We take a look at a clever attack imitating GitHub’s Dependabot in order to publish rogue project updates.
GitHub is experiencing issues of the “breached account and malicious code” variety. ITPro reports that unnamed individuals have been compromising accounts and using them to install malware capable of password theft. It’s a fairly elaborate scam which even includes imitation of GitHub’s popular Dependabot feature.
To make this scam work, attackers first obtained access tokens belonging to their targets. Once the attackers have control over the stolen accounts, they would change the alias for said accounts to “Dependabot[bot]” and begin making potentially dangerous code commits.
If you’re unfamiliar with the language of GitHub, don’t worry. GitHub is the place where developers can manage their project code. Bug tracking, software feature requests, task management, and wikis for each and every project are available to users.
When a developer is writing their code, they can eventually publish from their local workstation to GitHub’s staging directory. At this point, a “Commit” is made. The Commit is another way of saying “a snapshot”, a version of your project as it exists at a specific moment in time.
In this case, the attackers deploy malicious code into the projects they hijack. They then steal secrets from the compromised project and send it back to base. Additionally, existing JavaScript files already present in the project are tampered with to add malware. Said malware will attempt to steal passwords from form submissions and send them to the command and control server run by the attackers. Stolen tokens gave access to many private repositories so both public and private projects were impacted.
In terms of how the attackers initially got in, some accounts were found to have been taken over by stolen personal access tokens. As Bleeping Computer notes, these tokens allowed developers to access GitHub without having to make use of two-factor authentication (2FA) steps.
With the tokens stored locally on the developer’s machine, it’s possible that someone hijacking the system could easily grab the tokens required to breach individual GitHub accounts. Whether this was achieved by malware, social engineering or phishing, nobody has the answers at time of writing.
The sneaky part of this escapade is the imitation of the previously mentioned Dependabot. This helpful addition to GitHub assists developers in keeping on top of their project and all associated dependencies tied to it. Dependabot automates dependency updating tasks which helps to keep security issues at bay.
What’s happening up above is that the attackers are disguising their bogus updates under the visage of Dependabot. If you’re on GitHub for any length of time, seeing Dependabot popping up in relation to an update is commonplace. As a result, seeing the imitation Dependabot on a page is going to fool quite a few people who will assume all is well.
While the imitation helper isn’t perfect and doesn’t replicate the real thing exactly, those behind this will still reap some rewards. If you’re wanting to be on the lookout for fake Dependabot posts, the most overt signifier of fake activity is the profile avatar. Dependabot has a square profile image and a “bot” tag. Regular accounts have a circular avatar and are also unable to properly replicate the bot tag signifier.
Fake commit attacks have been seen before using a variety of techniques, but imitating the bot helper is new. It’s also somewhat ironic to see a GitHub function dedicated to keeping things secure being imitated in a way which severely impacts the safety of platform users. It may be that GitHub makes the Dependabot even more distinctive than it already is to help ward off future similar attacks.
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Test scores for the iPhone 15 Pro Max display are now available as the device secures the top 5 spots on the DXOMark ranking. Over the years, DXOMark has become reputable in its test rankings and set the testing bars for various smartphones in different categories. The results from the reviews and scientific testing of DXOMark for the iPhone 15 Pro Max display are now here.
As you might expect, the display test results for the 15 Pro Max prove its flagship identity. Once again, this Pro-series device cements Apple’s name across various DXOMark testing categories. Some major testing categories that users look out for on these tests are display, camera, and audio.
This article will focus on the display testing and score of the new iPhone 15 Pro Max. Over the years, Apple has done a good job with the displays on their devices, especially the Pro models. You might be wondering how this new entry performed under DXOMark’s display testing, here are the details you need.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max ranks 4th on DXOMark display testing, falling behind other premium devices
Making the top 5 list of DXOMark’s top-performing device displays is the iPhone 15 Pro Max. This new flagship device scores 149 on the test and this is impressive but leaves a lot to the imagination. The fourth place is shared by a total of four devices, three of which are from Apple and one from their sworn rivals, Samsung.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max, 14 Pro Max, and 14 Pro are the three devices from the Cupertino-based company in fourth place. From Samsung’s side is the company’s new clamshell folding device, the Galaxy Flip 5. All four devices have a score of 149. Ahead of them is the Honor Magic 5 Pro and Google Pixel Fold in second place with a score of 151.
