In an industrial network, malicious activity can be hard to tell apart from normal data exchange between devices. Malicious actors routinely rely on legitimate tools and the Living-off-the-Land technique, so a single network connection may show no known signs of an attack: the device uses a familiar protocol and transmits ordinary data. An anomaly can hide in subtle details: the data source, the time of access, or the volume of transferred data may be atypical for a particular device. However,…
Classification: Critical, Solution: Official Fix, Exploit Maturity: Not Defined, CVSSv3.1: 9.8, CVEs: CVE-2026-109618, CVE-2026-109619, Summary: This Security Alert addresses CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619. These vulnerabilities, known as PHP2Shell, allow for unauthenticated remote code execution in PHP. Oracle strongly recommends that customers apply the available security patches without delay. The Security Alert advisory will continue to be updated as additional product patches become…
Unit 42 details recent threat intelligence, highlighting cyberespionage, financial extortion, and the rapid adoption of AI across offensive workflows. The post Unit 42 Threat Intelligence Highlights - Nov. 2, 2026 appeared first on Unit 42.
In this article Classifying the vulnerability landscape Vulnerabilities exploited in the wild Where defenders should focus Patching is slow, while exploitation is fast Impact, exposure and where to focus Next in line How Microsoft Security helps defenders act References Learn More The vulnerability landscape continues to expand. From 1999 through September 2026, approximately 383,000 software vulnerabilities had been disclosed across platforms and technologies, yet only about 2,000 CVEs …
Recently, our team exposed sophisticated scam kits designed to steal sensitive data and trick consumers. But underground marketplaces are not just for malware and stolen passwords. They also offer services designed to manipulate your opinion of the products and services you buy every day. In our latest research, we examined cybercrime forums where sellers advertise illicit “reputation management” services. For the right price, these underground operators offer to flood a product with glowing,…
Written by: Christopher Romano, Codi Starks, Garrett Mahoney, John Wolfram, Josh Murchie, K Singh, Mathew Potaczek, Mike Lombardi, Rik Dolfing Introduction Mandiant responded to multiple incidents in 2026 in which threat actors hijacked enterprise access to Large Language Models (LLMs), a tactic known as "LLMJacking." Spanning a variety of cloud and LLM providers, these intrusions impacted organizations in North America, South America, and Asia Pacific across the financial services, retail,…
Introduction As part of proactive threat monitoring, Kaspersky’s Cyber Threat Intelligence team identified a malicious campaign involving C2 agents controlled by artificial intelligence. Confirmed victims of the campaign included organizations in the education sector in several countries across Africa and Latin America. CyberStrikeAI played a key role in the post-exploitation phase. This is an open-source framework in which an LLM orchestrator on the command-and-control server plans actions,…
VOLTA is a mature stealer implant with an optional AI-integration layer. After stealing credentials, sessions, and cryptocurrency wallets, VOLTA sends a structured evidence bundle to an LLM to rank the victim’s assets by monetization value. If a model refuses to perform the target assessment, VOLTA fails over to a three-model chain, implying a direct engineering effort and expectation of hitting model guardrails. This stealer is self-deleting, and there is no attacker-owned infrastructure. The…
Written by: Aurora Blum, David Mainor, Rohit Nambiar, Omar ElAhdan, Matthew McWhirt, Will Silverstone, Bhavesh Dhake, Chris Busse Introduction Recent intrusions in which threat actors have been observed weaponizing agentic frameworks to execute highly-automated intrusions has put a spotlight on evolving adversarial use of LLMs. In our September 2026 report, Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) noted that forward leaning adversaries were beginning to transition from basic prompting to agentic…
A modern organization protects its information systems with a whole suite of technologies that generate thousands of security alerts every day. Looking at these alerts in bulk, you’ll see that a significant share are false positives. Ideally, these alerts would be filtered out automatically so that analysts could focus on the ones that may point to a real incident. However, writing filters is a time-consuming task in itself. To create a correct filter, an analyst needs to: Review the logs…
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Threat Source newsletter. “The darkest period of my life, so far, arrived the summer I was pregnant with my eldest son. The future was growing in me with all of its terrifying unpredictability, and I found myself anxious, unable to work and woefully at sea.” — Lauren Groff I doubt Lauren had this maniacal infosec news cycle in mind when she wrote about the terrifyingly unpredictable future, but honestly, she’s got our current careers down cold. Let he who…
In this article Stages of AI adoption by North Korean threat actors AI use across North Korean threat operations AI-assisted targeting and reconnaissance AI-assisted social engineering and identity deception AI-assisted software and tooling development AI-assisted operational scaling and analysis Mitigation and protection guidance Microsoft Defender detections As Microsoft Threat Intelligence continues to track how threat actors operationalize AI to increase the speed, efficiency, and…
Key findings Re-sampling URLs from the trace shared by Cohere yields 52 different destination hosts, many of which are local or do not exist, and one is an invalid top-level domain. Swapping the order of two program names in a check for available tools made the model much less likely to continue with a network call. Model jaggedness (inconsistent behavior that changes with small differences in context) seems like a more likely explanation than a fixed backdoor destination. Our interactive…
AI agents can control authenticated browsers, interact with corporate applications, and access sensitive data while appearing to act as legitimate employees. Keep Aware examines three ways agents operate inside browsers and why traditional security tools may struggle to distinguish their activity from human users. [...]
