Windows 11 to Deprecate NTLM, Add AI-Powered App Controls and Security Defenses

 Microsoft on Monday confirmed its plans to deprecate NT LAN Manager (NTLM) in Windows 11 in the second half of the year, as it announced a slew of new security measures to harden the widely-used desktop operating system. "Deprecating NTLM has been a huge ask from our security community as it will strengthen user authentication, and deprecation is planned in the second half of 2024," the

Grandoreiro Banking Trojan Resurfaces, Targeting Over 1,500 Banks Worldwide

The threat actors behind the Windows-based Grandoreiro banking trojan have returned in a global campaign since March 2024 following a law enforcement takedown in January. The large-scale phishing attacks, likely facilitated by other cybercriminals via a malware-as-a-service (MaaS) model, target over 1,500 banks across the world, spanning more than 60 countries in Central and South

Microsoft Patches 61 Flaws, Including Two Actively Exploited Zero-Days

Microsoft has addressed a total of 61 new security flaws in its software as part of its Patch Tuesday updates for May 2024, including two zero-days which have been actively exploited in the wild. Of the 61 flaws, one is rated Critical, 59 are rated Important, and one is rated Moderate in severity. This is in addition to 30 vulnerabilities&

Google Announces Passkeys Adopted by Over 400 Million Accounts

Google on Thursday announced that passkeys are being used by over 400 million Google accounts, authenticating users more than 1 billion times over the past two years. "Passkeys are easy to use and phishing resistant, only relying on a fingerprint, face scan or a pin making them 50% faster than passwords," Heather Adkins, vice president of security engineering at Google, said.

Mispadu Trojan Targets Europe, Thousands of Credentials Compromised

The banking trojan known as Mispadu has expanded its focus beyond Latin America (LATAM) and Spanish-speaking individuals to target users in Italy, Poland, and Sweden. Targets of the ongoing campaign include entities spanning finance, services, motor vehicle manufacturing, law firms, and commercial facilities, according to Morphisec. "Despite the geographic expansion, Mexico remains the

DarkGate Malware Exploited Recently Patched Microsoft Flaw in Zero-Day Attack

A DarkGate malware campaign observed in mid-January 2024 leveraged a recently patched security flaw in Microsoft Windows as a zero-day using bogus software installers. “During this campaign, users were lured using PDFs that contained Google DoubleClick Digital Marketing (DDM) open redirects that led unsuspecting victims to compromised sites hosting the Microsoft Windows SmartScreen bypass CVE-

Open-Source Xeno RAT Trojan Emerges as a Potent Threat on GitHub

An "intricately designed" remote access trojan (RAT) called Xeno RAT has been made available on GitHub, making it easily accessible to other actors at no extra cost. Written in C# and compatible with Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems, the open-source RAT comes with a "comprehensive set of features for remote system management," according to its developer, who goes by the name

Microsoft Introduces Linux-Like 'sudo' Command to Windows 11

Microsoft said it's introducing Sudo for Windows 11 as part of an early preview version to help users execute commands with administrator privileges. "Sudo for Windows is a new way for users to run elevated commands directly from an unelevated console session," Microsoft Product Manager Jordi Adoumie said. "It is an ergonomic and familiar solution for users who want to elevate a command

DirtyMoe Malware Infects 2,000+ Ukrainian Computers for DDoS and Cryptojacking

The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) has warned that more than 2,000 computers in the country have been infected by a strain of malware called DirtyMoe. The agency attributed the campaign to a threat actor it calls UAC-0027. DirtyMoe, active since at least 2016, is capable of carrying out cryptojacking and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. In March

Researchers Uncover How Outlook Vulnerability Could Leak Your NTLM Passwords

A now-patched security flaw in Microsoft Outlook could be exploited by threat actors to access NT LAN Manager (NTLM) v2 hashed passwords when opening a specially crafted file. The issue, tracked as CVE-2023-35636 (CVSS score: 6.5), was addressed by the tech giant as part of its Patch Tuesday updates for December 2023. "In an email attack scenario, an attacker could exploit the