The CyberWire Daily

Senior Threat Analyst and Shift Lead for VMware Taree Reardon shares her journey to becoming leader for women in the cybersecurity field. A big gamer who has always been interested in hacking and forensics, Taree found her passion while learning about cybersecurity. She's dedicated to diversity and inclusion and found her footing on a team made up of 50% women. Taree spends her days tracking and blocking attacks and as a champion for women. Trusting yourself is top on her list of advice. We thank Taree for sharing her story.

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This week we are joined by Phil Stokes, threat researcher at SentinelOne's SentinelLabs, discussing their work on "macOS FlexibleFerret | Further Variants of DPRK Malware Family Unearthed." Apple recently pushed an update to its XProtect tool, blocking several variants of the DPRK-linked Ferret malware family, which targets victims through the "Contagious Interview" campaign.

The malware uses fake job interview processes to trick users into installing malicious software, and new variants, including FlexibleFerret, remain undetected by XProtect. SentinelOne's research reveals a deeper investigation into this malware, which uses social engineering to expand its attack vectors, including targeting developers through platforms like GitHub.

• macOS FlexibleFerret | Further Variants of DPRK Malware Family Unearthed

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Qilin ransomware gang claims responsibility for attack against Lee Enterprises. Thai police arrest suspected hacker behind more than 90 data leaks. JavaGhost uses compromised AWS environments to launch phishing campaigns. LotusBlossum cyberespionage campaigns target Southeast Asia. Malware abuses Microsoft dev tunnels for C2 communication. Protecting the food supply. Today’s guest is Keith Mularski, Chief Global Ambassador at Qintel and former FBI Special Agent, discussing crypto being the target of the cyber underground. And an interview with Iron Man?

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Today we share Dave’s conversation with Keith Mularski, Chief Global Ambassador at Qintel and former FBI Special Agent, discussing crypto being the target of the cyber underground.

Ransomware Group Takes Credit for Lee Enterprises Attack (SecurityWeek)

Hacker Behind Over 90 Data Leaks Arrested in Thailand (SecurityWeek)

JavaGhost’s Persistent Phishing Attacks From the Cloud (Unit 42)

Lotus Blossom espionage group targets multiple industries with different versions of Sagerunex and hacking tools (Cisco Talos)

Njrat Campaign Using Microsoft Dev Tunnels (SANS Internet Storm Center) 

New Pass-the-Cookie Attack Bypass Microsoft 365 & YouTube MFA Logins (Cyber Security News)  

How pass the cookie attacks can bypass your MFA  (Longwall Security)

Farm and Food Cybersecurity Act reintroduced to protect food supply chain from cyber threats (Industrial Cyber)

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FBI attributes $1.5 billion Bybit hack to DPRK hackers. Cellebrite suspends services in Serbia following allegations of misuse. A Belgium spy agency is hacked. New groups, bigger attacks. Sticky Werewolf strikes again. US DNI orders legal review of UK's request for iCloud backdoor. A cybersecurity veteran takes CISA’s lead. DOGE accesses sensitive HUD data. Cleveland Municipal Court remains closed following cyber incident. Our guest today is an excerpt from our Caveat podcast. Adam Marré, Arctic Wolf CISO and former FBI special agent, joins Dave to discuss banning TikTok and increasing regulations for social media companies. And can hacking be treason?

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Our guest today is an excerpt from our Caveat podcast. Adam Marré, Arctic Wolf CISO and former FBI special agent, joins Dave to discuss banning TikTok and increasing regulations for social media companies. You can hear Adam and Dave’s full discussion on today’s Caveat episode. Listen to Dave and co-host Ben Yelin discuss the issue following the interview on Caveat. 

FBI confirms Lazarus hackers were behind $1.5B Bybit crypto heist (Bleeping Computer)

Cellebrite suspends Serbia as customer after claims police used firm's tech to plant spyware (TechCrunch)

Belgium probes suspected Chinese hack of state security service (The Record)

It's not just Salt Typhoon: All China-backed attack groups are showcasing specialized offensive skills (CyberScoop) 

Angry Likho APT Resurfaces with Lumma Stealer Attacks Against Russia (Hackread) 

Gabbard: UK demand to Apple for backdoor access is 'grave concern' to US (The Record)

Karen Evans steps into a leading federal cyber position: executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA (CyberScoop)

DOGE Gains Access to Confidential Records on Housing Discrimination, Medical Details — Even Domestic Violence (ProPublica)

‘Cyber incident’ shuts down Cleveland Municipal Court for third straight day (The Record)

Cyber threat shuts down Cleveland Municipal Court for second day (News5 Cleveland) 

U.S. Soldier Charged in AT&T Hack Searched “Can Hacking Be Treason” (Krebs on Security)

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The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc.