Topping the list is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 with a score of 152, three points ahead of Apple’s new flagship. However, in comparison with its predecessor, the new device from Apple comes with little or no display improvements. Out of all six major display tests, the new top-of-the-line Apple flagship device saw improvements in only two areas.
In two display test areas, the new flagship let it hands down in comparison with its predecessor. The areas of display improvements are Artifacts and Motion, where the decline is in Video and Color. However, display test areas such as Readability and Touch stay the same.
Could the display performance of the iPhone 15 Pro Max have been any better? That question will be left to Apple because the display is very good in comparison with other flagship devices. Over the years, the Cupertino-based tech company has done well in terms of the displays on their flagship device, but some improvements will make things better.
Apple announced its new iPhones quite recently, the iPhone 15 series. We’ve already pushed out quite a few comparisons, and this time around, we’re comparing the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro Max. In other words, we’re comparing Apple’s most powerful handset this year with the most powerful device last year. This article will hopefully help you make a purchasing decision, or for some of you, a decision whether to upgrade or not.
There’s a lot to talk about here, and we’ll kick things off by listing their specs. Following that, we’ll compare the two phones across a number of categories. We’ll compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance. That being said, let’s get this party on the road, shall we?
Specs
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro Max, respectively
– Screen size: 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion (flat, 120Hz, HDR10, 2,000 nits) 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion (flat, 120Hz, HDR10, 2,000 nits) – Display resolution: 2796 x 1290 2796 x 1290 – SoC: Apple A16 Bionic Apple A17 Pro – RAM: 6GB 8GB – Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB (NVMe) 256GB/512GB/1TB (NVMe) – Rear cameras: 48MP (f/1.8 aperture, sensor-shift OIS), 12MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 120-degree FoV, macro photography), 12MP (telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 3x optical zoom) 48MP (f/1.78 aperture, second-gen sensor-shift OIS), 12MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 120-degree FoV, macro photography), 12MP (telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 5x optical zoom) – Front cameras: 12MP (f/1.9 aperture) + TrueDepth 12MP (f/1.9 aperture) + TrueDepth – Battery: 4,323mAh 4,422mAh – Charging: 20W wired, 15W MagSafe wireless, 7.5W Qi wireless (charger not included) 20W wired, 15W MagSafe wireless, 7.5W Qi wireless, reverse wired charging (charger not included) – Dimensions (unfolded): 160.7 x 77.6 x 7.9mm 159.9 x 76.7 x 8.25mm – Weight: 240 grams 221 grams – Connectivity: 5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.3 – Security: Advanced facial scanning Advanced facial scanning – OS: iOS 16 (upgradable) iOS 17 – Price: $1,099 $1,199 – Buy: Apple (no longer officially available) Apple
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max: Design
These two devices look extremely similar. The bezels on the iPhone 15 Pro Max are slightly thinner, and there’s also an Action Button on the left side, instead of a mute switch. Another difference you may notice are the slightly rounded sides on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and the Type-C port at the bottom. Those are all the differences that you need to look for to see, at first glance, they’re almost identical design-wise.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is a lot more comfortable to hold, though. Those rounded sides help in that regard, not to mention that the latest flagship is noticeably lighter. It weighs 221 grams compared to 240 grams of the iPhone 14 Pro Max. They’re almost the same size, though. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is ever so slightly shorter, narrower, and thicker. Both phones have a pill-shaped cutout at the top of the display, and uniform bezels.
The camera setups on the back look the same, design-wise, but they’re different, of course. The iPhone 15 Pro Max comes with an improved main camera, not to mention a brand new 5x telephoto camera with a tetraprism lens. We’ll talk more about that in the camera department, though. Both smartphones offer IP68 certification for water and dust resistance, and both feature glass on the back. The iPhone 14 Pro Max comes with a frame made out of stainless steel, while Apple used titanium for the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max: Display
The displays on these two phones look the same on paper, and quite frankly, they’re also the same when you look at them side-by-side. The same goes for usage. We’re looking at a 6.7-inch 2796 x 1290 LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display on both sides. That display is flat, and has a 120Hz refresh rate. HDR10 content is supported by the display, and the same goes for Dolby Vision, actually.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
Even the brightness is the same on both sides. Both smartphones/displays support up to 2,000 nits of brightness. We’re looking at a 19.5:9 aspect ratio on these two displays, and a 460 PPI. Apple used its Ceramic Shield glass protection on both of these smartphones. Always-On Display (AOD) functionality is also supported.
