The number of violent “wrench attacks” targeting cryptocurrency holders has escalated alarmingly in 2025, as reported by Alena Vranova, founder of SatoshiLabs, a hardware wallet manufacturer. During her address at the Baltic Honeybadger 2025 conference held in Riga, Latvia, she highlighted the alarming frequency of these attacks, which encompass kidnappings,…
Scattered Spider Compromises VMware ESXi to Launch Ransomware Against Critical U.S. Infrastructure
July 28, 2025
Cyber Attack / Ransomware
The infamous cybercrime group Scattered Spider is targeting VMware ESXi hypervisors in a series of attacks against the retail, airline, and transportation sectors in North America. According to an in-depth analysis by Google’s Mandiant team, “The group’s core tactics remain unchanged and do not depend on software exploits. Instead, they employ a strategic playbook that primarily involves phone calls to IT help desks.” The actors are described as aggressive and innovative, particularly adept at using social engineering to bypass even robust security systems. Their operations are precision-driven campaigns focused on the most critical systems and data of their victims. Also known as 0ktapus, Muddled Libra, Octo Tempest, and UNC3944, these threat actors have a track record of executing sophisticated social engineering tactics to gain initial access to target environments, subsequently employing a “living-off-the-land” (LotL) strategy by leveraging trusted administrative tools.
Scattered Spider Breaches VMware ESXi to Launch Ransomware Attacks on Critical U.S. Infrastructure July 28, 2025 In a concerning escalation of cyber threats, the cybercriminal group known as Scattered Spider has been orchestrating targeted attacks on VMware ESXi hypervisors, primarily affecting sectors such as retail, airlines, and transportation across North…
Scattered Spider Compromises VMware ESXi to Launch Ransomware Against Critical U.S. Infrastructure
July 28, 2025
Cyber Attack / Ransomware
The infamous cybercrime group Scattered Spider is targeting VMware ESXi hypervisors in a series of attacks against the retail, airline, and transportation sectors in North America. According to an in-depth analysis by Google’s Mandiant team, “The group’s core tactics remain unchanged and do not depend on software exploits. Instead, they employ a strategic playbook that primarily involves phone calls to IT help desks.” The actors are described as aggressive and innovative, particularly adept at using social engineering to bypass even robust security systems. Their operations are precision-driven campaigns focused on the most critical systems and data of their victims. Also known as 0ktapus, Muddled Libra, Octo Tempest, and UNC3944, these threat actors have a track record of executing sophisticated social engineering tactics to gain initial access to target environments, subsequently employing a “living-off-the-land” (LotL) strategy by leveraging trusted administrative tools.
Google Data Breach: Business User Information Compromised In a recent announcement, Google confirmed that a cyberattack attributed to the ShinyHunters ransomware group has led to unauthorized access of business user data within its corporate databases. The breach specifically targeted a Salesforce system that stores contact information for small and medium-sized…
Google has confirmed a significant hacking incident. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Update, August 9, 2025: This report has been updated to reflect new insights from cybersecurity experts on the confirmed breach involving Google, elaborating on the compromised user data and the subsequent actions organizations should consider. The Google Threat…
The federal judiciary has announced that it is intensifying its efforts to enhance cybersecurity measures in a bid to protect its case management system from persistent and sophisticated cyber threats. This move comes in light of recent cyberattacks that have underscored the vulnerabilities inherent in its outdated systems. A prominent…
Cyberwarfare / Nation-State Attacks, Data Breach Notification, Data Security Also: US Cyber Grants Are Declining; Hybrid Threats Renew Focus on Operational Technology Resilience Anna Delaney (@annamadeline) • August 8, 2025 Clockwise, from top left: Anna Delaney, Mathew Schwartz, Chris Riotta, and Tony Morbin In a recent discussion, four editors from…
Google AI “Big Sleep” Identifies Critical SQLite Vulnerability Before Hackers Can Exploit It
July 16, 2025
AI Security / Vulnerability
Google announced on Tuesday that its language model-assisted vulnerability detection system successfully identified a security flaw in the SQLite open-source database engine, preventing potential exploitation. The vulnerability, designated CVE-2025-6965 (CVSS score: 7.2), is a memory corruption issue affecting all versions prior to 3.50.2. Discovered by “Big Sleep,” an AI agent developed through a collaboration between DeepMind and Google Project Zero, this flaw allows for potential attacks through arbitrary SQL statements, leading to integer overflow risks. SQLite maintainers cautioned that this critical security issue was previously known only to threat actors. Google has not disclosed the identities of these actors but emphasized the urgency of addressing the vulnerability.