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In this special live episode of Hacking Humans, recorded at ThreatLocker’s Zero Trust World 2025 conference in Orlando, Florida, Dave Bittner is joined by T-Minus host Maria Varmazis. Together, they explore the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and cybercriminal exploits making headlines. Their guest, Seamus Lennon, ThreatLocker’s VP of Operations for EMEA, shares insights on Zero Trust security and the evolving threat landscape. Maria's story this week follows the IRS warning about a fake “Self Employment Tax Credit” scam on social media, urging taxpayers to ignore misinformation and consult professionals. Dave's got the story of the Better Business Bureau’s annual Scam Tracker report, revealing that online shopping scams continue to top the list for the fifth year, with phishing and employment scams remaining major threats, while fraudsters increasingly use AI and deepfake technology to deceive victims. Our catch of the day comes from Diesel in West Virginia, and features a scammer who tried to panic their target with a classic “We’ve frozen your account” scam—only to get hilariously mixed up with actual embryo freezing.

Resources and links to stories:

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Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at [email protected].

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A major employee screening provider discloses a data breach affecting over 3.3 million people. Signal considers exiting Sweden over a proposed law that would give police access to encrypted messages. House Democrats call out DOGE’s negligent cybersecurity practices. Critical vulnerabilities in Rsync allow attackers to execute remote code. A class action lawsuit claims Amazon violates Washington State’s privacy laws. CISA warns that attackers are exploiting Microsoft’s Partner Center platform. A researcher discovers a critical remote code execution vulnerability in MITRE’s Caldera security training platform. An analysis of  CISA’s JCDC AI Cybersecurity Collaboration Playbook. Ben Yelin explains Apple pulling iCloud end-to-end encryption in response to the UK Government. A Disney employee’s cautionary tale. 

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We are joined by Caveat podcast co-host Ben Yelin to discuss Apple pulling iCloud end-to-end encryption in response to the UK Government. You can read the article from Bleeping Computer here. Ben is the Program Director for Public Policy & External Affairs at University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security. You can catch Caveat every Thursday here on the N2K CyberWire network and on your favorite podcast app. 

3.3 Million People Impacted by DISA Data Breach (SecurityWeek)

DOGE must halt all ‘negligent cybersecurity practices,’ House Democrats tell Trump (The Record)

Signal May Exit Sweden If Government Imposes Encryption Backdoor (Infosecurity Magazine)

Rsync Vulnerabilities Let Hackers Gain Full Control of Servers - PoC Released (Cyber Security News)

Lawsuit: Amazon Violates Washington State Health Data Law (BankInfo Security)

CISA Warns of Microsoft Partner Center Access Control Vulnerability Exploited in Wild (Cyber Security News)

MITRE Caldera security suite scores perfect 10 for insecurity (The Register)

CISA’s AI cybersecurity playbook calls for greater collaboration, but trust is key to successful execution (CyberScoop)

A Disney Worker Downloaded an AI Tool. It Led to a Hack That Ruined His Life. (Wall Street Journal) 

We want to ensure that you are getting the most out of the podcast. Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey as we continually work to improve the show. 

You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at [email protected] to request more info.

The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc.

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A hacker claims to have stolen internal documents from  a major French telecommunications company. A security breach hits Russia’s financial sector. Cyberattacks targeting ICS and OT surged dramatically last year. Chinese group Silver Fox is spoofing medical software. The UK Home Office’s new vulnerability reporting policy risks prosecuting ethical hackers. Ransomware actors are shifting away from encryption. A sophisticated macOS malware campaign is distributing Poseidon Stealer. The LightSpy surveillance framework evolves into a cross-platform espionage tool. A Chinese botnet is targeting Microsoft 365 accounts using password spraying attacks. Our guest today is Lauren Buitta, Founder and CEO at Girl Security, discussing mentoring and intergenerational strategies. There may be a backdoor in your front door.

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Our guest today is Lauren Buitta, Founder and CEO at Girl Security, discussing mentoring and intergenerational strategies.

