriminals. There are two highly volatile types of compromised data in this program: stealer logs gathered from malware on infected computers and large credential-stuffing lists compiled from earlier breaches, which are then combined, repackaged and traded repeatedly over the underground networks. 

In order to process the material, HIBP had to use its Azure SQL Hyperscale environment at full capacity for almost two weeks, running 80 processing cores at full capacity. The integration effort was extremely challenging, as Troy Hunt described it as requiring extensive database optimisation to integrate the new records into a repository containing more than 15 billion credentials while maintaining uninterrupted service for millions of people every day.

In the current era of billions of credential pairs being circulated freely between attackers, researchers are warning that passwords alone do not provide much protection any more than they once did. One of the most striking results of this study was that of HIBP’s 5.9 million subscribers, or those who actively monitor their exposure, nearly 2.9 million appeared in the latest compilation of HIBP credentials. This underscores the widespread impact of credential-stuffing troves. The consequences are especially severe for the healthcare industry. 

As IBM's 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report indicates, the average financial impact of a healthcare breach has increased to $7.42 million, and a successful credential attack on a medical employee may allow threat actors to access electronic health records, patient information, and systems containing protected health information with consequences that go far beyond financial loss and may have negative economic consequences as well.

There is a growing concern about the threat of credential exposure outpacing traditional security measures, so this study serves as a decisive reminder to modernise digital defences before attackers exploit these growing vulnerabilities. Organisations should be pushing for passwordless authentication, continuous monitoring, and adaptive risk-based access, while individuals should take a proactive approach to maintaining their credentials as an essential rather than an optional task. 

Ultimately, one thing is clear: in a world where billions of credentials circulate unchecked, the key to resilience is to anticipate breaches by strengthening the architecture, optimising the authentication process and maintaining security awareness instead of reacting to them after a breach takes place.
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Threat Intelligence
Cybercrime Ecosystem Cybersecurity Threats Data Breach European Cybersecurity Malware As A Service Network Security ransomware attacks State-Sponsored Attacks Threat Intelligence

Europe struggles with record-breaking spike in ransomware attacks

 


Europe is increasingly being targeted by ransomware groups, driving attacks to unprecedented levels as criminal operations become more industrialised and sophisticated. Threat actors have established themselves in this region as a prime hunting ground, and are now relying on a growing ecosystem of underground marketplaces that sell everything from Malware-as-a-Service subscriptions to stolen network access and turnkey phishing kits to Malware-as-a-Service subscriptions. 

New findings from CrowdStrike's 2025 European Threat Landscape Report reveal that nearly 22 per cent of all ransomware and extortion incidents that occurred globally this year have involved European organisations. Accordingly, European organizations are more likely than those in Asia-Pacific to be targeted by cybercriminals than those in North America, placing them second only to North America. 

According to these statistics, there is a troubling shift affecting Europe's public and private networks. An increasing threat model is being used by cybercriminals on the continent that makes it easier, cheaper, and quicker to attack their victims. This leaves thousands of victims of attacks increasingly sophisticated and financially motivated across the continent. 

Throughout CrowdStrike's latest analysis, a clear picture emerges of just how heavily Europeans have been affected by ransomware and extortion attacks, with the continent managing to absorb over 22% of all global extortion and ransomware attacks. As stated in the report, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain are the most frequently targeted nations. It also notes that dedicated leak sites linked to European victims have increased by nearly 13% on an annual basis, a trend driven by groups such as Scattered Spider, a group that has shortened its attack-to-deployment window to a mere 24 hours from when the attack started. 

According to the study, companies in the manufacturing, professional services, technology, industrial, engineering and retail industries are still the most heavily pursued sectors, as prominent gangs such as Akira, LockBit, RansomHub, INC, Lynx, and Sinobi continue to dominate the landscape, making big game hunting tactics, aimed at high-value enterprises, remain prevalent and have intensified throughout the continent as well. 

It has been suggested in the study that because of the wide and lucrative corporate base of Europe, the complex regulatory and legal structure, and the geopolitical motivations of some threat actors, the region is a target for well-funded e-crime operations that are well-resourced. State-aligned threat activity continues to add an element of volatility to the already troubled cyber landscape of Europe.

In the past two years, Russian operators have intensified their operations against Ukraine, combining credential phishing with intelligence gathering and disrupting attacks targeted at the power grid, the government, the military, the energy grid, the telecommunications grid, the utility grid, and so forth. The North Koreans have, at the same time, expanded their reach to Europe, attacking defence, diplomatic, and financial institutions in operations that fuse classic espionage with cryptocurrency theft to finance their strategic projects. 

Moreover, Chinese state-sponsored actors have been extorting valuable intellectual property from industries across eleven nations by exploiting cloud environments and software supply chains to siphon intellectual property from the nation that enables them to expand their footprint. 

A number of these operations have demonstrated a sustained commitment to biotechnology and healthcare, while Vixen Panda is now considered one of the most persistent threats to European government and defence organisations, emphasising the degree to which state-backed intrusion campaigns are increasing the region's risk of infection.

There has been a dramatic acceleration in the speed at which ransomware attacks are being carried out in Europe, with CrowdStrike noting that groups such as Scattered Spider have reduced their ransomware deployment cycles to unprecedented levels, which has driven up the levels of infection. Through the group's efforts, the time between an initial intrusion and full encryption has been reduced from 35.5 hours in 2024 to roughly 24 hours by mid-2025, meaning that defenders are likely to have fewer chances to detect or contain intrusions. 

