If you have ever checked your child’s grades online, submitted a college paper through a school portal, downloaded homework assignments, or received messages from a teacher through a classroom app, there is a good chance you have used Canvas, a nationwide learning management system that was just in a massive data breach. 

This is exactly the moment McAfee+ Advanced was built for. With our built-in Scam Detector to flag risky links, QR codes, and deepfakes; Identity Monitoring that alerts you when your data appears where it shouldn’t; and Personal Data Cleanup that removes your information from the dark web and data brokers, McAfee+ Advanced is an all-in-one solution for protection after a data breach.

Now let’s get into what you need to know about this breach: 

Who Is Behind the Canvas Breach? 

The ransomware group ShinyHunters is claiming responsibility for the attack. The group alleges it stole roughly 275 million records tied to nearly 9,000 schools and educational institutions worldwide. 

How Did the Canvas Cyberattack Happen? 

Instructure, the company behind Canvas, confirmed a cyber incident affecting its cloud-hosted environment. The attackers later posted claims about the breach on their leak site, where ransomware groups pressure organizations into paying by threatening to release stolen data publicly. 

What Information Was Stolen in the Canvas Breach? 

The stolen data reportedly includes: 

• Student names  
• Teacher and staff names  
• Email addresses  
• Student IDs  
• Course and enrollment information  
• School-related records  

ShinyHunters claims the breach exposed roughly 275 million records and more than 231 million unique email addresses. 

How Could the Canvas Data Breach Impact Families and Students? 

Even if financial information was not exposed, this kind of data can still be extremely valuable to scammers. Criminals can use real school names, real classes, teacher names, and student information to create highly convincing phishing emails, fake school alerts, scholarship scams, tuition scams, or password reset messages. 

A scam message referencing your child’s actual school or assignment is much harder to spot as fake. 

This is a real message from Canvas from a community college professor after yours truly took an anthropology class for fun during the pandemic. It’s full of links to apply for programs and reach out to professors. It has exact details about courses I’ve taken.  

While this correspondence is real, it’s exactly the type of messaging that scammers could fake and replicate, replacing real links with fake “paid” opportunities to pursue degrees.  

Now think of the millions of messages and specific scenarios scammers have access to, to create dubious and convincing scams. That’s why protecting yourself after a breach is key.  

What To Do Right Now 

Here are some actions you can take immediately ot protect yourself after this breach:

• Change you or your child’s Canvas password immediately, and update any other accounts where they reuse that password 
• Turn on multi-factor authentication (2FA) on parent and student accounts wherever the school permits it — Instructure’s own post-incident guidance specifically called out enforcing MFA as a recommended precaution 
• Ask your school what identity protection is being offered if sensitive data was involved 
• Consider placing a credit freeze on your or your child’s file to block new accounts from being opened in their name 
• Avoid clicking links in any messages that reference the breach, go directly to the official site instead 

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And that, my friends, is issue number one in this week’s This Week in Scams. Let’s get into what else is on our radar in cybersecurity and scam news. 

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Fake Amazon Recall Texts Are Targeting Shoppers  

Your phone buzzes. It’s a text from an unknown number, but the message looks official. 

“Dear Amazon Customer, we are writing to inform you that an item from your March 2026 order has been identified for recall.” There’s an order number. A link at the top of the message. A note about quality standards and a refund waiting for you. 

It looks real. It has the Amazon logo, the branded formatting, even a reference to the “Amazon Customer Safety Team.” The only thing it doesn’t have? Any connection to Amazon at all. 

This is a fake Amazon recall scam, and it is making the rounds right now. The goal is to get you to click that link, which takes you to a site designed to harvest your login credentials, payment information, or both.  

If you get a text like this, do not click the link. Go directly to amazon.com in your browser, log in, and check your orders and messages from there. Amazon does not initiate recall or refund processes through unsolicited texts with outside links. 

What Is a Fake Amazon Recall Scam And How Does It Work? 

A fake Amazon recall scam is a text message or email in which criminals impersonate Amazon to convince you that one of your recent orders has been flagged for a product recall. The message directs you to an external link leading to a phishing site designed to steal your Amazon credentials, credit card details, or personal information. 

Red Flags To Watch For 

• The text comes from an unknown number, not a short code or verified sender 
• The link goes to a domain that is not amazon.com 
• The message asks you to complete a refund through an external link 
• Small typos or awkward phrasing appear in what looks like official communication 
• The greeting says “Dear Amazon Customer” rather than your actual name 

What To Do If You Get One 

• Do not click the link 
• Go to amazon.com directly and check your orders and account notifications 
• Report the text to Amazon at stop-spoofing@amazon.com 
• Block the number 

Where McAfee Steps In (So You Don’t Have to Guess)  

Scams today are layered.  A fake email leads to stolen credentials. A breach leads to targeted phishing. And those follow-ups are getting harder to spot.  

With McAfee+ Advanced, multiple layers work together so you’re not left figuring it out after the damage is done: 

• Identity Monitoring alerts you if your personal info shows up where it should not, so you can act fast  
• Personal Data Cleanup helps remove your information from sites selling it. 
• Scam Detector flags suspicious texts, emails, links, QR codes, and even deepfake videos before you engage  
• Safe Browsing helps block risky sites, even if you do accidentally click  
• Device Security helps detect malicious apps or downloads  
• Secure VPN keeps your data private, especially on public Wi-Fi    

McAfee Safety Tips This Week 

Our advice based on this week’s scams and stories: 

• If your child’s school uses Canvas, update their password now and enable multi-factor authentication if available 
• Consider a credit freeze for your child’s identity, especially if sensitive identifiers were part of the breach 
• Never click links in unsolicited texts about refunds, recalls, or account issues — go directly to the official site instead 
• Treat any message that references your recent orders or personal account details with extra skepticism, even if it looks legitimate 
• Use Scam Detector to check suspicious links before engaging, and stay alert in the weeks and months after a breach, not just the first few days 

And we’ll be back next week with more scams and cybersecurity news making headlines. 

The post How to Protect Yourself After the Canvas Education Data Breach + Fake Amazon Recall Texts appeared first on McAfee Blog.

An ongoing data extortion attack targeting the widely-used education technology platform Canvas disrupted classes and coursework at school districts and universities across the United States today, after a cybercrime group defaced the service’s login page with a ransom demand that threatened to leak data from 275 million students and faculty across nearly 9,000 educational institutions.

Canvas parent firm Instructure responded to today’s defacement attacks by disabling the platform, which is used by thousands of schools, universities and businesses to manage coursework and assignments, and to communicate with students.

Instructure acknowledged a data breach earlier this week, after the cybercrime group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility and said they would leak data on tens of millions of students and faculty unless paid a ransom. The stated deadline for payment was initially set at May 6, but it was later pushed back to May 12.

In a statement on May 6, Instructure said the investigation so far shows the stolen information includes “certain identifying information of users at affected institutions, such as names, email addresses, and student ID numbers, as well as as messages among users.” The company said it found no evidence the breached data included more sensitive information, such as passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers or financial information.

The May 6 update stated that Canvas was fully operational, and that Instructure was not seeing any ongoing unauthorized activity on their platform. “At this stage, we believe the incident has been contained,” Instructure wrote.

However, by mid-day on Thursday, May 7, students and faculty at dozens of schools and universities were flooding social media sites with comments saying that a ransom demand from ShinyHunters had replaced the usual Canvas login page. Instructure responded by pulling Canvas offline and replacing the portal with the message, “Canvas is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance. Check back soon.”

“We anticipate being up soon, and will provide updates as soon as possible,” reads the current message on Instructure’s status page.

While the data stolen by ShinyHunters may or may not contain particularly sensitive information (ShinyHunters claims it includes several billion private messages among students and teachers, as well as names, phone numbers and email addresses), this attack could hardly have come at a worse time for Instructure: Many of the affected schools and universities are in the middle of final exams, and a prolonged outage could be highly damaging for the company.

The extortion message that greeted countless Canvas users today advised the affected schools to negotiate their own ransom payments to prevent the publication of their data — regardless of whether Instructure decides to pay.

“ShinyHunters has breached Instructure (again),” the extortion message read. “Instead of contacting us to resolve it they ignored us and did some ‘security patches.'”

A source close to the investigation who was not authorized to speak to the press told KrebsOnSecurity that a number of universities have already approached the cybercrime group about paying. The same source also pointed out that the ShinyHunters data leak blog no longer lists Instructure among its current extortion victims, and that the samples of data stolen from Canvas customers were removed as well. Data extortion groups like ShinyHunters will typically only remove victims from their leak sites after receiving an extortion payment or after a victim agrees to negotiate.

Dipan Mann, founder and CEO of the security firm Cloudskope, slammed Instructure for referring to today’s outage as a “scheduled maintenance” event on its status page. Mann said Shiny Hunters first demonstrated they’d breached Instructure on May 1, prompting Instructure’s Chief Information Security Officer Steve Proud to declare the following day that the incident had been contained. But Mann said today’s attack is at least the third time in the past eight months that Instructure has been breached by ShinyHunters.

In a blog post today, Mann noted that in September 2025, ShinyHunters released thousands of internal University of Pennsylvania files — donor records, internal memos, and other confidential materials — through what the Daily Pennsylvanian and other outlets later determined was, in part, a Canvas/Instructure-mediated access path.

“Penn was the named victim,” Mann wrote. “Instructure was the mechanism. The incident was treated as a Penn-specific story by most of the national press and quietly handled by Instructure as a customer-specific matter. That framing was wrong then. It is dramatically more wrong in light of the May 2026 events, which now look like the planned escalation of an attack pattern that ShinyHunters had been working against Instructure’s environment for at least eight months prior. The September 2025 Penn breach was the proof of concept. The May 1, 2026 incident was the production run. The May 7, 2026 recompromise was ShinyHunters demonstrating publicly that the May 2 ‘containment’ did not happen.”

In February, a ShinyHunters spokesperson told The Daily Pennsylvanian that Penn failed to pay a $1 million ransom demand. On March 5, ShinyHunters published 461 megabytes worth of data stolen from Penn, including thousands of files such as donor records and internal memos.

ShinyHunters is a prolific and fluid cybercriminal group that specializes in data theft and extortion. They typically gain access to companies through voice phishing and social engineering attacks that often involve impersonating IT personnel or other trusted members of a targeted organization.

Last month, ShinyHunters relieved the home security giant ADT of personal information on 5.5 million customers. The extortion group told BleepingComputer they breached the company by compromising an employee’s Okta single sign-on account in a voice phishing attack that enabled access to ADT’s Salesforce instance. BleepingComputer says ShinyHunters recently has taken credit for a number of extortion attacks against high-profile organizations, including Medtronic, Rockstar Games, McGraw Hill, 7-Eleven and the cruise line operator Carnival.

The attack on Canvas customers is just one of several major cybercrime campaigns being launched by ShinyHunters at the moment, said Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at the Google-owned Mandiant Consulting. Carmakal declined to comment specifically on the Canvas breach, but said “there are multiple concurrent and discrete ShinyHunters intrusion and extortion campaigns happening right now.”

Cloudskope’s Mann said what happens next depends largely on whether Instructure’s customers — the universities, K-12 districts, and education ministries paying for Canvas — choose to apply pressure or absorb the breach quietly.

“The history of education-vendor incidents suggests the path of least resistance is the second one,” he concluded.

Update, May 8, 11:05 a.m. ET: Instructure has published an incident update page that includes more information about the breach. Instructure said its Canvas portal is functioning normally again, and that the hackers exploited an issue related to Free-for-Teacher accounts.

“This is the same issue that led to the unauthorized access the prior week,” Instructure wrote. “As a result, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily shut down Free-for-Teacher accounts. These accounts have been a core part of our platform, and we’re committed to resolving the issues with these accounts.”

Instructure said affected organizations were notified on May 6.

“If your organization is affected, Instructure will contact your organization’s primary contacts directly,” the update states. “Please don’t rely on third-party lists or social media posts naming potentially affected organizations as those lists aren’t verified. Instructure will confirm validated information through direct outreach to all affected organizations.”

Update, May 11, 10:16 p.m. ET: Instructure posted an update saying they paid their extortionists in exchange for a promise to destroy the stolen data. “The data was returned to us,” the update reads. “We received digital confirmation of data destruction (shred logs). We have been informed that no Instructure customers will be extorted as a result of this incident, publicly or otherwise.”

Scam messages are getting smarter and faster. 

According to McAfee’s 2026 State of the Scamiverse report, Americans now spend 114 hours a year trying to figure out what’s real and what’s fake online. That’s nearly three full workweeks lost to second-guessing messages, alerts, and links. 

And when scams do succeed, they move quickly. The typical scam unfolds in about 38 minutes, leaving little room for hesitation. 

That creates a gap: People want to check before they act, but the tools haven’t always met them in that moment. 

ChatGPT + McAfee is designed to close that gap, bringing scam detection directly to a platform people are already using to ask questions and make decisions. 

And it’s available to anyone. You don’t have to be a McAfee subscriber. 

This isn’t just detection. It’s guidance in the exact moment you’re deciding what to do.  

Instead of guessing, you can paste a message or drop in a screenshot and get a clear explanation of what’s risky, and what to do next, powered by McAfee’s threat intelligence. 

What You Can Do with ChatGPT + McAfee 

With this integration, checking something suspicious becomes as simple as asking a question. 

Paste a message. Drop in a link. Upload a screenshot. 

