The financial landscape has undergone a monumental transformation, ushering in an era of digital lending that departs from traditional methodologies to embrace more streamlined and tech-driven processes. This paradigm shift has not only modernized the lending landscape but has also redefined how individuals access credit and financial services.

It’s January, and 2024 is already seeing two major security announcements with wide-scale implications for security teams. While these announcements may seem disconnected at first, they highlight the continued importance of good password hygiene, and ensuring that employees are protecting themselves online inside and outside of the workplace.

Recent ransomware attacks on European organizations have attracted significant attention, primarily due to the involvement of threat actors with Russian connections or origins. Of particular concern is the latest attack on an IT service provider, which has had a profound impact on Swedish companies, government agencies, and municipalities.

CVE-2024-0204, a critical authentication bypass exploit in Fortra's GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer (MFT) software, allows unauthorized users to create admin users and bypass authentication requirements. GoAnywhere MFT was previously targeted by the Clop ransomware group with CVE-2023-0669. Fortra released a security advisory for CVE-2024-0204 in January 2024 following their December 2023 patch release. Any use of Fortra GoAnywhere MFT versions predating 7.4.1 are affected by the vulnerability.

Welcome to the Threat Context Monthly blog series where we provide a comprehensive roundup of the most relevant cybersecurity news, and threat information from KrakenLabs, Outpost24’s cyber threat intelligence team.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a hot topic of discussion this year among tech and cybersecurity professionals and the wider public. With the recent advent and rapid advancement of a number of publicly available generative AI tools—ChatGPT, Dall-E, and others—the subject of AI is at the top of many minds. Organizations and individuals alike have adopted these tools for a wide range of business and personal functions.

How often do you scan QR codes without a second thought? What if that innocent decision could expose you to a growing threat in the digital landscape? QR codes—short for quick response codes—have soared in popularity, becoming essential in our digital era. Originally designed for industrial tracking, their ease of use has made them a go-to tool for information sharing.