The panel that Apple used on both of these smartphones is outstanding. It is very vivid, the viewing angles are very good, and the sharpness is also where it should be. You’ll also be glad to hear that there are no issues with touch response either. Even the brightness is very high, so you should not have any issues using the devices outdoors, even in direct sunlight. The two panels are the same, so that should not be a differentiating factor for you.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max: Performance
The iPhone 14 Pro Max is fueled by the Apple A16 Bionic. That’s the same chip that fuels this year’s vanilla models. It’s a great processor. The phone also includes 6GB of RAM and up to 1TB of NVMe storage. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is fueled by the Apple A17 Pro, and comes with 8GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of storage.
Things get rather interesting in the performance department. The Apple A17 Pro is an outstanding chip capable of running AAA games on an iPhone, but… at the time of writing this, the iPhone 15 series has some issues with overheating. Plenty of reports surfaced, and based on analysts, the titanium build has something to do with that, in addition to the lack of better cooling, and probably also space inside the phones. Those are only analyses, and that may not even be a problem by the time you’re reading this. Apple could tone down the performance of the SoC, to battle this, or something of the sort. The performance in general is really good on both phones, though, they’re very smooth and everything related to that.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max: Battery
You’ll find a 4,323mAh battery inside the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and a 4,441mAh battery inside of its successor. Those are very good battery sizes for their sizes, and having in mind these are iPhones we’re talking about. The iPhone 14 Pro Max’s battery life wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t on the same level as the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Well, you’ll be glad to know that the iPhone 15 Pro Max does improve things.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is on the same level as the iPhone 13 Pro Max, basically. It will provide you with an extra hour of screen-on-time compared to the iPhone 14 Pro Max, on average, at least based on our experience. Perhaps even more, depending on what you do on your phone. Crossing that 8-hour screen-on-time mark is a possibility. Do note that if you’re pushing games on the phone, or something of the sort, will make the phone drain quicker, of course. Also, your experience may be considerably different than ours.
What about charging? Well, it’s not faster on the new model. You’re still getting 20W wired, 15W MagSafe wireless, and 7.5W Qi wireless charging on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the same as on the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Qi2 charging is coming to the new model, though, and possibly even the old one. The iPhone 15 Pro Max can charge other devices, though, unlike its predecessor. Do note that neither phone comes with a charger in the box.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max: Cameras
Both phones feature a 48-megapixel main camera, but the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a larger sensor on the inside. It also has several other camera perks. There’s also that 5x telephoto camera with a tetraprism lens on the phone. The iPhone 14 Pro Max is limited to 3x optical zoom, compared to 5x optical offering on the new model. Their ultrawide cameras are pretty much the same hardware-wise, each includes a 12-megapixel unit with a 120-degree FoV.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
The iPhone 15 Pro Max not only has a better main camera sensor, but it also takes 24-megapixel pictures by default. It provides more details, if you Pixel peep, and the colors it provides are better than what the iPhone 14 Pro Max has to offer. There’s also that feature where the phone takes plenty of depth info, so that you can change the focus after you took the shot. That only works when the phone recognizes that you’re taking a portrait shot, though, or when you use tap to focus.
Both smartphones do a nice job in low light, but the colors are better on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and there’s also a bit more detail in the shots provided by it. The video has also been improved now, and you can even shoot LOG video directly to an external SSD, if you want. All in all, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is an improvement in the camera department, in many ways.
Audio
Both of these smartphones have a set of stereo speakers. They’re both very good, though the ones on the iPhone 15 Pro Max do sound a bit richer, at least to us. It could be just a placebo effect, though, they’re very similar.