McAfee analyzes it and explains what’s going on clearly and in context. 

Here’s how it works: 

Feature	What it does	How it protects you
Link safety check	Paste a suspicious URL and get a reputational analysis based on McAfee threat intelligence	Scam links are often designed to look legitimate. A quick check helps avoid phishing and malware
Message analysis	Submit texts, emails, or social messages for evaluation	Many scams now rely on urgency and tone. Analysis helps surface subtle red flags
Screenshot uploads	Upload screenshots of messages, emails, or posts for review	Scams don’t always come as clean text. This makes it easier to check what you’re actually seeing
Clear explanations	Get a breakdown of why something is flagged as risky or safe	Not just a warning—an explanation that helps you recognize patterns next time
Guided next steps	Receive recommendations on what to do next	Helps prevent escalation, especially in moments of uncertainty

It’s a quick, accessible way to get answers in the moment. But it’s just one part of a broader system designed to protect you more comprehensively. 

Add the app to your ChatGPT account here. 

Built on McAfee’s Threat Intelligence 

Behind the scenes, ChatGPT + McAfee is powered by the same intelligence that fuels McAfee’s broader scam protection ecosystem. 

When you submit something for review: 

• Links are checked against known threat signals  
• Messages are analyzed for scam patterns and language cues  
• Results are translated into clear, human-readable explanations  

The goal isn’t just to flag risk. It’s to help you understand it. 

A New Way to Stay Ahead of Scams 

Scams aren’t slowing down. If anything, they’re becoming more convincing, more personalized, and harder to detect. 

That’s where ChatGPT + McAfee comes in. But this is only one part of a much bigger system designed to protect you before, during, and after a scam attempt. 

With McAfee+ Advanced, multiple layers work together so you’re not left figuring it out after the damage is done: 

• Identity Monitoring alerts you if your personal info shows up where it should not, so you can act fast  
• Personal Data Cleanup helps remove your information from sites selling it. 
• Scam Detector flags suspicious texts, emails, links, QR codes, and even deepfake videos before you engage  
• Safe Browsing helps block risky sites, even if you do accidentally click  
• Device Security helps detect malicious apps or downloads  
• Secure VPN keeps your data private, especially on public Wi-Fi    

The ChatGPT experience gives you a fast, intuitive way to check something in the moment. 

McAfee+ Advanced makes sure you’re protected across everything else.

The post Now Available: Use ChatGPT with McAfee to Spot Scams Faster appeared first on McAfee Blog.

You’re scrolling through Facebook or TikTok and see it. 

A flash sale from a brand you recognize. A limited-time investment opportunity. A job posting that promises quick money. 

The ad has comments. The account looks polished. Maybe someone you follow even liked it. 

So you click. 

From there, things move fast. You’re pushed to act quickly, enter your information, or send payment before the “deal” disappears. And just like that, the money is gone or your account is compromised. 

This isn’t an edge case anymore. According to new FTC data, nearly 30% of people who reported losing money to a scam in 2025 said it started on social media, with total losses hitting $2.1 billion. 

That’s why McAfee+ Advanced includes comprehensive protection designed to help you spot and stop scams at every step, including McAfee’s Scam Detector, which flags suspicious links and messages and explains why they may be risky, along with identity and privacy tools that help protect your information if a scam slips through. 

How Social Media Ad Scams Work 

A social media ad scam is when scammers use paid ads, fake profiles, or hijacked accounts on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok to promote fake products, services, or investment opportunities in order to steal money or personal information. 

Step	What happens	What to do	How McAfee helps
1	You see an ad, post, or DM promoting a deal, job, or investment	Don’t engage immediately, even if it looks legitimate	Scam Detector flags suspicious links and messages before you interact
2	The ad links to a website or moves you into DMs	Avoid clicking unfamiliar links or continuing off-platform	Safe Browsing helps block risky or newly created websites
3	You’re pressured to act quickly or “secure your spot”	Slow down and verify the company independently	Scam Detector explains urgency tactics and why they’re risky
4	You’re asked to pay, share login info, or download something	Never send money or credentials based on a social media interaction	Identity Monitoring helps protect your personal data if exposed
5	The product never arrives, the investment disappears, or your account is compromised	Report the scam and secure your accounts immediately	Personal Data Cleanup and monitoring help reduce ongoing exposure

Red Flags To Watch For 

• Deals that feel unusually cheap or urgent  
• Ads linking to unfamiliar or slightly misspelled websites  
• Requests to move conversations off-platform quickly  
• Payment requests via apps, crypto, or wire transfer  
• Accounts with limited history or inconsistent engagement  

And that is the first part of This Week in Scams! This Friday we’re taking a different format to talk about this new FTC data and all that it reveals.  

Let’s keep digging in: 

FTC Report: Social Media Scams Are Now The Most Costly Fraud Channel 

New data from the FTC shows just how dominant social media has become in the scam landscape. 

• Social media scams drove $2.1 billion in reported losses in 2025  
• Losses have increased eightfold since 2020  
• Investment scams alone accounted for $1.1 billion of those losses 

Where Scams Are Happening And What’s Changing 

Category	What to know
Most common scams	Shopping scams lead, with over 40% of victims reporting purchases from social media ads that never arrived
Most costly scams	Investment scams drive the biggest losses, often starting with ads or group chats showing fake success
What’s changing	Scammers are using platform tools like ads, targeting, and profile data to reach people more precisely than ever

How Scams Play Out Across Platforms 

Platform	How scams typically start	What to watch for
Facebook	Ads, Marketplace listings, hacked accounts	Fake stores, duplicate listings, urgent purchase pressure
Instagram	Sponsored posts, influencer impersonation	“Limited drop” scams, fake brand collaborations
TikTok	Ads, stolen videos/profiles, comment links, bio links,	“Get rich quick” schemes, external link funnels, reselling via TikTok
WhatsApp	Group chats, investment communities	Fake testimonials, coordinated pressure to invest

 How McAfee Protects You from Scams and Cyber Threats 

McAfee+ Advanced gives you multiple layers working together so you are not left figuring it out after the damage is done:   

• Identity Monitoring alerts you if your personal info shows up where it should not, so you can act fast  
• Personal Data Cleanup helps remove your information from data broker sites, making you harder to target in the first place  
• Scam Detector flags suspicious texts, emails, links, and even deepfake videos before you engage  
• Safe Browsing helps block risky sites if you do click  
• Device Security helps detect malicious apps or downloads  
• Secure VPN keeps your data private, especially on public Wi-Fi    

McAfee Safety Tips This Week 

Our advice based on this week’s scams and schemes: 

• Treat social media ads like any other unknown source, not a trusted recommendation  
• Pause before clicking, especially when urgency is involved  
• Verify brands by going directly to their official website  
• Avoid sending money or personal information through social media  
• Use tools like Scam Detector to check suspicious links before engaging  

And we’ll be back next week with more scams making headlines.

The post Ad Impersonation Scams and Record-Breaking Social Media Fraud Losses: This Week in Scams appeared first on McAfee Blog.

A new scam making the rounds takes a familiar delivery trick and upgrades it with hyper‑realistic messaging and a QR code that looks safe to scan. 

But don’t be fooled. 

It’s the same delivery scam playbook scammers have relied on for years, just repackaged with better design and more convincing details. 

You get a message with a notice that looks something like this, a real message received by our team and tested against McAfee’s Scam Detector. 

 

That added layer of realism is what makes this version more dangerous. But it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. McAfee’s Scam Detector flagged both the suspicious language and the QR code in this message before any interaction. 

If you receive something like this, pause. Do not scan the code. 

You can also protect yourself with McAfee’s Scam Detector, which flags suspicious links and messages, including delivery scams and QR‑based attacks, and explains why they may be risky. 

What is the USPS QR Code Scam and How Does it Work? 

The USPS QR code scam is a phishing attempt where scammers impersonate postal services and use QR codes instead of clickable links to direct victims to malicious websites. 

Once scanned, the QR code can lead to a fake USPS page that asks for payment, login credentials, or personal information. 

How the scam works 

Step	What happens	The red flags	What to do	How McAfee helps
1	You receive a text about a delivery issue or missed package	Urgency, you’re not tracking a package	Be skeptical of unsolicited delivery messages	Scam Detector flags suspicious messages
2	The message includes a QR code instead of a link	QR codes instead of official tracking links  is a red flag	Do not scan QR codes from unknown sources	QR scanning protection warns before opening risky destinations
3	You scan the code and land on a fake USPS page	Generic or slightly off branding on the webpage	Do not enter any information	Safe Browsing blocks known malicious sites
4	The page asks for payment or personal details	Requests for small “redelivery” or “processing” fees  are not normal	Exit immediately and do not submit anything	Scam Detector explains why the page is risky, and Identity Monitoring supports you when if your info gets out.

What To Do If You Get This Message 

• Do not scan the QR code  
• Go directly to the official USPS website to check tracking  
• Delete the message  
• Report it as spam  
• Monitor your accounts if you interacted with it  

And that, my friends, is scam number one in this week’s This Week in Scams. 

Let’s get into what else is on our radar. 

A Major Health Data Breach Exposes 500,000 Records 

A massive health data incident is raising new concerns about how sensitive information is handled and shared. 

According to reporting from the Associated Press, data tied to 500,000 participants in a major U.K. health research project was found listed for sale online. The dataset included biological and health-related information, though it did not contain direct identifiers like names or contact details. 

Access to the data had been granted to research institutions, but that access has since been revoked. Authorities say no purchases were made, and the listing has been removed. 

Still, the situation highlights a growing reality: once data is accessed or shared, control over it becomes harder to guarantee. 

What This Breach Says About Data Privacy 

Scams are no longer isolated events. They are layered. 

A data breach does not just stay a breach. It becomes fuel for future scams. Exposed information can be used to make phishing messages more convincing, personalize attacks, and build trust with targets. 

That is why detection alone is not enough anymore. Protection has to account for both incoming threats and what happens when data is already out there. 

How McAfee Protects You In A World of Scams and Data Breaches  

McAfee+ Advanced gives you multiple layers working together so you are not left figuring it out after the damage is done:  

• Identity Monitoring alerts you if your personal info shows up where it should not, so you can act fast 
• Personal Data Cleanup helps remove your information from data broker sites, making you harder to target in the first place 
• Scam Detector flags suspicious texts, emails, links, and even deepfake videos before you engage 
• Safe Browsing helps block risky sites if you do click 
• Device Security helps detect malicious apps or downloads 
• Secure VPN keeps your data private, especially on public Wi-Fi   

McAfee Safety Tips This Week  

As always, we have some best practices and safety tips for navigating life online:  

• Pause before clicking, especially when a message creates urgency   
• Go directly to websites or apps instead of using email links   
• Be skeptical of routine account alerts that push immediate action   
• Double-check sender addresses and URLs closely   
• Use tools like McAfee’s Scam Detector to flag suspicious links and messages before interacting   
• Turn on identity monitoring so you’re alerted if your data is exposed  

And we’ll be back next week with more scams making headlines.

The post Fake USPS QR Code Text Scams and a Major Health Data Breach: This Week in Scams appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Co-Authored by Luiz Parente 

Your data might be safe today. But that doesn’t mean it’s safe forever. 

A growing number of sophisticated actors are collecting encrypted data now, with the goal of decrypting it later, when more powerful technology becomes available. 

This strategy is known as Harvest Now, Decrypt Later (HNDL). And it’s not a future problem. It’s already happening, according to research from our McAfee VPN team. 

For everyday people, that means private messages, financial records, and sensitive documents could be exposed years from now if protections don’t evolve today. 

That’s why security teams, including McAfee’s VPN engineers, are already working on ways to strengthen encryption for both today and what comes next. 

What “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” Means 

At its core, HNDL is simple: Attackers collect encrypted data now, store it, and wait until they have the tools to unlock it later. 

Even though today’s encryption is incredibly strong, the strategy doesn’t rely on breaking it today. It relies on patience.  

A Simple Way to Think About It 

You put valuable belongings and documents in a safe at home that’s locked and secured. This works at preventing crimes of opportunity. But let’s say there’s a thief who steals the entire safe, knowing they have tools they can use later to access what’s inside. They wait, and once the tools are available, they break into your safe and access everything inside. 

That’s one way to think of HNDL. The safe is the encryption. The quantum computing is the tool they can use later.  

But in real life, you’d probably notice if your safe is gone. In the case of HNDL, if you’re not monitoring your data, you may not even notice encrypted information has been stolen to be decrypted.  

Key Terms Explained 

Term	What it means
Encryption	Scrambling data so others can’t read it
Quantum computing	A new type of computing that can break some encryption
HNDL	A strategy to collect encrypted data now and decrypt it later

Why This Matters Right Now 

This isn’t about whether your data is valuable today. It’s about whether it might be valuable later. 

Data with a long shelf life is especially at risk, including: 

• Financial records  
• Medical information  
• Private messages  
• Legal or identity documents  

Even something that feels low-stakes today could become sensitive in the future. 

And because the collection phase is already happening, the risk isn’t hypothetical. It’s already in motion. 

How This Affects VPNs (and what doesn’t change) 

VPNs remain one of the most effective ways to protect your data today. That hasn’t changed. 

But HNDL introduces a new layer of complexity. 

• What’s still strong: The encryption that protects your data in transit remains highly resilient.  
• Where the risk is: The “handshake” process (how a secure connection is established) is more vulnerable to future quantum attacks.  