Despite being actively under investigation by law enforcement agencies, eCrime actors based in Western countries, like the United States and the United Kingdom, are developing resilient criminal networks despite active scrutiny by law enforcement. The arrest of four individuals recently by the National Crime Agency in connection with attacks on major retailers, as well as the rearrest of the four individuals for involvement in a breach at Transport for London, underscores the persistence of these groups despite coordinated enforcement efforts. 

In addition to this rapid operational tempo, cybercrime has also been transformed into a commodity-driven industry as a result of a thriving underground economy. The Russian- and English-speaking forums, together with encrypted messaging platforms, offer threat actors the opportunity to exchange access to tools, access points, and operational support with the efficiency of commercial storefronts. 

A total of 260 initial access brokers were seen by investigators during the review period, advertising entry points into more than 1,400 European organizations during the review period. This effectively outsourced the initial stages of a breach to outside sources. Through subscription or affiliate models of malware-as-a-service, companies can offer ready-made loaders, stealers, and financial malware as a service, further lowering the barrier to entry. 

It has been noted that even after major disruptions by law enforcement, including the seizure of prominent forums, many operators have continued to trade without interruption, thanks to safe-haven jurisdictions and established networks of trustworthiness. Aside from eCrime, the report highlights an increasingly complex threat environment caused by state-sponsored actors such as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. 

Russian actors are concentrating their efforts on Ukraine, committing credential-phishing attacks, obtaining intelligence, and undertaking destructive activities targeting the military, government, energy, telecommunications, and utility sectors, and simultaneously conducting extensive espionage across NATO member countries.

For the purpose of providing plausible deniability, groups tied to Moscow have conducted extensive phishing campaigns, set up hundreds of spoofed domains, and even recruited "throwaway agents" through Telegram to carry out sabotage operations. As Iranian groups continued to conduct hack-and-leak, phishing, and DDoS attacks, often masking state intent behind hacktivist personas, their hack-and-leak campaigns branched into the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, and they stepped up their efforts. 

With these converging nation-state operations, European institutions have been put under increased strategic pressure, adding an element of geopolitical complexity to an already overloaded cyber-defence environment. It is clear from the findings that for Europe to navigate this escalating threat landscape, a more unified and forward-leaning security posture is urgently needed. According to experts, traditional perimeter defences and slow incident response models are no longer adequate to deal with actors operating at an industrial speed, due to the rapid pace of technology. 

Companies need to share regional intelligence, invest in continuous monitoring, and adopt AI-driven detection capabilities in order to narrow the attackers' widening advantage. Keeping up with the innovation and sophistication of criminal and state-backed adversaries is a difficult task for any organisation, but for organisations that fail to modernise their defences, they run the risk of being left defenceless in an increasingly unforgiving digital battlefield.
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Threat Intelligence
AI Phishing Threats Cyber Awareness Cybercrime Prevention cybersecurity trends Data protection Digital Deception email security Online Safety Technology Threat Intelligence

AI Tools Make Phishing Attacks Harder to Detect, Survey Warns


 

Despite the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats, the phishing method remains the leading avenue for data breaches in the years to come. However, in 2025, the phishing method has undergone a dangerous transformation. 

What used to be a crude attempt to deceive has now evolved into an extremely sophisticated operation backed by artificial intelligence, transforming once into an espionage. Traditionally, malicious actors are using poorly worded, grammatically incorrect, and inaccurate messages to spread their malicious messages; now, however, they are deploying systems based on generative AI, such as GPT-4 and its successors, to craft emails that are eerily authentic, contextually aware, and meticulously tailored to each target.

Cybercriminals are increasingly using artificial intelligence to orchestrate highly targeted phishing campaigns, creating communications that look like legitimate correspondence with near-perfect precision, which has been sounded alarming by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. According to FBI Special Agent Robert Tripp, these tactics can result in a devastating financial loss, a damaged reputation, or even a compromise of sensitive data. 

By the end of 2024, the rise of artificial intelligence-driven phishing had become no longer just another subtle trend, but a real reality that no one could deny. According to cybersecurity analysts, phishing activity has increased by 1,265 percent over the last three years, as a direct result of the adoption of generative AI tools. In their view, traditional email filters and security protocols, which were once effective against conventional scams, are increasingly being outmanoeuvred by AI-enhanced deceptions. 

Artificial intelligence-generated phishing has been elevated to become the most dominant email-borne threat of 2025, eclipsing even ransomware and insider risks because of its sophistication and scale. There is no doubt that organisations throughout the world are facing a fundamental change in how digital defence works, which means that complacency is not an option. 

Artificial intelligence has fundamentally altered the anatomy of phishing, transforming it from a scattershot strategy to an alarmingly precise and comprehensive threat. According to experts, adversaries now exploit artificial intelligence to amplify their scale, sophistication, and success rates by utilising AI, rather than just automating attacks.

As AI has enabled criminals to create messages that mimic human tone, context, and intent, the line between legitimate communication and deception is increasingly blurred. The cybersecurity analyst emphasises that to survive in this evolving world, security teams and decision-makers need to maintain constant vigilance, urging them to include AI-awareness in workforce training and defensive strategies. This new threat is manifested in the increased frequency of polymorphic phishing attacks. It is becoming increasingly difficult for users to detect phishing emails due to their enhanced AI automation capabilities. 

