The KRVTZ-NET IDS alerts from February 14, 2026, report ongoing reconnaissance activity targeting Fortinet Fortigate VPN devices by exploiting CVE-2023-27997. Attackers are sending repeated GET requests to the /remote/logincheck endpoint to bypass authentication. This reconnaissance is performed by automated scanners from identified IP addresses linked to scanning and exploit attempts. No active exploitation or ransomware campaigns have been reported yet, but reconnaissance is a critical precursor to potential attacks. There is currently no patch available for this vulnerability, increasing the importance of detection and mitigation. The threat is assessed as low severity by the source, but overall risk is medium due to the vulnerability and reconnaissance activity. Mitigation includes network segmentation, strict access controls, monitoring, and applying Fortinet's hardening guidelines.
Hackers stole personal information such as names, addresses, and phone numbers from a customer contact system. The post Dutch Carrier Odido Discloses Data Breach Impacting 6 Million appeared first on SecurityWeek .
Netskope Threat Labs has identified multiple phishing campaigns exploiting video conference invitations from Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet. The attackers use fake meeting invites to trick users into downloading malicious payloads disguised as software updates. These payloads are actually legitimate, digitally signed remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools like Datto RMM, LogMeIn, or ScreenConnect. By leveraging these tools, attackers gain administrative remote access to victims' machines, potentially leading to data theft or further malware deployment. The campaigns use convincing phishing pages that mimic legitimate video conferencing platforms, exploiting users' urgency to join scheduled calls. This sophisticated approach allows attackers to bypass traditional security measures and establish a persistent foothold in corporate networks.
Rewards for exploits are reportedly much smaller than in the contest’s glory days. The post China Revives Tianfu Cup Hacking Contest Under Increased Secrecy appeared first on SecurityWeek .
Developers must view AI as a collaborator to be closely monitored, rather than an autonomous entity to be unleashed. Without such a mindset, crippling tech debt is inevitable. The post How to Eliminate the Technical Debt of Insecure AI-Assisted Software Development appeared first on SecurityWeek .
LockBit 5.0, the latest version of the notorious ransomware, has been released with support for Windows, Linux, and ESXi systems. This update brings improved defense evasion, faster encryption, and enhanced modularity. The Windows variant employs extensive anti-analysis techniques, while Linux and ESXi versions remain unpacked. All variants share a common encryption scheme using XChaCha20 and Curve25519. LockBit 5.0 demonstrates a focus on enterprise and infrastructure targets, including explicit support for Proxmox virtualization. The group's data leak site reveals a primary focus on the U.S.business sector, with victims spanning various industries. LockBit's infrastructure has shown connections to SmokeLoader, suggesting possible cooperation or infrastructure reuse among malware operators.
The company says hackers stole the personal information of patients of affiliated physicians and practices. The post ApolloMD Data Breach Impacts 626,000 Individuals appeared first on SecurityWeek .
Windows will have runtime safeguards enabled by default, ensuring that only properly signed software runs. The post Microsoft to Enable ‘Windows Baseline Security’ With New Runtime Integrity Safeguards appeared first on SecurityWeek .
Threat actors from Russia, China, North Korea and Iran have been observed launching attacks. The post Hacktivists, State Actors, Cybercriminals Target Global Defense Industry, Google Warns appeared first on SecurityWeek .
An attack campaign targeting organizations in the US, Canada, UK, and Northern Ireland exploits ConnectWise ScreenConnect vulnerabilities. The attack chain begins with a spoofed email containing a malicious .cmd attachment, which executes silently, escalates privileges, disables Windows SmartScreen, and removes the Mark-of-the-Web. It then installs a legitimate Remote Monitoring and Management tool, ScreenConnect, which is abused as a Remote Access Trojan for persistent command-and-control access. The campaign focuses on sectors with high-value data, including government, healthcare, and logistics. The attackers use various techniques to evade detection, including UAC bypass, registry modification, and silent MSI installation. The ScreenConnect client used has a revoked certificate, highlighting the importance of blocking vulnerable software versions and enforcing strict RMM allowlists.
Threat actors have been observed exploiting Net Monitor for Employees Professional and SimpleHelp software in ransomware operations. These legitimate tools were used for remote access, command execution, and persistence. The attackers disguised Net Monitor as Microsoft OneDrive and configured SimpleHelp with cryptocurrency-related keyword triggers. In one case, the attack led to an attempted deployment of Crazy ransomware. The intrusions involved initial access through compromised VPN accounts, followed by the installation of these tools for remote control and monitoring. The shared infrastructure and tactics suggest a single threat actor or group behind these activities, with objectives including cryptocurrency theft and ransomware deployment.
A convincing lookalike of the popular 7-Zip archiver site has been serving a trojanized installer that silently converts victims' machines into residential proxy nodes. The fake site, 7zip[.]com, distributes a functional copy of 7-Zip alongside concealed malware. The malware deploys three components: Uphero.exe (service manager), hero.exe (proxy payload), and hero.dll (supporting library). It establishes persistence through Windows services, manipulates firewall rules, and profiles the host system. The primary function is to enroll infected hosts as residential proxy nodes, allowing third parties to route traffic through victims' IP addresses. This campaign appears to be part of a broader operation with similar tactics used for other fake installers. The malware incorporates multiple evasion techniques and uses encrypted communications.
Between June and December 2025, state-sponsored threat group Lotus Blossom compromised the hosting infrastructure for Notepad++, allowing them to intercept and redirect update traffic. This enabled selective targeting of users primarily in Southeast Asian government, telecommunications and critical infrastructure sectors. Two infection chains were identified - one using Lua script injection to deliver Cobalt Strike and another using DLL side-loading for a Chrysalis backdoor. The campaign affected additional sectors across South America, US, Europe and Southeast Asia including cloud hosting, energy, financial, government, manufacturing and software development. The attack exploited insufficient verification in older versions of the Notepad++ updater to serve malicious installers to targeted victims.
The KRVTZ-NET IDS alert dated 2026-02-12 reports network reconnaissance activity detected via intrusion detection systems, involving scanning from the IPv6 address 2602:80d:1003::11 associated with Censys, an internet-wide scanning service. This activity is classified as low severity and represents automated information gathering rather than an active exploit or vulnerability. No affected products, patches, or known exploits are linked to this event. Although reconnaissance itself does not directly compromise systems, it increases exposure by revealing network configurations and services that could be targeted in future attacks. Organizations with publicly accessible IPv6 infrastructure, especially in Europe, should monitor such scanning as part of their threat intelligence and defense posture. Mitigation involves enhanced monitoring, network segmentation, hardening exposed services, and integrating threat intelligence to anticipate potential threats. The threat is assessed as low severity due to its limited immediate impact and lack of exploitation evidence.
