TECHZONE™

ClickFix Attacks Expand Using Fake CAPTCHAs, Microsoft Scripts, and Trusted Web Services https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/clickfix-attacks-expand-using-fake.html Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a new campaign that combines ClickFix-style fake CAPTCHAs with a signed Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) script to distribute an information stealer called Amatera. "Instead of launching PowerShell directly, the attacker uses this script to control how execution begins and to avoid more common, easily recognized execution paths,"

CTEM in Practice: Prioritization, Validation, and Outcomes That Matter https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/ctem-in-practice-prioritization.html Cybersecurity teams increasingly want to move beyond looking at threats and vulnerabilities in isolation. It’s not only about what could go wrong (vulnerabilities) or who might attack (threats), but where they intersect in your actual environment to create real, exploitable exposure. Which exposures truly matter? Can attackers exploit them? Are our defenses effective? Continuous Threat Exposure

Microsoft Office Zero-Day (CVE-2026-21509) - Emergency Patch Issued for Active Exploitation https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/microsoft-issues-emergency-patch-for.html Microsoft on Monday issued out-of-band security patches for a high-severity Microsoft Office zero-day vulnerability exploited in attacks. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-21509, carries a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10.0. It has been described as a security feature bypass in Microsoft Office. "Reliance on untrusted inputs in a security decision in Microsoft Office allows an unauthorized

Critical Grist-Core Vulnerability Allows RCE Attacks via Spreadsheet Formulas https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/critical-grist-core-vulnerability.html A critical security flaw has been disclosed in Grist‑Core, an open-source, self-hosted version of the Grist relational spreadsheet-database, that could result in remote code execution. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-24002 (CVSS score: 9.1), has been codenamed Cellbreak by Cyera Research Labs. "One malicious formula can turn a spreadsheet into a Remote Code Execution (RCE) beachhead,"

China-Linked Hackers Have Used the PeckBirdy JavaScript C2 Framework Since 2023 https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/china-linked-hackers-have-used.html Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a JScript-based command-and-control (C2) framework called PeckBirdy that has been put to use by China-aligned APT actors since 2023 to target multiple environments. The flexible framework has been put to use against Chinese gambling industries and malicious activities targeting Asian government entities and private organizations, according to Trend Micro

Indian Users Targeted in Tax Phishing Campaign Delivering Blackmoon Malware https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/indian-users-targeted-in-tax-phishing.html Cybersecurity researchers have discovered an ongoing campaign that's targeting Indian users with a multi-stage backdoor as part of a suspected cyber espionage campaign. The activity, per the eSentire Threat Response Unit (TRU), involves using phishing emails impersonating the Income Tax Department of India to trick victims into downloading a malicious archive, ultimately granting the threat

Malicious VS Code AI Extensions with 1.5 Million Installs Steal Developer Source Code https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/malicious-vs-code-ai-extensions-with-15.html Cybersecurity researchers have discovered two malicious Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VS Code) extensions that are advertised as artificial intelligence (AI)-powered coding assistants, but also harbor covert functionality to siphon developer data to China-based servers. The extensions, which have 1.5 million combined installs and are still available for download from the official Visual Studio

⚡ Weekly Recap: Firewall Flaws, AI-Built Malware, Browser Traps, Critical CVEs & More https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/weekly-recap-firewall-flaws-ai-built.html Security failures rarely arrive loudly. They slip in through trusted tools, half-fixed problems, and habits people stop questioning. This week’s recap shows that pattern clearly. Attackers are moving faster than defenses, mixing old tricks with new paths. “Patched” no longer means safe, and every day, software keeps becoming the entry point. What follows is a set of small but telling signals.

