A cybercriminal campaign linked to Russia is deploying QR codes to access the WhatsApp accounts of high-profile targets like journalists, members...

A cybercriminal campaign linked to Russia is deploying QR codes to access the WhatsApp accounts of high-profile targets like journalists, members of think tanks, and employees of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), according to new details revealed by Microsoft.

The group, which Microsoft tracks by the name “Star Blizzard,” is also referred to as Coldriver by other researchers. Last year, the group created impersonation accounts where members posed as experts in a field that their targets might be interested in—or that was somehow affiliated with the target. Once a relationship had been established, the target would receive a phishing link or a document that contained a phishing link.

But over time, that tactic became widely known, and part of the cybercriminals’ infrastructure was taken down. Now, it seems the group has changed tactics and is sending QR codes instead of malicious links to the targets that they have established an initial relationship with.

These QR codes do not take the target to a malicious website, nor will they join them to the promised WhatsApp group on “the latest non-governmental initiatives aimed at supporting Ukraine NGOs,” as is claimed in one of the cybercriminal lures.

In reality, the link in the QR code is intentionally broken. The idea is that the target will respond with a remark about the broken link. When that happens the cybercriminals send out a shortened URL to a website that displays another QR code.

_Screenshot courtesy of Microsoft_

> “I apologize for the inconvenience with the QR code. Kindly try this alternative link: US-Ukraine NGOs Group  
> It should work without any issues.

By scanning this QR code and following the instructions on the website they confirm the addition of an extra device to the WhatsApp account of the target. With that access the group can read the messages in their WhatsApp account and use existing browser plugins, particularly those designed for exporting WhatsApp messages from an account accessed via WhatsApp Web.

**How to stay safe**

These spear phishing campaigns are highly targeted and you’ll probably never see an invite to this group. But cybercriminals tend to copy ideas that work, so you may see them in another form.

There are a few simple rules that will help you avoid this kind of phishing.

*   Always hover over links before clicking them.
*   When you find a shortened URL, think about the possible reason for shortening. Was there a real need to do this or is it just meant to hide the destination?
*   When still in doubt, unshorten the URL.
*   When following instructions on a website, scrutinize whether the prompts on your device actually match the expected ones. WhatsApp will double-check whether you want to add a device to the account.
*   Double-check whether the sender is who they claim to be through another method of contact.

**We don’t just report on phone security—we provide it**

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your mobile devices by downloading Malwarebytes for iOS, and Malwarebytes for Android today.

 WhatsApp spear phishing campaign uses QR codes to add device 

Avery has confirmed its website was compromised by a credit card skimmer that potentially affected over 60,000 customers.

The consequences of a wave of credit card skimmers—which is normal around the holidays—are starting to show.

Label maker Avery has filed a data breach notification, saying 61,193 people may have had their credit card details stolen.

On December 9, Avery said it became aware of an attack on its systems. An investigation showed that cybercriminals had inserted malicious software that was used to “scrape” credit card information used on its website. This credit card skimmer was active between July 18, 2024, and December 9, 2024.

Avery has sent emails to affected customers to let them know their data has been stolen.

The information potentially included:

*   First and last name
*   Billing and shipping address
*   Email address
*   Phone number if provided
*   Payment card information including CVV number and expiration date
*   Purchase amount

Avery says it has received a number of reports from affected customers who said that they incurred a fraudulent charge and/or received a phishing email.

A credit card skimmer is a piece of malware that is injected into a website, often through vulnerabilities in the content management system (CMS) or the plugins that the site owner uses. 

When visiting a site that has a card skimmer on it, you’re unlikely to even know it is there. Card skimmers are experts in injecting JavaScript code, especially on web shops which heavily rely on that type of code, which increases the chance that the extra code will not stand out. Sadly, card skimmers are all too commonplace, but there are things you can do to prevent your details being caught by one.