You will not find a 3.5mm headphone jack on either of the two phones. You can always take advantage of their ports on the bottom to hook up a pair of wired headphones. Do note that they have different ports, though. If you prefer wireless audio, Bluetooth 5.3 is supported on both smartphones.
At Connect 2023, Meta rolled out a slew of AI editing tools and features, introducing AI stickers and image editing capabilities like restyle and backdrop. The showstopper, however, was the unveiling of Meta’s new AI assistant, set to join WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram in the coming days. But, the method used to train this assistant might not sit well with everyone.
According to Reuters, Meta used public Facebook and Instagram posts to train portions of its new Meta AI virtual assistant. In an interview, the company’s top policy executive assured Reuters that they excluded private posts shared exclusively with family and friends to respect consumers’ privacy.
Nick Clegg, Meta’s President of Global Affairs, shared that private chats on messaging services were also off the training data table. Meta took steps to filter private details from public datasets used for training. Clegg highlighted that Meta “tried to exclude datasets that have a heavy preponderance of personal information.” Clegg also said that the “vast majority” of the data used by Meta for training was publicly available. For instance, LinkedIn was deliberately omitted due to privacy concerns.
Clegg’s remarks come amidst criticism directed at tech companies, including Meta, OpenAI, and Google, for using internet-scraped information without proper authorization to train their AI models. These models ingest massive amounts of data to summarize information and generate imagery.
Meta developed the assistant using a custom model based on the Llama 2 large language model, publicly released in July, and a new model named Emu, designed for generating images in response to text prompts. The product is set to produce text, audio, and imagery, accessing real-time information through a partnership with Microsoft’s Bing search engine.
Public Facebook and Instagram posts, containing both text and photos, played a role in training Meta AI. Emu focused on image generation, while chat functions were based on Llama 2, enhanced with publicly available and annotated datasets. Clegg said that safety restrictions were implemented to prevent the creation of photo-realistic images of public figures.
Addressing concerns about copyrighted materials, Clegg anticipates potential litigation, especially regarding whether creative content falls under the existing fair use doctrine. While Meta believes it does, Clegg acknowledges this might unfold in legal battles.
Bethesda is a major console/PC gaming company, but it’s no stranger to the mobile market. If you remember games like Fallout: Shelter and Elder Scrolls: Blades, you’ve seen some of what the company makes. Well, there’s a new game on the Play Store (via Android Police) called Elder Scrolls: Castles. It’s on early access… but you just can’t access it yet.
So, what is Elder Scrolls: Castles?
This game is a mixture of different game genres actually. The most apparent one is the Fallout Shelter-style civilization builder. In the castle, you’ll build different rooms and chambers to perform tasks and house your citizens. Some rooms will produce resources for your people to live off of. We expect it to be pretty similar to Fallout: Shelter, so if you’ve played that game, you should feel at home.
This breaks away from the Fallout: Shelter, however, as you’re tasked with ruling your kingdom. As the ruler, you’re in charge of ruling the people and making essential decisions to govern them. The decisions you make will have an impact on their opinion of you. If you govern them well, it ensures a long life for you. However, if you upset them, there’s a chance the people will plot an assassination.
If you get tired of city-building and ruling your people, you’ll be able to do some battles to let off some steam. You’re able to create heroes, deck them out with powerful gear and weapons, and send them off to battle. You’ll use these battles to rack up on valuables and resources to help make your kingdom grow.
An interesting mechanic of the game is the time system. Each day in the real world equates to a year in the game.
How can I play this game?
This is where we have to tell you some bad news. Elder Scrolls: Castles is currently on early access. While you’re able to play most early-access games on the Play Store, this game’s early-access slots are full. So, you won’t be able to download the game. It won’t even show up for you if you type in the title of the game. You can only access it if you go to Bethesda’s page and look for the game.
As time goes on, the company will launch the game, so you’ll be able to start ruling your kingdom.
OnePlus has a new pair of TWS earbuds in the pipeline. Called the OnePlus Buds 3, the upcoming wireless earphones will succeed the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 launched alongside the OnePlus 11 earlier this year. While we don’t yet have a launch date for the new pair, a major leak has revealed its design. Renders shared by trusted leakster OnLeaks show the buds in all their glory. We also have the key specifications of the earphones.