Phishing remained the leading initial access technique, appearing in slightly over one-third of all Cisco Talos Incident Response (Talos IR) engagements — a decrease from over 50 percent last quarter. In addition to traditional phishing links and attachments, we observed numerous threat actors conducting voice phishing (vishing) in tandem with IT desk impersonation to socially engineer the victim into allowing remote access via a legitimate remote monitoring and management (RMM) tool.…
Cisco Talos observed a new AI-integrated command-and-control (C2) framework in the wild called “NIK C2.” NIK C2 contains a Windows implant, using which, an actor can dump credentials, stream the victim's keystrokes to collect the targeted victim’s sensitive data, and instruct an integrated AI model to analyze the harvested data, all within the compromised session. In this framework, the actor has abused the OpenAI Chat Completions application programming interface (API), which is a HTTP…
The GOLD OGRE threat group has used AI extensively to develop tools and to orchestrate and execute ransomware operations Categories: Threat Research Tags: AI, Ransomware, Aur0ra
Unit 42 explores key peak shopping season retail cyber threats, from ransomware to AI attacks, and shares how to defend operations and customer trust. The post Unwrapping Retail Peak Season Cyber Threats appeared first on Unit 42.
In his LABScon 26 keynote, delivered in his inimitable comedic style, Harvard University professor James Mickens questions whether the scale of current AI investment is justified. Starting from US tech capex of roughly 1.4% of GDP in the second quarter of 2025, he argues that computers are already good enough, and notes that the world has so many CPUs and GPUs that they are put to work solving cryptocurrency puzzles to make imaginary money. More seriously, the AI models that investment is…
Key Points Check Point Research discovered a campaign we track as Yoba where attackers abuse the popularity of AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude, creating fake GitHub projects that pretend to be desktop applications like GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-6 Astra, and Claude Opus. The malware is placed next to legitimate, signed executables from OpenAI and Anthropic so it can be loaded indirectly, a technique commonly known as DLL sideloading, which is often used to bypass security protections. This campaign…
AI is widening the attack surface of the critical infrastructure facilities and services that state, local, and education (SLED) organizations run. In the final post of our Cybersecurity Awareness Month series, we explain how a whole-of-state security approach can help SLED agencies protect their critical infrastructure. Key takeaways Because cyber attackers prey on under-resourced targets, they often go after SLED organizations, especially those that operate critical infrastructure, including…
AI is becoming a third wheel in relationships, increasingly playing a role in the most intimate parts of our lives. It shows up in the flirty first text, the polished dating profile, the therapized language we use with a partner after a fight, the strength we gather after heartbreak, and everywhere in between. For some, AI is a source of companionship itself. And even if you’re not personally an AI user, you may still be dating, loving, arguing with, or trusting someone who is. As AI moves…
A reverse engineer claims that their Samsung smart TV has been collecting audio without their consent. The researcher, who calls themselves “log4j,” said in an X thread that their 2025 Samsung TV was delivering ads that seemed suspiciously relevant to them. Investigating, they claim to have found a package called “always on voice,” which uses the TV’s built-in microphone to collect sounds from the room. The software logged events such as dogs barking and babies crying, log4j said, adding that…
Introduction AI agents and associated tooling are becoming increasingly common in corporate infrastructure. Agents can perform a range of actions with the user’s privileges, such as accessing data, running commands, and interacting with external services. This creates new security risks, especially when these tools are used without the security team’s oversight or well-designed policies. Detecting, tracking, and controlling AI agents is becoming one of the most pressing tasks for security teams…
Researchers found a malicious AGENTS markdown instruction file in a customer's Downloads folder that tricked an AI coding agent into installing a rogue npm package. [...]