**How to protect yourself from card skimmers**

*   **Run a security solution and keep it up to date**. Most antivirus products—including Malwarebytes Premium—offer some kind of web protection that detects malicious domains and IP addresses.
*   **Enable in-browser protection**. Malwarebytes Browser Guard—a browser extension available for Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari—blocks card skimmers. It also stops annoying ads and trackers, warns about breaches, and flags malicious websites. You can see it in action here, blocking a piece of JavaScript hosted on an otherwise legitimate site:

Malwarebytes Browser Guard blocks credit card skimmer JavaScript

*   **Keep an eye on your financial statements**. Regularly check your online bank and credit card statements. Flag anything that seems suspicious.
*   **Set up identity and credit monitoring**. Identity monitoring alerts you if your personal information is found being illegally traded online, and helps you recover after. Credit monitoring tracks your credit report and borrowing behavior and alerts you if anything changes. A breached company may offer this as a service to you (like Avery is), but you can also get different levels of monitoring solutions, depending on your individual need.

More information on how to act after falling victim to a data breach can be found in our article: **Involved in a data breach? Here’s what you need to know**.

 Avery had credit card skimmer stuck on its site for months 

The FBI has announced it's deleted PlugX malware from approximately 4,258 US-based computers and networks.

The FBI says it has removed PlugX malware from thousands of infected computers worldwide.

The move came after suspicion that cybercriminals groups under control of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) used a version of PlugX malware to control, and steal information from victims’ computers.

PlugX has been around since at least 2008 but is under constant development. With the remote access it provides criminals, it is often used to spy on users and plant additional malware on interesting systems.

Among others, the PlugX Remote Access Trojan (RAT) was used in a lasting campaign uncovered last year in which a Chinese group known as “Velvet Ant” used compromised F5 BIG-IP appliances to gain access to networks, managing to stay hidden for years.

US Attorney Jacqueline Romero for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania commented:

> “This wide-ranging hack and long-term infection of thousands of Windows-based computers, including many home computers in the United States, demonstrates the recklessness and aggressiveness of PRC state-sponsored hackers.”

After researchers found out that thousands of infected machines reported to one specific IP address, they managed to seize control over the IP address that served as a Command & Control (C2) server.

In close cooperation with the French authorities, the FBI and Justice Department used this IP address to “sinkhole” the botnet. Sinkholing in this context means that the redirection of traffic from its original destination to one specified by the sinkhole owners. The altered destination is known as the sinkhole.

With control of the sinkhole, a specially configured DNS server can simply route the requests of the bots to a fake C2 server. This provides the controller of the sinkhole with valuable information about the affected systems and an opportunity to send commands to delete the PlugX version from the connecting devices.

FBI special agent in Charge Wayne Jacobs of the FBI Philadelphia Field Office said:

> “The FBI worked to identify thousands of infected US computers and delete the PRC malware on them. The scope of this technical operation demonstrates the FBI’s resolve to pursue PRC adversaries no matter where they victimize Americans.”

The FBI says it is notifying those who had the malware deleted from their computers via their internet service providers (ISPs).

**We don’t just report on threats—we remove them**

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your devices by downloading Malwarebytes today.

 PlugX malware deleted from thousands of systems by FBI 

An ongoing malvertising campaign steals Google advertiser accounts via fraudulent ads for Google Ads itself.

**Table of contents**

*   Overview
*   Criminals impersonate Google Ads
*   Lures hosted on Google Sites
*   Phishing for Google account credentials
*   Victimology
*   Who is behind these campaigns?
*   Fuel for other malware and scam campaigns
*   Indicators of Compromise

**Overview**

Online criminals are targeting individuals and businesses that advertise via Google Ads by phishing them for their credentials — ironically — via fraudulent Google ads.

The scheme consists of stealing as many advertiser accounts as possible by impersonating Google Ads and redirecting victims to fake login pages. We believe their goal is to resell those accounts on blackhat forums, while also keeping some to themselves to perpetuate these campaigns.

This is the most egregious malvertising operation we have ever tracked, getting to the core of Google’s business and likely affecting thousands of their customers worldwide. We have been reporting new incidents around the clock and yet keep identifying new ones, even at the time of publication.

The following diagram illustrates at a high level the mechanism by which advertisers are getting fleeced:

_Figure 1: Process flow for this Google Ads heist campaign_

_Back to top_

**Criminals impersonate Google Ads**

Advertisers are constantly trying to outbid each other to reach potential customers by buying ad space on the world’s number one search engine. This earned Google a whopping $175 billion in search-based ad revenues in 2023. Suffice to say, the budgets spent in advertising can be considerable and of interest to crooks for a number of reasons.