Google AI “Big Sleep” Detects Critical SQLite Vulnerability Before Exploitation Could Occur On July 16, 2025, Google announced a significant achievement in cybersecurity through its AI-driven vulnerability assessment tool, known as Big Sleep. This large language model (LLM)-assisted framework successfully detected a critical security vulnerability in the widely used SQLite…
Google AI “Big Sleep” Identifies Critical SQLite Vulnerability Before Hackers Can Exploit It
July 16, 2025
AI Security / Vulnerability
Google announced on Tuesday that its language model-assisted vulnerability detection system successfully identified a security flaw in the SQLite open-source database engine, preventing potential exploitation. The vulnerability, designated CVE-2025-6965 (CVSS score: 7.2), is a memory corruption issue affecting all versions prior to 3.50.2. Discovered by “Big Sleep,” an AI agent developed through a collaboration between DeepMind and Google Project Zero, this flaw allows for potential attacks through arbitrary SQL statements, leading to integer overflow risks. SQLite maintainers cautioned that this critical security issue was previously known only to threat actors. Google has not disclosed the identities of these actors but emphasized the urgency of addressing the vulnerability.
Urgent: Google Issues Critical Chrome Update to Address Active Exploit CVE-2025-6558
Jul 16, 2025
Browser Security / Zero-Day
On Tuesday, Google released a significant update for its Chrome web browser, addressing six security vulnerabilities, including a high-severity flaw that is currently being exploited in the wild. The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-6558 (CVSS score: 8.8), involves inadequate validation of untrusted input within the browser’s ANGLE and GPU components. According to the NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD), “Insufficient validation of untrusted input in ANGLE and GPU in Google Chrome prior to version 138.0.7204.157 allowed a remote attacker to potentially perform a sandbox escape via a specially crafted HTML page.” ANGLE, which stands for “Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine,” serves as a bridge between Chrome’s rendering engine and the device’s graphics drivers. Exploits in this module can enable attackers to bypass Chrome’s sandbox, allowing them to manipulate low-level GPU operations typically confined within the browser, making this vulnerability particularly concerning.
Urgent: Critical Chrome Update Released by Google to Address CVE-2025-6558 Exploit On July 16, 2025, Google announced significant updates to its Chrome web browser, patching six security vulnerabilities, one of which is particularly concerning as it has already been exploited in the wild. This flaw, identified as CVE-2025-6558, has been…
Urgent: Google Issues Critical Chrome Update to Address Active Exploit CVE-2025-6558
Jul 16, 2025
Browser Security / Zero-Day
On Tuesday, Google released a significant update for its Chrome web browser, addressing six security vulnerabilities, including a high-severity flaw that is currently being exploited in the wild. The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-6558 (CVSS score: 8.8), involves inadequate validation of untrusted input within the browser’s ANGLE and GPU components. According to the NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD), “Insufficient validation of untrusted input in ANGLE and GPU in Google Chrome prior to version 138.0.7204.157 allowed a remote attacker to potentially perform a sandbox escape via a specially crafted HTML page.” ANGLE, which stands for “Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine,” serves as a bridge between Chrome’s rendering engine and the device’s graphics drivers. Exploits in this module can enable attackers to bypass Chrome’s sandbox, allowing them to manipulate low-level GPU operations typically confined within the browser, making this vulnerability particularly concerning.
Google’s Salesforce Instance Compromised: A Closer Look at Recent Cybersecurity Breach In a significant cybersecurity breach, Google has confirmed that its Salesforce instance was among those affected by unauthorized access. The intrusion took place in June, but the company only disclosed the incident recently, suggesting that it took some time…
