What happens when a 22-year-old with the right skills and the wrong incentives can summon multi-terabit floods of traffic at will? According to federal prosecutors, you get “Rapper Bot”—one of the most powerful DDoS-for-hire botnets ever seen—and a staggering number of attacks that battered targets across more than 80 countries. In a case that’s rattled…
If you think only “zero-days” change the game, here’s a wake-up call: a patched, six-year-old Cisco bug is helping a Russian intelligence unit burrow into enterprise networks across the globe. Not in ones or twos—at scale. The FBI and Cisco Talos warn that a sophisticated FSB-linked group—tracked as “Static Tundra,” also known as “Berserk Bear”…
If you’re reading this on the way to a flight, take a breath: aviation is one of the safest industries on Earth. But it’s also one of the most digital. Modern aircraft are flying data centers. Airports are small cities with sprawling networks. And air traffic control relies on real-time data that must be accurate…
You’ve probably scanned a QR code this week—maybe to read a menu, pay for parking, or check in at an event. It’s quick. It’s convenient. And it feels harmless. Here’s the twist: that square can be weaponized. Hackers are turning QR codes into stealthy attack vectors to steal logins, plant malware, and redirect you to…
If you’ve heard “blockchain is unhackable,” you’re not alone. It’s a comforting idea—and it’s also wrong. Blockchains power cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and decentralized apps, but attackers keep finding weak spots: majority (51%) attacks on small proof-of-work chains, smart contract bugs that drain treasuries, and cross-chain bridge exploits that move funds faster than an exchange withdrawal. Here’s…
If you woke up tomorrow to find a confidential board deck leaked online—or your CEO’s email sending “urgent” messages at 2 a.m.—would you assume a random hacker got lucky? Or something more targeted? Increasingly, the answer is neither lone-wolf criminals nor shadowy government spies. It’s cyber mercenaries: private operators who sell hacking-for-hire services to whoever…
Imagine every traffic light in your neighborhood flashing green at once. Or a water plant suddenly changing chemical levels without a technician touching a dial. It sounds cinematic, but it’s not fiction. As cities become “smart” — layering sensors, connectivity, and software on top of physical infrastructure — the attack surface for hackers grows fast….
What would you do if flipping a light switch did nothing? Or if your tap water smelled wrong, and the city told you not to drink it? That’s not a movie plot. It’s the kind of real-world disruption a cyberattack on critical infrastructure can cause. Power grids, water treatment plants, pipelines, and transportation networks now…
If you think cyberattacks are random acts of chaos, here’s the twist: most hacks are business decisions. Attackers run budgets. They look at ROI. They choose targets to maximize profit with minimal risk. It’s not personal—it’s economics. That lens changes everything. Once you see cybercrime as a global underground market—complete with supply chains, partnerships, and…
What if your biggest cybersecurity risk already has a badge, a laptop, and a login? That’s the uncomfortable reality of insider threats—when employees, contractors, or partners abuse access to steal, leak, sabotage, or simply mishandle sensitive data. And here’s the twist: in many of the worst breaches, the warning signs were there. They were just…
