Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Threat Actor Silently Forwarded Sensitive Emails Matching Strategic TopicsGoogle says Chinese espionage group UNC6508 compromised REDCap environments at North American research institutions, deployed custom malware, stole credentials and covertly forwarded strategically relevant emails through abused compliance rules to support long-term intelligence collection.

Malware Targets Banks, Crypto Platforms and Social MediaNewly surfaced Android-based banking Trojan gives threat actors near-total control over infected devices, letting them steal user credentials for direct access to financial accounts, says researchers. Rokarolla tricks users into side-loading malicious versions of popular, high traffic apps.

Researchers Trace Linux and Windows Toolsets to Suspected PRC Espionage ActivityNewly discovered malware tied to China-linked actors breached telecom providers across Asia and the Middle East, highlighting growing efforts to gain persistent access into interconnected communications infrastructure.

Researchers Link MSHTA Windows Utility to Lumma Stealer, ClickFix CampaignsCybercriminals continue abusing Microsoft’s legacy MSHTA utility to deliver malware, with researchers saying that the default-enabled Windows component remains a favored living-off-the-land tool for PowerShell attacks, info stealers and multi-stage malware loaders.

Eset Researchers Discover Trove of Go-Based MalwareResearchers uncovered a Chinese-linked cyberespionage group after attackers left command and control credentials embedded in malware, exposing internal operations, testing environments and thousands of messages tied to campaigns targeting a Mongolia government agency.

Researchers Detail Prompt Injection, API and Redirect FlawsOasis Security researchers found three bugs in Claude that attackers can chain to steal user chat data without malware or phishing. The "Claudy Day" attack links hidden prompt injection, Anthropic's Files API and an open redirect. Anthropic has fixed the core flaw.

Researchers Tie UAT-9244 Intrusion to Famous Sparrow and Tropic TrooperA China-linked cyberespionage group has been targeting telecommunications providers in South America since 2024 using a set of newly discovered malware tools designed to maintain persistent access to critical communications infrastructure, Cisco Talos researchers found.

Researchers Say PromptSpy Automates Persistence on Infected DevicesA newly discovered Android malware strain, "PromptSpy," is using Google's Gemini generative artificial intelligence model to automate part of its persistence mechanism, marking what researchers describe as the second known case of AI-driven mobile malware.

New Trojan May Soon Be Offered for Sale to Criminal UndergroundSecurity researchers warn of "Massiv," an Android Trojan - disguised as an IPTV app - targeting users who sideload streaming apps. The malware enables screen capture, overlays and credential theft - and may soon be marketed on criminal underground forums as malware as a service.

Malware Campaign Uses Lures With Positive Portrayal of Anti-Tehran ProtestsA new malware campaign is using a positive-sounding report into the recent protests in Iran, accompanied by real photos and videos, as lures in an apparent cyberespionage operation designed to conduct surveillance of dissident researchers and global communities, warn security researchers.

LLM-Built Toolkit Hit 91 Hosts, Mined Funds in MoneroSecurity researchers detected artificial intelligence-generated malware exploiting the React2Shell vulnerability, allowing attackers with no coding expertise to build functional exploits. The attacker may have circumvented an AI model's safeguards by framing the malicious coding request as homework.

Bitcoin Joining Fee for Affiliates and No Proven Victims Cited by ResearchersNewcomer ransomware group 0APT is being branded a "likely scam operation," not least after a list of over 200 supposed victims turned out to be bogus, if not entirely AI-generated - never mind a 1 bitcoin joining fee for would-be affiliates and outdated crypto-locking malware.

Check Point Identifies VoidLink Framework First 'Advanced' AI-Generated ThreatA single developer built a Linux malware framework in less than a week using artificial intelligence, said security researchers. Check Point researchers say this is a case of AI-generated malware reaching operational maturity at a pace that challenges assumptions about development timelines.

Terabytes of Data Stolen From Cloud-Based Collaboration Tools, Researchers WarnDozens of organizations that use real-time content collaboration platforms appear to have lost not only credentials but also terabytes of hosted data to information-stealing malware being wielded by an initial access broker with a sideline in auctioning large volumes of stolen data.

Variant Likely in Beta Stage, Aikido Researcher SaidHackers behind the Shai Hulud malicious npm JavaScript campaign are likely testing a new variant of the malware. Security researchers at Aikido on Sunday uncovered a new Shai Hulud variant.

Also: macOS Naughty or Nice, Cybercrime Karma, Spoofing Legacy Rail InfrastructureLondon in December: Early to dark, quick to rain but also festive - and a mecca for cybersecurity researchers there for the annual Black Hat Europe conference. This year's event featured nearly 50 briefings that touched on everything from hardware hacking to combing infostealer logs for hidden gems.

Unpatched Flaw in Open-Source Gogs Service Facilitates Remote Code ExecutionAn attacker has been exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Gogs, an open-source and popular Git service that allows for self-hosting, warned researchers. At least 700 internet-exposed servers running Gogs shows signs of being infected with command-and-control malware; no patch is yet available.

The Next Major Cyber Risk Could Come Through a Biological SampleResearchers demonstrated that it is feasible to encode executable payloads into synthetic DNA that, once sequenced and processed, could trigger malware in sequencing software. When a vulnerability in a sequencer becomes a vulnerability in national health or food security, the stakes are existential.

MuddyWater Hides Malware With Game Delay TechniqueIranian nation-state hackers took inspiration from a mobile phone time-killing mainstay, say security researchers who spotted hackers downloading malware masquerading as the Snake video game. A callback to the game isn't nostalgia, say researchers at Eset.

Nation-State Teams Tied to Grain Sector Targeting, Plus More Joined-Up OperationsRussia's nation-state hacking groups have returned to pummeling Ukrainian targets with destructive, wiper malware, including in apparent attempts to disrupt its economically valuable grain sector, alongside the repeat targeting of allied European nations, researchers report.