In simple terms: Your data is well protected today, but parts of how that protection is set up may need to evolve for the future. 

What Quantum Computing Changes 

Traditional computers process information in a linear way. 

Quantum computers work differently. They can solve certain types of problems much faster, including the kinds of mathematical challenges that protect today’s encryption. 

That’s why attackers are willing to wait. 

Once quantum computing reaches a certain level, it could unlock data that was previously considered secure. 

What McAfee’s VPN Team is Working On 

McAfee’s VPN team is already preparing for this shift. 

• Evaluating quantum-safe encryption approaches  
• Exploring hybrid models that protect both now and long-term  
• Building toward a more resilient VPN experience  

This work builds on a broader privacy-by-design approach, where systems are designed to minimize risk from the start, not react after the fact. 

Because with HNDL, waiting isn’t an option. 

What You Can Do Now 

You don’t need to wait for quantum computing to take steps today. 

• Use a trusted VPN to encrypt your connection  
• Be mindful of long-term sensitive data you share online  
• Avoid unsecured public Wi-Fi when possible  
• Keep your apps and devices updated  

These steps help protect your data now while the industry builds toward future-ready security. 

How McAfee Helps Protect You 

McAfee+ Advanced gives you multiple layers working together so you are not left figuring it out after the damage is done:  

• Identity Monitoring alerts you if your personal info shows up where it should not, so you can act fast 
• Personal Data Cleanup helps remove your information from data broker sites, making you harder to target in the first place 
• Scam Detector flags suspicious texts, emails, links, and even deepfake videos before you engage 
• Safe Browsing helps block risky sites if you do click 
• Device Security helps detect malicious apps or downloads 
• Secure VPN keeps your data private, especially on public Wi-Fi   

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

FAQ

Q: Is my data safe right now?   A: In most cases, yes—today’s encryption is extremely strong and is designed to protect your data from current threats. If you’re using trusted security tools like a VPN, safe browsing protections, and device security, your data is actively protected while it’s in transit and in use. However, no system is risk-free. Data exposed through phishing, weak passwords, breaches, or unsecured networks may still be vulnerable. And with “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later,” even properly encrypted data could be collected today and targeted for decryption in the future.

Q: What is quantum-safe encryption?  A: Quantum-safe (or post-quantum) encryption refers to new types of cryptography designed to remain secure even against future quantum computers. Today’s encryption relies on math problems that are extremely difficult for classical computers to solve, but quantum computers could eventually solve some of them much faster. Quantum-safe approaches use different mathematical foundations that are believed to resist those capabilities. In practice, many companies are moving toward hybrid encryption, combining today’s proven methods with newer quantum-resistant techniques to protect data both now and long-term.

Q: Should I still use a VPN?  A: Yes. A VPN remains one of the most effective ways to protect your data today, especially on public or unsecured networks. It encrypts your internet traffic and helps prevent interception by hackers, internet providers, or other third parties. While VPN protocols are evolving to address future quantum risks, they still provide strong, essential protection against today’s threats.

Q: When will this become a real threat?  A: The risk unfolds in two phases. The collection phase is already happening today, where sophisticated actors gather encrypted data and store it. The decryption phase depends on when quantum computing advances far enough to break certain types of encryption, which could take years but is actively progressing. This means data with a long lifespan, such as financial records, personal communications, and sensitive documents, is most at risk because it only needs to remain valuable until those capabilities exist.

The post Why Hackers Are Collecting Data They Can’t Read Yet. And How to Stay Safe appeared first on McAfee Blog.

A 24-year-old British national and senior member of the cybercrime group “Scattered Spider” has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. Tyler Robert Buchanan admitted his role in a series of text-message phishing attacks in the summer of 2022 that allowed the group to hack into at least a dozen major technology companies and steal tens of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from investors.

Buchanan’s hacker handle “Tylerb” once graced a leaderboard in the English-language criminal hacking scene that tracked the most accomplished cyber thieves. Now in U.S. custody and awaiting sentencing, the Dundee, Scotland native is facing the possibility of more than 20 years in prison.

Scattered Spider is the name given to a prolific English-speaking cybercrime group known for using social engineering tactics to break into companies and steal data for ransom, often impersonating employees or contractors to deceive IT help desks into granting access.

As part of his guilty plea, Buchanan admitted conspiring with other Scattered Spider members to launch tens of thousands of SMS-based phishing attacks in 2022 that led to intrusions at a number of technology companies, including Twilio, LastPass, DoorDash, and Mailchimp.

The group then used data stolen in those breaches to carry out SIM-swapping attacks that siphoned funds from individual cryptocurrency investors. In an unauthorized SIM-swap, crooks transfer the target’s phone number to a device they control and intercept any text messages or phone calls to the victim’s device — such as one-time passcodes for authentication and password reset links sent via SMS. The U.S. Justice Department said Buchanan admitted to stealing at least $8 million in virtual currency from individual victims throughout the United States.

FBI investigators tied Buchanan to the 2022 SMS phishing attacks after discovering the same username and email address was used to register numerous phishing domains seen in the campaign. The domain registrar NameCheap found that less than a month before the phishing spree, the account that registered those domains logged in from an Internet address in the U.K. FBI investigators said the Scottish police told them the address was leased to Buchanan throughout 2022.

As first reported by KrebsOnSecurity, Buchanan fled the United Kingdom in February 2023, after a rival cybercrime gang hired thugs to invade his home, assault his mother, and threaten to burn him with a blowtorch unless he gave up the keys to his cryptocurrency wallet. That same year, U.K. investigators found a device at Buchanan’s Scotland residence that included data stolen from SMS phishing victims and seed phrases from cryptocurrency theft victims.

Buchanan was arrested by Spanish authorities in June 2024 while trying to board a flight to Italy. He was extradited to the United States and has remained in U.S. federal custody since April 2025.

Buchanan is the second known Scattered Spider member to plead guilty. Noah Michael Urban, 21, of Palm Coast, Fla., was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison last year and ordered to pay $13 million in restitution. Three other alleged co-conspirators — Ahmed Hossam Eldin Elbadawy, 24, a.k.a. “AD,” of College Station, Texas; Evans Onyeaka Osiebo, 21, of Dallas, Texas; and Joel Martin Evans, 26, a.k.a. “joeleoli,” of Jacksonville, North Carolina – still face criminal charges.

Two other alleged Scattered Spider members will soon be tried in the United Kingdom. Owen Flowers, 18, and Thalha Jubair, 20, are facing charges related to the hacking and extortion of several large U.K. retailers, the London transit system, and healthcare providers in the United States. Both have pleaded not guilty, and their trial is slated to begin in June.

Investigators say the Scattered Spider suspects are part of a sprawling cybercriminal community online known as “The Com,” wherein hackers from different cliques boast publicly on Telegram and Discord about high-profile cyber thefts that almost invariably begin with social engineering — tricking people over the phone, email or SMS into giving away credentials that allow remote access to corporate internal networks.

One of the more popular SIM-swapping channels on Telegram has long maintained a leaderboard of the most rapacious SIM-swappers, indexed by their supposed conquests in stealing cryptocurrency. That leaderboard previously listed Buchanan’s hacker alias Tylerb at #65 (out of 100 hackers), with Urban’s moniker “Sosa” coming in at #24.

Buchanan’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 21, 2026. According to the Justice Department, he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 22 years in federal prison. However, any sentence the judge hands down in this case may be significantly tempered by a number of mitigating factors in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, including the defendant’s age, criminal history, time already served in U.S. custody, and the degree to which they cooperated with federal authorities.

You open your inbox and see it: Your cloud storage is full. 

There’s a warning about photos being deleted, your account being suspended, or a renewal failing. There’s a button to “fix it now.” Or a warning to “act today.” 

It looks routine. Maybe even urgent enough to click. 

That’s exactly the point. 

Cloud storage scams are making headlines again, building on patterns we flagged earlier this year in our State of the Scamiverse research.  

These emails have circulated steadily since 2025, often impersonating trusted brands like Apple, Microsoft, and Google. Many are timed to moments when people are already thinking about storage, backups, or subscriptions. 

The safest move is simple: pause and don’t click. If there’s a real issue, go directly to your account through the official app or website. 

You can also protect yourself with McAfee’s Scam Detector, which flags suspicious links and messages, including cloud storage scams, and explains why they may be risky. 

What Is A Cloud Storage Scam And How Does It Work? 

Cloud storage scams are phishing attacks designed to trick you into believing there’s an issue with your account so you’ll click a malicious link.

They often look like this, and include 3 key red flags:  

• Messages that create urgency like “act now or lose your data”  
• Generic greetings instead of your name  
• Links that don’t match the official domain  

How the scam works (step-by-step) 

Step	What happens	What to do	How McAfee helps
1. You receive a message	Email or text claims your storage is full or your account has an issue	Don’t click links directly from the message	Scam Detector flags suspicious messages before you interact
2. Urgency is introduced	Warning that files or photos will be deleted if you don’t act	Pause. Urgency is a red flag	Scam Detector identifies pressure-based scam patterns
3. You’re pushed to a link	Link mimics a real login or billing page	Go directly to the official website instead	Safe browsing tools help block malicious sites
4. You’re asked for info	Login credentials or payment details requested	Never enter info from a link you didn’t verify	Scam Detector explains why a page or link is risky
5. Data is captured	Scammers collect your data or payment	Monitor accounts and report suspicious activity	Identity monitoring alerts you if your data is exposed

 Why This Scam Works 

• Familiar brands: Messages often appear to come from trusted platforms like Apple iCloud or Google Drive  
• Emotional pressure: The threat of losing photos or files triggers quick decisions  
• Routine context: Storage alerts feel normal, so people don’t question them  

And that, my friends, is scam number one in this week’s This Week in Scams. 

Let’s get into what else is on our radar. 

FBI Report: Over $20 Billion Lost to Scams in 2025

New data from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (ICC) shows just how large the scam economy has become. 

In 2025 alone: 

• Americans reported over $20.8 billion in losses  
• More than 1 million complaints were filed  
• That’s roughly 3,000 complaints per day  

This is where layered protection matters. It’s not just about catching one bad link. It’s about recognizing patterns across messages, platforms, and moments when something feels slightly off. 

How McAfee Protects You From Scams and Cyber Threats 

McAfee+ Advanced gives you multiple layers working together so you are not left figuring it out after the damage is done:  

• Identity Monitoring alerts you if your personal info shows up where it should not, so you can act fast 
• Personal Data Cleanup helps remove your information from data broker sites, making you harder to target in the first place 
• Scam Detector flags suspicious texts, emails, links, and even deepfake videos before you engage 
• Safe Browsing helps block risky sites if you do click 
• Device Security helps detect malicious apps or downloads 
• Secure VPN keeps your data private, especially on public Wi-Fi   

McAfee Safety Tips This Week 

As always, we have some best practices and safety tips for navigating life online: 

• Pause before clicking, especially when a message creates urgency  
• Go directly to websites or apps instead of using email links  
• Be skeptical of routine account alerts that push immediate action  
• Double-check sender addresses and URLs closely  
• Use tools like McAfee’s Scam Detector to flag suspicious links and messages before interacting  
• Turn on identity monitoring so you’re alerted if your data is exposed 

And we’ll be back next week with more scams making headlines. 

The post Cloud Storage Scam Emails and Record-Breaking Fraud Losses: This Week in Scams  appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Emails claiming to be from Social Security are making the rounds right now. 

They look official. They sound official. And they’re designed to get you to click before you think twice. 

The Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General is warning about a spike in messages that claim your Social Security statement is ready to download. The goal is simple. Get you to click a link or open an attachment. 

From there, things can go sideways fast. 

Before interacting with anything like this, it’s worth pausing and running it through a tool like McAfee’s Scam Detector. This is exactly the kind of message it’s built to flag. Something that looks legitimate, but feels just slightly off. 

How The Scam Works 

The email mimics official government communication, using logos, formatting, and language that feels familiar. It might say your statement is ready, your account needs attention, or you need to review a document. 

Once you click: 

• You may be sent to a fake website designed to capture your personal information  
• You may download malware without realizing it  
• Or you may be prompted to enter sensitive financial details  
• Either way, the goal is the same: get access to your identity. 

The Red Flags In These Emails 

• Messages claiming your social security statement is ready to download  
• Links or attachments labeled as official documents  
• Urgency pushing you to act quickly  
• Sender addresses that do not end in “.Gov”  

The biggest tell: Social Security does not send emails like this asking you to download statements or provide sensitive information. 

What To Do If You Get One 

• Do not click links or download attachments  
• Delete the email immediately  
• Access your account by going directly to the official SSA website  
• Report the message to the SSA Office of Inspector General  

If you already clicked: 

• Stop communication immediately  
• Contact your financial institutions  
• Monitor your accounts closely  
• Report the incident to the FTC or the FBI’s IC3  

And that, my friends, is scam number one in this week’s This Week in Scams. 

Let’s get into what else is on our radar. 

A Healthcare Data Breach That Could Lead to Follow-Up Scams 

Healthcare data breaches don’t always make headlines the same way big tech breaches do, but they can be just as serious. 

According to reporting from Fox News, CareCloud, a company that supports electronic health records for tens of thousands of providers, recently confirmed a security incident involving unauthorized access to one of its systems.  

The access lasted several hours. And while it’s still unclear whether any data was taken, that uncertainty is exactly what makes situations like this risky. 

Because even if you’ve never heard of the company, your doctor might use it. 

