Hackers tricked workers over the phone at Google, Adidas, and more to grant access to Salesforce data.

At the heart of multiple data breaches against sophisticated and robust companies, including Google, Adidas, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel, was a rudimentary attack method that required little technical finesse—making a phone call.

By disguising themselves as IT support personnel on the phone, hackers belonging to the group “ShinyHunters” successfully tricked the employees at several multinational corporations into handing over the data within their own Salesforce platforms. The attacks underscore the vulnerability that all businesses face—large or small—in preventing cyberattacks that begin through basic social engineering scams.

In a bizarre twist of irony, security researchers at Google Threat Intelligence Group (GITG) originally uncovered the hacking campaign in June, only to announce that Google itself had been hit by the very same tactic this week. Other victims in the hacking campaign include Allianz Life, the airline Qantas, and the jeweler Pandora.

The data breaches all leverage a Salesforce feature that allows users to connect to various, external apps. This functionality allows business owners and employees to, for instance, connect their Salesforce data to mapping tools to visualize the locations of a customer base, or to connect their Salesforce data with a newsletter platform to deliver email marketing campaigns to specific customer segments.  

In the attacks, the hackers trick employees into connecting to a fraudulent version of Salesforce’s “Data Loader” app, which lets users import, export, update, and delete large quantities of data that are stored or managed within Salesforce itself. The process for connecting to an external app is simple, as employees just enter an 8-digit code when prompted by Salesforce. But once ensnared in the phone scam, employees are tricked into entering an 8-digit code that will connect to a data exfiltration program owned and operated entirely by the hackers.

Once connected, the hackers are free to roam inside the company’s Salesforce data and steal what they see fit. Some attacks reportedly included an expansion by the hackers into other corporate online accounts, including Microsoft 365, which could reveal a company’s emails and other sensitive messages.

In the attack against Google, the hackers accessed a Salesforce “instance,” which is a term used to describe a company or user’s implementation of software and the data they manage through that software (Think of it like when a hacker breaches an online account and then pilfers all the data related to that account and what it can access). In the Google attack, the Salesforce instance “was used to store contact information and related notes for small and medium businesses.”

“Analysis revealed that data was retrieved by the threat actor during a small window of time before the access was cut off,” Google said. “The data retrieved by the threat actor was confined to basic and largely publicly available business information, such as business names and contact details.”

According to the outlet Bleeping Computer, the ShinyHunters cybercrime group is still stealing business data through this attack campaign. Once the hackers have the data, they then extort the victims to pay a hefty ransom or risk having the data exposed online.

****How to stay safe from the Salesforce scam****

Because this attack is so targeted—every corporate victim uses Salesforce—the defense strategies are clear and actionable. Here’s how you can help yourself and your staff in avoiding this attack.

*   **Audit your Salesforce access**. Ensure that the only employees or staff who have access to Salesforce are those who need to use it for their job. When there are fewer employees who can access Salesforce, there are fewer entry points for hackers.
*   **Train your staff**. Recognizing a social engineering scam is important for any workforce, no matter the size. Inform your employees and yourself about your current IT support provider so that any rogue phone calls are immediately caught.
*   **Use multifactor authentication (MFA) for important accounts**. The hackers in these attacks managed to gain access to other cloud applications like Microsoft 365. Protect all your employee accounts on sensitive platforms with MFA.

Social engineering scams are some of the most effective and serious threats to small businesses. It’s important to recognize them when they happen. And for all else, use always-on cybersecurity to protect your business from malware, viruses, and nefarious break-in attempts.

 How Google, Adidas, and more were breached in a Salesforce scam 

A jury has ruled that Meta accessed sensitive information from women's reproductive health tracking app Flo without consent.

A jury has ruled that Meta accessed sensitive information from a woman’s reproductive health tracking app without consent.

The app in question is called Flo Health. Developed in 2015 in Belarus to track menstrual cycles, it has evolved over the years as a tracking app for highly detailed, intimate aspects of women’s reproductive health.

