Malware

Pierluigi Paganini October 18, 2026
Rust-Based CikaBika Bot Turns Discord into a Command Center

CikaBika Bot uses fake documents to infect Windows systems, then abuses Discord and Ngrok to execute commands, spy on victims, and steal files. Darktrace researchers have documented a new campaign distributing a remote access trojan called CikaBika Bot, written in Rust and controlled entirely through Discord. The infection chain starts with a disk image that […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 18, 2026
SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 119

Security Affairs Malware newsletter includes a collection of the best articles and research on malware in the international landscape Malware Newsletter IronChain Ransomware Threatens Businesses with Permanent Data Loss and Costly Downtime   AI models may be capable of self-replicating without access to a datacenter XWorm Reborn: From infostealer to surveillance platform  Hirudo: From Fake Updates […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 16, 2026
PEERSTITCH malware: How Attackers Compromised 500 Firewalls Through FortiManager

PEERSTITCH malware exploited FortiManager to expose 500+ firewalls, evade detection inside FortiOS memory, and maintain stealthy access. PEERSTITCH, a stealthy implant deployed during a prolonged intrusion, helped attackers maintain access to a telecom managed service provider after compromising its FortiManager appliance. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 documented the operation, which began in September 2024 and […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 15, 2026
Silent Lynx: Kazakhstan-Linked Hackers Target Russian Refinery and Government

Silent Lynx, a group likely based in Kazakhstan, targets Russian energy and government entities in espionage campaigns across Central Asia. Researchers from Cisco Talos and Recorded Future published a detailed paper on a threat actor they call Silent Lynx (aka UAT-6275, TAG-193), a Kazakhstan nexus group conducting espionage across Central Asia. The targets include the […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 15, 2026
Hirudo Android Trojan Replaces Banking Apps to Steal Credentials

Android trojan Hirudo replaces genuine banking apps with modified versions to steal credentials and bypass security checks, enabling financial fraud. ThreatFabric researchers detailed a new Android banking trojan called Hirudo that takes a genuinely different approach to defeating banking security. Instead of throwing a fake login screen over the real app, it uninstalls the real […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 14, 2026
How a leaked builder of XWorm turned a remote access trojan into a surveillance kit

Netskope tracks four XWorm versions in the wild, 46 plugins, and new tools for location, audio and live browser control, with detections up fourfold. Netskope Threat Labs has been following XWorm since September 2024, and its latest report shows the malware has changed a lot. Over the past year the team identified four distinct versions […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 13, 2026
Anthropic Shows How Small AI Models Could Replicate Across IoT Devices

Anthropic researchers show how small AI models could autonomously replicate across IoT devices, raising concerns about adaptive, AI-powered botnets. Anthropic published a paper this week that should make anyone who manages IoT infrastructure sit down for a moment. The research shows that small AI models are approaching the capability to replicate themselves autonomously across networks […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 11, 2026
SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 118

Security Affairs Malware newsletter includes a collection of the best articles and research on malware in the international landscape Malware Newsletter ClingSTUN Linux Backdoor Abuses Public STUN Infrastructure   UAC-0277: ClickFix on compromised websites to spread LUNEXSTEALER MALFEX – A malicious npm postinstall no advisory has caught for fourteen months   Canto incognito: tracking the PoeLLM malware […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 11, 2026
Bitdefender finds preinstalled Android malware you can’t uninstall, seen in 150 countries

Bitdefender finds Midnight Mimosa, preinstalled Android malware on cheap MediaTek phones that fakes ad clicks, drops apps and builds a proxy botnet. Bitdefender researchers discovered a campaign called Midnight Mimosa involving preinstalled Android malware on low-cost phones from different brands that use MediaTek platforms. The malware is built into the device firmware and may be […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 10, 2026
Silent Ransom Group Allegedly Extorted $207 Million Without Encrypting Files

Silent Ransom Group allegedly extorted $207 million from 27 law firms in six months using phone calls and social engineering, not encryption. Silent Ransom Group doesn’t rely on encryption. No malware payload, no locked files, just phone calls and social engineering aimed almost entirely at law firms, and apparently it works extraordinarily well. A new […]