We first started noticing suspicious activity related to Google accounts somewhat accidentally, and after a deeper look we were able to trace it back to malicious ads for… Google Ads itself! Very quickly we were overwhelmed by the onslaught of fraudulent “Sponsored” results, specifically designed to impersonate Google Ads, as can be seen in _Figure 2_:

_Figure 2: A malicious ad masquerading as Google Ads_

While it is hard to believe such a thing could actually happen, the proof is there when you click on the 3-dot menu that shows more information about the advertiser. We have partially masked the victim’s name, but clearly it is not Google; they are just one of the many accounts that have already been compromised and abused to trick more users:

_Figure 3: The advertiser behind this ad is not affiliated with Google at all_

People who will see those ads are individuals or businesses that want to advertise on Google Search or already do. Indeed, we saw numerous ads specifically for each scenario, sign up or sign in, as seen in _Figure 4_:

_Figure 4: Two ads for signing up and sign in to Google Ads respectively_

The fake ads for Google Ads come from a variety of individuals and businesses, in various locations. Some of those hacked accounts already had hundreds of other legitimate ads running, and one of them was for a popular Taiwanese electronics company.

_Figure 5: Victim accounts spending their own budgets on fake Google Ads_

To get an idea of the geographic scope of these campaigns, we performed the same Google search simultaneously from several different geolocations (using proxies). First, here’s the malicious ad from a U.S. IP address belonging to a business registered in Paraguay:

_Figure 6: U.S.-based search showing fake Google ad_

Now, here’s that same ad that appears on Google Search in several other countries:

_Figure 7: The same ad found in different countries_

_Back to top_

**Lures hosted on Google Sites**

Once victims click on those fraudulent ads, they are redirected to a page that looks like Google Ads’ home page, but oddly enough, it us hosted on Google Sites. These pages act as a sort of gateway to external websites specifically designed to steal the usernames and passwords from the coveted advertisers’ Google accounts.

_Figure 8: A malicious Google Sites page impersonating Google Ads_

There’s a good reason to use Google Sites, not only because it’s a free and a disposable commodity but also because it allows for complete impersonation. Indeed, you cannot show a URL in an ad unless your landing page (final URL) matches the same domain name. While that is a rule meant to protect abuse and impersonation, it is one that is very easy to get around.

_Figure 9: The rule that stipulates display URLs and final URLs must have matching domains_

Looking back at the ad and the Google Sites page, we see that this malicious ad does not strictly violate the rule since _sites**.google.com**_ uses the same root domains ads _ads**.google.com**_. In other words, it is allowed to show this URL in the ad, therefore making it indistinguishable from the same ad put out by Google LLC..

_Figure 10: The malicious ad does not violate Google’s rule on the use of the display URL_

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**Phishing for Google account credentials**

After the victims click on the “Start now” button found on the Google Sites page, they are redirected to a different site which contains a phishing kit. JavaScript code fingerprints users while they go through each step to ensure all important data is being surreptitiously collected.

_Figure 12: The actual phishing page that follows_

Finally, all the data is combined with the username and password and sent to the remote server via a POST request. We see that criminals even receive the victim’s geolocation, down to the city and internet service provider.

_Figure 12: POST web request with victim’s details_

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**Victimology**

There are multiple online reports of people who saw the fake Google Ads and shared their experiences:

*   Help with removing a dangerous scam in Google Ads (_Google Ads Help forum_)
*   Google Ads Phishing Scam (_Reddit_)
*   It’s just me or Google just sponsored a link to a phising site for Google ads? (_Reddit_)
*   Be aware of fake google page, clicked by accident (_Reddit_)
*   Warning! First sponsorized google answer for “Google ads” is a phishing attempt ! (_BlueSky_)

We were able to get in touch with a couple of victims who not only saw the ads but were actually scammed and lost money. Thanks to their testimony and our own research, we have a better idea of the criminals’ modus operandi:

*   Victim enters their Google account information into phishing page
*   Phishing kit collects unique identifier, cookies, credentials
*   Victim may receive an email indicating a login from an unusual location (Brazil)
*   If the victim fails to stop this attempt, a new administrator is added to the Google Ads account via a different Gmail address
*   Threat actor goes on a spending spree, locks out victim if they can

_Back to top_

**Who is behind these campaigns?**

We identified two main groups of criminals running this scheme but the more prolific by far is one made of Portuguese speakers likely operating out of Brazil. Victims have also shared that they had received a notification from Google indicating suspicious logins from Brazil. Unfortunately, those notifications often came too late or where dismissed as legitimate, and the criminals already had time to do some damage.