By automating the process of creating phishing emails, attackers are able to generate thousands of variants, each with slight changes to the subject line, sender details, or message structure. In the year 2024, according to recent research, 76 per cent of phishing attacks had at least one polymorphic trait, and more than half of them originated from compromised accounts, and about a quarter relied on fraudulent domains. 

Acanto alters URLs in real time and resends modified messages in real time if initial attempts fail to stimulate engagement, making such attacks even more complicated. AI-enhanced schemes can be extremely adaptable, which makes traditional security filters and static defences insufficient when they are compared to these schemes. Thus, organisations must evolve their security countermeasures to keep up with this rapidly evolving threat landscape. 

An alarming reality has been revealed in a recent global survey: the majority of individuals are still having difficulty distinguishing between phishing attempts generated by artificial intelligence and genuine messages.

According to a study by the Centre for Human Development, only 46 per cent of respondents correctly recognised a simulated phishing email crafted by artificial intelligence. The remaining 54 per cent either assumed it was real or acknowledged uncertainty about it, emphasising the effectiveness of artificial intelligence in impersonating legitimate communications now. 

Several age groups showed relatively consistent levels of awareness, with Gen Z (45%), millennials (47%), Generation X (46%) and baby boomers (46%) performing almost identically. In this era of artificial intelligence (AI) enhanced social engineering, it is crucial to note that no generation is more susceptible to being deceived than the others. 

While most of the participants acknowledged that artificial intelligence has become a tool for deceiving users online, the study demonstrated that awareness is not enough to prevent compromise, since the study found that awareness alone cannot prevent compromise. The same group was presented with a legitimate, human-written corporate email, and only 30 per cent of them correctly identified it as authentic. This is a sign that digital trust is slipping and that people are relying on instinct rather than factual evidence. 

The study was conducted by Talker Research as part of the Global State of Authentication Survey for Yubico, conducted on behalf of Yubico. During Cybersecurity Awareness Month this October, Talker Research collected insights from users throughout the U.S., the U.K., Australia, India, Japan, Singapore, France, Germany, and Sweden in order to gather insights from users across those regions. 

As a result of the findings, it is clear that users are vulnerable to increasingly artificial intelligence-driven threats. A survey conducted by the National Institute for Health found that nearly four in ten people (44%) had interacted with phishing messages within the past year by clicking links or opening attachments, and 1 per cent had done so within the past week. 

The younger generations seem to be more susceptible to phishing content, with Gen Z (62%) and millennials (51%) reporting significantly higher levels of engagement than the Gen X generation (33%) or the baby boom generation (23%). It continues to be email that is the most prevalent attack vector, accounting for 51 per cent of incidents, followed by text messages (27%) and social media messages (20%). 

There was a lot of discussion as to why people fell victim to these messages, with many citing their convincing nature and their similarities to genuine corporate correspondence, demonstrating that even the most technologically advanced individuals struggle to keep up with the sophistication of artificial intelligence-driven deception.

Although AI-driven scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, cybersecurity experts point out that families do not have to give up on protecting themselves. It is important to take some simple, proactive actions to prevent risk from occurring. Experts advise that if any unexpected or alarming messages are received, you should pause before responding and verify the source by calling back from a trusted number, rather than the number you receive in the communication. 

Family "safe words" can also help confirm authenticity during times of emergency and help prevent emotional manipulation when needed. In addition, individuals can be more aware of red flags, such as urgent demands for action, pressure to share personal information, or inconsistencies in tone and detail, in order to identify deception better. 

Additionally, businesses must be aware of emerging threats like deepfakes, which are often indicated by subtle signs like mismatched audio, unnatural facial movements, or inconsistent visual details. Technology can play a crucial role in ensuring that digital security is well-maintained as well as fortified. 

It is a fact that Bitdefender offers a comprehensive approach to family protection by detecting and blocking fraudulent content before it gets to users by using a multi-layered security suite. Through email scam detection, malicious link filtering, and artificial intelligence-driven tools like Bitdefender Scamio and Link Checker, the platform is able to protect users across a broad range of channels, all of which are used by scammers. 

It is for mobile users, especially users of Android phones, that Bitdefender has integrated a number of call-blocking features within its application. These capabilities provide an additional layer of defence against attacks such as robocalls and impersonation schemes, which are frequently used by fraudsters targeting American homes. 

In Bitdefender's family plans, users have the chance to secure all their devices under a unified umbrella, combining privacy, identity monitoring, and scam prevention into a seamless, easily manageable solution in a seamless manner. As people move into an era where digital deception has become increasingly human-like, effective security is about much more than just blocking malware. 

It's about preserving trust across all interactions, no matter what. In the future, as artificial intelligence continues to influence phishing, it will become increasingly difficult for people to distinguish between the deception of phishing and its own authenticity of the phishing, which will require a shift from reactive defence to proactive digital resilience. 

The experts stress that not only advanced technology, but also a culture of continuous awareness, is needed to fight AI-driven social engineering. Employees need to be educated regularly about security issues that mirror real-world situations, so they can become more aware of potential phishing attacks before they click on them. As well, individuals should utilise multi-factor authentication, password managers and verified communication channels to safeguard both personal and professional information. 

On a broader level, government, cybersecurity vendors, and digital platforms must collaborate in order to create a shared framework that allows them to identify and report AI-enhanced scams as soon as they occur in order to prevent them from spreading.

Even though AI has certainly enhanced the arsenal of cybercriminals, it has also demonstrated the ability of AI to strengthen defence systems—such as adaptive threat intelligence, behavioural analytics, and automated response systems—as well. People must remain vigilant, educated, and innovative in this new digital battleground. 