Flo Health user Erica Frasco bought a class action lawsuit against the company in 2021, following a damning report about its privacy infractions by the Wall Street Journal in 2019.

Since she downloaded the app in 2017, Frasco, like its other users, regularly answered highly intimate questions. These ranged from the timing and comfort level of menstrual cycles, through to mood swings and preferred birth control methods, and their level of satisfaction with their sex life and romantic relationships. The app even asked when users had engaged in sexual activity and whether they were trying to get pregnant.

According to the complaint, Flo Health promised not to share this data with third parties unless it was necessary for the provision of its services. Even then, it would not only share information relevant to web hosting and app development, it promised. It would not include “information regarding your marked cycles, pregnancy, symptoms, notes and other information entered by \[users\]”, reported the original complaint.

Yet between 2016 and 2019 Flo Health shared that intimate data with companies including Facebook and Google, along with mobile marketing firm AppsFlyer, and Yahoo!-owned mobile analytics platform Flurry. Whenever someone opened the app, it would be logged. Every interaction inside the app was also logged, and this data was shared.

Flo Health didn’t impose rules on how these third parties could use the data. “In fact, the terms of service governing Flo Health’s agreement with these third parties allowed them to use the data for their own purposes, completely unrelated to services provided in connection with the App,” the complaint went on.

By December 2020, 150 million people were using the app, according to court documents. Flo had promised them that they could trust it.

Users were “trusting us with intimate personal information,” it said in its privacy policy. “We are committed to keeping that trust, which is why our policy as a company is to take every step to ensure that individual user’s data and privacy rights are protected.”

The Federal Trade Commission investigated these allegations and settled with Flo Health in 2021, imposing an independent review of its privacy policy and mandating that it not misrepresent its app.

The class action lawsuit claims common law invasion of privacy, breach of contract and implied contract, unjust enrichment, and breach of the Stored Communications Act and the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act. It seeks damages for plaintiffs, along with some of the company’s profit.

Google and Flo Health have both settled with plaintiffs already, but Meta has not. The jury ruled that Meta intentionally “eavesdropped on and/or recorded their conversations by using an electronic device,” and that it did so without consent.

This case is important on so many levels. Aside from general privacy concerns, women’s menstrual health is an area of particular contention after the US Supreme Court removed the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022. That year, Meta came under scrutiny for providing police with private message data between a mother and her daughter planning medication to abort a pregnancy.

We could simply say “Don’t use Flo Health”, but the app was trusted until it was found out. How many others are sharing data in similarly irresponsible ways? Increasingly, we lean toward simply not using apps to track sensitive data of this kind at all.

However, then there are the websites to worry about. A report by Propublica found that online pharmacies selling abortion pills were sharing sensitive data with Google and others. This could give law enforcement evidence in cases against women, it said. Technology promised us convenience, but its misuse also brings serious dangers to users.

**We don’t just report on threats – we help safeguard your entire digital identity**

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Protect your—and your family’s—personal information by using identity protection.

 Meta accessed women&#8217;s health data from Flo app without consent, says court 

Malwarebytes has been awarded the prestigious MRG Effitas Android 360° Certificate, one of the toughest independent tests in mobile security.

We’re excited to announce that MRG Effitas, a globally recognized security assessment firm, has awarded Malwarebytes the prestigious MRG Effitas Android 360° Certificate, one of the toughest independent tests in mobile security.   

Our mobile protection received the highest marks, achieving a near-perfect detection rate in MRG Effitas’ rigorous lab testing, reaffirming what our customers already know: Malwarebytes stops threats before they can cause harm. 

Our smartphones have become more than just a device; they are our digital lifelines. With this evolution comes an increased vulnerability to cyber threats.  

Our research showed that half of mobile users face scam attempts daily, and two-thirds admit it’s difficult to spot the difference between a scam and the real thing.  

The consequences can be serious: 52% of scam victims experienced financial loss or fraud, and 27% lost access to important accounts, devices, or files. 