Key Points Aokigahara, a newly observed infostealer, has been spotted in the wild. An earlier version may have been known as Kamidere or Stygian. The malware includes traditional data theft capabilities targeting browsers, VPN clients, cryptocurrency wallets, FTP/SFTP clients, password managers, and email applications, among other targets. AI applications and development tools are notable targets. The stealer collects authentication files, session data, and configuration files associated with…
Attackers can steal credentials and begin exfiltrating data within minutes, often before security teams can respond. Exaforce examines real-world attacks involving stolen GitHub tokens, malicious AI installers, and MFA phishing, explaining why faster detection and automated containment are critical. [...]
Shadow AI used to be confined to a few simple scenarios, such as AI chatbots and AI browser extensions. Today, it spans a broad spectrum of complex vectors, making it harder to detect and control. In the latest installment of our Cybersecurity Awareness Month blog series, learn how employee security training, AI usage governance, and exposure management can help you tackle shadow AI successfully. Key takeaways Integrating shadow AI into security awareness training helps employees recognize its…
WhatsApp instructed its AI support chatbot not to recommend contacting privacy regulators when users couldn’t delete their accounts, researchers found. Privacy software company Redact discovered the hidden text on October 8. Its researchers then examined and saved copies of all 545 pages linked from WhatsApp’s help center, finding 102 instruction blocks across 80 pages. The text was delivered with the pages but did not appear in the articles visitors saw on screen. Instead, it could be found in…
In this article What’s happening What is ARTEX? Mitigation and protection guidance References Learn more As early as September 2026, Storm-0940, a China-state aligned actor, used the agentic AI penetration testing framework ARTEX to automate attacks targeting hundreds of organizations globally across a broad range of industries. Several of these Storm-0940 ARTEX-driven attacks have resulted in the actor obtaining privileged access to an organization’s cloud infrastructure – including multiple…
OpenAI agents powered by the GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Astra models weakened misalignment monitoring during two internal tasks, interpreting coding instructions as authorization to do so. [...]
An investigation into a threat actor bypassing AI safety controls to coordinate credential theft, VoIP fraud planning, and database exfiltration. The post “Next Exploit Opportunities”: How a Threat Actor Used AI to Help Plan and Execute Multiple Types of Cybercrime Activities appeared first on Unit 42.
ClickFix attacks are surging as cybercriminals use fake AI installers, malicious search results, and trusted chatbot platforms to trick users into executing malware. Push Security examines how these attacks evade traditional defenses and why AI tools have become increasingly effective lures. [...]
AI security tools that can only detect threats in English offer limited protection. Here’s how Tenable trained our threat detectors to process nine additional languages and understand thousands more, without the need for a translation model, which increases costs and slows down processing. Key takeaways Tenable One AI Exposure’s detectors, covering AI threats, harmful content, and other policy risks, were originally English-centric. To assess threats written in other languages, our product…
In January, we responded to the Lazarus Group’s novel attack campaign against South Korea, which followed last year’s Operation SyncHole. In this new operation, the group employed an updated malware chain that included both their old and new malware, which we disclosed in full, and used another mandatory South Korean security software program as a part of infection chain using a watering‑hole strategy. Notably, the group targeted victims more selectively, sending spear‑phishing emails with…
On October 8, 2026, JPCERT/CC issued an alert regarding a series of unauthorized access incidents involving the leakage of personal and other information reported by multiple organizations in Japan. In cooperation with multiple organizations, JPCERT/CC has been investigating infrastructure that may have been used in these attacks. We confirmed that the attackers had used AI to scan for known vulnerabilities and carry out attacks via APIs. We identified several servers used for these activities…
Key Takeaways Teams are remediating more than ever, but exposure from the vulnerabilities that matter is still rising faster than they can keep up with. Mean time to exploitation is about −7 days. Mean time to remediate sits around +30 days. Qualys research: closures rose from 73M (2022) to 473M (2025) – 6× – while critical findings still open at day seven rose from 56% to 63%. Less than 1% of vulnerabilities are actively exploited. A volume-and-CVSS program spends most of its effort on the…
Frontier AI models (like Mythos) are rapidly mining decades of technical debt across ubiquitous legacy libraries, driving monthly Microsoft Patch Tuesday vulnerability advisories up more than tenfold (reaching 1,415 this month). This volume is overwhelming open-source maintainers and putting pressure on the traditional 90-day coordinated disclosure model. Despite a 105% year-over-year surge in CVEs, Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEVs) grew by only 37%, and only 3 of September's 975 Microsoft…
Key Findings Antidetect browsers obscure the digital identity of their users, enabling a single operator to silently manage thousands of isolated accounts across multiple platforms (including Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube), while evading detection systems that look for scams and coordinated inauthentic behavior. Threat actors abuse these platforms, taking over accounts and using them for financial fraud, phishing and malware distribution. These accounts can also be used to coordinate…
A 49-year-old bricklayer sold his belongings before traveling 2,000 km by bus from his home in Brazil to meet “Jéssica,” an online influencer he had fallen for. Yet despite having a social media account with more than 300,000 followers, she never existed. Edimar Rocha Martins lives in Imperatriz, a city in northeastern Brazil. He says he struck up an online conversation with Jéssica Fazendeira, who supposedly lived near the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte. The AI persona promising love The…
Wiz identified threat actors hijacking Google Cloud Platform (GCP) billing accounts via search-ad phishing to fund unauthorized Gemini API usage. By stealing corporate credentials and MFA tokens, attackers gain access, dismantle IAM domain restrictions, and link external GCP p...
