Don’t trust mystery digits popping up in your search bar
Scammers are hijacking the search results of people needing 24/7 support from Apple, Bank of America, Facebook, HP, Microsoft, Netflix, and PayPal in an attempt to trick victims into handing over personal or financial info, according to Malwarebytes senior director of research Jérôme Segura.
It's a variation of SEO or search poisoning, in which the attackers manipulate the search engine algorithms to promote what is usually a malicious website masquerading as the real deal. In this new scam, the fraudster pays for a sponsored ad on Google and crafts a malicious URL that embeds a fake phone number into the real site's legitimate search functionality.
Because the ad resolves to the authentic Netflix domain, reputation-based browser filters, such as Chrome's Safe Browsing, won't flag it as malicious.
When someone searches "24/7 Netflix support," for example, the digital thieves' ad pops up as one of the top results, and when the unwitting victim clicks on the URL, it takes them to the help page of the brand's website.
The page looks real — because it is — but displays a phone number pre-populated in the search bar on that page. This purports to be the legitimate help-desk phone number, but in reality it's a fake, controlled by the attackers.
As the anti-malware security firm explains:
This is able to happen because Netflix's search functionality blindly reflects whatever users put in the search query parameter without proper sanitization or validation. This creates a reflected input vulnerability that scammers can exploit.
Security experts are dismissing a pro-Iranian hacktivist group's claim to have breached Indian nuclear secrets in reprisal for the country's support of Israel.
The LulzSec Black group last week claimed to have hacked "the company responsible for Indian nuclear reactors" and to have stolen 80 databases, of which it was now selling 17 databases containing 5.2 gigabytes of data. The group claimed the information detailed the precise location of India's nuclear reactors, numerous chemical laboratories, employee personally identifiable information, industrial and engineering information, precise details of guard shifts and "other sensitive data related to infrastructure."
LulzSec Black, named after the notorious hacktivist collective that committed a string of high-profile hits in 2011, claims to be a group of "Palestinian hackers." Previous attacks tied to the group include disruptions targeting Israel, as well as countries that support Israel, including France and Cyprus.
Threat intelligence firm Resecurity said the group's nuclear claims vary from being dramatically overstated to outright lies.
"This activity is related to the 'pseudo-hacktivist' activities by Iran" designed to provoke fear, uncertainty and doubt, Resecurity told Information Security Media Group. "Many of their statements are overstatements, having no connection to reality. For example, they clearly do not have '80 databases' or even 5.2 GB of data."
LulzSec Black's claims arrive amidst U.S. government alerts of the "heightened threat environment" facing critical infrastructure networks and operational technology environments, following Israel launching missile strikes against Iran on June 13 (see: Infrastructure Operators Leaving Control Systems Exposed).
While the resulting regional war appears to now be moderated by a fragile ceasefire, many governments are still bracing for reprisals (see: Israel-Iran Ceasefire Holding Despite Fears of Cyberattacks).
What LulzSec Black may actually possess is identity and contact information for nuclear specialists, likely stolen from third-party HR firms and recruitment websites such as the CATS Software applicant tracking system and recruitment software, Resecurity said. This can be seen in the long list of various job titles - "security auditor, heavy water unit," "nuclear engineer, analysis lab, tritium gas," and "radiation officer, fuel fabrication, uranium dioxide" - in a sample of dumped data.
In that data, tags such as "Top Secret," appear, which Resecurity said likely either reflect clearances held by job candidates, or were added by the hackers themselves "so it will look like it is from some nuclear energy facility."
Building automation giant Johnson Controls is notifying individuals whose data was stolen in a massive ransomware attack that impacted the company's operations worldwide in September 2023.
Johnson Controls is a multinational conglomerate that develops and manufactures industrial control systems, security equipment, HVAC systems, and fire safety equipment for buildings. The company employs over 100,000 people through its corporate operations and subsidiaries across 150 countries, reporting sales of $27.4 billion in 2024.
As BleepingComputer first reported, Johnson Controls was hit by a ransomware attack in September 2023, following a breach of the company's Asian offices in February 2023 and subsequent lateral movement through its network.
"Based on our investigation, we determined that an unauthorized actor accessed certain Johnson Controls systems from February 1, 2023 to September 30, 2023 and took information from those systems," the company says in data breach notification letters filed with California's Attorney General, redacted to conceal what information was stolen in the attack.
"After becoming aware of the incident, we terminated the unauthorized actor's access to the affected systems. In addition, we engaged third-party cybersecurity specialists to further investigate and resolve the incident. We also notified law enforcement and publicly disclosed the incident in filings on September 27, 2023; November 13, 2023; and December 14, 2023."
A criminal has been sentenced at Inner London Crown Court to over a year in prison for operating a SMS Blaster to conduct a mass smishing campaign against victims with the intent to harvest their personal details to be used in fraud.
The sentencing follows an investigation and arrest by the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU), a specialist banking industry sponsored police unit.
The conviction was achieved thanks to the officers from the DCPCU working with mobile network operators including BT, Virgin Media O2, VodafoneThree and Sky as well as the National Cyber Security Centre and Ofcom.
Between 22 and 27 March 2025 Ruichen Xiong, a student from China had installed an SMS Blaster in his vehicle to commit smishing fraud, targeting tens of thousands of potential victims.
Xiong drove around the Greater London area in a Black Honda CR-V. This vehicle was used to hold and transport an SMS Blaster around in the boot.
An SMS Blaster allows offenders to send fraudulent text messages to phones within the vicinity of the equipment and acts as an illegitimate phone mast to send messages. The blaster will draw mobile devices away from legitimate networks by appearing to have a stronger signal. By doing so, the criminal is then able to send a text message to the victim's phone.
The equipment was programmed to send out SMS messages to victims within a nearby radius of the blaster, designed to look like trustworthy messages from genuine organisations, such as government bodies, where the victim was encouraged to click a link. The link would subsequently take them to a malicious site that was designed to harvest their personal details.