There’s no doubt that people should be protecting their mobile devices in the same way they protect their computers.

Speaking about the award, our founder and CEO Marcin Kleczynski said:

> “At Malwarebytes, we know that mobile threats are constantly evolving—and so are we. Independent certifications like the MRG Effitas 360° Certificate aren’t just badges; they’re proof of our relentless focus on security, innovation, and protecting real people against real threats.” 

MRG Effitas’ Android 360° certification requires a 99% effectiveness rate, making it one of the most challenging benchmarks for mobile protection. MRG Effitas tests a variety of real-life scenarios and in-the-wild pieces of malware, like SMS payments, banking trojans and spyware, alongside benign samples to test for false positives. 

Chris Pickard, CEO of MRG Effitas, commented:

> “There are no participation trophies with this test; it’s a real achievement. Malwarebytes mobile security stood out in our real-world scenarios, confirming its ability to stop and block dangerous mobile threats.” 

We believe in earning trust the right way, with real-world results and transparent testing. That’s why we regularly engage with respected labs like MRG Effitas and AVLab.  

Recently, Malwarebytes Premium Security was also awarded the May 2025 AVLab Seal of Excellence for outstanding performance in its Advanced In-The-Wild Malware Test. 

But we’re not stopping there. We’re constantly looking at new ways to protect you while using your mobile devices. Here are some recent updates we’ve made to Malwarebytes Mobile Security: 

*   **Scam Guard:** We’ve enhanced Malwarebytes’ AI-powered scam detector to streamline the submission process for users, including a new welcome screen and media picker experience.  

*   **Advanced text filtering:** Recent updates to our text filtering feature have more than quadrupled efficacy for keeping scams and junk out of a user’s inbox**.** The Android solution now denotes URL shorteners for more advanced scanning and identification of malicious links. Additionally, text message content may now be flagged for suspicious concepts, such as romance themes or money requests, providing an additional layer of detection and protection.  

*   **Expanded Safe Browsing**: Our Safe Browsing feature now supports Brave, DuckDuckGo, Edge and Outlook—protecting users wherever they connect. (\*Android only) 

Download Malwarebytes Mobile Security and stay one step ahead of scams, spyware, and mobile malware.

 Malwarebytes earns MRG Effitas Android 360° Certificate for mobile threat detection  

The Hague, Netherlands, 7th August 2025, CyberNewsWire

**The Hague, Netherlands, August 7th, 2025, CyberNewsWire**

**Over 1.2 million internet-connected healthcare devices and systems with exposure** that endanger patient data shown in new research by European cybersecurity company Modat. Global findings showing Top 10 Regions (most results are across Europe, the USA, and South Africa): 

*   United States (174K+)  
*   South Africa (172K+)  
*   Australia (111K+)  
*   Brazil (82K+)  
*   Germany (81K+)  
*   Ireland (81K+)  
*   Great Britain (77K+)  
*   France (75K+)  
*   Sweden (74K+)  
*   Japan (48K+) 

Research was conducted using Modat’s unique internet scanning platform, Modat Magnify. Findings range across more than 70 different types of medical devices and systems including: MRI, CT, X-rays, DICOM viewers, Blood test systems, hospital management systems, and other accessible medical systems. **Multiple Reasons for Vulnerable Devices include** misconfigurations and insecure management settings, default or weak passwords, and unpatched vulnerabilities in firmware or software. 

Researchers discovered that many systems lacked even basic authentication, and some used factory-default or weak passwords like, “admin” or “123456.” In other cases, outdated or unpatched software left critical devices vulnerable to exploitation. These oversights not only compromise patient confidentiality but may also open a path for cybercriminals to carry out fraud, extortion, or network infiltration. 