There is no doubt that the challenge people face is to seize the potential of AI not to deceive people, but to protect them instead-and to leverage the power of digital trust to make our security systems of tomorrow even more powerful.
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zero Day vulnerability
Cyber Security Firewall Scanning GlobalProtect GreyNoise Network Security Palo Alto Networks PAN OS Threat Intelligence zero Day vulnerability

Spike in Login Portal Scans Puts Palo Alto Networks on Alert


 

The Palo Alto Networks login portals have seen a dramatic surge in suspicious scanning activity over the past month, a development that has caught the attention of the cybersecurity community. Evidence suggests that threat actors are trying to coordinate reconnaissance efforts aimed at the Palo Alto Networks login portals. 

A new report from cybersecurity intelligence firm GreyNoise revealed that Palo Alto Networks' GlobalProtect and PAN-OS interfaces saw an increase in scanning volumes of over 500%, which marks a sharp departure from the usual pattern for such scanning. In the last week of October, the firm recorded more than 1,285 unique IP addresses attempting to probe these systems - a sharp rise from the typical daily average of fewer than 200 that occurs on a regular basis. 

Approximately 80% of this activity was attributed to IP addresses in the United States, with additional clusters originating from IP addresses in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada, and Russia. Moreover, separate TLS fingerprints indicated that there were organised scanning clusters that were heavily oriented towards United States targets as well as Pakistani targets. 

A GreyNoise analyst classifies 91% of the observed IP addresses as suspicious, while the remaining 7% are suspected to be malicious, indicating this may represent an early phase of targeted reconnaissance or exploitation attempts against Palo Alto Networks' infrastructure that is widely deployed. 

A GreyNoise analysis revealed that a large portion of the scanning traffic originated from U.S. IP addresses, with smaller but noteworthy clusters originating from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada, and Russia, indicating the traffic originated primarily from the United States. Using TLS fingerprints, research identified distinct activity clusters – targeting foand cusing o and focusing on Pakistani systems, focusing, overlapping fingerprints, suggesting infrastructure or coordination. 

Ninety per cent of the IP addresses involved in the campaign were deemed suspicious, while another seven per cent were flagged as malicious by the firm. It has been observed that most scanning activity has been directed towards emulated Palo Alto Networks profiles, including GlobalProtect and PAN-OS, indicating that the probes were likely to be intentional and are the product of open-source scanning tools or attackers who are conducting reconnaissance efforts to identify vulnerable Palo Alto devices. 

According to GreyNoise, heightened scanning activity can often be detected before zero-day or zero-n-day vulnerabilities are exploited, acting as a warning to potential offensive operations well in advance. A similar pattern was observed earlier this year, as a spike in Cisco ASA scans followed shortly thereafter by the disclosure and exploitation of a critical zero-day vulnerability in that product line, which was a warning of potential offensive operations. 

Although the timing and scale of the current Palo Alto scans are cause for concern, researchers have clarified that the available evidence suggests a weak correlation with any known or emerging exploit activity at this point in the Palo Alto network ecosystem. Palo Alto Networks' GlobalProtect platform is the core of its next-generation firewall ecosystem, allowing organisations to implement consistent policies for threat prevention and security across remote endpoints, regardless of whether or not the endpoints are connected to a virtual network. 

GlobalProtect portals are critical management tools that enable administrators to customize VPN settings, distribute security agents, and oversee endpoint connectivity within enterprise networks by allowing them to configure VPN settings, distribute security agents, and manage endpoint connectivity. Due to its function and visibility on the Internet, the portal is considered a high-value target for attackers looking to access sensitive data. 

According to experts, firewalls, VPNs, and other edge-facing technologies are among the most attractive security tools for attackers because they act as gateways between internal corporate environments and the open internet as a whole. These systems, by necessity, are available online to support remote operations, but are inadvertently exposing themselves to extensive reconnaissance and scanning efforts as a result. 

A few weeks earlier, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a warning indicating that Palo Alto Networks would be actively exploited if it were to exploit a zero-day authentication bypass vulnerability in the company's PAN-OS software. This has increased Palo Alto Networks' appeal to cyber adversaries. As with other cyber threats, similar trends have been observed across the entire industry. 

For example, Cisco Talos disclosed last year that two zero-day flaws in Cisco firewall appliances were exploited by a state-backed threat actor to conduct an espionage campaign coordinated with Cisco. These risks highlight the persistence of the threats vendors are facing when it comes to edge security infrastructure vendors.

Among experts in the field of cybersecurity, it is very important to recognise that recent spikes in scanning activity targeting Palo Alto Networks' PAN-OS GlobalProtect gateways highlight a long-standing principle of cybersecurity: there is always a vulnerability in software. According to Boris Cipot, Senior Security Engineer at Black Duck, no matter how sophisticated a piece of software is, security vulnerabilities will inevitably arise at some point, whether due to programming oversight or the introduction of vulnerabilities by third-party open-source components. 

According to him, the real test is not whether a vulnerability exists but how swiftly the affected vendor releases a fix and how quickly the users apply the fix. The Palo Alto Networks spokesperson told me that while most Palo Alto Networks customers have probably patched their systems in response to recent advisories, attackers continue to hunt for devices that are not patched or poorly maintained, hoping that they can exploit those that are not well secured. 

Among Cipot's recommendations are to perform timely patching, follow vendor-recommended mitigations when patches are not available, and restrict management interfaces to trusted internal networks, which, he says, is also one of the most fundamental practices. 

