August 23, 2025 - Red Dot Security

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Hello all,

Perhaps it is because I’m becoming jaded to all of the incessant histrionics about the latest new zero-day vulnerability, and the patches needed to fix flaws, and threat actors scoring big yet again; but there wasn’t much that stood out as headline newsworthy this week. There was a bit though, with Apple, Google, Mozilla, and the US Congress making the cut. So, onward.

Headline NEWS:

Apple released updates to fix a zero-day that was under active exploitation “in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals”. Cointelegraph reported that it was a zero-click exploit that could be used to access the wallet and compromise key storage or signing. Obviously, if you use any iFruit, update quickly. Also in Apple news, the United Kingdon relented, after the USA intervened, and dropped their demand for access to encrypted data on Apple devices. Apple has not yet said if they’ll reenable the ability to turn on Advanced Data Protection (ADP) for users subject to UK laws.
Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox patched high-severity vulnerabilities in the respective browsers this past week. If you haven’t restarted or updated your browser yet, now would be a really good time to do so.
US may soon have digital privateers if a bill introduced by Arizona lawmaker David Schweikert passes. The President would have the authority under the Scam Farms Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act of 2025 to issue letters of marque, a legal license to commit digital piracy on the high seas of electrons against those deemed enemies of the state that are engaged in cybercrime. Pirates of Internet could be coming to threat actors everywhere soon.

In Ransomware, Malware, and Vulnerabilities News:

Fake Mac fixes trick users into installing new Shamos infostealer. One of the most successful attacks against Windows users recently have been “Click-Fix” or fake CAPTCHA scams. They spoof legitimate internet pop-up windows that attempt to verify if you’re a human. Or tell you to copy and paste something to “fix” an issue. Internet lowlife figured out how to mimic CAPTCHA and support sites and convince people to copy and paste commands to their own computers, which then give the threat actors access, and ultimately, control of their workstations. Now, the same or similar tactic is spreading to Mac users. Internet searches for a problem will turn up a threat actor’s “helpful” site that shows commands that the user is told to paste into a terminal screen on their Mac. When they do, they download and install malware onto their own system. If you don’t understand what you’re being asked to copy and paste, don’t do it.

In Other News Events of Note and Interest:

Microsoft updates seem to be increasingly problematic, both in their online space, and local ones. Just a few days ago Big Redmond took down portions of office.com, and copilot due to a “configuration change”. The August Windows update patches now have at least three major issues reported and acknowledged; streaming functions are severely degraded, Solid State Drives (SSDs) are failing or disappearing entirely under heavy transfers, and windows reset and recovery was broken – just in time for Windows 10’s deprecation, when you resetting a PC to defaults prior to donation or disposal is ramping up. I know that it is impossible to test every possible combination of hardware and software out there, but this is getting a bit ridiculous.

Musings:

For most of North America, summer vacation time is nearly over. The last hurrah, Labor Day is only one week away, and if not already, schools across the nation will be open to students again. Millions of pupils will be engaged in the age-old process of Didactic Learning, and millions will be learning via Constructivist Learning, or more simply inquiry, discovery, and trial and error. No matter which method is used, remember to be kind to these young people. They are our future and in large part what they become, how they see themselves and the world for most of their lives all stems from how they perform, are perceived, and evaluated in this stage of life. They can be inspired to greatness or relegated to mediocrity; the voice of one key person could make all the difference in the world. What voice will you be in one of these scholars’ lives? Will it encourage and build, or tear down? The choice is up to you.

Headline NEWS

Ransomware, Malware, and Vulnerabilities News

Other News Events of Note and Interest

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