One scan, for instance, exposed a patient’s chest and brain MRI results, complete with names and medical history. Records include highly sensitive information such as Personal Health Information (PHI) and Personal Identifying Information (PII). Their researchers have uncovered and identified brain scan images, complete with patients’ names and scan dates. Using the same method, they accessed a range of other medical images: eye exams from opticians, dental X-rays, blood test results, and even detailed lung MRIs commonly used to aid patients suffering from lung cancer. A wide number of exposed medical documents. All accessible via the open internet – and in some cases, dating back to previous years. 

Modat worked with international partners Health-ISAC and Dutch CERT Z-CERT to ensure responsible disclosure. 

The findings emphasize that cybersecurity in healthcare is not only an IT concern, but it’s a matter of patient safety. They immediately initiated the process of Responsible Disclosure by reaching out to affected organisations to assist them in fixing these security breaches through organizations like Z-CERT and Health-ISAC. Here is a link to the Health-ISAC post for their Monthly Threat Briefing (Monthly Threat Briefing) 

> These systems should never be exposed to the internet in the first place. Soufian El Yadmani, Modat CEO stated, “The question we should be asking is: Why are there MRI scanners with internet connectivity that lack proper security measures?” 

> El Yadmani went on to say, “The primary risk is unnecessary network exposure. These medical systems should only be connected to secure, properly configured networks when there is a legitimate clinical need for remote access. While remote MRI operations are becoming more common to address staffing shortages and provide specialized expertise, many systems remain exposed to the internet without adequate cybersecurity measures.” 

Recommendations in the research include the need for organizations to implement regular security assessments and maintain comprehensive asset inventories, as personnel changes and operational modifications can introduce configuration drift and security gaps. Continuous monitoring of network-connected devices is essential for identifying potential exposures, misconfigurations, or emerging vulnerabilities. By doing that, healthcare facilities can significantly reduce their cybersecurity risk profile. As remote medical services expand and connected devices become more common, securing digital infrastructure is critical. 

The full blog post, including data visualizations and a detailed breakdown of findings, is available at http://bit.ly/4moChak 

**About Modat** 

Founded in 2024, Modat is a European research-driven cybersecurity company focused on strengthening cyber resilience for individuals, companies, and governments. Our flagship platform, Modat Magnify, leverages the world’s largest Internet “Device DNA” dataset to fingerprint and catalogue every internet-connected device, creating a unique profile, enabling faster threat intelligence. 

Modat was created by researching, listening to, and directly experiencing the needs and challenges of security professionals. Our products enable the security community by giving access to unparalleled speed, contextualized data, and predictive insights. We are actively joining the fight to get ahead of cyber-attacks by narrowing the growing gap between digital threats and resilience. Join us to outpace and outlast. 

Users can learn more by visiting modat.io, and to access the platform, visit magnify.modat.io 

Visit: ​

*   LinkedIn
*   X 
*   BSky 

**Contact**

**Head of Marketing**  
**Bessie Schenk**  
**Modat**  
**\[email protected\]**

1.2 Million Healthcare Devices and Systems Found Exposed Online – Patient Records at Risk of Exposure, Latest Research from Modat

The Hague, Netherlands, August 7th, 2025, CyberNewsWire

Over 1.2 million internet-connected healthcare devices and systems with exposure that endangers patient data, as shown in new research by European cybersecurity company Modat. Global findings showing Top 10 Regions (most results are across Europe, the USA, and South Africa):

*   United States (174K+)
*   South Africa (172K+)
*   Australia (111K+)
*   Brazil (82K+)
*   Germany (81K+)
*   Ireland (81K+)
*   Great Britain (77K+)
*   France (75K+)
*   Sweden (74K+)
*   Japan (48K+)

Research was conducted using Modat’s unique internet scanning platform, Modat Magnify. Findings range across more than 70 different types of medical devices and systems, including: MRI, CT, X-rays, DICOM viewers, Blood test systems, hospital management systems, and other accessible medical systems.

Multiple Reasons for Vulnerable Devices include misconfigurations and insecure management settings, default or weak passwords, and unpatched vulnerabilities in firmware or software.