We should also note a third campaign that is very different from the other two, and where the threat actors’ main goal is to distribute malware. The Google Ads phishing scheme may have been a temporary run which was not their main focus.

**Brazilian team**

In the span of a few days, we reported over 50 fraudulent ads to the Google Ad team all coming from this Brazilian group. We quickly realized that no matter how many reported incidents and takedowns, the threat actors managed to keep at least one malicious ad 24/7.

_Figure 13_ shows the network traffic resulting from a click on the ad. You will see multiple hops before finally arriving to the phishing portal. The second URL shows the crooks are using a paid service to detect fake traffic.

Figure 13: Network traffic from the ‘Brazilian campaign’

Within the JavaScript code part of the phishing kit, there are comments in Portuguese. _Figure 14_ shows a portion of the code that does browser fingerprinting, which is a way of identifying users. Browser language, system CPU, memory, screen-width, and time zone are some of the data points collected and then hashed.

Figure 14: Identifying users via various settings

**Asian team**

The second group is using advertiser accounts from Hong Kong and appears to be Asia-based, perhaps from China. Interestingly, they also use the same kind of delivery chain by leveraging Google sites. However, their phishing kit is entirely different from their Brazilian counterparts.

Figure 15: Web traffic for the ‘Chinese campaign’

_Figure 16_ below shows a code extract with comments in Chinese, as well as a function called _xianshi_, which could be in reference to a Chinese general of the late Qing dynasty or even a superhero from more modern gaming and literature.

Figure 16: Code with comments in Chinese

**Third campaign (possibly Eastern European)**

We observed another campaign which has a very different modus operandi. Google Sites is not involved at all, and instead they rely on a fake CAPTCHA lure and heavy obfuscation of the phishing page.

Interestingly, the malicious ad we found was for Google Authenticator, despite the obvious ads-goo\[.\]click domain name. However, for about day or so, the redirect from that domain lead directly to a phishing portal hosted at _ads-overview\[.\]com_.

The reason why we suggest the threat actors may be Eastern Europeans here is because of the type of redirects and obfuscation. There is also a distant feel of ‘software download via Google ads’ we have reported on previously (see _Threat actor impersonates Google via fake ad for Authenticator_).

Figure 17: A malicious ad for Google Authenticator and fake CAPTCHA

A PHP script (_cloch.php_) then determines if the visitor is genuine or not (likely doing a server-side IP check). VPNs, bot and detection tools will get a “white” page showing some bogus instructions on how to run a Google Ads campaign. Victims are instead redirected to _ads-overview\[.\]com_ which is a phishing portal for Google accounts.

Figure 18: Cloaking in action with a ‘white’ page or the phishing page

When we checked back on this campaign a few days later, we saw that the ad URL now redirected to a fake Google Authenticator site, likely to download malware. The redirection mechanism is shown in _Figure_ 20:

Figure 19: Web traffic for fake Google Authenticator site

_Back to top_

**Fuel for other malware and scam campaigns**

Stolen Google Ads accounts are a valuable commodity among thieves. As we have detailed it many times on this blog, there are constant malvertising campaigns leveraging compromised advertiser accounts to buy ads that push scams or deliver malware.

*   Printer problems? Beware the bogus help
*   Malicious ad distributes SocGholish malware to Kaiser Permanente employees
*   Hello again, FakeBat: popular loader returns after months-long hiatus
*   Large scale Google Ads campaign targets utility software

If you think about it for a second, crooks are using someone else’s budget to further continue spreading malfeasance. Whether those dollars are spent towards legitimate ads or malicious ones, Google still earns revenues from those ad campaigns. The losers are the hacked advertisers and innocent victims that are getting phished.