Why This Matters 

Healthcare data is incredibly valuable. It can include: 

• Names and social security numbers  
• Insurance details  
• Medical history  
• Billing information  

Unlike a credit card, you can’t just cancel your medical history. 

And when that kind of data is exposed or even potentially exposed, scammers often follow up with messages that feel highly specific and personal. 

What To Watch For Next 

After incidents like this, scammers often move quickly: 

• Emails or texts pretending to be your provider  
• Messages about billing issues or medical records  
• Requests to “verify” your information  
• Links to log in or update your account  

These scams work because they’re timed perfectly and feel relevant. 

This is another moment where Scam Detector can help flag suspicious links or messages before you engage, even when they reference real healthcare providers. 

How To Protect Yourself 

• Review medical bills and insurance statements for unfamiliar activity  
• Enable two-factor authentication on patient portals  
• Use strong, unique passwords  
• Avoid clicking links in unexpected healthcare-related messages  
• Consider identity monitoring to catch misuse early  

Where McAfee Steps In (So You Don’t Have to Guess) 

Scams today are layered. 

A fake email leads to stolen credentials. A breach leads to targeted phishing. And those follow-ups are getting harder to spot. 

McAfee+ Advanced gives you multiple layers working together so you are not left figuring it out after the damage is done: 

• Identity Monitoring alerts you if your personal info shows up where it should not, so you can act fast
• Personal Data Cleanup helps remove your information from data broker sites, making you harder to target in the first place
• Scam Detector flags suspicious texts, emails, links, and even deepfake videos before you engage
• Safe Browsing helps block risky sites if you do click
• Device Security helps detect malicious apps or downloads
• Secure VPN keeps your data private, especially on public Wi-Fi  

Safety Tips To Carry Into Next Week 

• Be cautious of emails that look official but create urgency  
• Never trust unsolicited messages asking for personal or financial information  
• Go directly to official websites instead of clicking links  
• Stay alert after any breach or security incident makes headlines  
• Use tools like McAfee that help you verify what’s real before you act  

Because the reality is, scams are designed to look legitimate. You shouldn’t have to figure it out on your own. We’re safer together. 

We’ll be back next week with more scams making headlines. 

The post Social Security Scam Emails and a Healthcare Data Breach: This Week in Scams appeared first on McAfee Blog.

We’re excited to share that McAfee’s Scam Detector has been named a finalist in the 2026 Webby Awards. 

Recognized in the AI Experiences & Applications – Consumer Application category and named a Webby Honoree for Best Use of AI & Machine Learning, Scam Detector is being acknowledged for its effectiveness as an AI-driven consumer tool. 

This recognition of Scam Detector validates something key in research findings. According to McAfee’s 2026 State of the Scamiverse report, Americans now spend 114 hours a year trying to decide what’s real and what’s fake online. 

Scam Detector was built with this era of uncertainty in mind, designed to help people cut through confusion and identify scams as they appear. The Webby recognition reinforces to us that McAfee’s Scam Detector is doing exactly that. 

What Are the Webby Awards? 

The Webby Awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences and recognize excellence across the internet, including apps, software, AI, and digital experiences. 

Each year, thousands of entries are evaluated, with finalists representing the top work in their category globally. 

In addition to judged awards, the Webby Awards include a People’s Voice Award, which is decided by public vote. 

How McAfee’s Scam Detector Uses AI to Stop Scams 

Scam Detector is designed to help people identify scams where they’re most likely to happen, always ready to help you spot what’s real and what’s not when you least expect it. 

It uses AI to analyze and flag suspicious: 

• Text messages and emails  
• Links and websites  
• QR codes  
• Social media messages  
• AI-generated and deepfake content  

Beyond detection, Scam Detector explains why something was flagged as risky. That transparency helps show how decisions are made, so people can quickly understand the risk and feel more confident trusting what’s flagged.

As scams become more personalized and harder to detect, this combination of automatic detection and clear guidance is critical to preventing financial loss and identity theft. 

Vote for McAfee’s Scam Detector 

Scam Detector is eligible for the Webby People’s Voice Award, which is decided by public vote. 

If you would like to support McAfee’s Scam Detector, you can vote here: https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/ai/ai-experiences-applications/consumer-application 

Voting is open through Thursday, April 16 at 11:59 pm PDT. 

Winners will be announced on April 21, 2026. 

And a big thank you to the McAfee teams who brought Scam Detector to life and who continuously improve how Scam Detector identifies new threats and adapts to the evolving world of AI-driven scams. 

The post McAfee’s Scam Detector Named Webby Awards Finalist for AI Innovation appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Hackers linked to Russia’s military intelligence units are using known flaws in older Internet routers to mass harvest authentication tokens from Microsoft Office users, security experts warned today. The spying campaign allowed state-backed Russian hackers to quietly siphon authentication tokens from users on more than 18,000 networks without deploying any malicious software or code.

Microsoft said in a blog post today it identified more than 200 organizations and 5,000 consumer devices that were caught up in a stealthy but remarkably simple spying network built by a Russia-backed threat actor known as “Forest Blizzard.”

Also known as APT28 and Fancy Bear, Forest Blizzard is attributed to the military intelligence units within Russia’s General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). APT 28 famously compromised the Hillary Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2016 in an attempt to interfere with the U.S. presidential election.

Researchers at Black Lotus Labs, a security division of the Internet backbone provider Lumen, found that at the peak of its activity in December 2025, Forest Blizzard’s surveillance dragnet ensnared more than 18,000 Internet routers that were mostly unsupported, end-of-life routers, or else far behind on security updates. A new report from Lumen says the hackers primarily targeted government agencies—including ministries of foreign affairs, law enforcement, and third-party email providers.

Black Lotus Security Engineer Ryan English said the GRU hackers did not need to install malware on the targeted routers, which were mainly older Mikrotik and TP-Link devices marketed to the Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) market. Instead, they used known vulnerabilities to modify the Domain Name System (DNS) settings of the routers to include DNS servers controlled by the hackers.

As the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) notes in a new advisory detailing how Russian cyber actors have been compromising routers, DNS is what allows individuals to reach websites by typing familiar addresses, instead of associated IP addresses. In a DNS hijacking attack, bad actors interfere with this process to covertly send users to malicious websites designed to steal login details or other sensitive information.

English said the routers attacked by Forest Blizzard were reconfigured to use DNS servers that pointed to a handful of virtual private servers controlled by the attackers. Importantly, the attackers could then propagate their malicious DNS settings to all users on the local network, and from that point forward intercept any OAuth authentication tokens transmitted by those users.

Because those tokens are typically transmitted only after the user has successfully logged in and gone through multi-factor authentication, the attackers could gain direct access to victim accounts without ever having to phish each user’s credentials and/or one-time codes.

“Everyone is looking for some sophisticated malware to drop something on your mobile devices or something,” English said. “These guys didn’t use malware. They did this in an old-school, graybeard way that isn’t really sexy but it gets the job done.”

Microsoft refers to the Forest Blizzard activity as using DNS hijacking “to support post-compromise adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) attacks on Transport Layer Security (TLS) connections against Microsoft Outlook on the web domains.” The software giant said while targeting SOHO devices isn’t a new tactic, this is the first time Microsoft has seen Forest Blizzard using “DNS hijacking at scale to support AiTM of TLS connections after exploiting edge devices.”

Black Lotus Labs engineer Danny Adamitis said it will be interesting to see how Forest Blizzard reacts to today’s flurry of attention to their espionage operation, noting that the group immediately switched up its tactics in response to a similar NCSC report (PDF) in August 2025. At the time, Forest Blizzard was using malware to control a far more targeted and smaller group of compromised routers. But Adamitis said the day after the NCSC report, the group quickly ditched the malware approach in favor of mass-altering the DNS settings on thousands of vulnerable routers.

“Before the last NCSC report came out they used this capability in very limited instances,” Adamitis told KrebsOnSecurity. “After the report was released they implemented the capability in a more systemic fashion and used it to target everything that was vulnerable.”

TP-Link was among the router makers facing a complete ban in the United States. But on March 23, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took a much broader approach, announcing it would no longer certify consumer-grade Internet routers that are produced outside of the United States.

The FCC warned that foreign-made routers had become an untenable national security threat, and that poorly-secured routers present “a severe cybersecurity risk that could be leveraged to immediately and severely disrupt U.S. critical infrastructure and directly harm U.S. persons.”

Experts have countered that few new consumer-grade routers would be available for purchase under this new FCC policy (besides maybe Musk’s Starlink satellite Internet routers, which are produced in Texas). The FCC says router makers can apply for a special “conditional approval” from the Department of War or Department of Homeland Security, and that the new policy does not affect any previously-purchased consumer-grade routers.

An elusive hacker who went by the handle “UNKN” and ran the early Russian ransomware groups GandCrab and REvil now has a name and a face. Authorities in Germany say 31-year-old Russian Daniil Maksimovich Shchukin headed both cybercrime gangs and helped carry out at least 130 acts of computer sabotage and extortion against victims across the country between 2019 and 2021.

Shchukin was named as UNKN (a.k.a. UNKNOWN) in an advisory published by the German Federal Criminal Police (the “Bundeskriminalamt” or BKA for short). The BKA said Shchukin and another Russian — 43-year-old Anatoly Sergeevitsch Kravchuk — extorted nearly $2 million euros across two dozen cyberattacks that caused more than 35 million euros in total economic damage.

Germany’s BKA said Shchukin acted as the head of one of the largest worldwide operating ransomware groups GandCrab and REvil, which pioneered the practice of double extortion — charging victims once for a key needed to unlock hacked systems, and a separate payment in exchange for a promise not to publish stolen data.

Shchukin’s name appeared in a Feb. 2023 filing (PDF) from the U.S. Justice Department seeking the seizure of various cryptocurrency accounts associated with proceeds from the REvil ransomware gang’s activities. The government said the digital wallet tied to Shchukin contained more than $317,000 in ill-gotten cryptocurrency.

The GandCrab ransomware affiliate program first surfaced in January 2018, and paid enterprising hackers huge shares of the profits just for hacking into user accounts at major corporations. The GandCrab team would then try to expand that access, often siphoning vast amounts of sensitive and internal documents in the process. The malware’s curators shipped five major revisions to the GandCrab code, each corresponding with sneaky new features and bug fixes aimed at thwarting the efforts of computer security firms to stymie the spread of the malware.

On May 31, 2019, the GandCrab team announced the group was shutting down after extorting more than $2 billion from victims. “We are a living proof that you can do evil and get off scot-free,” GandCrab’s farewell address famously quipped. “We have proved that one can make a lifetime of money in one year. We have proved that you can become number one by general admission, not in your own conceit.”

The REvil ransomware affiliate program materialized around the same as GandCrab’s demise, fronted by a user named UNKNOWN who announced on a Russian cybercrime forum that he’d deposited $1 million in the forum’s escrow to show he meant business. By this time, many cybersecurity experts had concluded REvil was little more than a reorganization of GandCrab.

UNKNOWN also gave an interview to Dmitry Smilyanets, a former malicious hacker hired by Recorded Future, wherein UNKNOWN described a rags-to-riches tale unencumbered by ethics and morals.

“As a child, I scrounged through the trash heaps and smoked cigarette butts,” UNKNOWN told Recorded Future. “I walked 10 km one way to the school. I wore the same clothes for six months. In my youth, in a communal apartment, I didn’t eat for two or even three days. Now I am a millionaire.”

As described in The Ransomware Hunting Team by Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden, UNKNOWN and REvil reinvested significant earnings into improving their success and mirroring practices of legitimate businesses. The authors wrote:

“Just as a real-world manufacturer might hire other companies to handle logistics or web design, ransomware developers increasingly outsourced tasks beyond their purview, focusing instead on improving the quality of their ransomware. The higher quality ransomware—which, in many cases, the Hunting Team could not break—resulted in more and higher pay-outs from victims. The monumental payments enabled gangs to reinvest in their enterprises. They hired more specialists, and their success accelerated.”

“Criminals raced to join the booming ransomware economy. Underworld ancillary service providers sprouted or pivoted from other criminal work to meet developers’ demand for customized support. Partnering with gangs like GandCrab, ‘cryptor’ providers ensured ransomware could not be detected by standard anti-malware scanners. ‘Initial access brokerages’ specialized in stealing credentials and finding vulnerabilities in target networks, selling that access to ransomware operators and affiliates. Bitcoin “tumblers” offered discounts to gangs that used them as a preferred vendor for laundering ransom payments. Some contractors were open to working with any gang, while others entered exclusive partnerships.”

REvil would evolve into a feared “big-game-hunting” machine capable of extracting hefty extortion payments from victims, largely going after organizations with more than $100 million in annual revenues and fat new cyber insurance policies that were known to pay out.

Over the July 4, 2021 weekend in the United States, REvil hacked into and extorted Kaseya, a company that handled IT operations for more than 1,500 businesses, nonprofits and government agencies. The FBI would later announce they’d infiltrated the ransomware group’s servers prior to the Kaseya hack but couldn’t tip their hand at the time. REvil never recovered from that core compromise, or from the FBI’s release of a free decryption key for REvil victims who couldn’t or didn’t pay.

Shchukin is from Krasnodar, Russia and is thought to reside there, the BKA said.

“Based on the investigations so far, it is assumed that the wanted person is abroad, presumably in Russia,” the BKA advised. “Travel behaviour cannot be ruled out.”