Researchers discovered that many systems lacked even basic authentication, and some used factory-default or weak passwords like “admin” or “123456.” In other cases, outdated or unpatched software left critical devices vulnerable to exploitation. These oversights not only compromise patient confidentiality but may also open a path for cybercriminals to carry out fraud, extortion, or network infiltration.

One scan, for instance, exposed a patient’s chest and brain MRI results, complete with names and medical history. Records include highly sensitive information such as Personal Health Information (PHI) and Personal Identifying Information (PII). Their researchers have uncovered and identified brain scan images, complete with patients’ names and scan dates.

Using the same method, they accessed a range of other medical images: eye exams from opticians, dental X-rays, blood test results, and even detailed lung MRIs commonly used to aid patients suffering from lung cancer. A wide number of exposed medical documents. All accessible via the open internet – and in some cases, dating back to previous years.

Modat worked with international partners Health-ISAC and Dutch CERT Z-CERT to ensure responsible disclosure.

The findings emphasise that cybersecurity in healthcare is not only an IT concern, but it’s a matter of patient safety. They immediately initiated the process of Responsible Disclosure by reaching out to affected organisations to assist them in fixing these security breaches through organisations like Z-CERT and Health-ISAC. Here is a link to the Health-ISAC post for their Monthly Threat Briefing (Monthly Threat Briefing)

> These systems should never be exposed to the internet in the first place. Soufian El Yadmani, Modat CEO stated, “The question we should be asking is: Why are there MRI scanners with internet connectivity that lack proper security measures?”

> El Yadmani went on to say, “The primary risk is unnecessary network exposure. These medical systems should only be connected to secure, properly configured networks when there is a legitimate clinical need for remote access. While remote MRI operations are becoming more common to address staffing shortages and provide specialized expertise, many systems remain exposed to the internet without adequate cybersecurity measures.”

Recommendations in the research include the need for organisations to implement regular security assessments and maintain comprehensive asset inventories, as personnel changes and operational modifications can introduce configuration drift and security gaps.

Continuous monitoring of network-connected devices is essential for identifying potential exposures, misconfigurations, or emerging vulnerabilities. By doing that, healthcare facilities can significantly reduce their cybersecurity risk profile. As remote medical services expand and connected devices become more common, securing digital infrastructure is critical.

The full blog post, including data visualisations and a detailed breakdown of findings, is available at http://bit.ly/4moChak

****About Modat** **

Founded in 2024, Modat is a European research-driven cybersecurity company focused on strengthening cyber resilience for individuals, companies, and governments. Our flagship platform, Modat Magnify, leverages the world’s largest Internet “Device DNA” dataset to fingerprint and catalogue every internet-connected device, creating a unique profile, enabling faster threat intelligence.

Modat was created by researching, listening to, and directly experiencing the needs and challenges of security professionals. Our products enable the security community by giving access to unparalleled speed, contextualised data, and predictive insights. We are actively joining the fight to get ahead of cyberattacks by narrowing the growing gap between digital threats and resilience. Join us to outpace and outlast.

Users can learn more by visiting modat.io, and to access the platform, visit magnify.modat.io.

Visit: ​

*   LinkedIn
*   X
*   BSky 

**Contact**

Head of Marketing  
Bessie Schenk  
Modat  
\[email protected\]

Security researchers found a weakness in OpenAI’s Connectors, which let you hook up ChatGPT to other services, that allowed them to extract data from a Google Drive without any user interaction.

The latest generative AI models are not just stand-alone text-generating chatbots—instead, they can easily be hooked up to your data to give personalized answers to your questions. OpenAI’s ChatGPT can be linked to your Gmail inbox, allowed to inspect your GitHub code, or find appointments in your Microsoft calendar. But these connections have the potential to be abused—and researchers have shown it can take just a single “poisoned” document to do so.