Major leak reveals the design and specs of the OnePlus Buds 3
The OnePlus Buds 3 will look mostly the same as its predecessor, or even the original OnePlus Buds Pro. The company hasn’t changed the shape and design but has given a metallic finish to the new earphones. The positioning of the microphone holes is also unchanged. The upcoming buds will reportedly be lighter, though. The report says each bud will weigh 4.77 grams, down from 4.9 grams each OnePlus Buds Pro 2 weighed.
The case is also said to be lighter but we don’t have a figure to share. The current model’s case weighs 47.3 grams. Speaking of the case, OnePlus hasn’t altered its design either. The cuboidal case has a charging indicator on the front and features the “Dynaudio” branding on top, along with the “OnePlus” branding. The company teamed up with the Danish audio firm for sound tuning since the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 earlier this year.
As far as specs are concerned, the OnePlus Buds 3 will reportedly feature 10.4mm woofers and 6mm tweeters. It will retain the previous model’s 48dB Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and IP55 dust and water resistance. The case will have an IPX4 rating for water resistance, with no official dust resistance. OnePlus has equipped the buds with Bluetooth v5.3, Google Fast pair, and dual connection support, the report states.
The new OnePlus TWS earphones pack a 58mAh battery each, capable of delivering up to nine hours of playtime without ANC enabled and six hours with ANC enabled. The case houses a 520mAh battery to extend the playtime by another 24 hours without ANC and 16 hours with ANC. The buds support fast charging, with ten minutes of charging giving you five hours of listening time. The OnePlus Buds 3 will presumably support wireless charging.
OnePlus might launch the new buds early next year
This leak may have bared it all about the OnePlus Buds 3, but the new TWS earphones still appear a few months away. The company is expected to launch them alongside the OnePlus 12 series flagship smartphones in January 2024. The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 arrived alongside the OnePlus 11 in January this year. A tablet dubbed the OnePlus Pad Go is also rumored to be part of next year’s launch event.
Popular tech influencer Marques Brownlee recently noted that he only experienced overheating on the iPhone 15 Pro while listening to music and browsing through Instagram. Brownlee explained how the overheating manifests itself on the phone. “For like 5 minutes the phone just gets really hot and blasts through like 5% battery,” he said. “And then it’s fine again afterward.”
Is the Instagram app the sole reason why the iPhone 15 Pro models are warming up to triple-digit temps?
A YouTube video from tech reviewer @iPhonedo also blames Instagram for the overheating. But unlike most of the other complaints, @iPhonedo says that this issue started for him when he updated his iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, and iPad Pro to iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. Like Brownlee, Faruk, the gentleman behind @iPhonedo, says that while his devices were overheating, the battery life on each device was declining at a rate of 1 percentage point per minute. As a result, sitting on Instagram doing nothing for 10 minutes took 10 percentage points off the battery life.
In his video, he showed how the temperature of the iPhone 15 Pro Max rose from approximately 80 degrees Fahrenheit to over 96 degrees lowering the battery life by a few percentage points. Faruk says that this happens only with the Instagram app. Since he needs Instagram for his work, deleting the app is not a viable solution for him but he found that if he goes into Low Power Mode while using Instagram, it helps a little bit with the heat although the battery still drains.
A former Facebook employee says that Meta drains phone batteries on purpose
Faruk also says that he has been unsuccessful in trying to catch Instagram’s attention about this and also makes it clear that this is not an iPhone problem, but is an Instagram problem. Why is this only happening with Instagram? It might be useful to remember that at the beginning of this year, former Facebook employee George Hayward, a data scientist, claimed that Facebook and the Messenger app drain phone batteries on purpose which is part of a process he says Meta calls “negative testing.”
Hayward claims that it is used to test features on an app or to see how an image might load. He also states that he was fired by Meta after refusing to go along with “negative testing.” His lawyer argued in a court filing that was later withdrawn that draining users’ smartphone batteries can be risky for users, especially “in circumstances where they need to communicate with others, including but not limited to police or other rescue workers.”
