Cyber Defense Advisors

Year: 2025

PureCrypter Deploys Agent Tesla and New TorNet Backdoor in Ongoing Cyberattacks

A financially motivated threat actor has been linked to an ongoing phishing email campaign that has been ongoing since at least July 2024 specifically targeting users in Poland and Germany. The attacks have led to the deployment of various payloads, such as Agent Tesla, Snake Keylogger, and a previously undocumented backdoor dubbed TorNet that’s delivered […]

Cyber News

The AI Fix #35: Project Stargate, the AI emergency, and batsh*t AI cryonics

In episode 35 of The AI Fix, our hosts learn who the 175th best programmer in the world is, the AI supervillains put on suits for President Trump, a “not imaginary” AI turns out to be imaginary, OpenAI releases Operator and teases o3-mini, and Anthropic predicts that superintelligence is only three years away. Graham considers […]

Cyber News

OAuth Redirect Flaw in Airline Travel Integration Exposes Millions to Account Hijacking

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a now-patched account takeover vulnerability affecting a popular online travel service for hotel and car rentals. “By exploiting this flaw, attackers can gain unauthorized access to any user’s account within the system, effectively allowing them to impersonate the victim and perform an array of actions on their behalf – […]

Cyber News

CISA Under Trump

Jen Easterly is out as the Director of CISA. Read her final interview: There’s a lot of unfinished business. We have made an impact through our ransomware vulnerability warning pilot and our pre-ransomware notification initiative, and I’m really proud of that, because we work on preventing somebody from having their worst day. But ransomware is […]

Cyber News

AI SOC Analysts: Propelling SecOps into the future

Triaging and investigating alerts is central to security operations. As SOC teams strive to keep up with ever-increasing alert volumes and complexity, modernizing SOC automation strategies with AI has emerged as a critical solution. This blog explores how an AI SOC Analyst transforms alert management, addressing key SOC challenges while enabling faster investigations and responses. […]

Cyber News

Ransomware Targets ESXi Systems via Stealthy SSH Tunnels for C2 Operations

Cybersecurity researchers have found that ransomware attacks targeting ESXi systems are also leveraging the access to repurpose the appliances as a conduit to tunnel traffic to command-and-control (C2) infrastructure and stay under the radar. “ESXi appliances, which are unmonitored, are increasingly exploited as a persistence mechanism and gateway to access corporate networks widely,” Sygnia researchers […]

Cyber News

How Long Does It Take Hackers to Crack Modern Hashing Algorithms?

While passwords remain the first line of defense for protecting user accounts against unauthorized access, the methods for creating strong passwords and protecting them are continually evolving. For example, NIST password recommendations are now prioritizing password length over complexity. Hashing, however, remains a non-negotiable. Even long secure passphrases should be hashed to prevent them from […]

Cyber News

E.U. Sanctions 3 Russian Nationals for Cyber Attacks Targeting Estonia’s Key Ministries

The Council of the European Union has sanctioned three individuals for allegedly carrying out “malicious cyber activities” against Estonia. The three Russian nationals – Nikolay Alexandrovich Korchagin, Vitaly Shevchenko, and Yuriy Fedorovich Denisov – are officers of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU) Unit 29155, it said. Per the […]

Cyber News

Top-Rated Chinese AI App DeepSeek Limits Registrations Amid Cyberattacks

DeepSeek, the Chinese AI startup that has captured much of the artificial intelligence (AI) buzz in recent days, said it’s restricting registrations on the service, citing malicious attacks. “Due to large-scale malicious attacks on DeepSeek’s services, we are temporarily limiting registrations to ensure continued service,” the company said in an incident report page. “Existing users […]

Cyber News