New findings from security researchers Michael Bargury and Tamir Ishay Sharbat, revealed at the Black Hat hacker conference in Las Vegas today, show how a weakness in OpenAI’s Connectors allowed sensitive information to be extracted from a Google Drive account using an indirect prompt injection attack. In a demonstration of the attack, dubbed AgentFlayer, Bargury shows how it was possible to extract developer secrets, in the form of API keys, that were stored in a demonstration Drive account.

The vulnerability highlights how connecting AI models to external systems and sharing more data across them increases the potential attack surface for malicious hackers and potentially multiplies the ways where vulnerabilities may be introduced.

“There is nothing the user needs to do to be compromised, and there is nothing the user needs to do for the data to go out,” Bargury, the CTO at security firm Zenity, tells WIRED. “We’ve shown this is completely zero-click; we just need your email, we share the document with you, and that’s it. So yes, this is very, very bad,” Bargury says.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment about the vulnerability in Connectors. The company introduced Connectors for ChatGPT as a beta feature earlier this year, and its website lists at least 17 different services that can be linked up with its accounts. It says the system allows you to “bring your tools and data into ChatGPT” and “search files, pull live data, and reference content right in the chat.”

Bargury says he reported the findings to OpenAI earlier this year and that the company quickly introduced mitigations to prevent the technique he used to extract data via Connectors. The way the attack works means only a limited amount of data could be extracted at once—full documents could not be removed as part of the attack.

“While this issue isn’t specific to Google, it illustrates why developing robust protections against prompt injection attacks is important,” says Andy Wen, senior director of security product management at Google Workspace, pointing to the company’s recently enhanced AI security measures.

Bargury’s attack starts with a poisoned document, which is shared to a potential victim’s Google Drive. (Bargury says a victim could have also uploaded a compromised file to their own account.) Inside the document, which for the demonstration is a fictitious set of notes from a nonexistent meeting with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Bargury hid a 300-word malicious prompt that contains instructions for ChatGPT. The prompt is written in white text in a size-one font, something that a human is unlikely to see but a machine will still read.

In a proof of concept video of the attack, Bargury shows the victim asking ChatGPT to “summarize my last meeting with Sam,” although he says any user query related to a meeting summary will do. Instead, the hidden prompt tells the LLM that there was a “mistake” and the document doesn’t actually need to be summarized. The prompt says the person is actually a “developer racing against a deadline” and they need the AI to search Google Drive for API keys and attach them to the end of a URL that is provided in the prompt.

That URL is actually a command in the Markdown language to connect to an external server and pull in the image that is stored there. But as per the prompt’s instructions, the URL now also contains the API keys the AI has found in the Google Drive account.

Using Markdown to extract data from ChatGPT is not new. Independent security researcher Johann Rehberger has shown how data could be extracted this way, and described how OpenAI previously introduced a feature called “url\_safe” to detect if URLs were malicious and stop image rendering if they are dangerous. To get around this, Sharbat, an AI researcher at Zenity, writes in a blog post detailing the work, that the researchers used URLs from Microsoft’s Azure Blob cloud storage. “Our image has been successfully rendered, and we also get a very nice request log in our Azure Log Analytics which contains the victim’s API keys,” the researcher writes.

The attack is the latest demonstration of how indirect prompt injections can impact generative AI systems. Indirect prompt injections involve attackers feeding an LLM poisoned data that can tell the system to complete malicious actions. This week, a group of researchers showed how indirect prompt injections could be used to hijack a smart home system, activating a smart home’s lights and boiler remotely.

While indirect prompt injections have been around almost as long as ChatGPT has, security researchers worry that as more and more systems are connected to LLMs, there is an increased risk of attackers inserting “untrusted” data into them. Getting access to sensitive data could also allow malicious hackers a way into an organization's other systems. Bargury says that hooking up LLMs to external data sources means they will be more capable and increase their utility, but that comes with challenges. “It’s incredibly powerful, but as usual with AI, more power comes with more risk,” Bargury says.