As result, taking action on compromised ad accounts plays a key part in driving down malvertising attacks. Google has yet to show that it takes definitive steps to freeze such accounts until their security is restored, despite their own policy on the subject (_Figure 20_). For example, we recently saw a case where the same advertiser that had already been reported 30 times, was still active.

_Figure 20: Google’s policy regarding violations_

As the scourge of fraudulent ads continues, we urge users to pay particular attention to sponsored results. Ironically, it’s quite possible that individuals and businesses that run ad campaigns are not using an ad-blocker (to see their ads and those from their competitors), making them even more susceptible to fall for these phishing schemes.

**We don’t just report on threats—we block them**

_Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off by downloading Malwarebytes Browser Guard today._

_Back to top_

**Indicators of Compromise**

Fake Google Sites pages

sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/ads-goo-vgsgoldx  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/ads-word-cmdw  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/ads-word-makt  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/ads-word-whishw  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/ads-word-wwesw  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/ads-word-xvgt  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/ads3dfod6hbadvhj678  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/adwoord  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/aluado01  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/ap-rei-pandas  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/appsd-adsd  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/asd-app-goo  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/connectsing/addss  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/connectsingyn/ads  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/entteraccess  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/exercitododeusvivo  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/fjads  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/goitkm/google-ads  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/hdgstt  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/helpp2k  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/hereon/1sku4yf  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/hgvfvd  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/joaope-defeijao  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/jthsjd  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/logincosturms/ads  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/logins-words-officails  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/logins-words-officsdp  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/marchatrasdemarcha  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/newmanage/page  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/one-vegas  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/one-vegasw  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/onvg-ads-word  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/oversmart/new  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/pandareidel  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/polajdasod6hbad  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/ppo-ads  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/quadrilhadohomemtanacasakaraio  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/ricobemnovinhos  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/s-ad-offica  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/s-wppa  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/sdawjj  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/semcao  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/sites-gb  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/soarnovo  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/so-ad-reisd  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/spiupiupp-go  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/start-smarts  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/start-smarts/homepage/  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/umcincosetequebratudo  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/vewsconnect  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/vinteequatroporquarenta  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/xvs-wods-ace  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/zeroumnaoezerodois  
sites\[.\]google\[.\]com/view/zeroumonlinecomosmp

Phishing domains

account-costumers\[.\]site  
account-worda-ads\[.\]benephica\[.\]com  
account-worda-ads\[.\]cacaobliss\[.\]pt  
account\[.\]universitas-studio\[.\]es  
accounts-ads\[.\]site  
accounts\[.\]google\[.\]lt1l\[.\]com  
accounts\[.\]goosggles\[.\]com  
accounts\[.\]lichseagame\[.\]com  
accousnt-ads\[.\]tmcampos\[.\]pt  
accousnt\[.\]benephica\[.\]pt  
accousnt\[.\]hyluxcase\[.\]me  
accousnt\[.\]whenin\[.\]pt  
ads-goo\[.\]click  
ads-goog\[.\]link  
ads-google\[.\]io-es\[.\]com  
ads-overview\[.\]com  
ads1.google.lt1l.com  
ads1\[.\]google\[.\]veef8f\[.\]com  
adsettings\[.\]site  
adsg00gle-v3\[.\]vercel\[.\]app  
adsgsetups\[.\]shop  
advertsing-acess\[.\]site  
advertsing-v3\[.\]site  
as\[.\]vn-login\[.\]shop  
benephica\[.\]pt  
cacaobliss\[.\]pt  
colegiopergaminho\[.\]pt  
docs-pr\[.\]top  
tmcampos\[.\]pt  
vietnamworks\[.\]vn-login\[.\]shop

_Back to top_

 The great Google Ads heist: criminals ransack advertiser accounts via fake Google ads 

An insurance company is accused of unlawfully collecting, using, and selling location data from millions of people's cell phones.

Insurance company Allstate and its subsidiary Arity unlawfully collected, used, and sold data about the location and movement of Texans’ cell phones through secretly embedded software in mobile apps, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Attorney General Paxton says the companies didn’t give consumers notice or get their consent, which violates Texas’ new Data Privacy and Security Act.

