A new UEFI bootkit named BlackX, deployed in an espionage campaign in early 2026, exploited the old Baton Drop vulnerability to bypass Secure Boot and load a malicious driver designed to interfere with security solutions from Kaspersky and Avast. The operation has been attributed with medium confidence to APT41, a Chinese state-sponsored threat group also known as Brass Typhoon, Wicked Panda, and Barium. It was discovered in early 2026 and targeted diplomatic agencies in Central Asia, particularly in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Kaspersky researchers analyzed the BlackX bootkit and found similarities with BlackLotus, which has been circulating on hacker forums since October 2022 and leveraged the Baton Drop vulnerability (CVE-2022-21894) to bypass Secure Boot protection. ESET confirmed in March 2023 that BlackLotus exploited Baton Drop, and at the time it could compromise even fully patched Windows 11 systems.
Researchers remotely disabled a vulnerable updater in the abandoned Time4Popcorn app, a fork of the Popcorn Time BitTorrent client, closing a security flaw that could have allowed attackers to execute malicious code with elevated privileges on millions of computers.
Microsoft says Teams will begin using AI-powered phishing detection in early November 2026 to detect malicious behavior in messages. The rollout is part of a targeted release phase expected to end by mid-November, with the new security feature likely reaching general availability worldwide between early and mid-December. Microsoft first revealed in a Microsoft 365 Roadmap entry last week that the AI-powered phishing detection will use conversation context (without retaining message content) to identify phishing and suspicious behavior in higher-risk messaging scenarios, such as external first-contact chats. "Microsoft Teams is introducing AI-powered, context-aware phishing detection to help identify phishing, social engineering, impersonation attempts, and deceptive intent," the company said in a Microsoft 365 Message Center update on Wednesday.
Diplomatic organizations in Central Asia have been targeted by a sophisticated new Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) bootkit called BlackX. The activity, which singled out diplomatic entities in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan in early 2026, is suspected to be orchestrated by a China-linked state-sponsored hacking group known as APT41, Kaspersky said in a technical report
Ruby has released versions 4.0.9, 3.4.12, and 3.3.13 to fix three bugs in Onigmo, the regular expression engine built into the language. The bugs lie behind four critical security flaws that GitLab patched over the past month. GitLab found that a specially crafted pattern could corrupt memory while Ruby compiles it, potentially leading to code execution on its own servers. Ruby says any
Microsoft says Windows Server 2016 will stop receiving security updates after it reaches the end of support in January 2027. Windows Server 2016 was released in September 2016 at Microsoft's annual Ignite conference and reached general availability one month later, on October 12, 2016 It reached the end of mainstream support in January 2022, and extended support will end in roughly three months, on January 12. "The January 2027 Windows security update will be the last update available for this version. After this date, devices running Windows Server 2016 will no longer receive monthly security updates containing protections from the latest security threats," Microsoft said in a message center update. "This end of updates in 2027 applies to all editions of Windows Server 2016: Datacenter, Essentials, MultiPoint Premium and Standard."
American clinical laboratory company Quest Diagnostics disclosed that patient records have been exposed after a threat actor gained unauthorized access to its Quanum LSM system. The company learned about the breach on October 21 and deployed its incident response protocol "to contain the activity, assess and investigate the nature and scope of the incident and implement appropriate remedial measures." “On October 21, 2026, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated learned of unauthorized access to its Quanum LSM system, which certain clients use to place test orders, receive and look up results,” the company says in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Quest Diagnostics is a major clinical laboratory company in the United States, providing diagnostic testing and services for a wide range of medical conditions.
AI agents can be manipulated through malicious emails, websites, and plugins into executing commands, stealing data, or deleting files using their legitimate permissions. Gen Digital explains how its Agent Trust Hub helps protect agents through skill verification, secure connectivity, and runtime controls that intercept dangerous act
Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a large-scale campaign that has targeted exposed network edge devices such as Fortinet FortiGate and Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect firewalls. "Artifacts from this investigation also indicate that operators in this campaign have obtained access to numerous organizations worldwide, and have attempted to further compromise some victims,
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) released security updates to patch 72 vulnerabilities in the Aruba Operating System (ArubaOS), including eight maximum-severity authentication bypass and code execution issues. Also known as AOS, ArubaOS powers Aruba Networking enterprise wireless infrastructure, including mobility conductors, access points, controllers, and gateway devices. The eight maximum-severity security flaws patched today affect multiple AOS-8 and AOS-10 software versions, and they can be exploited by remote threat actors without privileges through low-complexity attacks that don't require user interaction. HPE warned customers to patch these security issues as soon as possible and provided mitigation measures, including restricting access to AOS management interfaces. "Customers are strongly urged to patch their instances due to the complexity, breadth, and impact of these vulnerabilities," the company warned in a Thursday security advisory.
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