Hacking

Pierluigi Paganini January 12, 2026
Credential-harvesting attacks by APT28 hit Turkish, European, and Central Asian organizations

Russia-linked cyberespionage group APT28 targets energy, nuclear, and policy staff in Turkey, Europe, North Macedonia, and Uzbekistan with credential-harvesting attacks. Between February and September 2025, Recorded Future’s Insikt Group observed Russia-linked group APT28 (aka UAC-0001, Fancy Bear, Pawn Storm, Sofacy Group, Sednit, BlueDelta, and STRONTIUM) running credential-harvesting campaigns. Targets included Turkish energy and nuclear agency staff, European think tank personnel, and organizations […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 11, 2026
The ideals of Aaron Swartz in an age of control

Today marks Aaron Swartz ’s death anniversary. His fight for open knowledge and digital rights continues as the forces he opposed grow stronger. Today marks the anniversary of the death of Aaron Swartz (Chicago, November 8, 1986 – New York, January 11, 2013), a figure whose life, work, and ideals continue to shape the internet, […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 11, 2026
Security Affairs newsletter Round 558 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

A new round of the weekly Security Affairs newsletter has arrived! Every week, the best security articles from Security Affairs are free in your email box. Enjoy a new round of the weekly SecurityAffairs newsletter, including the international press. A massive breach exposed data of 17.5M Instagram users North Korea–linked APT Kimsuky behind quishing attacks, […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 10, 2026
A massive breach exposed data of 17.5M Instagram users

A massive breach exposed data of 17.5M Instagram users, triggering mass password reset emails and fears that stolen data is already circulating online. A major data breach has exposed the personal data of about 17.5 million Instagram users, Malwarebytes Labs researchers warn. Exposed data includes usernames, physical addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses,. Since January […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 10, 2026
North Korea–linked APT Kimsuky behind quishing attacks, FBI warns

FBI warns that North Korea–linked APT group Kimsuky is targeting governments, think tanks, and academic institutions with quishing attacks. North Korea–linked APT group Kimsuky is targeting government agencies, academic institutions, and think tanks using spear-phishing emails that contain malicious QR codes (quishing), the FBI warns. “As of 2025, Kimsuky actors have targeted think tanks, academic […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 10, 2026
Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) suffered a data breach that impacted 700K individuals

Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) exposed personal and health data of nearly 700,000 residents due to incorrect privacy settings. The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS ) disclosed a data breach after misconfigured privacy settings exposed personal and health data of nearly 700,000 residents. On September 22, 2025, IDHS discovered that internal maps meant […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 09, 2026
Trend Micro fixed a remote code execution in Apex Central

Trend Micro fixed three Apex Central flaws discovered by Tenable that could allow remote code execution or denial-of-service attacks. Trend Micro patched three flaws (CVE-2025-69258, CVE-2025-69259, CVE-2025-69260) in its Apex Central management console after Tenable disclosed details and PoC code. The researchers discovered the vulnerabilities in August 2025, which could enable remote code execution or denial-of-service attacks. […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 09, 2026
Iran cuts Internet nationwide amid deadly protest crackdown

Iran shut down the internet as protests spread nationwide. Dozens were killed in a violent crackdown amid soaring inflation and a collapsing currency. Iran has shut down the internet nationwide as protests spread across multiple cities. Security forces responded with a violent crackdown that reportedly killed dozens. Demonstrations continued despite the blackout, with shops closing […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 09, 2026
China-linked UAT-7290 spies on telco in South Asia and Europe using modular malware

China-linked UAT-7290 has targeted South Asia and Southeastern Europe since 2022, conducting espionage and deploying RushDrop, DriveSwitch, and SilentRaid. China-linked threat actor UAT-7290 has conducted espionage attacks since at least 2022, targeting South Asia and Southeastern Europe. UAT-7290 primarily targets telecom providers, it conducts espionage by deeply embedding in victim networks and also operates Operational […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 09, 2026
Chinese-speaking hackers exploited ESXi zero-days long before disclosure

Chinese-speaking attackers used a hacked SonicWall VPN to deploy ESXi zero-days that were likely exploited over a year before public disclosure. Chinese-speaking attackers were seen abusing a hacked SonicWall VPN to deliver a toolkit targeting VMware ESXi. The exploit chain included a sophisticated VM escape and appears to have been developed more than a year […]