A recent white paper issued by SocRadar, entitled “Operation DoppelBrand: Weaponizing Fortune 500 Brands for Credential Theft and Remote Access,” provides a stark outline of how a threat actor known as GS7 has been “targeting banking institutions, technology companies, payment platforms, and other entities” with creating fake “highly similar” web portals to harvest customer
Privacy Tip #480 – Android Devices Running Android 12 or Less Face Security Risk
If you are among the one billion individuals who own an Android device running on Android 12, or a previous iteration of the operating system, now is the time to consider upgrading your device. According to Forbes, this represents approximately 40% of all Android devices in the market.
Google has issued a warning that any
SolarWinds Web Help Desk Vulnerability Targeted by Threat Actors
Security researchers at Huntress Labs have identified a vulnerability in SolarWinds’s Web Help Desk that threat actors are exploiting to allow them to execute code remotely.
The vulnerability was listed on the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s known exploited vulnerabilities last week, and SolarWinds issued a warning, classifying it as a “critical severity” for users
Privacy Tip #479 – Federal Judge Says ICE Prohibited from Using IRS Data for Enforcement
On February 5, 2026, a Massachusetts federal judge issued an order staying information-sharing between the IRS and ICE, as well as a preliminary injunction prohibiting Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, acting-Director Todd Lyons, and any DHS and ICE agent from “inspecting, viewing, using, copying, distributing, relying on, or otherwise acting
ShinyHunters Bypassing Multifactor Authentication
Security professionals rely on the implementation of multifactor authentication (MFA) to defend against phishing attacks and intrusions. Unfortunately, we can’t completely rely on MFA to protect us as threat actors (more specifically, ShinyHunters) are now targeting companies in technology, financial services, real estate, energy, healthcare, logistics, and retail with synchronized vishing-phishing attacks.
The newest attacks
Judge Issues Public Admonition + $12,000 Sanctions for Hallucinations
In a strongly worded order, Judge Julie A. Robinson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas publicly admonished and sanctioned four lawyers representing a plaintiff company in a patent infringement case for using ChatGPT to find caselaw to support a response to a motion to exclude an expert witness, and a response
Privacy Tip #478 – Intrigued With Using AI to Help with Your Tax Return? Please Think Again
It’s that time of the year when W2s and 1099s pile up in preparation for that dreaded tax return filing deadline. Now that everyone is using AI tools to assist with complicated tasks, as they seem to make any task, even the most dreaded, more efficient, it is tempting to use one to assist with
Single Sign-On Services Targeted in Vishing Attacks
We continue to alert our readers to the uptick and successful use of vishing attacks against companies. Threat actors continue to be creative in developing strategies to use vishing to gain access into systems.
According to Cyberscoop, (a publication that I read religiously), Mandiant has confirmed that “multiple cybercrime groups,” including ShinyHunters, are “combining
35 State AGs Raise Concerns About Deepfakes with xAI
On January 23, 2026, a bipartisan group of 35 state Attorneys General issued a letter to xAI stating their concern “about artificial-intelligence produced deepfake nonconsensual intimate images (NCII) of real people, including, children, wherever it is made or found,” including xAI’s chatbot, Grok. This is in addition to the letter sent on January 13, 2026
Privacy Tip #477 – This is Identity Theft Awareness Week
Years ago, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) designated the last week of January asIdentity Theft Awareness Week. For 2026, this week is devoted to education and awareness about identity theft, which is an ever-present problem.
According to the FTC, “identity theft is one of the most-reported problems to the FTC every year.” The FTC