Malware

Pierluigi Paganini September 17, 2026
Chosen Brick, Iran’s Surveillance Malware

UK, US, and Dutch agencies expose Chosen Brick, Iranian malware used to track and harass dissidents, journalists, and activists via Telegram. The UK, the US, and the Netherlands published a joint advisory warning about a Windows malware family, dubbed Chosen Brick, that Iran’s intelligence services use to track down dissidents, journalists, and activists, and the […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 16, 2026
BambooToken: The Malware That Speaks MQTT to Stay Under the Radar

Lumen exposes BambooToken, a stealthy malware family using MQTT and sideloading to quietly infect targets across Asia and beyond. BambooToken is a new malware family that uses MQTT, a lightweight messaging protocol commonly found in smart devices and industrial systems, to quietly control infected Windows and Linux machines. Most malware connects directly to a command-and-control […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 13, 2026
SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 114

Security Affairs Malware newsletter includes a collection of the best articles and research on malware in the international landscape Malware Newsletter REVSTEALER ramps up Breaking the Seal: Static Deobfuscation of JSCeal’s Compiled V8 Bytecode   GuardBreaker: Derailing AI-assisted malware analysis with a code comment   DPRK APTs: Ted backdoor and curlRAT target South Korean media and automotive […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 11, 2026
Attackers Exploit Critical Cisco FMC Flaw to deploy Qilin ransomware

Three threat groups are exploiting two Cisco FMC flaws to steal credentials, gain root access and deploy Qilin ransomware. Cisco Talos says three separate threat groups are exploiting two recently patched Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) flaws. The main target is CVE-2026-20079, a critical authentication bypass that lets unauthenticated attackers remotely bypass security controls, run […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 09, 2026
PoisonedRefresh: A Fileless Linux Rootkit That Injects PHP Web Shells Into F5 BIG-IP APM Server Memory

PoisonedRefresh rootkit injects PHP web shells into F5 BIG-IP APM Apache memory, leaving no disk artifacts. SophosLabs published a detailed technical analysis on September 8, 2026, of a Linux implant, dubbed PoisonedRefresh by ESET, they found in compromised F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager environments. Sophos tracks it as Linux/Agnt-IC. F5 has confirmed exploitation of the […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 08, 2026
North Korea-linked Hackers Hide a Backdoor Inside HAProxy

North Korea-linked hackers hid a backdoor inside HAProxy, masking C2 traffic and stealing data while keeping the load balancer working normally. North Korean-linked hackers found a genuinely clever hiding spot for their malware: inside the actual source code of HAProxy, the load balancing software running at the edge of two South Korean companies’ networks. Rapid7’s […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 07, 2026
JSCeal Hides Crypto Malware in V8 Bytecode

JSCeal hides crypto-stealing malware in V8 bytecode, but researchers built a tool to decompile it and expose its advanced theft capabilities. JSCeal is a cryptocurrency stealer that Check Point Research has tracked since early 2025. Unlike most malware, it hides its code in a format that makes analysis much harder. Check Point presented its latest […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 03, 2026
Pegasus and NoviSpy Used Against Serbian Protesters

Serbian activists were targeted with zero-click Pegasus and NoviSpy spyware, exposing a major surveillance campaign ahead of elections. A member of Serbia’s student protest movement had their iPhone infected with NSO Group‘s Pegasus spyware without ever clicking a link or opening a file. The Citizen Lab confirmed the infection in collaboration with the SHARE Foundation, […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 02, 2026
$536 and 8 Hours: AI Learns to Attack a Different PLC

Experts got Claude to port a PLC exploit, but it cost $536 and 8 hours, and a later AI-generated payload accidentally destroyed the hardware. Forescout researchers just answered a question that’s been hanging over industrial security for a while: can AI actually port a working exploit from one PLC to a different model with no […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 01, 2026
Five Venezuelan Nationals Plead Guilty in Kansas ATM Jackpotting Attempt

Five Venezuelan nationals pleaded guilty after failed ATM jackpotting attempts in Kansas. The FBI recorded 700+ cases in 2025, causing $20M in losses. Five Venezuelan nationals have pleaded guilty after trying to steal cash from ATMs in Kansas using the popular ATM jackpotting technique. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the case on August 31, […]