Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

China-based phishing groups blamed for non-stop scam SMS messages about a supposed wayward package or unpaid toll fee are promoting a new offering, just in time for the holiday shopping season: Phishing kits for mass-creating fake but convincing e-commerce websites that convert customer payment card data into mobile wallets from Apple and Google. Experts say these same phishing groups also are now using SMS lures that promise unclaimed tax refunds and mobile rewards points.

Google is suing more than two dozen unnamed individuals allegedly involved in peddling a popular China-based mobile phishing service that helps scammers impersonate hundreds of trusted brands, blast out text message lures, and convert phished payment card data into mobile wallets from Apple and Google.

China-based purveyors of SMS phishing kits are enjoying remarkable success converting phished payment card data into mobile wallets from Apple and Google. Until recently, the so-called “Smishing Triad” mainly impersonated toll road operators and shipping companies. But experts say these groups are now directly targeting customers of international financial institutions, while dramatically expanding their cybercrime infrastructure and support staff.

Carding -- the underground business of stealing, selling and swiping stolen payment card data -- has long been the dominion of Russia-based hackers. Happily, the broad deployment of more secure chip-based payment cards in the United States has weakened the carding market. But a flurry of innovation from cybercrime groups in China is breathing new life into the carding industry, by turning phished card data into mobile wallets that can be used online and at main street stores.

Tactic Uses Stolen Cards Added to Apple Pay and Google Pay Digital WalletsCriminals have been caught tapping a new type of relay attack to cash-out stolen payment cards added to legitimate digital wallets. These criminals use money mules who carry an Android device able to capture and relay NFC communications used by ATMs to and from an attacker-controlled device.

Cybercriminals have devised a novel method to cash out from stolen credit card details linked to mobile payment systems such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, dubbed 'Ghost Tap,' which relays NFC card data to money mules worldwide. [...]

While Apple halts all sales in Russia, Visa and Mastercard block banks The disk-wiping malware that tore through at least hundreds of Ukrainian Windows systems at the start of Russia's occupation wasn't alone. Slovakian infosec firm ESET has found a second similar strain in Ukraine.…

While Apple halts all sales in Russia, Visa and Mastercard block banks The disk-wiping malware that tore through at least hundreds of Ukrainian Windows systems at the start of Russia's occupation wasn't alone. Slovakian infosec firm ESET has found a second similar strain in Ukraine.…