There is little that connects Shchukin to UNKNOWN’s various accounts on the Russian crime forums. But a review of the Russian crime forums indexed by the cyber intelligence firm Intel 471 shows there is plenty connecting Shchukin to a hacker identity called “Ger0in” who operated large botnets and sold “installs” — allowing other cybercriminals to rapidly deploy malware of their choice to thousands of PCs in one go. However, Ger0in was only active between 2010 and 2011, well before UNKNOWN’s appearance as the REvil front man.

A review of the mugshots released by the BKA at the image comparison site Pimeyes found a match on this birthday celebration from 2023, which features a young man named Daniel wearing the same fancy watch as in the BKA photos.

Update, April 6, 12:06 p.m. ET: A reader forwarded this English-dubbed audio recording from a ccc.de (37C3) conference talk in Germany from 2023 that previously outed Shchukin as the REvil leader (Shchuckin is mentioned at around 24:25).

A tax system breach in Oklahoma is putting highly sensitive personal information at risk. And unfortunately, this is exactly the kind of situation scammers love to exploit. 

Hackers reportedly accessed W-2 and 1099 files through Oklahoma’s online tax portal, according to state officials, exposing the kind of information that can open the door to tax fraud, identity theft, and highly targeted phishing attempts. 

Before the follow-up scams start rolling in, this is the kind of moment where layered protection matters. McAfee+ Advanced includes identity monitoring and data cleansup that can help alert you if your personal information starts circulating where it shouldn’t, and Scam Detector can flag suspicious messages if scammers try to use this breach as a hook. 

What Happened in Oklahoma 

According to a statement by the Oklahoma Tax Commission and reported by KOCO News 5, a local ABC affiliate, suspicious activity inside the state’s Oklahoma Taxpayer Access Point system was identified in December 2025. The agency says impacted individuals have been notified directly by mail, and complimentary credit monitoring and fraud assistance are being offered. 

When W-2s, 1099s, Social Security numbers, and tax-related records are exposed, scammers can use that information to: 

• File fraudulent tax returns  
• Try to open new accounts  
• Build phishing emails or texts that feel unusually real  

Either way, the goal is the same: use real information to make the next scam more believable. 

Red Flags of a Scam After a Breach Like This 

The breach itself is real. But what often follows is a second wave of scams pretending to help. 

Watch For: 

• Emails or texts about your “tax account” that create urgency  
• Messages asking you to verify personal information  
• Fake alerts about refunds, filings, or suspicious activity  
• Links telling you to log in and “secure” your account  

That’s where people can get hit twice: once by the breach, and again by the scam that follows it. 

What To Do If You’re Impacted 

First, don’t panic. Then: 

• Take advantage of any free credit monitoring or fraud assistance being offered  
• Monitor your bank accounts, tax records, and credit reports closely  
• Consider placing a fraud alert or credit freeze if needed  
• Be extra careful with any message referencing taxes, refunds, or account access 
• Go directly to official sites instead of clicking links in emails or texts  

And that, my friends, is scam number one in this week’s This Week in Scams. 

Let’s get into what else is on our radar. 

The FBI Impersonation Scam Showing Up Across the U.S. 

Scammers pretending to be federal agents are making the rounds across the country, and this one is built to make people panic fast. 

Field offices, including Chicago and Houston, are warning the public about fraudsters posing as FBI agents in calls, texts, and emails. In some cases, the scammers claim you’re connected to an investigation. In others, they say you’re a victim of fraud and need to act immediately to protect yourself. 

Sometimes they do not stop there. They may also pretend to be bank employees working alongside the FBI, all to make the story feel more convincing and get access to your money or personal information. 

Why This Scam Works

This scam plays on the same pressure tactics we’ve seen over and over again: authority, urgency, and confusion. 

If someone claims to be a federal agent, many people freeze up and assume they need to cooperate immediately. That’s exactly what scammers are counting on. 

The FBI has been clear about this: federal law enforcement will not ask you for money or sensitive personal information over the phone, by text, or by email. 

The Red Flags in This Message

• Unsolicited outreach from someone claiming to be federal law enforcement  
• Pressure to act immediately  
• Requests for money, gift cards, prepaid cards, or personal information  
• Instructions to keep the conversation secret  
• Stories involving a bank “working with” the FBI  

If it feels dramatic, high-pressure, and just a little off, trust that instinct. 

What To Do if You Get One Of These Messages

• Do not respond  
• Do not send money or share personal information  
• Contact the agency directly using publicly listed contact information  
• Save the message for your records  
• Report it to the FBI: 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324), or online at tips.fbi.gov.

This is also exactly the kind of message McAfee’s Scam Detector is built to flag before you get pulled in. 

How McAfee Helps You Stay Ahead of Scams and Breaches 

McAfee+ Advanced gives you multiple layers working together so you are not left figuring it out after the damage is done: 

• Identity Monitoring alerts you if your personal info shows up where it should not, so you can act fast
• Personal Data Cleanup helps remove your information from data broker sites, making you harder to target in the first place
• Scam Detector flags suspicious texts, emails, links, and even deepfake videos before you engage
• Safe Browsing helps block risky sites if you do click
• Device Security helps detect malicious apps or downloads
• Secure VPN keeps your data private, especially on public Wi-Fi  

This kind of layered protection is critical in cases like ghost student scams, where the first sign of fraud often comes after financial damage has already happened. 

Safety tips to carry into next week 

• Be extra cautious after any real breach makes headlines  
• Do not trust unsolicited messages just because they reference real institutions  
• Never send money to someone claiming to be law enforcement  
• Go directly to official websites instead of clicking links  
• Use tools that flag suspicious messages in real time so you do not have to guess 

The reality is, scams are getting better at looking official. 

You should not have to be an expert to spot them. That’s why McAfee is here to help. We’re Safer Together.

We’ll be back next week with more scams making headlines. 

The post Oklahoma Tax Breach and FBI Impersonation Scam: This Week in Scams appeared first on McAfee Blog.

We’re proud to share that McAfee’s “Keep It Real” campaign has been named a finalist in the 2026 Shorty Awards Social Good Campaign category. 

This category recognizes work that doesn’t just perform, it matters: campaigns that raise awareness, inspire action, and make a real-world impact. 

That’s exactly what “Keep It Real” set out to do. 

Because behind every scam statistic is a person who thought they were making the right call. And too often, what follows isn’t just financial loss. It’s embarrassment, silence, and stigma. 

We wanted to change that. 

The campaign launched alongside McAfee Scam Detector to address a growing reality: scams powered by AI are becoming harder to recognize and easier to fall for. 

“Keep It Real” paired real survivor stories with AI-driven protection to show how scams actually happen and how people can stop them in the moment. 

The goal was simple: 

• Normalize the experience  
• Remove shame around being scammed 
• Help more people recognize scams faster  

Because when people feel safe talking about scams, they’re more likely to spot them and stop them. 

What Are the Shorty Awards? 

The Shorty Awards honor the best work in social media, digital campaigns, and online storytelling across brands, creators, and organizations. 

Now in their 18th year, the awards recognize campaigns that combine creativity, impact, and real-world relevance. Finalists are selected alongside leading global brands and judged on both industry evaluation and public voting. 

How McAfee’s Scam Detector Fits In 

McAfee’s Scam Detector is designed to help people identify scams across everyday digital moments. 

It uses AI to fight AI by flagging suspicious: 

• Text messages and emails  
• QR codes and links  
• Social media messages  
• AI-generated and deepfake content  

By combining automatic detection with clear guidance, Scam Detector helps people better understand what they’re seeing and decide what to trust. 

Real Stories Behind the Campaign 

A core part of “Keep It Real” was giving space to people who experienced scams to share what happened, in their own words. 

These stories helped show that scams can happen to anyone and played a key role in breaking the stigma around being targeted. 

 

This recognition reflects the work across McAfee teams who built and brought this campaign to life, including product, engineering, research, creative, and communications. 

It also reflects the individuals who chose to share their real scam stories to help others recognize scams, stay safer, and end the shame and stigma around being scammed. 

Support the Campaign 

The Shorty Awards include a public voting component. 

If you’d like to support the campaign, you can vote here:
https://shortyawards.com/18th/keep-it-real-mcafees-ai-scam-media-relations-campaign 

Voting is open through April 8, and you can vote once per day. 

The post McAfee’s “Keep It Real” Campaign Named Shorty Awards Finalist appeared first on McAfee Blog.

McAfee’s mobile research team has uncovered a large-scale Android malware campaign we’re tracking as Operation NoVoice.

The campaign was distributed through more than 50 apps previously available on Google Play, disguised as everyday tools like cleaners, games, and photo utilities. Together, the apps were downloaded more than 2.3 million times, though it’s unclear how many devices may have been impacted.

If the attack succeeds, the malware can gain deep control of a device, allowing attackers to inject malicious code into apps as they are opened and access sensitive data.

However, the most serious impact depends on the device. 

On older or unpatched Android devices, the malware can install a highly persistent form of infection that may survive a standard factory reset. Newer Android devices with up-to-date security protections are not vulnerable to the root exploit observed in this campaign, though they may still be exposed to other types of malicious activity from these apps.

In other words, on vulnerable devices, the malware can behave like a kind of digital “zombie,” continuing to operate in the background even after a reset.

Want the full technical breakdown? Dive into the McAfee Labs research here. 

We break down what you need to know below: 

How “Operation NoVoice” Works 

Operation NoVoice is what security experts call a rootkit malware attack. 

A rootkit is a type of malware designed to gain deep, privileged control of a device while hiding its presence from the user and the operating system’s normal security tools. 

Breaking the term down: 

• “Root” refers to the highest level of access on a system (administrator-level control). 
• “Kit” refers to a collection of tools used by an attacker to maintain that control. 

Put simply, a rootkit allows attackers to operate underneath the normal apps and security protections on a phone, giving them powerful control while staying difficult to detect.

In the case of Operation NoVoice, the attack unfolds in several steps. 

1) A normal-looking app starts the attack

The campaign began with apps that appeared harmless on the Google Play Store. These apps advertised themselves as tools like phone cleaners, puzzle games, or gallery utilities. 

When a user downloaded and opened one of these apps, it appeared to work normally. There are no obvious signs to the user that anything is wrong. 

2) The malware quietly checks the device

Behind the scenes, the app contacts a remote server controlled by the attackers. 

The server collects information about the device, things like its hardware, operating system version, and security patch level. Based on that information, the attackers send back custom exploit code designed for that specific device.

3) The attack gains deep system access

If the exploit succeeds, the malware gains root-level access to the device.

At that point, the attackers can install additional malicious components and modify parts of the Android operating system itself. 

4) Every app on the phone can be affected

Once the rootkit is installed, it modifies a core Android system library that every app relies on. 

This allows attacker-controlled code to run inside any app the user opens. 

That means the attackers could potentially access data from messaging apps, financial apps, or social media apps without the user noticing. 

5) The malware can remain even after a reset

Operation NoVoice also includes persistence mechanisms designed to keep the malware active. 

In some cases, the infection could survive a standard factory reset, because the malicious components modify parts of the system software that resets typically do not replace.

Fully removing the infection may require reinstalling the device’s firmware, something most users cannot easily do themselves.

*To be clear, these apps have been removed from Google Play and are no longer available for download. 

Why The Name “Operation NoVoice” 

The name Operation NoVoice comes from a hidden component inside the malware itself. 

Researchers discovered a resource labeled “novioce” embedded in one of the attack’s later stages. The file contains a silent audio track that plays at zero volume. 

This may seem strange, but it serves a purpose. 

By continuously playing silent audio in the background, the malware can keep a foreground service running without drawing attention. This allows the malicious code to remain active while appearing harmless to the operating system. 

The researchers believe the name “novioce” is likely a misspelling of “no voice,” referring to the silent audio trick used to keep the malware running. 

How To Stay Safe from Malware Disguised as Apps 

Operation NoVoice highlights an important reality: even apps that appear legitimate can sometimes hide malicious behavior. 

Fortunately, there are several steps users can take to reduce their risk. 

Be cautious with unfamiliar apps 

Even if an app appears on the Google Play Store, it’s still important to review: 

• the developer’s name 
• the number of downloads 
• recent user reviews (check for negative reviews) 

Apps with very few reviews, vague descriptions, or suspicious developer accounts can sometimes be part of malware campaigns. And exercise even greater caution with apps promoted through advertisements or that create a a sense of urgency.  

Keep your phone updated 

Many attacks rely on exploiting known vulnerabilities in older versions of Android. 

Installing system updates and security patches helps reduce the chance that these exploits will work.

Remove apps you don’t recognize 

If you notice apps on your device that you don’t remember installing, review them carefully and remove anything suspicious. 

Keeping your phone’s app list clean reduces the potential attack surface. 

Use mobile security protection 

Mobile security software can help detect suspicious behavior and block known malware. 

For example, McAfee Mobile Security detects this threat as Android/NoVoice and can warn users if a malicious app is identified.  

McAfee offers more than traditional antivirus, combining multiple layers of digital protection in one app  

• Scam Detector to help flag suspicious messages and links  
• Safe Browsing tools to help block risky websites  
• VPN to keep your connection private on public Wi-Fi  
• Identity Monitoring and Alerts to notify you if your personal information appears where it shouldn’t  
• Personal Data Cleanup to help remove your information from high-risk data broker sites  
• Device and Account Security to help protect the things you use most 

What Operation NoVoice Tells Us About the Future of Mobile Threats 

Operation NoVoice highlights how mobile malware is evolving. Instead of obvious malicious apps, attackers are increasingly hiding their operations inside ordinary-looking tools distributed through legitimate app stores.