Arity would pay app developers to incorporate software that tracks consumers’ driving data in their apps. When consumers installed these apps they unwittingly downloaded that software, which allowed Arity to monitor the consumer’s location and movement in real-time.

Using this method, the company collected trillions of miles worth of location data from over 45 million people across the US, and used the data to create the “world’s largest driving behavior database.”

Allstate then used the covertly obtained data to justify raising insurance rates, according to Attorney General Paxton. Allstate is accused of not just using the data for its own business, but also for selling it on to third parties, including other car insurance carriers.

Location and movement data is valuable for insurance companies when they are preparing a quote. By having insight in the driver’s behavior, they can offer a rate that covers the risk better.

Car manufacturers are known to be selling similar data on to insurance companies. Last year, Attorney General Paxton sued General Motors (GM) for the unlawful collection and sale of over 1.5 million Texans’ private driving data to insurance companies, also without their knowledge or consent.

Privacy violation aside, these companies don’t always keep the data safe. Just last week we spoke about a breach at data broker Gravy Analytics, which is said to have led to the loss of millions of people’s sensitive location data.

Back to the Allstate case, the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA) requires clear notice and informed consent regarding how a company will use Texans’ sensitive data. That is something which Allstate allegedly failed to do.

In the press release, Paxton states:

> “Our investigation revealed that Allstate and Arity paid mobile apps millions of dollars to install Allstate’s tracking software. The personal data of millions of Americans was sold to insurance companies without their knowledge or consent in violation of the law. Texans deserve better and we will hold all these companies accountable.”

**Protect your location data**

Sometimes apps ask permission to use your location data and you find yourself wondering, why does this app need to know where my phone is?

This is one possible reason.

Whenever you are asked to share your location data with an app and there’s no clear reason why you might need to, deny the app that permission.

If you have to share your location—for example, when using a map app—choose the “Allow only while using the app” option, so that it will be unable to continuously track your location and movement.

**We don’t just report on phone security—we provide it**

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your mobile devices by downloading Malwarebytes for iOS, and Malwarebytes for Android today.

 Insurance company accused of using secret software to illegally collect and sell location data on millions of Americans 

This week on the Lock and Code podcast, we speak with Mallory Knodel about whether AI assistants are compatible with encrypted messaging apps.

_This week on the Lock and Code podcast…_

The era of artificial intelligence everything is here, and with it, come everyday surprises into exactly where the next AI tools might pop up.

There are major corporations pushing customer support functions onto AI chatbots, Big Tech platforms offering AI image generation for social media posts, and even Google has defaulted to include AI-powered overviews into everyday searches.

The next gold rush, it seems, is in AI, and for a group of technical and legal researchers at New York University and Cornell University, that could be a major problem.

But to understand their concerns, there’s some explanation needed first, and it starts with Apple’s own plans for AI.

Last October, Apple unveiled a service it is calling Apple Intelligence (“AI,” get it?), which provides the latest iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers with AI-powered writing tools, image generators, proof-reading, and more.

One notable feature in Apple Intelligence is Apple’s “notification summaries.” With Apple Intelligence, users can receive summarized versions of a day’s worth of notifications from their apps. That could be useful for an onslaught of breaking news notifications, or for an old college group thread that won’t shut up.

The summaries themselves are hit-or-miss with users—one iPhone customer learned of his own breakup from an Apple Intelligence summary that said: “No longer in a relationship; wants belongings from the apartment.”

What’s more interesting about the summaries, though, is how they interact with Apple’s messaging and text app, Messages.

Messages is what is called an “end-to-end encrypted” messaging app. That means that only a message’s sender and its recipient can read the message itself. Even Apple, which moves the message along from one iPhone to another, cannot read the message.

But if Apple cannot read the messages sent on its own Messages app, then how is Apple Intelligence able to summarize them for users?

That’s one of the questions that Mallory Knodel and her team at New York University and Cornell University tried to answer with a new paper on the compatibility between AI tools and end-to-end encrypted messaging apps.

