Krebs On Security

Who Runs the Ransomware Group Qilin? https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/11/who-runs-the-ransomware-group-qilin/ The cybercrime group Qilin has emerged as the world's most active ransomware affiliate program, claiming at least 365 victim organizations in the past three months alone. But even top Russian hackers make operational security mistakes, and the administrator of Qilin has made a few key missteps over the last decade that all point to a 36-year-old man living in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Microsoft Fixes Nearly 1,100 Security Vulnerabilities https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/11/microsoft-fixes-nearly-1100-security-vulnerabilities/ Microsoft did another four-digit patch drop today, releasing updates to fix almost 1,100 security vulnerabilities in its Windows operating systems and supported software. This month's Patch Tuesday addresses 63 critical flaws -- including a zero-day in Microsoft Outlook -- and comes amid important security updates from other software makers, including Adobe, Apple, Google and Mozilla.

Want to Rent an Internet Address at the White House? https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/11/want-to-rent-an-internet-address-at-the-white-house/ Several staffers at the White House are using computers or mobile devices equipped with residential proxy services that render their internet address available for others to rent, security experts warned today. One of the proxy services is a Russian company whose founder's web hosting business was ground zero for cyberattacks against election systems in Arizona and Illinois in 2016.

Tech Firms Dismantle Botnet That Turned 1.3M TV Boxes Into Proxies https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/11/tech-firms-dismantle-botnet-that-turned-1-3m-tv-boxes-into-proxies/ Google said today it worked with industry partners to dismantle a botnet made up of more than 1.3 million Android TV set-top boxes that ship with malicious software which secretly rents the user's Internet connection out to strangers and conducts advertising fraud. Experts involved in the takedown say the action is likely to sever the botnet's access to more than 10 million additional compromised systems, including other Internet of Things (IoT) products such as Android-based healthcare devices and karaoke machines.

Widespread PHP Flaw May Cause Many Site Outages Today https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/10/widespread-php-flaw-may-cause-many-site-outages-today/ Expect to see quite a few websites serving "404" or "Page Not Found" errors today: Nearly 70 percent of websites need to update their core software to fix a pair of vulnerabilities that allow an attacker to seize full control over affected servers. Experts say there are working exploits for the flaws, and that these critical bugs are already being exploited in the wild.

Feds Suspect Ransom Negotiator Ran ShinyHunters Extortion Site https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/10/feds-suspect-ransom-negotiator-ran-shinyhunters-extortion-site/ U.S. federal investigators pursuing the ShinyHunters hacking group that recently stole highly sensitive data from the FBI have identified executives at two different ransomware negotiation firms who maintained unusually close relations with the extortion group, KrebsOnSecurity has learned. Sources close to the investigation say one of the executives in the United States even helped ShinyHunters operate a website that pressured victims into paying a ransom.

U.K. Sanctions Cryptomus for RU Money Laundering https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/10/u-k-sanctions-cryptomus-for-ru-money-laundering/ The United Kingdom has issued economic sanctions against Cryptomus, a chameleonic cryptocurrency platform that experts say serves as a major conduit for payments related to ransomware, narcotics, darknet markets, fraud and cybercrime services that are helping Russia circumvent existing financial restrictions.

Microsoft Patches More Than 1,400 Security Flaws https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/10/microsoft-patches-more-than-1400-security-flaws/ Microsoft today issued updates to fix more than 1,400 security vulnerabilities in its Windows operating systems and other software. Today's epic patch batch dwarfs September's record of nearly 1,000 fixes, which was already about ten times the normal monthly patch load from Redmond.

FBI Arrests Founder of Ransomware Negotiation Firm https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/10/fbi-arrests-founder-of-ransomware-negotiation-firm/ Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Thursday arrested the co-founder of a Canadian cybersecurity firm in connection with an investigation into the ShinyHunters hacking group that recently relieved the FBI of sensitive data on thousands of agents, multiple sources tell KrebsOnSecurity.

ShinyHunters Extorted Boeing Spin-off Prior to Arrests https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/10/shinyhunters-extorted-boeing-spin-off-prior-to-arrests/ A teenager from Amman, Jordan suspected of leading the prolific data theft and extortion group ShinyHunters has been detained and is reportedly cooperating with the FBI to identify other members of the hacking gang. KrebsOnSecurity has learned that the suspect, who uses the hacker handle "Rey," was detained as ShinyHunters was in the process of extorting a business unit recently divested by the global aerospace company Boeing, which manufactures the fleet of planes used by the employer of Rey's father -- Royal Jordanian Airlines.