Hayward had to drop the lawsuit because his employment contract with Meta forced him to go to arbitration instead. And speaking of Meta, Hayward’s experience does relate to Instagram since the company owns the app along with Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp.
If you don’t need to use Instagram, you can quickly test Faruk’s theory by deleting Instagram for a few days to see if your iPhone 15 Pro series model stops heating up. If it continues to get hot despite the removal of the Instagram app, then the social media site is off the hook and you can continue to use it. You might also want to try putting your iPhone in Low Power Mode while using Instagram to see if that helps.
To enable Low Power Mode go to Settings > Battery and toggle on Low Power Mode. This will stop apps from updating in the background.
An aerospace firm in Spain is the target of an organized attack where scammers contact the company’s employees as recruiters from LinkedIn.
The activity is attributed to Lazarus as part of its Operation DreamJob campaign.
The targets are lured into opening a file masqueraded as a coding challenge/quiz, but it is a malicious executable.
Attackers have used DLL side-loading to deliver payloads and employed four execution chains.
LightlessCan backdoor is the highlight of this attack, as it can evade detection from real-time security monitoring software and even scrutiny from cybersecurity experts.
LightlessCan is the predecessor of Lazarus’ signature RAT BlindingCan.
ESET Research has published a report describing a newly detected cyberespionage campaign from the Lazarus group. The report, authored by Peter Kálnai, revealed that Lazarus APT is exploiting the professional social networking platform LinkedIn in this campaign, which ESET believes is a part of the group’s Operation DreamJob.
Reportedly, the attackers are luring employees of a Spanish aerospace firm by impersonating recruiters from LinkedIn. Their targets are company employees using corporate computers for personal purposes. ESET’s primary discovery was that Lazarus used a previously undocumented backdoor in this campaign, dubbed LightlessCan.
It is noteworthy that since 2019, the Lazarus Group has displayed significant interest in the space industry. In November 2019, the group targeted the Indian space agency, coinciding with the country’s Chandrayaan-2 moon landing attempt.
The use of LinkedIn to target large firms is not new for the North Korea-based Lazarus group. In July 2022, it was revealed that the group used fake LinkedIn job offers to steal $625 million from the Ronin Network (RON), a blockchain network that underpins the popular crypto game Axie Infinity and Axie DAO.
Further probing into this new LightlessCan revealed that it is currently in its evolutionary phase and is a complex tool exhibiting highly sophisticated mechanisms in its design and operation. This indicates that threat actors continually advance their attack tactics and tools since LightlessCan is much more malicious than its predecessor, BlindingCan.
Initial access to the company’s network was achieved in 2022 through a spearphishing attack where the attackers masqueraded as Meta recruiters. They contacted the employees through the LinkedIn Messaging feature. The victim receives two coding challenges to complete the hiring process. This challenge has to be downloaded and executed on a company computer.
(Credit: ESET)
The first challenge is to display the phrase “Hello World!” The second challenge is printing a Fibonacci sequence where each number is the sum of the earlier two numbers. The victim is expected to self-compromise the system by luring them into executing a trojanized PDF viewer to view the job offer or connect with a trojanized SSL/VPN client that comes with an IP address and login credentials.
According to ESET, Multiple employees were targeted with this technique. The targets are requested to prove their proficiency in C++ programming by completing the challenge/quiz. The recruiter sends two executables titled Quiz1.exe and Quiz2.exe. These executables are delivered via two image files (Quiz1.iso and Quiz2.iso). These files are hosted on a third-party cloud storage platform and are basic command-line applications requiring user input.
During the final stages of the attack chain, the attacker infects the system with an HTTP(S) downloader, NickelLoader to deploy any program into the infected system’s memory.
Through NickelLoader, they deliver two RATs, the Lazarus’ flagship toolkit BlindingCan backdoor’s simplified version miniBlindingCan and the new tool ESET named LightlessCan. This is BlindingCan’s successor that supports up to 68 different commands and is indexed in a custom function table.
(Credit: ESET)
There are two versions of LightlessCan detected by ESET. The current version (1.0) supports only 48 commands with limited functionality. It is based on BlindingCan source code with certain indexing changes.