Orange Group confirms breach after hacker leaks company documents (Bleeping Computer)

Russia warns of breach of major IT service provider LANIT serving the financial sector (Beyond Machines) 

Dragos: Surge of new hacking groups enter ICS space as states collaborate with private actors (CyberScoop)

China's Silver Fox spoofs medical imaging apps to hijack patients' computers (The Register)

UK Home Office’s new vulnerability reporting mechanism leaves researchers open to prosecution (The Record)

Only a Fifth of Ransomware Attacks Now Encrypt Data (Infosecurity Magazine)

Poseidon Stealer Malware Attacking Mac Users via Fake DeepSeek Site (Cyber Security News) 

Exploits for unpatched Parallels Desktop flaw give root on Macs (Bleeping Computer)

LightSpy Malware Expands with 100+ Commands to Target Users Across All Major OS Platforms (GB Hackers) 

Chinese Botnet Bypasses MFA in Microsoft 365 Attacks (Infosecurity Magazine)

CISA Warns of Attacks Exploiting Oracle Agile PLM Vulnerability (SecurityWeek)

A single default password exposes access to dozens of apartment buildings (TechCrunch)

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You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at [email protected] to request more info.

The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc.

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Retired Gen. Paul Nakasone warns the U.S. is falling behind in cyberspace. Australia orders government entities to remove and ban Kaspersky products. FatalRAT targets industrial organizations in the APAC region. A major cryptocurrency exchange reports the theft of $1.5 billion in digital assets. Apple removes end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for iCloud in the UK. Researchers uncover a LockBit ransomware attack exploiting a Windows Confluence server. Researchers uncover zero-day vulnerabilities in a widely used cloud logging utility.A PayPal email scam is tricking users into calling scammers. Republican leaders in the House request public input on national data privacy standards. A Michigan man faces charges for his use of the Genesis cybercrime marketplace. Our guest is  Karl Sigler, Senior Security Research Manager from Trustwave SpiderLabs, explaining the domino effect of a cyberattack on the power grid. Meta sues an Insta Extortionist.

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Today, Dave speaks with Karl Sigler, Senior Security Research Manager from Trustwave SpiderLabs, about the domino effect of a cyberattack on the power grid. You can dig into the details in their report. 

Former NSA, Cyber Command chief Paul Nakasone says U.S. falling behind its enemies in cyberspace (CyberScoop)

Kaspersky Banned on Australian Government Systems (SecurityWeek)

Chinese Hackers Attacking Industrial Organizations With Sophisticated FatalRAT (Cyber Security News)

Bybit Hack Drains $1.5 Billion From Cryptocurrency Exchange (SecurityWeek)

Experts Slam Government After “Disastrous” Apple Encryption Move (Infosecurity Magazine)

Confluence Exploit Leads to LockBit Ransomware (The DFIR Report)

Fluent Bit 0-day Vulnerabilities Exposes Billions of Production Environments to Cyber Attacks (Cyber Security News)

Beware: PayPal "New Address" feature abused to send phishing emails (Bleeping Computer)

Top House E&C Republicans query public for ideas on data privacy law (CyberScoop)

US Charges Genesis Market User (SecurityWeek)

Meta Sues Alleged Instagram Extortionist (404 Media) 

We want to ensure that you are getting the most out of the podcast. Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey as we continually work to improve the show. 

You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at [email protected] to request more info.

The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc.

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Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes.

Senior technical project manager Dwayne Price takes us on his career journey from databases to project management. Always fascinated with technology and one who appreciates the aspects of the business side of a computer implementations, Dwayne attended UMBC for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in information systems management. A strong Unix administration background prepared him to understand the relationship between Unix administration and database security. He recommends those interested in cybersecurity check out the NICE Framework as it speaks to all the various different types of roles in cybersecurity, Dwayne prides himself on his communication skills and openness. We thank Dwayne for sharing his story with us.

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This week, we are joined by Selena Larson from Proofpoint, and co-host of the "Only Malware in the Building" podcast, as she discusses the research on "Why Biasing Advanced Persistent Threats over Cybercrime is a Security Risk." The cybersecurity industry has historically prioritized Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) from nation-state actors over cybercrime, but this distinction is outdated as cybercriminals now employ equally sophisticated tactics.

Financially motivated threat actors, especially ransomware groups, have evolved to the point where they rival state-backed hackers in technical capability and impact, disrupting businesses, infrastructure, and individuals on a massive scale. To enhance security, defenders must shift focus from an APT-centric mindset to a broader approach that equally prioritizes combating cybercrime, which poses an immediate and tangible risk to global stability.

• Why Biasing Advanced Persistent Threats over Cybercrime is a Security Risk

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