A Single Poisoned Document Could Leak ‘Secret’ Data Via ChatGPT

A SecAlliance report reveals Chinese smishing syndicates compromised 115M US payment cards by bypassing MFA to exploit Apple Pay and Google Wallet.

A new report from cybersecurity firm SecAlliance has revealed a highly organized criminal operation run by Chinese syndicates that may have compromised as many as 115 million payment cards in the United States. According to the research, these attacks, which occurred between July 2023 and October 2024, have resulted in billions of dollars in losses. 

The report, published on August 5, highlights a fundamental change in how these hackers operate. They turn stolen credit card details into digital tokens for mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Wallet. This shows a shift from basic scams involving text messages pretending to be from delivery companies or toll services to large-scale, professional criminal enterprise. 

Researchers explain that a key figure, operating under the name “Lao Wang,” created one of the first phishing-as-a-service platforms. This basically created a marketplace on a Telegram channel called ‘dy-tongbu,’ which grew from around 2,800 members to over 4,400 quickly, with its focus shifting from simple text messages to creating fake e-commerce websites that were advertised on platforms like Meta, TikTok, and Google.

How Wallets are Exploited (Source: SecAlliance)

According to the company’s report, the syndicate’s operations have even evolved to include selling pre-loaded devices with multiple stolen cards, and most recently, attacking brokerage accounts to steal from the financial sector.

The core of the scam is ‘smishing,’ or phishing through text messages. Hackers send a text message with a link that leads to a fake, mobile-friendly website. Victims are tricked into entering their personal information, and then their payment card details. 

Smishing lure messages (Source: SecAlliance)

Researchers monitored over 32,000 fake websites to understand the scale of the operation. They also found a network of other criminals, including those known as Chen Lun, PepsiDog (also known as Xiū Gou), and Darcula.

The crucial part of the scam is that the hackers then bypass multi-factor authentication, a security step that usually requires a one-time code. They do this to add the stolen payment card to their own digital wallets, such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet. 

> _“The defining characteristic of these operations is their deliberate and systematic exploitation of digital wallet provisioning processes, transforming stolen payment card credentials into tokenized assets within Apple Pay and Google Wallet ecosystems. This approach effectively bypasses traditional fraud detection systems that rely on monitoring direct card usage patterns, creating a new category of financial crime that existing security frameworks struggle to address.”_
> 
> SecAlliance

To avoid triggering fraud alerts, the operators use a clever strategy of adding 4 to 7 cards per device for US victims and a different number, 7 to 10, for UK victims. This allows them to use the stolen cards for contactless payments and online shopping without triggering security alerts that traditional fraud detection systems would normally catch.

The report states that this new approach improves payment card fraud to such a level that makes it harder than ever for banks to spot the theft. Nevertheless, the full report is available for download on SecAlliance’s website and is highly recommended, as it contains much more information about these scams.

Chinese Groups Stole 115 Million US Cards in 16-Month Smishing Campaign

### Duplicate Advisory
This advisory has been withdrawn because it is a duplicate of GHSA-mh55-gqvf-xfwm. This link is maintained to preserve external references.

### Original Description
Middleware causes a prohibitive amount of heap allocations when processing malicious preflight requests that include a Access-Control-Request-Headers (ACRH) header whose value contains many commas. This behavior can be abused by attackers to produce undue load on the middleware/server as an attempt to cause a denial of service.

1.  GitHub Advisory Database
2.  GitHub Reviewed
3.  GHSA-vh9x-phq6-fx54

**Duplicate Advisory: Denial of service via malicious preflight requests in github.com/rs/cors**

Low severity GitHub Reviewed Published Aug 6, 2025 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Aug 6, 2025

Withdrawn This advisory was withdrawn on Aug 6, 2025

**Package**

gomod github.com/rs/cors (Go)

**Affected versions**

\>= 1.9.0, < 1.11.0

**Duplicate Advisory**

This advisory has been withdrawn because it is a duplicate of GHSA-mh55-gqvf-xfwm. This link is maintained to preserve external references.