The report also recommends that organisations use continuous log monitoring, conduct regular security audits, and analyse open-source components to identify vulnerabilities as early as possible in the lifecycle. A Salt Security director, Eric Schwake, who is responsible for cybersecurity strategy, expressed the concerns of these people by pointing out that the pattern of scans, which span nearly 24,000 unique IP addresses, demonstrates the persistence of threat actors in attempting to gain unauthorised access to data. 

While perimeter security, such as firewalls and VPNs, is still crucial, it should not be viewed as impenetrable, according to Schwake. As a result, he recommended organisations adopt a multi-layered security approach integrating API security governance, robust authentication mechanisms, and behavioural threat detection in order to detect abnormal login attempts as well as other malicious activities immediately in real time, as opposed to just relying on a single approach. 

Also, it was recommended that users be trained in user awareness, and multifactor authentication (MFA) should be enforced in order to reduce the risk of credential compromise and strengthen the overall cyber resilience of organisations. A GreyNoise security research team has noted unusual scanning activity directed at Palo Alto Networks’ PAN-OS GlobalProtect gateways for a number of years. 

In April 2025, the cybersecurity intelligence firm spotted another wave of suspicious login probes, resulting in Palo Alto Networks advising its customers to make sure that their systems are running the latest software versions and to apply all patches available to them. There are several patterns in GreyNoise’s Early Warning Signals report from July 2025 that support the company’s renewed warning. Among those patterns are large-scale spikes in malicious scanning, brute-force attempts, or exploit probing, which often follow a new CVE being disclosed within six weeks of the spike in those activities.

A similar pattern appeared to occur in early September 2025 when GreyNoise detected an increase in suspicious network scans targeting Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) devices - traced back to late August. A total of 25,100 IP addresses were involved in the initial wave, primarily located in Brazil, Argentina, and the United States, with most originating from Brazil. 

Researchers at Palo Alto Networks have discovered what appears to be an alarming rise in the number of scanning sessions available on the Internet targeting a critical flaw in the software Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect, identified as CVE-2024-3400. There is a high-severity vulnerability that affects one of the most widely deployed enterprise firewall solutions, allowing the creation of arbitrary files that can be weaponised in order to execute root privilege-based commands on the operating system.

By exploiting such vulnerabilities, attackers are able to gain complete control over affected devices, potentially resulting in the theft of sensitive data, the compromise of critical network functions, and even the disruption of critical network functions. In the last few weeks, analysts have noticed a significant increase in the probing attempts of this exploit, suggesting that threat actors have been actively incorporating it into their attack arsenals. 

The fact that GlobalProtect serves as a gateway to the internet in many corporate environments increases the risks associated with the flaw, which is remote and unauthenticated. A surge of malicious reconnaissance, according to analysts, could be the precursor to coordinated intrusion campaigns. This makes it imperative that organizations implement security patches as soon as possible, enforce access restrictions, and strengthen monitoring mechanisms across all perimeter defenses, as well as implement security patches as soon as possible.

Only weeks after the discovery of one of the exploitable zero-day vulnerabilities in its ASA products (CVE-2025-20333), Cisco confirmed that the other zero-day vulnerability in the same product (CVE-2025-2020362) was actively exploited, enabling advanced malware strains such as RayInitiator and LINE VIPER to be deployed in real-world attacks. 

In accordance with the data supplied by the Shadowserver Foundation, over 45,000 Cisco ASA and Firepower Threat Defence instances in the world, including more than 20,000 in the United States, remain susceptible to these vulnerabilities. It is evident that organisations reliant on perimeter security technologies face escalating threats and are faced with an ongoing challenge of timely patch adoption, as well as the escalating risks associated with them. 

This latest surge in scanning activity serves as yet another reminder that cyber threats are constantly evolving, and that is why maintaining vigilance, visibility, and velocity is so crucial in terms of defence against them. As reconnaissance efforts become more sophisticated and automated, organisations have to take more proactive steps - both in terms of integrating threat intelligence, continuously monitoring, and managing attack surfaces in order to remain effective. 

This cannot be done solely through vendor patches. It is imperative to combine endpoint hardening, strict access controls, timely updates, and intelligence anomaly detection based on behavioural analytics in order to strengthen network resilience today. It is also important for security teams to minimise the exposure of interfaces, and wherever possible, to shield them behind zero-trust architectures that validate every connection attempt with a zero-trust strategy. 

The use of regular penetration testing, as well as active participation in information-sharing communities, can make it much easier to detect early warning signs before adversaries gain traction. The attackers are ultimately playing the long game, as can be seen by the recurring campaigns against Palo Alto Networks and Cisco infrastructure – scanning for vulnerabilities, waiting for them to emerge, and then attacking when they become complacent. Defenders' edge lies, therefore, in staying informed, staying updated, and staying ahead of the curve: staying informed and staying updated.
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Threat Intelligence
Cyber Attacks Division NATO Russia-Ukraine War Threat Intelligence

NATO Rift Widens Over Response to Russian Cyber Threats

 

NATO is confronting significant internal divisions on how to handle the intensifying wave of Russian cyberattacks, which expose rifts in alliance strategy and threaten the alliance’s coherence and overall deterrence posture. 

As Russia increasingly targets NATO states’ critical infrastructure, governmental functions, and even military networks, debate has raged within the alliance as to how forcefully to respond, and under what terms, to hostile state-sponsored cyber activities.