Make no mistake, this research isn’t into whether AI is “breaking” encryption by doing impressive computations at never-before-observed speeds. Instead, it’s about whether or not the promise of end-to-end encryption—of confidentiality—can be upheld when the messages sent through that promise can be analyzed by separate AI tools.

And while the question may sound abstract, it’s far from being so. Already, AI bots can enter digital Zoom meetings to take notes. What happens if Zoom permits those same AI chatbots to enter meetings that users have chosen to be end-to-end encrypted? Is the chatbot another party to that conversation, and if so, what is the impact?

Today, on the Lock and Code podcast with host David Ruiz, we speak with lead author and encryption expert Mallory Knodel on whether AI assistants can be compatible with end-to-end encrypted messaging apps, what motivations could sway current privacy champions into chasing AI development instead, and why these two technologies cannot co-exist in certain implementations.

> “An encrypted messaging app, at its essence is encryption, and you can’t trade that away—the privacy or the confidentiality guarantees—for something else like AI if it’s fundamentally incompatible with those features.”

Tune in today to listen to the full conversation.

_Show notes and credits:_

Intro Music: “Spellbound” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License  
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/  
Outro Music: “Good God” by Wowa (unminus.com)

**Listen up—Malwarebytes doesn’t just talk cybersecurity, we provide it.**

Protect yourself from online attacks that threaten your identity, your files, your system, and your financial well-being with our exclusive offer for Malwarebytes Premium for Lock and Code listeners.

 The new rules for AI and encrypted messaging, with Mallory Knodel (Lock and Code S06E01) 

Smishing messages that come with instructions to bypass iMessage's protection against links are on the rise

A smishing (SMS phishing) campaign is targeting iMessage users, attempting to socially engineer them into bypassing Apple’s built in phishing protection.

For months, iMessage users have been posting examples online of how phishers are trying to get around this protection. And, now, the campign is gaining traction, according to our friends at BleepingComputer.

It works like this: Under normal circumstances, iMessage will disable all links in messages from unknown senders to protect the user against clicking them by accident. However, if a user replies to a message or adds the sender to their contact list, the links are enabled, allowing the person to click on the link.

The text of the messages comes in all the variations that phishers love to use:

*   Undeliverable packages from USPS, EVRI, Royal Mail, DHL, Fedex, etc.
*   Unpaid road toll.
*   Owed shipping fees.
*   Other outstanding payments that you are unaware of.

But they all end in a similar way to this:

> “(Please reply Y, then exit the SMS, re-open the SMS activation link, or copy the link to open in Safari)”

Replying with Y (or actually anything) will enable the links and turn off iMessage’s built-in phishing protection. Clicking the link will then lead the recipient to whatever malicious website the phisher had in mind. Even if the user just replies with “Y” and then decides not to follow the link—because it looks slightly off—the phishers will know that they have found a likely target for more attacks.

It’s also important to know that there are similar instructions for the Chrome browser:

> “Reply with 1, exit the SMS message, and reopen the SMS activation link, or copy the link to Google Chrome to open it.)”

**How to avoid smishing scams**

*   Never reply to suspicious messages, even if it’s only a “Y” or “1.” It will tell the phishers they have a live number and they will bombard you with more attempts.
*   Never add a number you don’t know to your Contacts as that will disable the iMessage protection as well.
*   Don’t assume any message is the real deal. If you’re being asked to do something, contact the company directly via a known method you trust. If it turns out to be a fake, you should be able to report it to them, there and then.
*   If you live somewhere with a Do Not Call list or spam reporting service, make full use of it. Report bogus messages and numbers.
*   Your mobile device may already have some form of “safe” message ID enabled without you knowing. It’s tricky to give specific advice here because of the sheer difference of options available on models of phone, but the Options / Safety / Security / Privacy menus are a good place to start.
*   Check the link before you click it or copy it in your browser. Is it exactly what you would expect it to be? Scammers often use typosquatting techniques (for example evri\[.\]top instead of the legitimate evri\[.\]com, or they fabricate a link that uses the subdomain to make it look legitimate (for example usps.com-track.infoam\[.\]xyz). If it doesn’t look real then don’t click on it.
*   If a message sounds too good (or bad) to be true, it probably is.