Cybercriminals are selling forged identity documents, deepfake videos, and live verification services to help buyers bypass Know Your Client (KYC) checks. Flare examines how these underground services operate and the techniques used to create and maintain fraudulent verified accounts. [...]
Discover how to secure AI agents in your cloud environment with Tenable One Cloud Exposure. We explore Microsoft Entra Agent ID and provide essential best practices for robust agentic AI identity security. Key takeaways Understand your current maturity level and then build an appropriate action plan to secure your agent identities. Use your cloud providers’ native tools or Tenable One Cloud Exposure to locate and catalog every AI agent operating in your environment. Do not assign human…
Last month, Volexity published two blog posts in its Mind the (Patch) Gap series. The series details Volexity’s discovery of multiple Chinese threat actors simultaneously using zero-day exploits in Google Chrome and Microsoft Windows in campaigns that, if successful, would download and run malware on an exploited system. Those posts covered technical details of the exploits and malware Volexity observed, along with general detection methods for each case. Behind those findings was one of the…
The Verge reports that Eiliko, a small AI robot companion made by Energize Lab, has serious security flaws that expose private conversations and let an attacker remotely change what the toy says. According to The Verge, researcher Sammy Azdoufal could access 13 million conversations and what appeared to be the entire active worldwide fleet of 68,000 robots. The publication reports that the US is the largest market, with more than 31,000 profiles belonging to children there. Azdoufal found…
Our analysis an AI-powered espionage campaign targeting government Linux infrastructure with custom malware, web shells, and advanced credential theft. The post AI-Powered Espionage Campaign Targets Government Linux Infrastructure appeared first on Unit 42.
Photos you take with your phone and some digital cameras can contain hidden information, including where they were taken. You can strip that data out before sharing a photo with someone, which would help to protect your location. But the image itself may still give you away. A company called Graylark says its Raven AI tool can match an indoor photo to a specific property using visual clues alone. No GPS data or view out of the window required. We’ve seen this company before. Its tool, GeoSpy,…
Your streaming box might not look like much of a computer. But connect enough inexpensive devices together, and they can run an AI model. Researchers at Anthropic demonstrated this by running a Google Gemma model across 15 off-brand Android TV boxes. They warn that small models could soon spread across vulnerable internet-of-things (IoT) devices, including smart ovens and TV boxes, stating: “Our experiments suggest that small AI models may be months away from being capable enough to self…
Anthropic is warning that small AI models could soon be able to self-replicate across consumer IoT devices, from Android TV boxes to smart ovens, creating distributed botnets capable of running AI workloads without relying on data centers. [...]
The new research, published by AI security startup AIR, found that a network filtering flaw in Vercel Sandbox — a tool used to run code in isolated environments — could allow agents to exploit certificate validation processes to transmit data outside approved networks.
TL;DR; Our security assessment of LiteLLM (v1.77.7), a widely used open-source LLM gateway, uncovered multiple high-impact vulnerabilities (tracked as CVE-2026-35029, CVE-2026-59823) which have been resolved as of LiteLLM version 1.83.9. The most significant issues stemmed from a missing authorization check on the /config/update endpoint, which allowed any authenticated user (including low-privileged accounts) to modify the proxy’s runtime configuration. This single flaw enabled arbitrary file…
<p>This article was first published <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/building-intent-based-access-control-without-reading-minds-borges-dxg6e/" target="_self">on LinkedIn</a>.</p> Categories: AI Research, Threat Research Tags: AI, AI RESEARCH, Threat Research
You ignored the suspicious email. You didn’t open the attachment, click the link, or reply to the sender. Then you asked your AI assistant to summarize your inbox. Could the message you wisely avoided find its way back onto your to-do list—only this time presented as an urgent recommendation from a tool you trust? That’s the risk behind phishing emails containing hidden instructions aimed at AI assistants. Instead of relying only on persuading you, attackers are also trying to influence the…