Deepening divisions 

A core challenge for NATO is divergent national approaches to what constitutes an act of cyber aggression warranting collective response. Some member states—particularly those along Russia’s borders in the Baltics, as well as Poland—are calling for robust measures, including invoking Article 4 (consultative action in response to threats), and even considering proportional offensive cyber operations against Russian state targets. 

These nations see repeated Russian provocations, from cyber to airspace incursions, as clear tests of alliance resolve that demand a stiff and highly visible response.

However, other countries, such as France and Germany, worry about the risks of escalation and advocate a more cautious, defensive posture, preferring extensive evidence gathering, attribution efforts, and diplomatic engagement before considering retaliatory action. 

They argue frequent consultations or aggressive stances could water down NATO’s deterrent signal or trigger dangerous unintended escalation. This split produces tactical uncertainty and delays, potentially emboldening adversaries and hampering a unified alliance front.

Policy stalemate and its consequences

These diverging approaches are mirrored in ongoing arguments about when and how to use NATO’s cyber capabilities offensively versus limiting the alliance to defensive postures or coordinated resilience initiatives. 

While some strategists press for disruptive cyber operations or overt information warfare campaigns targeting Russia, consensus is lacking due to legal concerns, worries about thresholds for collective defense, and varying levels of national cyber capacity and risk appetite.

Strategic implications

Analysts warn that Russia’s overt cyber and hybrid threats are, in part, designed to exploit and widen these strategic rifts, stymying meaningful joint response and putting both NATO's credibility and European security at risk. Persistent internal divisions leave NATO vulnerable, raising pressure for the alliance to develop a clearer, more decisive policy on cyber deterrence and response.
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Threat Intelligence
Business Security Cl0p Cyber Security Google Mandiant Ransom Threat Intelligence

Google Warns of Cl0p Extortion Campaign Against Oracle E-Business Users

 

Google Mandiant and the Google Threat Intelligence Group are tracking a suspected extortion campaign by the Cl0p ransomware group targeting executives with claims of stealing Oracle E-Business Suite data. 

The hackers have demanded ransoms reaching up to $50 million, with cybersecurity firm Halcyon reporting multiple seven and eight-figure ransom demands in recent days. The group claims to have breached Oracle's E-Business Suite, which manages core operations including financial, supply chain, and customer relationship management functions.

Modus operandi 

The attackers reportedly hacked user emails and exploited Oracle E-Business Suite's default password reset functionality to steal valid credentials. This technique bypassed single sign-on protections due to the lack of multi-factor authentication on local Oracle accounts. At least one company has confirmed that data from their Oracle systems was stolen, according to sources familiar with the matter. The hackers provided proof of compromise to victims, including screenshots and file trees.

This activity began on or before September 29, 2025, though Mandiant experts remain in early investigation stages and have not yet substantiated all claims made by the group. Charles Carmakal, Mandiant's CTO, described the operation as a high-volume email campaign launched from hundreds of compromised accounts. Initial analysis confirms at least one compromised account previously associated with FIN11, a long-running financially motivated threat group known for deploying ransomware and engaging in extortion.

Threat actor background 

Since August 2020, FIN11 has targeted organizations across multiple industries including defense, energy, finance, healthcare, legal, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, technology, and transportation. The group is believed to operate from Commonwealth of Independent States countries, with Russian-language file metadata found in their malware code. In 2020, Mandiant observed FIN11 hackers using spear-phishing messages to distribute a malware downloader called FRIENDSPEAK.

An email address in the extortion notes ties to a Cl0p affiliate and includes Cl0p site contacts, though Google lacks definitive proof to confirm the attackers' claims. The malicious emails contain contact information verified as publicly listed on the Cl0p data leak site, strongly suggesting association with Cl0p and leveraging their brand recognition. Cl0p has launched major attacks in recent years exploiting zero-day flaws in popular software including Accellion, SolarWinds, Fortra GoAnywhere, and MOVEit.

Security recommendations

Oracle confirmed the investigation on October 3, 2025, stating that attacks potentially relate to critical vulnerabilities disclosed in their July 2025 Critical Patch Update. The company strongly encouraged customers to review the July update and patch their systems for protection. Mandiant researchers recommend investigating environments for indicators of compromise associated with Cl0p operations.
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Threat Intelligence
Business Security Cyber Incident Response Cyber Security Mandiant Investigation Threat Intelligence

Cyber Incident Response Needs Dynamic Command Structure Instead of Static Guidelines

 

The SolarWinds cyberattack, which impacted over 18,000 entities, revealed that many organizations respond to breaches with disorganized, makeshift command centers. 

Kevin Mandia, CEO of Mandiant, recognized the 2020 attack on his own firm as the work of Russia's SVR, noting the attackers' sophistication and professionalism. He and other experts argue that with increasing regulatory pressure and reputational risk, this reactive approach is no longer adequate. Effective incident response requires a pre-established infrastructure for rapid action and collaboration among legal, technical, and executive teams. 

Cybersecurity experts observe that attackers often show more discipline and coordination than the companies they target. Many businesses have contacts ready but lack a systematic strategy for managing the fallout of a breach, such as regulatory filings, legal risks, and customer notifications. 

Anderson Lunsford, CEO of the incident response firm BreachRx, notes that dealing with regulators and auditors can often prove more difficult than managing the technical aspects of the breach itself. This lack of organization puts defending companies at a significant disadvantage. 