Dutch Police Arrest ‘Reformed’ Hacker in Shiny Hunters Investigation https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/09/dutch-police-arrest-reformed-hacker-in-shiny-hunters-investigation/ Authorities in the Netherlands have arrested a 23-year-old convicted cybercriminal on suspicion of aiding in data thefts and extortions by the prolific hacker group ShinyHunters. In the days immediately following the suspect's arrest, remaining ShinyHunters members dramatically escalated their attacks, stealing highly sensitive data from the FBI and extorting the Russian ransomware group Cl0p.

U.S. Soldier Gets 70 Months in Prison for AT&T, Verizon Extortions https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/09/u-s-soldier-gets-70-months-in-prison-for-att-verizon-extortions/ A U.S. Army soldier who pleaded guilty to hacking into multiple telecommunications companies and stealing mobile call and text metadata for more than 100 million AT&T customers in 2024 was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison today and ordered to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution to victims.

Data Broker Radaris Loses Domains in Privacy Fight https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/09/data-broker-radaris-loses-domains-in-privacy-fight/ The consumer data broker Radaris.com has long had a reputation for ignoring requests to remove personal information from its vast empire of people-search services online. That reputation caught up with the company recently in a lawsuit alleging Radaris violated a New Jersey privacy law that provides for hefty fines against data brokers that publish personal information on state law enforcement officials. In the face of repeated stonewalling and prevarication by attorneys for Radaris, the judge in the case ordered that radaris.com and more than a dozen other data broker domains be transferred to the plaintiffs.

Microsoft Plugs Nearly 1,000 Security Holes https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/09/microsoft-plugs-nearly-1000-security-holes/ Microsoft Corp. today issued updates to plug at least 974 security holes in its Windows operating systems and other software, by far its biggest single patch batch ever. Microsoft says artificial intelligence is helping to speed the discovery of vulnerabilities, but security experts warn that many organizations already are struggling to prioritize the more human-intensive endeavor of testing and deploying so many fixes each month.

FBI Probes Service Selling 153M+ Drivers Licenses https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/09/fbi-probes-service-selling-153m-drivers-licenses/ A new identity theft service launched on the dark web this week is selling digital scans of more than 153 million drivers licenses from people in the United States and Canada. Based on interviews with individuals whose licenses are available for purchase on this service, it appears to be siphoning images collected by a widely-used identity verification company based in Louisiana. KrebsOnSecurity also has learned that the New Orleans field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) today launched an official inquiry into the source of the images.

Two Alleged ‘TeamPCP’ Hackers Arrested in Australia https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/08/two-alleged-teampcp-hackers-arrested-in-australia/ Authorities in Australia have arrested two men believed to be members of TeamPCP, a prolific cybercrime and data extortion group blamed for perpetrating the longest running spree of software supply chain attacks ever. In a statement released today, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said two unnamed suspects from Western Australia, aged 21 and 23, were arrested in connection with a "sophisticated cybercrime syndicate that allegedly created malicious open-source software to rob thousands of global businesses." The AFP did not name the defendants, but KrebsOnSecurity learned the 21-year-old suspect's real identity in June, and has been communicating with him ever since. This story includes interviews with TeamPCP's self-described spokesperson, and examines clues left behind by the TeamPCP leader that likely led to his undoing.

Who’s Tracking You? Use This New Service to Find Out https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/08/whos-tracking-you-use-this-new-service-to-find-out/ It can be daunting to determine who's responsible for showing ads on the websites we visit, or who's harvesting data from the mobile apps we use every day. That information is already semi-public, but it is not easily parsed and traditionally much of it has remained walled away in the hands of large advertising platforms. Not anymore: A powerful and free new service called DecryptAds scrapes and correlates this adtech data and makes it simple to quickly learn a great deal about the entities that are tracking you.

Microsoft Plugs Nearly 400 Security Holes https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/08/microsoft-plugs-nearly-400-security-holes/ Microsoft today released updates to remedy at least 398 security vulnerabilities in its Windows operating systems and supported software, including one weakness that is already being actively exploited and two others that were publicly detailed prior to today.

Canadian Man Pleads Guilty in Snowflake Extortions https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/08/canadian-man-pleads-guilty-in-snowflake-extortions/ A 26-year-old Canadian man once described as one of the most consequential cybercrime threat actors of 2024 has pleaded guilty to computer fraud and conspiracy to hack and extort more than 165 organizations that used the cloud data storage provider Snowflake. Connor Riley Moucka, of Kitchener, Ontario, also admitted to stealing call and text history records of more than 100 million AT&T customers.

Read This Before You Buy That TV Streaming Stick https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/07/read-this-before-you-buy-that-tv-streaming-stick/ Security experts have been sounding the alarm for years about the risks of using generic TV boxes that promise unlimited content streaming for a one-time fee, warning that they secretly rent the user's Internet connection out to strangers. But a groundbreaking new analysis finds these devices also routinely spoof themselves as mobile phones clicking ads on AI-generated websites as part of sprawling operation that seeks to defraud online merchants and advertising networks.