Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

Attackers are using “wrong-number” texts to identify potential targets for scams, according to researchers at Malwarebytes. These texts appear to be harmless messages meant for another person, such as “Are we still on for dinner tomorrow?” or “Where’s the PowerPoint?” Recipients often try to be helpful by replying to let the person know they’ve got the wrong number.

Phishing infrastructure is built to be thrown away. When a domain gets blocklisted, scrutinized, or too hot to handle, the attackers don't stop. They just move. To them, a domain extension is just a cheap tool. They go wherever it is easiest to strike. That pattern is visible in our own telemetry. In late 2024 and early 2025, KnowBe4 Threat Lab documented a 98% spike in phishing campaigns abusing.ru domains. 1,500 unique domains, over 13,000 malicious emails, with an average domain age of just 7.4 days.

Fraud against rail operators extends well beyond fare dodging. CYJAX breaks down how compensation scheme abuse, insider fraud and Telegram marketplaces for discounted tickets are combining to create a persistent revenue threat across the UK rail sector.

Brand Impersonation protection software should do more than find and remove impersonating assets. Buyers should also examine what a platform helps their organization understand and do about the customer and business risk created while the campaign remains active. The Anti-Phishing Working Group recorded 971,181 phishing attacks in Q1 2026, up 13.8% from the previous quarter. Across monitored social platforms, impersonation accounted for 43.8% of threats. Takedown is necessary.

A study has found that AI chatbots can be more effective at social engineering than human scammers, WIRED reports. The researchers looked at a form of romance scam commonly known as “pig butchering,” in which scammers spend weeks or months building a relationship with the victim before tricking them into sending money for a phony investment scheme.

Americans are now losing an estimated $148 billion each year to online scams, a 22% increase compared to 2024, according to a new report from the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) tracked $20.8 billion in losses last year, but the CFA notes that the actual losses are much higher.

Top tips is a weekly column where we highlight what's trending in the tech world and share practical ways to navigate these shifts. This week, we're looking at spear-phishing: how cybercriminals weaponize social engineering, why your natural instinct can act as a security blind spot, and practical steps to verify suspicious requests before you take action. I would like to make a confession: I’m a well-versed tech expert, but I almost fell for a phishing scam.

Threat actors are increasingly abusing trusted workflows to carry out attacks, according to a new report from Gen Digital. “ are not only sending malicious links or dropping malware,” the report says. “They are abusing context, sessions, workflows, brands, update systems, advertising platforms and delegated authority.

A survey from Trustmi found that most employees believe they’d be able to spot a social engineering attack, but those same employees still rely primarily on outdated guidance to spot red flags. Generative AI has given attackers the ability to craft extremely convincing, error-free phishing emails.

Most organizations have become better at finding brand impersonation attacks. They can detect fake domains, identify cloned websites, report phishing pages, initiate takedowns, and warn customers when an impersonation campaign becomes visible. That work matters. But it does not answer the question that often matters most once the attack is live: Which users were exposed? Finding fake sites is only half the problem. Understanding who encountered them is where effective protection begins.