Traditional training methods like tabletop exercises are criticized as being insufficient for real-world scenarios. Lunsford describes them as theoretical discussions that fail to account for the pressure and dispersion of teams during an actual crisis. A common oversight is the lack of clear guidelines for escalating an incident to the CEO or board. Mandia himself was not informed of the breach at his own company for several days because the threshold for escalation was too high and the response team was focused on containment rather than communication. 

To address these shortcomings, a shift from static response plans to a proactive, automated framework is necessary. Modern solutions can automate action plans based on the specific incident and legal jurisdiction, creating secure communication channels for legal, risk, and executive teams. This approach aids operational efficiency and protects the organization and its leaders from regulatory fines and lawsuits. With over 200 global regulations and increasing personal accountability for executives, this has become a critical governance issue. 

Finally, the mindset around cybersecurity must shift: breaches are inevitable business risks, not rare disasters. Executives must proactively prepare, regularly practice realistic scenarios, and coordinate across all functions. The capacity to respond quickly and cohesively—treating cybersecurity as a core leadership responsibility—will distinguish organizations that endure minor setbacks from those that suffer major scandals. The takeaway is clear: success in cybersecurity incident response depends on preparation, practice, and viewing the challenge as a fundamental aspect of modern leadership.
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World Leaks
Armenia Cyber Security Hunters International RaaS Group Threat Intelligence World Leaks

'Hunters International' RaaS Outfit Shuts Down Its Operation

 

Hunters International, a ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) outfit, shut down operations and will provide free decryptors to victims seeking to restore their data without paying a ransom. 

"After careful consideration and in light of recent developments, we have decided to close the Hunters International project. This decision was not made lightly, and we recognize the impact it has on the organizations we have interacted with," the ransomware outfit notes in a statement published on its dark web.

"As a gesture of goodwill and to assist those affected by our previous activities, we are offering free decryption software to all companies that have been impacted by our ransomware. Our goal is to ensure that you can recover your encrypted data without the burden of paying ransoms.”

The attackers also erased all entries from the extortion platform and stated that firms whose systems were encrypted in Hunters International ransomware assaults can access decryption tools and recovery guidance from the gang's official website. 

While the ransomware group does not specify what "recent developments" it alludes to, the latest development follows a November 17 statement stating that Hunters International will soon cease operations due to growing law enforcement scrutiny and diminishing profitability. 

In April, threat intelligence firm Group-IB also disclosed that Hunters International had started a new extortion-only operation dubbed "World Leaks" and was rebranding with plans to zero in on data theft and extortion-only attacks. 

Group-IB stated at the time that "World Leaks operates as an extortion-only group using a custom-built exfiltration tool, in contrast to Hunters International, which combined encryption with extortion." The new tool seems to be an improved version of the Storage Software exfiltration tool that Hunters International's ransomware affiliates used. 

Due to code similarities, security researchers and ransomware specialists identified Hunters International, which surfaced in late 2023, as a potential rebranding of Hive. The malware from the ransomware group supports x64, x86, and ARM architectures and targets a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, SunOS, and ESXi (VMware servers). 

Hunters International has attacked businesses of all sizes over the last two years, demanding ransoms ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, depending on the size of the compromised organisation. The ransomware group has claimed credit for around 300 attacks worldwide, making it one of the most active ransomware campaigns in recent years. 

The ransomware outfit has claimed several notable victims, including the United States Marshals Service, the Japanese optical firm Hoya, Tata Technologies, the North American car dealership AutoCanada, the United States Navy contractor Austal USA, and Integris Health, Oklahoma's largest non-profit healthcare network.
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Threat Intelligence
Business Security Cyber Security Email Bombing Microsoft Office 365 Threat Intelligence

Office 365's Microsoft Defender Now Thwarts Email Bombing Assaults

 

Microsoft claims that the cloud-based email security suite Defender for Office 365 can now automatically detect and prevent email bombing attacks. 

Defender for Office 365 (previously known as Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection or Office 365 ATP) guards organisations working in high-risk industries and dealing with sophisticated attackers from malicious threats delivered via email messages, links, or collaboration tools.

"We're introducing a new detection capability in Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to help protect your organization from a growing threat known as email bombing," Redmond notes in a Microsoft 365 message center update. "This form of abuse floods mailboxes with high volumes of email to obscure important messages or overwhelm systems. The new 'Mail Bombing' detection will automatically identify and block these attacks, helping security teams maintain visibility into real threats.”

In late June 2025, the new 'Mail Bombing' feature began to roll out, and by late July, it should be available to all organisations. All messages detected as being a part of a mail bombing operation will be automatically routed to the Junk folder, require no manual configuration, and be toggled on by default. 

Security operations analysts and administrators can now employ Mail Bombing as a new detection type in Threat Explorer, the Email entity page, the Email summary panel, and Advanced Hunting, the company announced over the weekend.

By leveraging specialised cybercrime services that can send a high number of emails or by subscribing to several newsletters, attackers can use mail bombing operations to bombard their targets' email inboxes with thousands or tens of thousands of messages in a matter of minutes.

In the majority of cases, the perpetrators' ultimate goal is to overwhelm email security systems as part of social engineering schemes, creating the way for malware or ransomware operations that can aid in the exfiltration of sensitive data from victims' compromised devices. 

Email bombing has been used in attacks by cybercrime and ransomware outfits for more than a year. It all started with the BlackBasta gang, who employed this approach to flood their victims' mailboxes with emails just minutes before beginning their attacks.