**We don’t just report on threats—we remove them**

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 iMessage text gets recipient to disable phishing protection so they can be phished 

A list of topics we covered in the week of January 6 to January 12 of 2025

January 13, 2025 - Smishing messages that come with instructions to bypass iMessage's protection against links are on the rise

January 10, 2025 - BayMark Health Services, Inc. notified an unknown number of patients that attackers stole their personal and health information.

January 9, 2025 - At least 36 Google Chrome extensions for AI and VPN tools have begun delivering info-stealing malware in a widespread attack.

January 9, 2025 - Data broker Gravy Analytics that collects location data and sells it to the US government has been breached.

January 9, 2025 - This article was researched and written by Stefan Dasic, manager, research and response for ThreatDown, powered by Malwarebytes Malwarebytes recently uncovered...

 A week in security (January 6 &#8211; January 12) 

BayMark Health Services, Inc. notified an unknown number of patients that attackers stole their personal and health information.

BayMark Health Services, Inc. (BayMark) notified an unknown number of patients that attackers stole their personal and health information.

BayMark profiles itself as North America’s largest provider of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for substance use disorders helping tens of thousands of individuals with recovery.

In a breach notification, the company disclosed that on October 11, 2024 it learned about an incident that disrupted the operations of some of its IT systems. This incident consisted of an unauthorized party accessing some of the files on BayMark’s systems between September 24 and October 14 of last year.

An investigation showed that the exposed files contained information that varied per patient but could have included the patient’s name and one or more of the following:

*   Social Security number (SSN)
*   Driver’s license number
*   Date of birth
*   The services received and the dates of service
*   Insurance information
*   Treating provider
*   Treatment and/or diagnostic information

While BayMark did not provide any information about the number of victims or the nature of the accident, it has been separately reported that the RansomHub ransomware group has BayMark listed on their leak site.

The RansomHub ransomware group claims to have exfiltrated an enormous 1.5 terabytes of sensitive data from BayMark Health Services.

BayMark’s listing on RansomHub leak site

The date on the dark web site matches the date published in the breach notification. Further, the fact that the data are listed as “published” means that BayMark did not pay the ransom, which is confirmed by the cybercriminals you click through on the company’s tile.  

Here, the ransomware group lays blame on the company itself. This isn’t rare for a ransomware group, as the tactics and vernacular are often based around shame, guilt, and a pre-teen-like arrogance. As claimed in the dark web site:

> One of the few companies from Texas that does not value its data. For a nominal fee, they could have not worried about anything, improved their network and protected themselves. But they chose the path of destroying their reputation, publishing sensitive data and publicizing it in the media.
> 
> {names}
> 
> These people decided to do other things than their company. BayMark Health Services is dedicated to providing treatment tailored to meet each person regardless of where they are in their recovery journey. BayMark provides a full continuum of care, integrating evidence-based practices, clinical counseling, recovery support, and medical services.

**Protecting yourself after a data breach**

There are some actions you can take if you are, or suspect you may have been, the victim of a data breach.

*   **Check the vendor’s advice.** Every breach is different, so check with the vendor to find out what’s happened, and follow any specific advice they offer.
*   **Change your password.** You can make a stolen password useless to thieves by changing it. Choose a strong password that you don’t use for anything else. Better yet, let a password manager choose one for you.
*   **Enable two-factor authentication (2FA).** If you can, use a FIDO2-compliant hardware key, laptop or phone as your second factor. Some forms of two-factor authentication (2FA) can be phished just as easily as a password. 2FA that relies on a FIDO2 device can’t be phished.
*   **Watch out for fake vendors.** The thieves may contact you posing as the vendor. Check the vendor website to see if they are contacting victims, and verify the identity of anyone who contacts you using a different communication channel.
*   **Take your time.** Phishing attacks often impersonate people or brands you know, and use themes that require urgent attention, such as missed deliveries, account suspensions, and security alerts.
*   **Consider not storing your card details**. It’s definitely more convenient to get sites to remember your card details for you, but we highly recommend not storing that information on websites.
*   **Set up identity monitoring.** Identity monitoring alerts you if your personal information is found being traded illegally online, and helps you recover after.

Source

Malwarebytes