**Original Description**

Middleware causes a prohibitive amount of heap allocations when processing malicious preflight requests that include a Access-Control-Request-Headers (ACRH) header whose value contains many commas. This behavior can be abused by attackers to produce undue load on the middleware/server as an attempt to cause a denial of service.

**References**

*   https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-47908
*   rs/cors#170
*   rs/cors#171
*   https://pkg.go.dev/vuln/GO-2024-2883

Published by the National Vulnerability Database

Aug 6, 2025

Published to the GitHub Advisory Database

Aug 6, 2025

GHSA-vh9x-phq6-fx54: Duplicate Advisory: Denial of service via malicious preflight requests in github.com/rs/cors

New research reveals that a malicious traffic distribution system (TDS) is run not by "hackers in hoodies," but by a series of corporations operating in the commercial digital advertising industry.

VexTrio Cybercrime Outfit Run by Legit Ad Tech Firms

Florida firm IMDataCenter exposed 38GB of sensitive data including names, emails and ownership info. At least one hacker accessed and downloaded the files.

Cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler discovered a major data leak at a Florida-based data solutions provider, IMDataCenter. The leak exposed a massive database containing personal details of users and client companies.

The misconfigured database, with CSV and PDF files, contained a staggering 38GB of information from 10,820 records and was left wide open on the internet without any password protection or encryption.

This leak is particularly alarming because of the type of data exposed. The files contained a vast amount of personally identifiable information (PII), including names, physical addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. What makes this data dangerous is that it also had sensitive personal details like lifestyle information and home or vehicle ownership.

This valuable, verified information is typically used by IMDataCenter to help clients in various industries, from healthcare and insurance to political campaigns, with their marketing efforts.

The scale of the company’s operation is extensive, with its data library containing details on over 260 million individuals and 600 million email addresses. In the wrong hands, however, this data becomes a perfect tool for criminals.

“With each CSV document containing the data of thousands of individuals, it is difficult to calculate the total number of those who may have potentially had their data exposed,” Fowler noted in the blog post.

The exposure of such a detailed dataset poses significant risks for the victims. The personal details can be used to launch highly convincing phishing scams and other fraudulent schemes.

For example, a scammer could use a person’s verified home address and phone number to make a fraudulent call or email seem more legitimate. This breach could also lead to an increased risk of identity theft and financial crimes as criminals build detailed profiles on their targets.

Upon discovering the exposed data, Fowler sent a “responsible disclosure notice” to IMDataCenter. The database was quickly restricted from public access and is no longer available. A company representative responded, stating, “Data security is really important to us too and really appreciate you sharing this information with us. We are working to secure the information ASAP.”

While the records appeared to belong to IMDataCenter, it remains unknown if the company directly managed the database or if a third-party contractor was responsible.

****However, There’s More to The Story…****

In mid-July 2025, Hackread.com was contacted by a BreachForum user known as ThinkingOne. They claimed to have accessed IMDataCenter’s AWS bucket, which held around 40 GB of data, expanding to roughly 75 GB once uncompressed, with new records being added daily.

ThinkingOne said they had tried to alert IMDataCenter after spotting the leak but never received a response. Eventually, they downloaded all the data available at that time, which included 20 million unique email addresses and 37 million phone numbers.

They also shared that they were able to extract files revealing the names of some of IMDataCenter’s clients, along with sensitive data such as Social Security Numbers (over 50,000) and dates of birth. While the clients weren’t directly named, folder and file names pointed to organizations like airlines, healthcare providers, universities, car dealerships and others.

Hackread.com has chosen not to name these clients to protect their privacy. However, this does not change the fact that IMDataCenter’s exposed data has already been downloaded by at least one third party.

List of files accessed by the hacker and their messages on Telegram on 11th of July, 2025 (Image credit: Hackread.com)

It’s also important to mention that ThinkingOne is known for previous data-related leaks, including the release of 2.8 billion X (formerly Twitter) user profile data in March 2025.

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