Winning Against AI-Based Attacks Requires a Combined Defensive Approach https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/winning-against-ai-based-attacks.html If there’s a constant in cybersecurity, it’s that adversaries are always innovating. The rise of offensive AI is transforming attack strategies and making them harder to detect. Google’s Threat Intelligence Group, recently reported on adversaries using Large Language Models (LLMs) to both conceal code and generate malicious scripts on the fly, letting malware shape-shift in real-time to evade

Konni Hackers Deploy AI-Generated PowerShell Backdoor Against Blockchain Developers https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/konni-hackers-deploy-ai-generated.html The North Korean threat actor known as Konni has been observed using PowerShell malware generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to target developers and engineering teams in the blockchain sector. The phishing campaign has targeted Japan, Australia, and India, highlighting the adversary's expansion of the targeting scope beyond South Korea, Russia, Ukraine, and European nations, Check

Multi-Stage Phishing Campaign Targets Russia with Amnesia RAT and Ransomware https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/multi-stage-phishing-campaign-targets.html A new multi-stage phishing campaign has been observed targeting users in Russia with ransomware and a remote access trojan called Amnesia RAT. "The attack begins with social engineering lures delivered via business-themed documents crafted to appear routine and benign," Fortinet FortiGuard Labs researcher Cara Lin said in a technical breakdown published this week. "These documents and

New DynoWiper Malware Used in Attempted Sandworm Attack on Polish Power Sector https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/new-dynowiper-malware-used-in-attempted.html The Russian nation-state hacking group known as Sandworm has been attributed to what has been described as the "largest cyber attack" targeting Poland's power system in the last week of December 2025. The attack was unsuccessful, the country's energy minister, Milosz Motyka, said last week. "The command of the cyberspace forces has diagnosed in the last days of the year the strongest attack on

Who Approved This Agent? Rethinking Access, Accountability, and Risk in the Age of AI Agents https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/who-approved-this-agent-rethinking.html AI agents are accelerating how work gets done. They schedule meetings, access data, trigger workflows, write code, and take action in real time, pushing productivity beyond human speed across the enterprise. Then comes the moment every security team eventually hits: “Wait… who approved this?” Unlike users or applications, AI agents are often deployed quickly, shared broadly,

CISA Adds Actively Exploited VMware vCenter Flaw CVE-2024-37079 to KEV Catalog https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/cisa-adds-actively-exploited-vmware.html The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Friday added a critical security flaw affecting Broadcom VMware vCenter Server that was patched in June 2024 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation in the wild. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2024-37079 (CVSS score: 9.8), which refers to a heap overflow in the

ESET Research: Sandworm behind cyberattack on Poland’s power grid in late 2025 https://www.welivesecurity.com/en/eset-research/eset-research-sandworm-cyberattack-poland-power-grid-late-2025/ The attack involved data-wiping malware that ESET researchers have now analyzed and named DynoWiper

Children and chatbots: What parents should know https://www.welivesecurity.com/en/kids-online/children-chatbots-what-parents-should-know/ As children turn to AI chatbots for answers, advice, and companionship, questions emerge about their safety, privacy, and emotional development

CISA Updates KEV Catalog with Four Actively Exploited Software Vulnerabilities https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/cisa-updates-kev-catalog-with-four.html The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday added four security flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation in the wild. The list of vulnerabilities is as follows - CVE-2025-68645 (CVSS score: 8.8) - A PHP remote file inclusion vulnerability in Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) that could allow a

Common Apple Pay scams, and how to stay safe https://www.welivesecurity.com/en/scams/common-apple-pay-scams-how-stay-safe/ Here’s how the most common scams targeting Apple Pay users work and what you can do to stay one step ahead

Fortinet Confirms Active FortiCloud SSO Bypass on Fully Patched FortiGate Firewalls https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/fortinet-confirms-active-forticloud-sso.html Fortinet has officially confirmed that it's working to completely plug a FortiCloud SSO authentication bypass vulnerability following reports of fresh exploitation activity on fully-patched firewalls. "In the last 24 hours, we have identified a number of cases where the exploit was to a device that had been fully upgraded to the latest release at the time of the attack, which suggested a new

TikTok Forms U.S. Joint Venture to Continue Operations Under 2025 Executive Order https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/tiktok-forms-us-joint-venture-to.html TikTok on Friday officially announced that it formed a joint venture that will allow the hugely popular video-sharing application to continue operating in the U.S. The new venture, named TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, has been established in compliance with the Executive Order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump in September 2025, the platform said. The new deal will see TikTok's Chinese