Tech News

1. AI Vulnerabilities:

   • Cybersecurity researchers discovered two malicious machine learning (ML) models on Hugging Face that leveraged "broken" pickle files to evade detection. 👉 thehackernews.com
   • A new audit of DeepSeek's iOS app revealed it sends sensitive data unencrypted, collects extensive user data, and doesn't adhere to best security practices. 👉 thehackernews.com
   • DeepSeek AI's database was exposed, leaking over 1 million log lines and secret keys. 👉 thehackernews.com
   • DeepSeek R1 is more susceptible to jailbreaking than ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude; it can instruct on a bioweapon attack, write a pro-Hitler manifesto, and more. 👉 wsj.com^$

2. Vulnerability Exploits:

   • CISA warned of active exploits targeting a Trimble Cityworks vulnerability (CVE-2025-0994) that could allow remote code execution on IIS servers. 👉 thehackernews.com
   • Hackers are targeting vulnerable SimpleHelp RMM clients to create administrator accounts, drop backdoors, and potentially lay the groundwork for ransomware attacks. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com 👉 thehackernews.com
   • A critical RCE bug in Microsoft Outlook is now being actively exploited in attacks, prompting a warning from CISA. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • A firewall bug is under active attack, triggering a CISA warning to patch Palo Alto Networks’ PAN-OS ASAP. 👉 threatpost.com
   • New Veeam flaw allows arbitrary code execution via man-in-the-middle attack. 👉 thehackernews.com
   • Cisco has fixed two critical Identity Services Engine (ISE) vulnerabilities that can let attackers with read-only admin privileges bypass authorization and run commands as root. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Cybersecurity firm BeyondTrust said a zero-day breach exposed 17 SaaS customers via a compromised API key. 👉 thehackernews.com

3. Malware and Cybercrime:

   • Microsoft warns attackers are deploying malware using static ASP. NET machine keys found online in ViewState code injection attacks. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com 👉 thehackernews.com
   • Bogus websites advertising Google Chrome have been used to distribute malicious installers for a remote access trojan called ValleyRAT. 👉 thehackernews.com
   • New Microsoft script updates Windows media with bootkit malware fixes. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Cybercriminals are selling access to thousands of Chinese surveillance cameras. 👉 threatpost.com
   • A new malware campaign called SparkCat has leveraged a suit of bogus apps on both Apple's and Google's respective app stores to steal victims' mnemonic phrases associated with cryptocurrency wallets. 👉 thehackernews.com

4. Ransomware Trends:

   • A report shows that total ransomware extortion payments decreased to $813.5 million in 2024, down from $1.25 billion in 2023, with a fragmented ransomware ecosystem emerging after the collapse of LockBit and BlackCat. 👉 thehackernews.com
   • Ransomware attacks are on the rise. 👉 threatpost.com

5. Social Engineering:

   • A new article explores AI-powered social engineering attacks, discussing how impersonation attacks are evolving and impacting business. 👉 thehackernews.com
   • Fake travel reservations are exacting more pain from the travel weary, already dealing with the misery of canceled flights and overbooked hotels. 👉 threatpost.com

6. Data Breaches and Privacy:

   • A breach at a student loan service exposed 2.5 million records. 👉 threatpost.com
   • Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is notifying employees whose data was stolen from the company's Office 365 email environment by Russian state-sponsored hackers in a May 2023 cyberattack. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Hospital Sisters Health System notified over 882,000 patients that an August 2023 cyberattack led to a data breach that exposed their personal and health information. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • British-based engineering firm IMI plc has disclosed a security breach after unknown attackers hacked into the company's systems. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Meta Confirms Zero-Click WhatsApp Spyware Attack Targeting 90 Journalists, Activists. 👉 thehackernews.com

7. VPN and Network Security:

   • A large-scale brute force password attack using almost 2.8 million IP addresses is underway, attempting to guess the credentials for a wide range of networking devices, including those from Palo Alto Networks, Ivanti, and SonicWall. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com

8. Government and Regulatory Actions:

   • India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), said it's introducing an exclusive "bank.in" internet domain for banks in the country to combat digital financial fraud. 👉 thehackernews.com
   • CISA orders agencies to patch Linux kernel bug exploited in attacks. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • U.S. and Dutch Authorities Dismantle 39 Domains Linked to BEC Fraud Network. 👉 thehackernews.com

9. Microsoft Security Updates:

   • Microsoft shared a workaround for users affected by a known issue that blocks Windows security updates from deploying on some Windows 11 24H2 systems. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Windows 11's January 28 optional update has fixed a long-standing issue in Windows 11 24H2 that prevents non-admin users from changing their time zone in Date & Time Settings. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com

10. Gaming Security:

    • An ongoing distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack targets Bohemia Interactive's infrastructure, preventing players of DayZ and Arma Reforger from playing the games online. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com

11. Apple Security:

    • iPhone Users Urged to Update to Patch 2 Zero-Days Under Attack. 👉 threatpost.com

12. Cloud Security:

    • Cloudflare outage caused by botched blocking of phishing URL. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com

13. North Korean Cyber activity:

    • The North Korean hacking group known as Kimsuky was observed in recent attacks using a custom-built RDP Wrapper and proxy tools to directly access infected machines. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com

14. Email security

    • Business Email Compromise Attacks. 👉 threatpost.com

15. Tools and Tutorials:

    • Microsoft Edge update adds AI-powered Scareware Blocker. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com

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