All posts tagged: Phishing

OpenAI Rolls Out ‘Advanced’ Security Mode for At-Risk Accounts

OpenAI Rolls Out ‘Advanced’ Security Mode for At-Risk Accounts

For anyone who fears their ChatGPT and Codex accounts might be targeted by attackers, OpenAI announced on Thursday that it is adding an optional new level of account protection that adds an extra layer of security. Dubbed Advanced Account Security, the feature enforces strict access controls that would make account takeover attacks very difficult. Such measures are not a new idea in the realm of account security. Google, for example, has offered its Advanced Protection account security tier for nearly a decade. But as mainstream AI services rapidly proliferate around the world, there is a pressing need for an array of basic protections to be put in place. OpenAI says the launch is part of its broader cybersecurity strategy announced earlier this month. Courtesy of OpenAi “People are turning to AI for deeply personal questions and increasingly high-stakes work,” the company said on Thursday in a blog post. “Over time, a ChatGPT account can hold sensitive personal and professional context, and sit at the center of connected tools and workflows. For some people, like journalists, …

The Feds Took Down a ‘Full-Service Cybercrime Platform’ Behind M in Phishing

The Feds Took Down a ‘Full-Service Cybercrime Platform’ Behind $20M in Phishing

Cybercrime is a big business, driving nearly $21 billion in fraud and theft in 2026 alone. The FBI and the Indonesian National Police took a chunk out of that late last week when the pair took down infrastructure vital to the W3LL phishing kit, a piece of software that could steal someone’s account credentials and data to bypass multi-factor authentication.  The W3LL phishing kit was best known for targeting Microsoft 365 accounts, but a crook could purchase it for $500 online and target any number of services. They could then deploy a website that captures a user’s login information and session data, giving the criminal access to the account without going through multi-factor authentication.  Read more: Best Password Manager in 2025 The cybersecurity firm Group-IB, which first documented the W3LL phishing kit in 2023, described it as an all-in-one phishing tool capable of making custom phishing tools, providing email lists, and granting access to compromised servers. Its developer also made a couple of bulk email spam tools called PunnySender and W3LL Sender before the W3LL phishing …

I tested NordVPN’s free scam checker with real phishing emails – here’s how it fared

I tested NordVPN’s free scam checker with real phishing emails – here’s how it fared

Just_Super/Getty Images Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways NordVPN’s new scam checker tool uses AI to detect suspicious content. You’ll need more than standalone services to stay safe from scams. This is how to spot scams that are becoming more convincing. Many of us have grown up with online scams, but the ones we encounter now are far removed from fake deposits, lottery wins, or messages from a long-lost relative who wants to bequeath you millions of dollars as an inheritance. Also: A Meta-powered investment scam is spreading across 25 countries – how to spot (and avoid) it Sure, these boilerplate phishing and spam emails exist — if you’re anything like me, hundreds of them fill my spam folder every week. But when a scammer takes the time to target their content and uses new technology to improve their lure emails, they can be difficult to spot. The problem is that AI can be abused to generate convincing scams that lack the hallmarks of past phishing campaigns. An estimated 82.6% of phishing emails …

Micro Softy 64: Old Time Phishing?

Micro Softy 64: Old Time Phishing?

Great programmers must know when they are being phished. Here’s this week’s Micro Softy to test your detection ability. The presentation of this Micro Softy is a bit longer than usual, so grab a cup of coffee and prepare to think. It was 1948. Wealthy investment banker, Geardown Geko, received a short letter from an anonymous source in April, immediately before hockey’s Stanley Cup finals. It read: “I am gifted with powers to predict the future. Because of circumstances, I am not able to personally profit from this gift. But I can share my forecasts with those who can. I know that this seems too good to be true, so I will in future correspondence prove I have this gift. I’m sharing these predictions with a short list of investors who, I hope, will at some point pay a fee for my foresight. Here is my first forecast of the future. The Toronto Maple Leafs will defeat the Detroit Red Wings to win hockey’s 1948 Stanley Cup.” A few days later, a second note was …