What makes this campaign particularly concerning isn’t just the number of downloads or the technical complexity. It’s the way the malware combines several advanced techniques, device-specific exploits, modular plugins, and deep system persistence, into a single attack chain.

That approach allows attackers to quietly turn an everyday app download into long-term control of a device.

That’s why keeping devices updated, reviewing apps carefully, and using mobile security protection are becoming increasingly important. As Operation NoVoice shows, today’s malware isn’t just trying to get onto devices; it’s trying to stay there. 

The post Operation NoVoice: Android Malware Found in 50+ Apps Can Hijack Devices appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Authored By: Ahmad Zubair Zahid 

McAfee’s mobile research team identified and investigated an Android rootkit campaign tracked as Operation Novoice. The malware described in this blog relies on vulnerabilities Android made patches available for in 2016 – 2021. All Android devices with a security patch level of 2021-05-01 or higher are not susceptible to the exploits that we were able to obtain from the command-and-control server. However patched devices that downloaded these apps could have been exposed to unknown potential payloads outside of what we discovered. The attack begins with apps that were previously available on Google Play that appear to be simple tools such as cleaners, games, or gallery utilities. When a user downloaded and opened one of these apps, it appeared to behave as advertised, giving no obvious signs of malicious activity.  

In the background, however, the app contacts a remote server, profiles the device, and downloads root exploits tailored to that device’s specific hardware and software. If the exploits succeed, the malware gains full control of the device. From that moment onward, every app that the user opens are injected with attacker‑controlled code.  

This allows the operators to access any app data and exfiltrate it to their servers. One of the targeted apps is WhatsApp. We recovered a payload designed to execute when WhatsApp launches, gather all necessary data to clone the session, and send it to the attacker’s infrastructure.   

On older, unsupported devices (Android 7 and lower) that no longer receive Android security updates as of September 2021, this rootkit is highly persistent; a standard factory reset will not remove it, and only reflashing the device with a clean firmware will fully restore the device.   

In total, we identified more than 50 of these malicious apps on Google Play, with at least 2.3 million downloads.  

McAfee identified the malicious apps, conducted the technical analysis, and reported its findings to Google through responsible disclosure channels. Following McAfee’s report, Google removed the identified apps from Google Play and banned the associated developer accounts. McAfee is a member of the App Defense Alliance, which supports collaboration across the mobile ecosystem to improve user protection. McAfee Mobile Security detects this malware as a High-Risk Threat. For more information, and to get fully protected, visit McAfee Mobile Security.  

Background And Key Findings

Android malware has been moving toward modular frameworks that update themselves remotely and adapt to each device. Campaigns like Triada and Keenadu have shown that replacing system libraries gives attackers persistence to survive factory resets. BADBOX has shown that backdoors pre-installed through the supply chain can reach millions of devices. Recent research has confirmed links between several of these families, suggesting shared tooling rather than isolated efforts. 

NoVoice fits both trends but does not rely on supply chain access. It reaches devices through Google Play and achieves the same level of persistence through exploitation. McAfee’s investigation revealed the following key findings: 

• All carrier apps were distributed through Google Play. No sideloading required, no user interaction beyond opening the app. 
• C2 infrastructure remains active at the time of publication. 
• The C2 server profiles each device and delivers root exploits matched to its hardware and software version. 
• The rootkit overwrites a core system library, causing every app on the device to run attacker code at launch. 
• The infection survives factory reset and can only be removed by reflashing the firmware. 
• The chain is fully plugin-based. Operators can push any payload to any app on the device at runtime. 
• The only task we recovered clones WhatsApp sessions, but the framework is designed to accept any objective.

Naming  

The name comes from R.raw.novioce, a silent audio resource embedded in one of the later-stage payloads. It plays at zero volume to keep a foreground service alive, abusing Android’s media playback exemption. We believe it is a deliberate misspelling of “no voice.” 

Distribution Method 

All carrier apps were distributed through Google Play and request no unusual permissions. Their manifests include the same SDKs any legitimate app would (Firebase, Google Analytics, Facebook SDK, AndroidX). The malicious components are registered under tampered com.facebook.utils, blending in with the real Facebook SDK classes the apps already include.  

The initial payload is embedded in the app’s asset directory as a polyglot image. This means the file displays and renders a normal image, but a deeper inspection reveals that the encrypted malicious payload is appended after the PNG IEND marker. Since that marker signals to image viewers that the image data ends there, the appended payload remains hidden during normal viewing.

Geographical Prevalence 

The geographical prevalence map shows the highest infection rates in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Algeria, India, and Kenya, regions where budget devices and older Android versions that no longer receive security updates are common. 

Malware Analysis

The following breakdown walks through each stage of the chain in order, from the moment a user opens the app to the moment stolen data leaves the device. No single file contains the full chain. Each stage decrypts and loads the next, most are delivered from the server at runtime. 

Stage 1: The Delivery

The moment the app opens, code injected into the legitimate Facebook SDK initialization path runs automatically. No user interaction is needed. It first checks whether the device has already been processed and, in most samples, whether it is running Android 12L or below. A subset of the carrier apps skips the version check entirely. If either check fails, it stops and logs a message disguised as a Facebook SDK error: “FacebookSdk: Failed in initStore.” 

If the device was already processed, the code cleans up files assumed to be left behind by previous runs, including paths that do not belong to any standard Android component. None of these are visible to the user. 

If the checks pass, the app reads a polyglot image from its own assets’ directory, extracts the encrypted payload (enc.apk) hidden after the image data, decrypts it to produce h.apk, and loads it into memory. It then deletes all intermediate files, temporary directories. 

Stage 2: The Gatekeeper 

The decrypted payload (h.apk) loads a native library (libkwc.so) that controls the rest of this stage. It first verifies it is running inside the intended carrier app by checking the package name and signing certificate against hardcoded values. It also checks whether the app is running in a debug environment. 

libkwc.so contains two encrypted embedded payloads. The first (sec.jar) is a gate designed to detect analysis environments. It runs 15 checks, including emulator detection, root indicators, debuggers, VPN and proxy connections, Xposed hooks, and GPS geofencing. If any check fails, the chain stops silently. The geofence compares the device’s location against bounding boxes for Beijing and Shenzhen hardcoded in the native library and excludes devices confirmed to be inside them. If the app does not have location permission, it cannot determine the device’s position and defaults to letting the chain continue. Two brands get special treatment: on Gionee devices, all checks except the geofence are skipped; on Meizu devices, the chain follows a separate code path entirely. Gionee devices have a documented history of shipping with pre-installed malware through supply chain compromise. 

Only if all checks in sec.jar pass does libkwc.so decrypt and load the second payload (hex.jar), which begins contacting the C2 server. If the gate fails, it deletes the working directory and stops. 

Stage 3: The Plugin 

Once the gate passes, hex.jar sets up a plugin framework built on an internal codebase the authors refer to as “kuwo” in their package names. It checks in with a C2 server every 60 seconds. Updates are delivered the same way as the initial payload: as image files with encrypted data hidden after the image content. The server returns download URLs in a response field named warningIcon, disguising plugin downloads as icon fetches. A log-deletion routine runs alongside the framework to remove forensic traces from the device. 

The first plugin delivered (rt) acts as an orchestrator. It manages sub-plugins and handles C2 communication. It checks in with the server, sending over 30 device identifiers including hardware model, kernel version, installed packages, and whether the device has already been rooted. The campaign’s name comes from this plugin: it embeds a silent audio resource named R.raw. novioce. 

The checkin tells the server two things: who this device is and whether it has already been rooted. If it has not, rt_plugin downloads security.jar, moving the chain into root exploitation. 

Stage 4: The Exploit 

security.jar first checks whether the device is already rooted. If it has been, it stops. For unrooted devices, it sends the device’s chipset, kernel version, security patch date, and other identifiers to the C2. The server responds with a list of exploit binaries matched to that specific device. 

Before running any exploit, the rootkit installer (CsKaitno.d) is decrypted from an embedded resource and written to disk. The rootkit is already in place before any exploit runs. 

The exploits are downloaded one at a time from the C2’s CDN, each encrypted and verified before execution. We recovered 22 exploits in total. Our deep analysis of one revealed a three-stage kernel attack: an IPv6 use-after-free for kernel read, a Mali GPU driver vulnerability for kernel read/write, and finally credential patching and SELinux disablement. 

The expected end result is the same across all exploits: a root shell with SELinux disabled. From that shell, the exploit loads CsKaitno.d. This is where exploitation ends and persistence begins. 

Stage 5: The Rootkit 

CsKaitno.d carries four encrypted payloads: library hooks for ARM32 and ARM64 (asbymol and bdlomsd), a bytecode patcher (jkpatch), and a persistence daemon (watch_dog). It first removes files associated with possible competing rootkits, then decrypts and writes its own payloads to disk. 

The installer backs up the original libandroid_runtime.so and replaces it with a hook binary matched to the device’s architecture. It also replaces libmedia_jni.so. The replacements are not copies of the original libraries. They are wrappers that intercept the system’s own functions. When any hooked function runs, it redirects to attacker code. 

After replacing the libraries, jkpatch modifies pre-compiled framework bytecode on disk. This is a second layer of persistence: even if someone restores the original library, the framework’s own compiled code still contains the injected redirections

Stage 6: The Watchdog 

To survive reboots, the installer replaces the system crash handler with a rootkit launcher, installs recovery scripts, and stores a fallback copy of the exploitation stage on the system partition. If any component is removed, the rootkit can reinstall itself. 

It then deploys a watchdog daemon (watch_dog) that checks the installation every 60 seconds. If anything is missing, it reinstalls it. If that fails repeatedly, it forces a reboot, bringing the device back up with the rootkit intact. 

After cleaning up all staging files, the installer marks the device as compromised. On the next boot, the system’s process launcher (zygote) loads the replaced library, and every app it starts inherits the attacker’s code. 

Stage 7: The Injection 

On the next boot, every app on the device loads the replaced system library. The injected code decides what to do based on which app it is running inside. Two payloads activate depending on the app. The malware authors named them BufferA and BufferB in their own code. Both are embedded as fragments inside the replaced libandroid_runtime.so from Stage 5, assembled in memory at runtime, and deleted from disk immediately after loading, leaving no files behind. BufferA runs inside the system’s package installer and can silently install or uninstall apps. BufferB runs inside any app with internet access. 

BufferB is the campaign’s primary post-exploitation tool. It operates two independent C2 channels with separate encryption keys and beacon intervals. Both channels send device fingerprints to the C2 and receive task instructions in return. 

If all primary domains fail and three or more days pass without contact, a fallback routine activates between 1 and 4 AM, reaching out to api[.]googlserves[.]com for a fresh domain list. Because BufferB runs inside any app with internet access, it can be active in dozens of apps simultaneously on a single device. 

Stage 8: The Theft 

The only task payload we recovered is PtfLibc, delivered to BufferB from Alibaba Cloud OSS. Its target is WhatsApp. 

PtfLibc copies WhatsApp’s encryption database, extracts the device’s Signal protocol identity keys and registration ID, and pulls the most recent signed prekey. It also reads 12 keys from WhatsApp’s local storage, including the phone number, push name, country code, and Google Drive backup account. For the client keypair, it tries multiple decryption methods depending on how the device stores the key. 

It sends the stolen data to api[.]googlserves[.]com through multiple layers of encryption and deletes the temporary database copy when done. 

With these keys and session data, an attacker can clone the victim’s WhatsApp session onto another device. 

Infrastructure 

The campaign spreads its C2 communication across multiple domains, each serving a different function. 

fcm[.]androidlogs[.]com handles initial device enrollment. Once the plugin framework activates, stat[.]upload-logs[.]com takes over as the primary C2 for plugin delivery, device checkin, exploit distribution, and result reporting. config[.]updatesdk[.]com serves as its fallback. Exploit binaries are hosted separately on download[.]androidlogs[.]com, with an S3-accelerated endpoint (logserves[.]s3-accelerate[.]amazonaws[.]com) as the primary CDN. This endpoint returned 403 errors during our analysis. 

Task payloads for BufferB are hosted on Alibaba Cloud OSS (prod-log-oss-01[.]oss-ap-southeast-1[.]aliyuncs[.]com). PtfLibc beacons to api[.]googlserves[.]com, a domain designed to look like Google service traffic at a glance. 

The domain separation is deliberate. Taking down one domain does not affect the others. The C2 can update BufferB’s domain lists at runtime, and a fallback routine fetches fresh domains from hardcoded backup endpoints if all configured domains go silent for three or more days. 

Recommendations 

Because the rootkit writes to the system partition, a factory reset does not remove it. A reset wipes user data but leaves system files intact. Compromised devices require a full firmware reflash to return to a clean state. Blocking the C2 domains and beacon patterns listed in this report at the network level can disrupt the chain at multiple stages. 

Attribution  

Several indicators link NoVoice to the Android.Triada family. The property (os.config.ppgl.status) NoVoice sets to mark a device as compromised is a known indicator of compromise for Android.Triada.231, a variant that uses the same property to track installation state. Both NoVoice and Triada.231 persist by replacing libandroid_runtime.so and hooking system functions so that every app runs attacker code at launch. Whether NoVoice is a direct evolution of Triada.231, a fork of its codebase, or a separate group reusing proven techniques, the shared approach suggests access to a common toolchain. 