This new toolkit can mimic the functions of several native Windows commands, e.g. ping, ipconfig, systeminfo, sc, net, enable discreet execution within the RAT, and feature enhanced stealthiness that makes detecting/analyzing it a huge challenge.
Victor Acin, KrakenLabs Manager at Outpost24 commented on the issue and told Hackread.com that “As companies increase their cybersecurity capabilities, modernize their infrastructure, and consolidate their technology, it becomes more and more difficult to exploit vulnerabilities in the traditional way. This, as well as finding faults within the application logic and its programming that allow an attacker to gain access to that server, makes zero-days rare.”
Acin added “It’s not a surprise that threat actors resort to attacks that target the weakest component of the link – the user behind the screen. Social engineering attacks are the most common way to gain access to companies, and with the abundance of data about the employees from sources such as social media to leaks containing PII, it becomes simpler every day to put together a credible target package.”
For your information, Lazarus, aka Hidden Cobra, is a cyberespionage group from North Korea. It was first detected in 2009 and has successfully conducted several high-profile incidents, including the Sony Pictures Entertainment hack (2016) and the WanaCryptor aka WannaCry attack (2017).
Aerospace firms aren’t unusual targets for North Korea-sponsored APT groups like Lazarus as they want to access sensitive technology and gain money from cyberattacks to further the development of North Korea’s missiles.
The Samsung Galaxy S24+ design has now leaked in high-quality renders. Which brings the entire slate of Samsung’s new flagship variants out in the open. Over the past ten hours or so both Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Ultra have leaked in renders of their own, leaving just the Galaxy S24+ as the remaining design yet to be seen.
Thanks to OnLeaks and GizNext (via SamMobile)though, there’s now a clear picture of that version’s design as well. Just like with the Galaxy S24 the Galaxy S24+ will have some flat sides for the frame in addition to rounded corners and a triple rear camera array. The leak also shows the Galaxy S24+ coming in a very muted gray colorway. In addition to the renders, GizNext mentions that the Galaxy S24+ will have a 6.7-inch display with Samsung using a Dynamic AMOLED panel. The leak doesn’t mention anything about resolution or refresh rate though.
Depending on the region the Galaxy S24+ can run with two different chipsets. This can either be the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, or the Exynos 2100. As with past phones in the series, the Snapdragon should be coming to the US and most other regions. With the Exynos model heading to Europe and potentially elsewhere.
Galaxy S24+ leaked renders point to an under-display fingerprint scanner
This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as this is generally what most phones come with now. But if there was any doubt as to whether or not this would ever change, it doesn’t seem to be happening now. At least not with Samsung. Based on the renders there’s not fingerprint reader on the back or the sides like there are with a few phones. Instead it seems that Samsung will be sticking with what it’s been doing for the past few years.
The internet is not a safe place to be sometimes, and AI might have made it even less safe. Microsoft’s Bing AI utilizes generative AI to serve up search results. It’s a powerful tool to give you legitimate results, but it’s not perfect. According to a report from Malwarebytes (via Techradar), Bing AI results included a malicious ad.
This isn’t exactly a disaster, but it could lead to some issues regarding AI. Right now, all eyes are on AI companies to prove to us that this technology won’t cause abject harm. So, while this issue isn’t really one with AI, it definitely doesn’t help with the case.
A malicious ad was spotted on a Bing AI search result
Coming across malicious ads on the internet isn’t anything new. We’re all used to dodging dodgy ads while wading through search results. However, since this one was given through AI, it could prompt Microsoft to take a closer look at the results that Bing AI is serving up.
The software in question here was given when the researcher asked for the Advanced IP Scanner tool. This is a legitimate bit of software, but Bing gave the user a link to advenced-scanner[.]com. If you were in a rush to get your hands on the tool, you’d miss the intentional typo on the URL; the second “a” in advanced was replaced with an “e”.
When the researcher went to the site, they downloaded an installer for the “tool”. As you can well imagine, what they downloaded was NOT an IP scanning tool. What’s fortunate is that the scam seems to be defunct.
That’s good for this instance, but it’s not much in the grand scheme of things. It shows us all that AI technology is not perfect yet. While AI results are smart, they’re not always safe. This is why it’s always recommended to still use your common sense and intuition while on the internet even if AI is involved.
