Malware

Pierluigi Paganini February 03, 2026
APT28 exploits Microsoft Office flaw in Operation Neusploit

Russia-linked APT28 is behind Operation Neusploit, exploiting a newly disclosed Microsoft Office vulnerability in targeted attacks. Russia-linked group APT28 (aka UAC-0001, aka Fancy Bear, Pawn Storm, Sofacy Group, Sednit, BlueDelta, and STRONTIUM) is behind Operation Neusploit, a campaign that exploits a newly disclosed Microsoft Office vulnerability. The APT28 group has been active since at least 2007 and it has targeted governments, militaries, and security organizations […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 03, 2026
Notepad++ infrastructure hack likely tied to China-nexus APT Lotus Blossom

Rapid7 researchers say the Notepad++ hosting breach is likely linked to the China-nexus Lotus Blossom APT group. Recently, the Notepad++ maintainer revealed that nation-state hackers compromised the hosting provider’s infrastructure, redirecting update traffic to malicious servers. The attack did not exploit flaws in Notepad++ code but intercepted updates before they reached users. “According to the […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 02, 2026
MoltBot Skills exploited to distribute 400+ malware packages in days

Over 400 malicious OpenClaw packages were uploaded in days, using MoltBot skills to spread password-stealing malware. Researchers uncovered a large malware campaign abusing AI skills for Claude Code and Moltbot users. Between late January and early February 2026, more than 400 malicious skills were published on ClawHub and GitHub, posing as crypto trading tools. OpenClaw […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 29, 2026
Google targets IPIDEA in crackdown on global residential proxy networks

Google disrupted IPIDEA, a major residential proxy network that enrolled users’ devices via SDKs embedded in mobile and desktop apps. Google and partners disrupted the IPIDEA residential proxy network, used by many threat actors, via legal domain takedowns, intelligence sharing on malicious SDKs, and ecosystem-wide enforcement. Google Play Protect now removes and blocks apps with […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 27, 2026
Amnesia RAT deployed in multi-stage phishing attacks against Russian users

A multi-stage phishing campaign targets users in Russia with ransomware and Amnesia RAT using fake business documents as lures. FortiGuard Labs researchers uncovered a multi-stage malware campaign mainly targeting users in Russia. The attack uses fake business documents as social engineering lures to distract victims while malware runs in the background. It escalates to full […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 26, 2026
North Korea–linked KONNI uses AI to build stealthy malware tooling

Check Point links an active phishing campaign to North Korea–aligned KONNI, targeting developers with fake blockchain project docs and using an AI-written PowerShell backdoor. Check Point Research uncovered an active phishing campaign attributed to the North Korea–linked KONNI group (aka Kimsuky, Earth Imp, TA406, Thallium, Vedalia, and Velvet Chollima). The operation targets software developers and engineers using fake project […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 26, 2026
Russia-linked Sandworm APT implicated in major cyber attack on Poland’s power grid

Russia-linked APT Sandworm launched what was described as the largest cyber attack on Poland’s power grid in Dec 2025. ESET linked a late-2025 cyberattack on Poland’s energy system to the Russia-linked Sandworm APT. “Based on our analysis of the malware and associated TTPs, we attribute the attack to the Russia-aligned Sandworm APT with medium confidence due to […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 25, 2026
SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 81

Security Affairs Malware newsletter includes a collection of the best articles and research on malware in the international landscape Malware Newsletter UNO reverse card: stealing cookies from cookie stealers  PDFSIDER Malware – Exploitation of DLL Side-Loading for AV and EDR Evasion   VoidLink: Evidence That the Era of Advanced AI-Generated Malware Has Begun  PyPI Package Impersonates […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 24, 2026
Osiris ransomware emerges, leveraging BYOVD technique to kill security tools

Researchers identified a new Osiris ransomware used in a November 2025 attack, abusing the POORTRY driver via BYOVD to disable security tools. Symantec and Carbon Black researchers uncovered a new ransomware strain named Osiris, used in a November 2025 attack against a major Southeast Asian food service franchise operator. The attackers deployed a malicious driver, […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 22, 2026
Machine learning–powered Android Trojans bypass script-based Ad Click detection

A new Android click-fraud trojan family uses TensorFlow ML to visually detect and tap ads, bypassing traditional script-based click techniques. Researchers at cybersecurity firm Dr.Web discovered a new Android click-fraud trojan family that uses TensorFlow.js ML models to visually detect and tap ads, avoiding traditional script-based methods. The malware is distributed via Xiaomi’s GetApps, it […]