In order to deceive overwhelmed staff members into allowing remote access to their devices via AnyDesk or the integrated Windows Quick Assist application, they would follow up with voice phishing cold calls, pretending to be their IT support teams. Before unleashing ransomware payloads, the attackers would proceed laterally through corporate networks after penetrating their systems and deploying a variety of malicious tools and malware implants.
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Threat Landscape
Business Security Cyber Security Ransomware attack Threat Intelligence Threat Landscape

Understanding the Dynamic threat Landscape of Ransomware Attacks

 

The constant expansion of cyber threats, particularly malware and ransomware, necessitates our undivided attention. Our defence strategy must evolve in tandem with the threats. So far this year, ransomware has targeted Frederick Health Medical Group, Co-op Supermarkets, and Marks & Spencer. 

This meant that critical data got into the wrong hands, supply networks were interrupted, and online transactions were halted. Almost 400,000 PCs were attacked with Lumma Stealer malware, a ClickFix malware version went viral, and a new spyware dubbed 'LOSTKEYS' appeared.

The threat landscape is always evolving, making traditional security methods ineffective. Effective protection methods are not only useful; they are also required to protect against severe data loss, financial damage, and reputational impact that these attacks can cause. Understanding the nature of these enemies is a critical first step towards developing strong defences. 

Ransomware: An ongoing and profitable menace 

Ransomware deserves special attention. It encrypts data and demands payment for its release, frequently spreading through phishing or software weaknesses. More complex ransomware variations take data before encrypting it, combining the threat with blackmail. The effects of ransomware include:

Data loss: May be permanent without backups. 

Financial costs: Includes ransom, restoration, and penalties 

Reputational damage: If publicly exposed, trust is lost. 

Ransomware's profitability makes it particularly tenacious. It does not just impact huge companies; small firms, healthcare systems, and educational institutions are all common targets. Its ease of deployment and high return on investment continue to attract cybercriminals, resulting in more aggressive campaigns.

Ransomware attacks increasingly frequently use "double extortion," in which attackers exfiltrate data before encrypting it. Victims confront two threats: inaccessible data and public exposure. This strategy not only enhances the chance of ransom payment, but also raises the stakes for organisations who are already battling to recover.

Challenges

Malware and ransomware are challenging to detect due to evasive strategies. Attackers are getting more creative, using legitimate administrative tools, zero-day vulnerabilities, and social engineering to get around defences. A multi-layered security approach that includes behavioural detection, endpoint hardening, and regular system updates is necessary to defend against these threats.

In the end, protecting against malware and ransomware involves more than just technology; it also involves mentality. Professionals in cybersecurity need to be knowledgeable, proactive, and flexible. The defenders must adapt to the ever-changing threats.
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Threat Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence Business Security Cyber Security SOC Threat Intelligence

Best Practices for SOC Threat Intelligence Integration

 

As cyber threats become more complex and widespread, Security Operations Centres (SOCs) increasingly rely on threat intelligence to transform their defensive methods from reactive to proactive. Integrating Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) into SOC procedures has become critical for organisations seeking to anticipate attacks, prioritise warnings, and respond accurately to incidents.

This transition is being driven by the increasing frequency of cyberattacks, particularly in sectors such as manufacturing and finance. Adversaries use old systems and heterogeneous work settings to spread ransomware, phishing attacks, and advanced persistent threats (APTs). 

Importance of threat intelligence in modern SOCs

Threat intelligence provides SOCs with contextualised data on new threats, attacker strategies, and vulnerabilities. SOC teams can discover patterns and predict possible attack vectors by analysing indications of compromise (IOCs), tactics, methods, and procedures (TTPs), and campaign-specific information. 

For example, the MITRE ATT&CK framework has become a key tool for mapping adversary behaviours, allowing SOCs to practice attacks and improve detection techniques. According to a recent industry research, organisations that integrated CTI into their Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems reduced mean dwell time, during which attackers went undetected, by 78%. 

Accelerating the response to incidents 

Threat intelligence allows SOCs to move from human triage to automated response workflows. Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platforms run pre-defined playbooks for typical attack scenarios such as phishing and ransomware. When a multinational retailer automated IOC blocklisting, reaction times were cut from hours to seconds, preventing potential breaches and data exfiltration.

Furthermore, threat intelligence sharing consortiums, such as sector-specific Information Sharing and Analysis Centres (ISACs), enable organisations to pool anonymised data. This partnership has effectively disrupted cross-industry efforts, including a recent ransomware attack on healthcare providers. 

Proactive threat hunting

Advanced SOCs are taking a proactive approach, performing regular threat hunts based on intelligence-led hypotheses. Using adversary playbooks and dark web monitoring, analysts find stealthy threats that avoid traditional detection. A technology firm's SOC team recently discovered a supply chain threat by linking vendor vulnerabilities to dark web conversation about a planned hack.

Purple team exercises—simulated attacks incorporating red and blue team tactics—have also gained popularity. These drills, based on real-world threat data, assess SOC readiness for advanced persistent threats. Organisations who perform quarterly purple team exercises report a 60% increase in incident control rates. 

AI SOCs future 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to transform threat intelligence. Natural language processing (NLP) technologies can now extract TTPs from unstructured threat data and generate SIEM detection rules automatically. 

During beta testing, these technologies cut rule creation time from days to minutes. Collaborative defence models are also emerging. National and multinational programs, such as INTERPOL's Global Cybercrime Program, help to facilitate cross-border intelligence exchange.

A recent operation involving 12 countries successfully removed a botnet responsible for $200 million in financial fraud, demonstrating the potential of collective defence.
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