Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Complaint Says Service Generated More Than 1.5 Million Malicious URLsGoogle has sued a Chinese phishing-as-a-service provider accused of teaching customers to use Gemini to generate and customize scam websites, a campaign linked to more than 1.59 million phishing URLs, over 100,000 victims, and widespread credential and financial theft.

Victims Increasingly Face Multiple Compromises From a Single IncidentIdentity theft scams are increasingly unfolding as coordinated, AI-assisted attack chains that begin with phishing or impersonation escalate into account takeovers, device compromise and broader fraud, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center.

Also, Russian Signal Phishing, Iran-Linked Malware, Breaches in Spain and FranceThis week, Tycoon 2FA, Trio-Tech, messaging app spying and a ransomware broker sentenced. Iran-linked hackers. Mazda disclosed a breach. Oracle patched a flaw. North Korean actors weaponized VS Code, a Spanish port ransomware attack, a French teacher data breach and a healthcare firm victim surge.

Top European Court Advisor Says Policy Should Be 'Refund Now, Sue Later'Banks must promptly refund phishing victims when the scams lead to unauthorized transactions, an advisor to the European Union’s top court has said. The case in question involves an unnamed Polish woman who got duped on an online auction platform.

Leaked Financial and Admissions Data Includes Contact Details for 'Top Donors'Harvard University has been named as a victim and doxed by hack-and-leak group ShinyHunters, apparently as a result of the cybercrime group's ongoing "live phishing" attacks that often attempt to trick IT help desks into giving attackers direct access to a victim's network and cloud-based data.

Leaked Financial and Admissions Data Includes Contact Details for 'Top Donors'Harvard University has been named as a victim and doxed by hack-and-leak group ShinyHunters, apparently as a result of the cybercrime group's ongoing "live phishing" attacks that often attempt to trick IT help desks into giving attackers direct access to a victim's network and cloud-based data.

More Than 1M Victims Affected GloballyTech giant Google sued the Chinese-speaking operators of a phishing-as-a-service operation in what it hopes will be a first step to deterring the prolific service behind hundreds of thousands of fraudulent websites used to steal credentials from millions of victims.

Users Download Malware in Bid to Placate MetaA newly surfaced FileFix social engineering campaign puts a new spin on ClickFix attacks by goading users into loading malware under the guise of reporting a wrongful account suspension to social media giant Facebook. Victims likely get sucked into the scam by following a link from a phishing email.

Telephone-Oriented Attack Delivery Social Engineering Tactic ThrivesThe phishing industry is a never ending font of innovation. Cyber fraudsters are determined to worm their way into your inbox. Recent attacks involve callback phishing, a social engineering tactic designed to break down victims' defenses by spurring them into calling the scammers themselves.

A newly discovered phishing campaign is using social engineering to dupe victims into copying, pasting, and running the Havoc command-and-control framework on their computers, warn researchers from Fortinet. "ClickFix," displays a fake error message and instructions for its supposed resolution.

Google Expects Tactics to Spread; Global Targets and Other Services at RiskRussian nation-state hackers are using phishing attacks to target Ukrainian users of the chat app Signal, say security researchers. Rather than circumventing Signal's end-to-end encryption via a cryptographic attack, attackers use malicious prompting to prod victims into exposing messages.

Attackers Use ASCII Characters to Create Tough-to-Spot QR Codes, Barracuda WarnsAttackers are moving beyond using QR code images added to phishing emails to trick victims into visiting malicious sites, and using ASCII "full block" characters to build working QR codes designed to evade optical character recognition defenses, warns cybersecurity firm Barracuda Networks.

Der Spiegel Reports Russian State Hackers Mimicked Kiel InstituteThe German cyber agency is reportedly investigating a phishing campaign tied to Russian state hacking group APT28 that used a bogus website mimicking an influential think tank. The campaign, which ran for months, used variations of the institute's legitimate IfW-Kiel web domain to lure victims.

Hackers Used Dozens of Servers to Distribute Malicious Android AppsLaw enforcement authorities in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan took down a cybercrime ring that used dozens of servers and hundreds of phishing pages across multiple jurisdictions to run a malware-enabled scam operation and steal tens of millions from victims' bank accounts.

Healthcare is increasingly complex and interconnected, and the push to exchange more digital patient information among providers adds to the threat of busy staff falling victim to phishing and other scams that can jeopardize data, said Krista Arndt, CISO of United Musculoskeletal Partners.

Agency Spells Out Measures to Avoid Falling Victim to Costly SchemesHealthcare organizations should take steps to avoid falling victim to evolving threats involving costly business email compromise scams and related phishing schemes fueled by social engineering, warned the Department of Health and Human Services' Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center.

Spear Phishing Messages Sent to Emplpyees With Admin RightsA Russia-based cybercriminal group targeted a large American auto manufacturer, more evidence of its shift to deep-pocketed victims the gang hopes will deliver a major payday. FIN7 - also known as Carbon Spider and Sangria Tempest - targeted employees with “high levels of administrative rights."

Researchers Say Hackers Used Fake Login Pages to Trick 100 Victims, Crypto WorkersA new phishing campaign is targeting victims through mobile devices by mirroring legitimate login pages for the Federal Communications Commission and large cryptocurrency platforms including Binance and Coinbase. At least 100 victims, including crypto company employees, have fallen for the scam.

Legal Moves: Crypto Theft Lawsuit; Hospital Sues LockBit GangIn the latest weekly update, ISMG editors discussed why crypto-seeking drainer scam-as-a-service operations are thriving, a novel legal move that recovered a hospital's stolen data, and a ground-breaking case involving bitcoin that could streamline recovery for victims.

Also: Crypto Hack Losses in 2023 Decreased by Over 50%This week, Orbit Chain lost $81 million in a New Year's Eve hack, Indonesian police shuttered bitcoin mining operations, dYdX named its attacker, $324,000 users fell victim to 2023 crypto phishing scams, Singapore's prime minister had a deepfake problem, and 2023 crypto losses decreased by over 50%.