Conclusion 

What makes NoVoice dangerous is not any single technique. It is the engineering effort behind the full chain: a self-healing pipeline that goes from a Play Store install to code execution inside every app on the device, survives factory reset, and monitors its own installation. The operators built a delivery system, an infrastructure. 

We recovered one task. The framework is designed to accept any number of them, for any app, at any time. The C2 infrastructure remains active. We do not know what other objectives have been deployed before, during, or after our analysis. The WhatsApp session theft we observed may be the least of it. 

The rootkit’s persistence model, overwriting a system library inherited by every process, patching pre-compiled framework bytecode, and monitoring its own installation with a watchdog, makes remediation difficult. 

This research underscores McAfee’s ongoing role in identifying advanced mobile threats and working with platform partners to protect users before large‑scale harm occurs. 

References 

https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/triada-trojan/11481/ 

https://www.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/kaspersky-discovers-keenadu-a-multifaceted-android-malware-that-can-come-preinstalled-on-new-devices 

https://www.humansecurity.com/learn/blog/badbox-peachpit-and-the-fraudulent-device-in-your-delivery-box/ 

Indicators of Compromise 

Command and Control Servers 

api.googlserves[.]com 

api.uplogconfig[.]com 

avatar.ttaeae[.]com 

awslog.oss-accelerate.aliyuncs[.]com 

check.updateconfig[.]com 

config.googleslb[.]com 

config.updatesdk[.]com 

dnskn.googlesapi[.]com 

download.androidlogs[.]com 

fcm.androidlogs[.]com 

log.logupload[.]com 

logserves.s3-accelerate.amazonaws[.]com 

prod-log-oss-01.oss-ap-southeast-1.aliyuncs[.]com 

sao.ttbebe[.]com 

stat.upload-logs[.]com 

upload.crash-report[.]com 

nzxsxn.98kk89[.]com 

98kk89[.]com 

Carrier App Samples 

03e62ac5080496c67676c0ef5f0bc50fc42fc31cf953538eda7d6ec6951979d8,com.filnishww.fluttbuber.storagecleaner, 

066a096a3716e02a6a40f0d7e6c1063baecbebc9cbcc91e7f55b2f82c0dad413,com.wififinder.wificonnect, 

0751decd391fa76d02329b0726c308206e58fc867f50283aa688d9fe0c70e835,com.wuniversal.lassistant, 

07a9d41c1c775def78a017cf1f6e65266382e76de0f05400b3296e2230979664,com.dynamicpuzzle.cvbfhf, 

0f28c49b24070a36dec09dd9d4b768e1ef6583b4891eca2e935a304ce704fcce,com.wgoddessg.sgallery, 

106edd06b6961c3d38edfefd2869ee05285f11b68befe145b124794d0e79e766,com.crazycodes.blendphoto, 

183e9174e51786be77d1341bcf7f05514f581823532028119c5844a8a5111848,com.colorbrickelim.inationl, 

1e0376330ff9e97f798870da8433c81e39f3591c82497ca1f6b5f00878d0221a,com.crazycodes.photomotion, 

1e7fe0ae7546162f23ff4f6e570f51b38562bf4f0ffd9305533b43d19574be38,com.swiftc.tcleans, 

1e8b048c8d32662f340787893d9ca824b039c14fb91bcc16e185a8bb872e0b80,com.mybatice.googcomlayou.phonecleaner, 

224e2395d3df96cf19e0b7be9731452da5b568026d81bd0981e48893f6a66859,com.glamorousg.sgoddesslys, 

2c2c965f3d091693bc6906fc2ed8d03ffccb84e0665841f2d073c2f0a09261bc,com.myapps.gooble.mobile1.maxclean, 

30504104f232a990f8226ff746b1718aafb727ce111d5a538962cc5e06c4259a,com.mybatice.smartersleep.junkfiles, 

3937b0bec287662fd82fca4693c8b3619b8c61eca7fe6efa7540c1ae291f8759,com.crazycodes.beautycam, 

4830a985f064974e6b5d19ae95d645d01fb57edd975a4fce5a1453c2ada70d4e,com.khanbro.gamestation, 

4f7825647bab001298f768302d0eeb6e0d639d401dc8b5bf60a4b9841a93c980,com.wBoothCash_18748294, 

4fbf1906fe02745cbf0350563440e9a05d19cd4a27c4fb6b67436392a18a0cd4,com.steppay.yrewards, 

54224288aa9fa3d4281fb91ad7b202fbc3e5708b173e319b6b450ad15bcdab43,com.scleanm.nmastery, 

594521e642fee75d474d8d0be839ebe9341f30196b19555882499145bf00746b,com.qwalkingr.grewards, 

721d92d30fbb90fe643507055baa4cce937c8659f1520be1bbce7f9669af6f84,com.modes2048.gamepro, 

7d90ee0be5eb63fbaa6839efdd6217b482576b1bab553731cac0b55f2fa1e6fa,com.jkesogeop.classicsudo, 

7f00991e63154a79ea220b713fcfb2ef8b8db923a75366a61e9bc30d9c355274,com.glamorousg.sgoddesslys, 

8cd77df7cf2242105b12297071ad1d11e91264f9de311d1b082666da19134476,com.wtoolboxp.xpro, 

974a5d005d3cfe4c63bd7a46ca72c6716c6c6de397d2e3e19b1730def31f7825,com.systmapp.mobile1.cleanmanager, 

98819230a6c3f5092517ada9652e9156e338acc27d29e4647b3cb69cddb668cb,com.crazycodes.airvpn, 

98db4904c3299b8ac383dd177c3cde87af25c088df1988f484427aab3b5c4e0d,com.wlifetoolp.lpro, 

9b9f55c4a68385e4a739c7d11159c9b4ab006660142331e8bdc477b5eba62aad,com.ulifea.eassistants, 

a02694b5de7a8a6ef3024d53e54a54a676f992bfa1e070f07827ab9b5dd1365c,com.priceper.km, 

a1e77c148f190b6bfdd40ce657722e902a31cedecab669dd6f78f38b6b18ddf7,crazycodes.notes.app, 

a430123efe9611f322fbc3c459fc5ec13abbb0def88ba3ec56a05a361a51a9ac,com.gbversion.gbplus.gblatestversion, 

ab6365bf7e6c7fba6867b44a80e8bf653c7b66ff91204ee3e2981b6532fea7ee,com.snowfindthesame.samethesnowswe, 

b4438ac1694e3a08a994750a7ac76399c48d5d3446e90ebebbea1f8694bf3dd5,com.guidely.earningapp, 

b8087e3535d395210b80637be35da6ae8e10450b6fb87de62a284d5d7397cd17,com.shcoob.groobe.timebuke, 

bf47dc1577c8b862c4e849a7ce52e143239f2f7274421befa902baf4bd1c4a19,com.wlifet.etoolbox, 

c332166f720e4d2f6f9b59993559df05281e7d2fbd56f90a7f2399a0ac620295,com.ebitans.tenstarbd, 

c509a98d0823add0c1440a7b043586eb5a8069fbb776ca36252f5b7653c92cb7,com.whabitn.tnotes, 

c517b26dfc8ffd5de7f49966ff3391475f80299ebc6ad9988bf166029cf76c91,com.filnishww.fluttbuber.storagecleaner, 

cf945c433aa80120be10566b9f1ae88e043f96872996f599b75bb57c74248e56,com.mfunt.ttetris, 

d72d96c6f299fe961dd98655e0468e45ed3ac03df0cfa499e27d4c399e304500,com.wififinder.wificonnect, 

db1168f2cb3b25ef65e06eb4e788ddda237a428fbce0725de1e9d70b36e96833,com.whomea.eassistan, 

ddc4da4c63c8bc7df53c3c7fe350b56ad31f313c7d95b472dc45a9fcf85273f0,com.mi2048nig.game, 

df00753933359d7369668eddeb0dc2565f075c78e4b46f3cabd2e8ff31eda42e,com.sportscash.xyz, 

e32c8a869585c107ccd1586b5edebc1d8eaa18017c2dd39b6267eec4db7f7410,com.biopops.mathly, 

e5b8d25ef612f0240ce28fbffd550fd4e0b9abdbf325e3ff85718e8312b70c2b,com.wdailyn.anova, 

e5f3aa5ef6b5b5fa94a921b55f52aa2c1011486b7370f1585deb6d571325ebcb,com.khan.pregnancyexercise, 

ec79443aa53864e4d322b8fa8fd4aad0ef878221f01e7d32512694ba24992aee,com.merge2048joy.joy, 

f654c5f926ebfcded4c0d07590972536280454e2501dc8a525390402fa945ff1,com.kgoddessv.svibe, 

f7c664ea66c43a82801ed7da23369af1e285857c1a4bf200147b716715f09d3f,com.chall2048enge.game, 

fc3b06c36feb38ed62f3034e428e814d6e1ac06ec1569ea22428374b8d15d848,com.jekunotesimple.notesimple, 

fd62c2bfa2277eff8787926f9976aa4a11235a18a9a543ced71a509c6ebf2bf2,com.game.ludoplay, 

The post Operation NoVoice: Rootkit Tells No Tales appeared first on McAfee Blog.

A text that looks like it came straight from a courthouse is making the rounds across the U.S. And yes, I got it too. 

First things first, that’s a scam. And to be clear: DON’T SCAN THAT QR CODE. 

It’s the same playbook as last year’s toll road scams, just dressed up with a little more authority and a lot more pressure. 

Before doing anything, our team ran it through McAfee’s Scam Detector. It immediately flagged the message as suspicious, and that’s exactly the kind of moment this tool is built for. When something feels just real enough to second guess, it gives you a clear signal before you click, scan, or spiral. 

How the scam works 

The text claims you’ve missed a payment, violated a law, or have some kind of outstanding “case.” It then pushes you to scan a QR code or click a link to resolve it quickly. 

From there, one of two things usually happens: 

1. You’re taken to a fake payment page designed to steal your money, or 
2. You’re prompted to download something that gives scammers access to your device or data  

Either way, the goal is the same: get you to act fast before you have time to question it. 

The red flags in this message 

• Urgent, threatening language about fines, penalties, or legal action  
• Vague accusations with no real details about what you supposedly did  
• Official-looking formatting like case numbers, clerk signatures, and judge names  
• Copy-paste consistency across states: McAfee employees in New York and California received nearly identical messages with the same names  

There are reports of this scam popping up nationwide, but the rule is simple: law enforcement does not text you to demand payment or resolve legal issues. 

What to do if you scanned the QR code 

First, don’t panic. Then: 

• Do not pay anything or enter personal information  
• Do not delete apps you were told to install (this can make it harder to detect what happened)  
• Run a device scan using a trusted security tool like McAfee’s free antivirus  
• Keep an eye on your financial accounts and logins for unusual activity  

And that, my friends, is scam number one in this week’s This Week in Scams (new format, we’re experimenting a little).  

Let’s get into what else is on our radar. 

What to Know About an Alleged Crunchyroll Breach 

Anime streaming platform Crunchyroll is investigating claims of a data breach involving customer support ticket data, potentially impacting millions of users. 

According to TechCrunch, access appears to involve a third-party vendor system, a reminder that even strong security setups still rely on people and partners, which can introduce risk in everyday moments. 

Even if you’ve never entered your credit card into a support form, these tickets can still include: 

• Email addresses  
• Usernames  
• Screenshots or account details  
• Conversations that reveal habits, subscriptions, or personal context  

That’s more than enough for scammers to build highly believable follow-ups. 

Why this matters right now 

When breaches like this surface, scammers don’t wait. They use the moment to send emails and messages that feel timely, relevant, and legitimate. 

For example, scammers might send messages pretending to be Crunchyroll and suggesting you “click this link to secure your account” after the breach. In reality, that “security check” exposes your information.

This is where tools like Scam Detector come back into play, flagging suspicious links and messages even when they reference real companies or real events. 

What to do if you have a Crunchyroll account 

• Change your password, especially if you’ve reused it elsewhere  
• Turn on two-factor authentication  
• Be cautious of emails referencing the breach or asking you to “secure your account”  
• Avoid clicking links and go directly to the official site instead  

How McAfee Helps You Stay Ahead of Scams and Breaches

McAfee+ Advanced gives you multiple layers working together so you’re not left figuring it out in the moment: 

• Scam Detector flags suspicious texts, emails, links, and even deepfake videos before you engage  
• Safe Browsing helps block risky sites if you do click or scan  
• Device Security helps detect and remove malicious apps or downloads  
• Identity Monitoring alerts you if your personal info shows up where it shouldn’t, so you can act fast  
• Personal Data Cleanup helps remove your information from data broker sites, making you a harder target in the first place  
• Secure VPN keeps your data private, especially on public Wi-Fi  

Plus our instant QR code scam checks will flag suspicious QR codes before you scan them.

Safety tips to carry into next week 

• Slow down when a message creates urgency. That’s the hook  
• Don’t scan QR codes or click links from unexpected texts  
• Go directly to official websites instead of using links sent to you  
• Use tools that flag scams in real time so you don’t have to guess  

The reality is, these scams are designed to look normal. You shouldn’t have to be an expert to spot them. That’s why McAfee’s here to help. 

We’ll be back next week with more scams making headlines. 

The post Got a “Court Notice” Text? Ignore It. Plus, the Crunchyroll Breach: This Week in Scams appeared first on McAfee Blog.

