Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Video of Industry Figures Harvested During Meetings and Used to Lure Future VictimsNorth Korean hackers are pretending to be cryptocurrency insiders, in an attempt to trick targets into accepting Calendly calendar invites. The social engineering ruse is designed to infect Windows and macOS systems with crypto stealers, and to harvest video of real-life people for future lures.

China, Iran, North Korea Hackers Exploit Gemini Across Attack Life CycleState-backed hackers weaponized Google's artificial intelligence model Gemini to accelerate cyberattacks, using the productivity tool as an offensive asset for reconnaissance, social engineering and malware development. Google said it has disabled accounts and strengthened defenses.

Government Agencies Targeted With Infostealers and Cryptomining MalwareA fake police alert is the social engineering cornerstone of an ongoing phishing campaign targeting Ukrainian government agencies, warn security researchers. They're tracking a surge in malicious SVG file attachments, in this case leading to information-stealing and cryptocurrency-mining malware.

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.

Attacker Socially Engineered Developer With Phishing EmailA hacker laced 18 popular npm packages with cryptocurrency stealing malware after socially engineering the developer into giving up his credentials to the JavaScript runtime environment. Aikido Security said the 18 software packages collectively have downloads of more than two billion each week.

Malicious Prompts Hidden in Data can Trigger Executable PayloadsHackers can transform artificial intelligence-powered summarization tools into unwitting delivery agents for ransomware instructions through hidden code and prompt manipulation, security researchers warn. The method is an evolution of ClickFix, a social engineering tactic.

Social Engineering Attacks Trick Victims Running Malware-Installation ScriptsAttackers are tapping TikTok to distribute videos, apparently generated using artificial intelligence tools, to trick victims into running scripts that install information-stealing malware, researchers warn. The campaign is the latest in a long line of schemes designed to distribute infostealers.

Attack Combines Social Engineering and Card Emulation to Execute Real-Time TheftHackers are using Chinese-speaking Android malware-as-a-service SuperCard X to carry out near-field communication relay attacks, siphoning payment card data and executing live point of sale and ATM transactions. Victims receive spoofed SMS or WhatsApp alerts purporting to originate from their bank.

Paste-and-Run Schemes Trick Users Into Running Attacker-Provided Malicious CodeSocial engineering tactics designed to trick users into installing malware, oftentimes by "fixing" a fake problem, are growing more common. Experts say a majority of these ClickFix - aka ClearFix or paste-and-run - attacks now lead to information-stealing malware infections.

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