Brute Force

AI Attacked and Abused While Perimeter Authentication Collapses The month's defining shift was the emergence of AI as a two-sided battlefield: organizations deployed AI tools faster than they secured them, while attackers weaponized the same technology against defenders. Critical flaws in LangGraph allowed SQL injection chained to remote code execution, M365 Copilot could be turned into a one-click data exfiltration weapon via SearchLeak, and Langflow was exploited to deploy cryptominers. Meanwhile, the ongoing Shai-Hulud campaign injected prompts to blind AI malware scanners, macOS.Gaslight turned prompt injection against human analysts, and Russia's APT28 began experimenting with LLM-integrated malware. At the same time, perimeter authentication collapsed at scale: FortiBleed exposed credentials for over 73,000 FortiGate firewalls, CVE-2026-50751 let attackers bypass Check Point VPN authentication entirely, and ShinyHunters exploited an Oracle PeopleSoft zero-day across over 100 organizations. Supply chain attackers followed developers to their new AI tools, compromising the ecosystems where code is written and built. The Shai-Hulud/Miasma worm expanded from npm into PyPI and injected persistent backdoors into AI coding assistant configurations, while North Korea's Sapphire Sleet compromised over 140 Mastra npm packages to steal cryptocurrency wallets, and the ongoing GlassWorm campaign pivoted to WebAssembly malware in VS Code extensions using the Solana blockchain as command-and-control. Social engineering also industrialized: the ErrTraffic framework turned ClickFix deception into a Malware-as-a-Service operation with blockchain dead drops, and EvilTokens hid phishing flows inside browser-side encryption to defeat network scanners while hijacking Microsoft device-code authentication. Organizations should treat AI deployments as untrusted perimeter assets—restrict their network access, audit third-party skills and extensions, and assume prompt-injection attacks will target both automated scanners and human analysts. Every internet-facing VPN, firewall, and edge appliance should be patched immediately, with credentials rotated and phishing-resistant MFA enforced, because perimeter authentication failures now cascade directly into internal network compromise.

2026-06-195 minVaronishigh

Varonis Threat Labs deployed managed MySQL honeypots across major cloud providers to observe attacker behavior. The publicly exposed GCP instance with weak credentials was compromised within hours by multiple automated ransomware operators who brute-forced access, exfiltrated data, dropped tables, and left ransom notes.

2026-06-184 minNCSChigh

The NCSC has issued an alert regarding a global campaign targeting Fortinet firewalls and VPN gateways using brute-force and credential stuffing techniques. A threat actor has leaked a database of compromised credentials, prompting organizations to urgently check for exposure, investigate for unauthorized access or persistence, and perform factory resets on compromised devices.

2026-06-085 minCheck Pointcritical

This threat intelligence report highlights active exploitation of critical vulnerabilities, including a Windows Netlogon RCE (CVE-2026-41089) and an Android Framework flaw. It also details significant data breaches affecting DentaQuest and the UN WFP, emerging AI-driven threats such as EDR evasion labs, a supply chain compromise of the Hola browser, and Iranian state-sponsored espionage operations utilizing Dutch hosting infrastructure.

2026-05-184 minHuntressmedium

This article highlights the severe security risks associated with using common, easily guessable passwords. It details how threat actors leverage weak credentials through brute force, password spraying, and credential stuffing attacks to gain unauthorized access to systems, emphasizing the need for robust identity protection and password management.

2026-05-135 minCheck Pointhigh

In Q1 2026, the ransomware ecosystem experienced significant consolidation, with top groups like Qilin, Akira, The Gentlemen, and LockBit 5.0 dominating the landscape. Notably, The Gentlemen leveraged a massive stockpile of pre-exploited FortiGate devices (CVE-2024-55591) to rapidly scale operations, while LockBit 5.0 returned with multi-platform capabilities and a strategic shift away from US targets to evade law enforcement.

2026-05-134 minRecorded Futurecritical

The ongoing geopolitical conflict involving Iran has triggered significant cyber and influence operations, with multiple nation-state and hacktivist groups leveraging the crisis for espionage, destructive attacks, and narrative manipulation. Organizations are advised to prepare for a surge in Iranian cyber activity as domestic internet blackouts lift, alongside heightened risks of physical threats and supply chain disruptions.