A financially motivated data theft and extortion group is attempting to inject itself into the Iran war, unleashing a worm that spreads through poorly secured cloud services and wipes data on infected systems that use Iran’s time zone or have Farsi set as the default language.

Experts say the wiper campaign against Iran materialized this past weekend and came from a relatively new cybercrime group known as TeamPCP. In December 2025, the group began compromising corporate cloud environments using a self-propagating worm that went after exposed Docker APIs, Kubernetes clusters, Redis servers, and the React2Shell vulnerability. TeamPCP then attempted to move laterally through victim networks, siphoning authentication credentials and extorting victims over Telegram.

In a profile of TeamPCP published in January, the security firm Flare said the group weaponizes exposed control planes rather than exploiting endpoints, predominantly targeting cloud infrastructure over end-user devices, with Azure (61%) and AWS (36%) accounting for 97% of compromised servers.

“TeamPCP’s strength does not come from novel exploits or original malware, but from the large-scale automation and integration of well-known attack techniques,” Flare’s Assaf Morag wrote. “The group industrializes existing vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and recycled tooling into a cloud-native exploitation platform that turns exposed infrastructure into a self-propagating criminal ecosystem.”

On March 19, TeamPCP executed a supply chain attack against the vulnerability scanner Trivy from Aqua Security, injecting credential-stealing malware into official releases on GitHub actions. Aqua Security said it has since removed the harmful files, but the security firm Wiz notes the attackers were able to publish malicious versions that snarfed SSH keys, cloud credentials, Kubernetes tokens and cryptocurrency wallets from users.

Over the weekend, the same technical infrastructure TeamPCP used in the Trivy attack was leveraged to deploy a new malicious payload which executes a wiper attack if the user’s timezone and locale are determined to correspond to Iran, said Charlie Eriksen, a security researcher at Aikido. In a blog post published on Sunday, Eriksen said if the wiper component detects that the victim is in Iran and has access to a Kubernetes cluster, it will destroy data on every node in that cluster.

“If it doesn’t it will just wipe the local machine,” Eriksen told KrebsOnSecurity.

Aikido refers to TeamPCP’s infrastructure as “CanisterWorm” because the group orchestrates their campaigns using an Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) canister — a system of tamperproof, blockchain-based “smart contracts” that combine both code and data. ICP canisters can serve Web content directly to visitors, and their distributed architecture makes them resistant to takedown attempts. These canisters will remain reachable so long as their operators continue to pay virtual currency fees to keep them online.

Eriksen said the people behind TeamPCP are bragging about their exploits in a group on Telegram and claim to have used the worm to steal vast amounts of sensitive data from major companies, including a large multinational pharmaceutical firm.

“When they compromised Aqua a second time, they took a lot of GitHub accounts and started spamming these with junk messages,” Eriksen said. “It was almost like they were just showing off how much access they had. Clearly, they have an entire stash of these credentials, and what we’ve seen so far is probably a small sample of what they have.”

Security experts say the spammed GitHub messages could be a way for TeamPCP to ensure that any code packages tainted with their malware will remain prominent in GitHub searches. In a newsletter published today titled GitHub is Starting to Have a Real Malware Problem, Risky Business reporter Catalin Cimpanu writes that attackers often are seen pushing meaningless commits to their repos or using online services that sell GitHub stars and “likes” to keep malicious packages at the top of the GitHub search page.

This weekend’s outbreak is the second major supply chain attack involving Trivy in as many months. At the end of February, Trivy was hit as part of an automated threat called HackerBot-Claw, which mass exploited misconfigured workflows in GitHub Actions to steal authentication tokens.

Eriksen said it appears TeamPCP used access gained in the first attack on Aqua Security to perpetrate this weekend’s mischief. But he said there is no reliable way to tell whether TeamPCP’s wiper actually succeeded in trashing any data from victim systems, and that the malicious payload was only active for a short time over the weekend.

“They’ve been taking [the malicious code] up and down, rapidly changing it adding new features,” Eriksen said, noting that when the malicious canister wasn’t serving up malware downloads it was pointing visitors to a Rick Roll video on YouTube.

“It’s a little all over the place, and there’s a chance this whole Iran thing is just their way of getting attention,” Eriksen said. “I feel like these people are really playing this Chaotic Evil role here.”

Cimpanu observed that supply chain attacks have increased in frequency of late as threat actors begin to grasp just how efficient they can be, and his post documents an alarming number of these incidents since 2024.

“While security firms appear to be doing a good job spotting this, we’re also gonna need GitHub’s security team to step up,” Cimpanu wrote. “Unfortunately, on a platform designed to copy (fork) a project and create new versions of it (clones), spotting malicious additions to clones of legitimate repos might be quite the engineering problem to fix.”

Update, 2:40 p.m. ET: Wiz is reporting that TeamPCP also pushed credential stealing malware to the KICS vulnerability scanner from Checkmarx, and that the scanner’s GitHub Action was compromised between 12:58 and 16:50 UTC today (March 23rd).

Today marks the start of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and with warmer weather setting in summer trips are vacation planning are starting to take shape.   

But before you respond to that message about your hotel booking or payment confirmation, it’s worth asking: is it actually legit? 

This week in scams, we’re breaking down a travel phishing scheme making the rounds through realistic booking messages, as well as new McAfee research on betting scams and AI-driven malware. 

We’ll walk through what happened, what to watch for, and how McAfee’s tools can help you stay safe. 

Scammers Who Know Your Exact Travel Reservation Details 

A new phishing campaign targeting travelers is exploiting hotel booking platforms like Booking.com, and it’s convincing enough to fool even cautious users. 

According to reporting from ITBrew and Cybernews, attackers are running a multi-stage scam: 

How The Booking Scam Works 

Scam Stage	How It Works	What You’ll Notice	How to Protect Yourself	Where McAfee Helps
Stage 1: Hotel account gets compromised	Attackers phish or hack hotel staff to access booking platforms and guest reservation data.	You won’t see this part — it happens behind the scenes.	Use strong, unique passwords and enable multi-factor authentication on your own accounts to reduce risk of similar breaches.	Identity Monitoring can alert you if your personal information appears in suspicious places or data leaks.
Stage 2: You receive a realistic message	Scammers use stolen booking data to send messages via WhatsApp, email, or even booking platforms.	The message includes your real name, hotel, and travel dates, making it feel legitimate.	Be cautious of unexpected outreach, even if the details are correct. Don’t assume accuracy means authenticity.	Scam detection tools can help flag suspicious messages and identify potential phishing attempts.
Stage 3: Urgency is introduced	The message claims there’s an issue with your reservation and pushes you to act quickly.	Phrases like “confirm within 12 hours” or “risk cancellation” create pressure.	Pause before acting. Legitimate companies rarely require urgent payment changes without prior notice.	Scam detection can help identify high-risk messages designed to pressure you into quick decisions.
Stage 4: You’re sent to a fake payment page	A link leads to a convincing lookalike site designed to steal your payment details.	The page looks real but may have subtle URL differences or unusual formatting.	Always navigate directly to the official website or app instead of clicking links in messages.	Safe Browsing tools can help block risky or known malicious websites before you enter sensitive information.

March Madness Brackets, Bets, and Bad Actors 

March Madness brings brackets, bets, and a flood of bad actors. 

New McAfee research found that 1 in 3 Americans (32%) say they’ve experienced a betting or gambling scam, and nearly a quarter (24%) say they’ve lost money to one. On average, victims reported losing $547. 

That’s not surprising when you look at the environment around the tournament. More than half of Americans are watching, more than half are participating in some form of betting, and 82% say they’ve seen betting promotions in the past year. 

Some of the most common setups this season include: 

• “Guaranteed win” or “can’t lose” betting tips that require payment upfront 
• Fake sportsbook promotions offering bonus bets or free credits 
• Messages claiming you have winnings, but need to pay a fee to unlock them 
• Impersonation scams posing as sportsbook support or betting platforms 
• Invitations to private “VIP betting groups” on WhatsApp or Telegram 

The takeaway:
If a betting offer promises guaranteed results, demands the use of bizarre apps and sites, asks for money upfront, or pushes you to act quickly, it’s not an edge. It’s a scam. 

“AI-Written” Malware Is Hiding in Everyday Downloads 

Not all scams start with a message. Some start with a search. 

McAfee Labs uncovered a large-scale malware campaign hiding inside hundreds of fake downloads, including game mods, AI tools, drivers, and trading utilities. 

In January alone, researchers identified: 

• 443 malicious ZIP files disguised as legitimate software 
• 1,700+ file names used to make those downloads look credible 
• 48 variants of a malicious DLL file used to infect devices 

These weren’t hosted on obscure corners of the internet either. The files were distributed through platforms people recognize, including Discord, SourceForge, and file-sharing sites. 

Here’s how the attack typically works: 

• You search for a tool. 
• You download what looks like the right file. 
• It opens normally at first. 

Then, behind the scenes, malware loads quietly and begins pulling in additional code. In some cases, victims are shown fake error messages while the real infection happens in the background. 

From there, attackers can: 

• Turn your device into a cryptocurrency mining machine 
• Install additional malware like infostealers or remote access tools 
• Slow down your system while running hidden processes 

What makes this campaign stand out is that some of the code appears to have been generated with help from AI tools. 

That doesn’t mean AI is running the attack on its own. But it does suggest attackers are using AI to: 

• Generate code faster 
• Create more variations of malware 
• Scale campaigns more efficiently 

In other words, the barrier to building malware is getting lower. 

The takeaway:
If a download is unofficial, hard to find, or feels like a shortcut, it’s worth slowing down. The file may look right, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe. 

How McAfee+ Advanced Works in These Scam Moments 

Whether it’s a message about your booking, a betting offer that looks legitimate, or a download that appears to be exactly what you were searching for, these scams all rely on the same thing: they blend into everyday moments. 

That’s where having backup like McAfee+ Advanced comes in. It includes: 

• McAfee’s Scam Detector, which helps flag suspicious links in texts and messages like the ones used in these booking and betting scams, so you can spot something risky before you engage

• Web protection and real-time device security, helping protect against risky links, malicious sites, and evolving threats if you do click, including fake betting platforms or malware hidden in downloads

• Personal Data Cleanup, which helps remove your information from sites that sell it, making it harder for scammers to access the personal details that make messages and scams feel legitimate

• Secure VPN, which helps keep your personal info safe and private anywhere you use public Wi-Fi, like hotels, airports, and cafés while traveling

• Identity Monitoring and alerts, with 24/7 scans of the dark web to help ensure your personal and financial information isn’t being exposed or reused

• Credit and transaction monitoring, so you can get alerts about suspicious financial activity if your information is ever compromised 

• Identity restoration support and up to $2 million in identity theft coverage, giving you access to US-based experts and added peace of mind if something does go wrong 

Stay skeptical, verify before you click, and we’ll see you next week with more. 

The post This Week in Scams: Why That “Booking Confirmation” Message Might Be Fake appeared first on McAfee Blog.

The U.S. Justice Department joined authorities in Canada and Germany in dismantling the online infrastructure behind four highly disruptive botnets that compromised more than three million Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as routers and web cameras. The feds say the four botnets — named Aisuru, Kimwolf, JackSkid and Mossad — are responsible for a series of recent record-smashing distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks capable of knocking nearly any target offline.

The Justice Department said the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s (DoDIG) Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) executed seizure warrants targeting multiple U.S.-registered domains, virtual servers, and other infrastructure involved in DDoS attacks against Internet addresses owned by the DoD.

The government alleges the unnamed people in control of the four botnets used their crime machines to launch hundreds of thousands of DDoS attacks, often demanding extortion payments from victims. Some victims reported tens of thousands of dollars in losses and remediation expenses.

The oldest of the botnets — Aisuru — issued more than 200,000 attacks commands, while JackSkid hurled at least 90,000 attacks. Kimwolf issued more than 25,000 attack commands, the government said, while Mossad was blamed for roughy 1,000 digital sieges.

The DOJ said the law enforcement action was designed to prevent further infection to victim devices and to limit or eliminate the ability of the botnets to launch future attacks. The case is being investigated by the DCIS with help from the FBI’s field office in Anchorage, Alaska, and the DOJ’s statement credits nearly two dozen technology companies with assisting in the operation.

“By working closely with DCIS and our international law enforcement partners, we collectively identified and disrupted criminal infrastructure used to carry out large-scale DDoS attacks,” said Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office.

Aisuru emerged in late 2024, and by mid-2025 it was launching record-breaking DDoS attacks as it rapidly infected new IoT devices. In October 2025, Aisuru was used to seed Kimwolf, an Aisuru variant which introduced a novel spreading mechanism that allowed the botnet to infect devices hidden behind the protection of the user’s internal network.

On January 2, 2026, the security firm Synthient publicly disclosed the vulnerability Kimwolf was using to propagate so quickly. That disclosure helped curtail Kimwolf’s spread somewhat, but since then several other IoT botnets have emerged that effectively copy Kimwolf’s spreading methods while competing for the same pool of vulnerable devices. According to the DOJ, the JackSkid botnet also sought out systems on internal networks just like Kimwolf.

The DOJ said its disruption of the four botnets coincided with “law enforcement actions” conducted in Canada and Germany targeting individuals who allegedly operated those botnets, although no further details were available on the suspected operators.

In late February, KrebsOnSecurity identified a 22-year-old Canadian man as a core operator of the Kimwolf botnet. Multiple sources familiar with the investigation told KrebsOnSecurity the other prime suspect is a 15-year-old living in Germany.