Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Researchers identified what they believe is the first documented case of a ransomware operation, JadePuffer, conducted entirely by a large language model (LLM) agent. [...]

Researchers are warning that the VECT 2.0 ransomware has a problem in the way it handles encryption nonces that leads to permanently destroying larger files rather than encrypt them. [...]

An operational security failure allowed researchers to recover data that the INC ransomware gang stole from a dozen U.S. organizations. [...]

Threat researchers discovered the first AI-powered ransomware, called PromptLock, that uses Lua scripts to steal and encrypt data on Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. [...]

Europol has confirmed that a Telegram channel impersonating the agency and offering a $50,000 reward for information on two Qilin ransomware administrators is fake. The impostor later admitted it was created to troll researchers and journalists. [...]

Security researchers have linked a new backdoor dubbed Betruger, deployed in several recent ransomware attacks, to an affiliate of the RansomHub operation. [...]

New research has uncovered further links between the Black Basta and Cactus ransomware gangs, with members of both groups utilizing the same social engineering attacks and the BackConnect proxy malware for post-exploitation access to corporate networks. [...]

Researchers observed a new Linux variant of the TargetCompany ransomware family that targets VMware ESXi environments using a custom shell script to deliver and execute payloads. [...]

Security researchers analyzing the relatively new RansomHub ransomware-as-a-service believe that it has evoloved from the currently defunct Knight ransomware project. [...]

Security researchers analyzing the Alpha ransomware payload and modus operandi discovered overlaps with the now-defunct Netwalker ransomware operation. [...]

South Korean researchers have publicly disclosed an encryption flaw in the Rhysida ransomware encryptor, allowing the creation of a Windows decryptor to recover files for free. [...]

Security researchers analyzing the activity of the recently emerged 3AM ransomware operation uncovered close connections with infamous groups, such as the Conti syndicate and the Royal ransomware gang. [...]

Researchers from Cisco Talos working with the Dutch police obtained a decryption tool for the Tortilla variant of Babuk ransomware and shared intelligence that led to the arrest of the ransomware's operator. [...]

Researchers have created a decryptor that exploits a flaw in Black Basta ransomware, allowing victims to recover their files for free. [...]

It's been a quiet week, with even threat actors appearing to take some time off for the holidays. We did not see much research released on ransomware this week, with most of the news focusing on new attacks and LockBit affiliates increasingly targeting hospitals. [...]

Russia-linked ransomware gang Black Basta has raked in at least $100 million in ransom payments from more than 90 victims since it first surfaced in April 2022, according to joint research from Corvus Insurance and Elliptic. [...]

Security researchers have identified infrastructure belonging to a threat actor now tracked as ShadowSyndicate, who likely deployed seven different ransomware families in attacks over the past year. [...]

Researchers took advantage of a weakness in the encryption scheme of Key Group ransomware and developed a decryption tool that lets some victims to recover their files for free. [...]

Security researchers have dissected a recently emerged ransomware strain named 'Big Head' that may be spreading through malvertising that promotes fake Windows updates and Microsoft Word installers. [...]

Security researchers discovered a new malicious tool they named PindOS that delivers the Bumblebee and IcedID malware typically associated with ransomware attacks. [...]