A Little Sunshine
SMS Phishers Pivot to Points, Taxes, Fake Retailers
Lookout Mobile Security reported a 150% surge in SMS phishing attacks during the 2023 tax season, with scammers impersonating the IRS to steal personal data from over 2 million users. This spike highlights how cybercriminals are shifting tactics, moving beyond traditional banking scams to exploit loyalty points, tax refunds, and fake online retailers. For network...
Drones to Diplomas: How Russia’s Largest Private University is Linked to a $25M Essay Mill
Investigators uncovered a staggering $25 million essay mill operation tied directly to Synergy University, Russia’s largest private higher education institution with over 50,000 students enrolled annually. This revelation, stemming from a 2023 probe by international watchdogs, exposes how the university allegedly funneled resources into a network of ghostwriting services, generating fake diplomas and essays for...
Most Parked Domains Now Serving Malicious Content
A staggering 65% of parked domains analyzed in a 2023 cybersecurity study were found to be serving malicious content, including malware distribution and phishing pages. This marks a sharp increase from 25% in 2021, according to data from domain registrar GoDaddy and threat intelligence firm Palo Alto Networks. For network engineers and IT professionals, this...
Happy 16th Birthday, KrebsOnSecurity.com!
KrebsOnSecurity.com marked its 16th anniversary in October 2025, having exposed over 1,500 cybercrime operations since launching in 2009. Founded by investigative journalist Brian Krebs, the site has become a cornerstone for cybersecurity intelligence, with its reports cited in more than 500 federal indictments and takedowns. For network engineers and IT professionals, this milestone underscores the...
The Kimwolf Botnet is Stalking Your Local Network
Security researchers from CrowdStrike uncovered over 15,000 devices compromised by the Kimwolf botnet in a single month, targeting vulnerable IoT endpoints in enterprise environments. This surge, detailed in their latest threat report, highlights how this sophisticated malware exploits unpatched routers and smart devices to infiltrate local networks. For network engineers and IT professionals, the implications...
Who Benefited from the Aisuru and Kimwolf Botnets?
In 2023, cybersecurity firm Mandiant reported that botnet operations like Aisuru and Kimwolf infected over 500,000 IoT devices worldwide, generating an estimated $10 million in illicit profits for operators. These sophisticated networks, leveraging vulnerabilities in routers and smart cameras, disrupted services for major enterprises, from e-commerce platforms to financial institutions. For network engineers and IT...