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Category: encryption

Akira hackers disable EDR with Safe Mode, steal data but fail to encrypt

An Akira ransomware affiliate disabled the endpoint detection and response (EDR) solution on a compromised system by restarting the machine into Safe Mode with Networking.

The attack occurred on August 4 after the hacker obtained initial access through an exposed SonicWall VPN device without multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Managed detection and response (MDR) services company Huntress says that roughly two hours after a successful VPN login, the attacker connected to the domain controller via RDP, enumerated Active Directory users and computers, and then moved to an application server.

New quantum encryption method prevents ciphertext from being cloned

Digital security currently relies on difficult equations to protect data. For example, when you use a credit card online, the information is locked inside a math problem that would take a modern computer thousands of years to solve. However, if someone builds a powerful enough computer, that security breaks.

To make systems safer, there is a major shift toward quantum security. This is where the unbreakable laws of quantum physics can be used to protect data instead.

New DOUBLECUP ClickFix service hides malware in browser cache images

A new Russian loader-as-a-service named DOUBLECUP uses ClickFix attacks to hide malicious code in PNG images cached by victims’ browsers, ultimately delivering CountLoader to Windows and macOS devices and a new remote access trojan named DeviceManager to Windows systems.

SOCRadar’s Threat Research Unit says DOUBLECUP has operated since early June 2026, providing customers with licenses and a Go-based Windows tool for creating malicious campaigns and generating the code operators add to their websites.

The service handles much of the infrastructure required to conduct the attacks, including hosting the steganographic PNG images, managing session and signal endpoints, providing encryption keys, and automatically rebuilding payloads.

Physicists link the Riemann Hypothesis to phase transitions in quantum systems

A new study in Nature Communications has established a link between the Riemann Hypothesis and dynamical phase transitions in engineered quantum systems, demonstrating the effect on a quantum processor.

First posed in 1859, the Riemann Hypothesis is one of the longest-standing unsolved problems in mathematics. It underpins parts of cryptography, as well as more than a thousand theorems proved on the assumption that it is true.

Physicists have previously proposed physical counterparts to this mathematical statement. The aim was to map the Riemann Hypothesis to something concrete, such as the energy levels of a quantum system. The new study ties the hypothesis to how a quantum system evolves over time.

Claude AI finds cryptography weaknesses human experts missed

AI company Anthropic has announced that its unreleased model, Claude Mythos Preview, has discovered previously unknown mathematical weaknesses in cryptographic algorithms that human researchers had missed for years.

Cryptography uses sophisticated algorithms to protect web traffic, email, software updates and sensitive information like banking details. It does this by rendering the data completely unreadable.

The Anthropic team describes its work in two papers.

DNA origami turns secret messages into nano–Morse code that acts as multiplayer molecular encryption

Mathematics has always been at the core of securing information. From online banking to government communications, modern society relies on cryptography, in which complex mathematical algorithms transform readable information into an unreadable form to keep it secure. But as computing power grows and quantum technology advances, these mathematical safeguards are increasingly vulnerable to being broken. That’s where biology stepped in.

Choosing DNA as their information protector, researchers from China developed a multilayer encryption device that takes advantage of the double-helix molecule’s programmable nature to create an origami structure that can store information with high security.

This new system used tiny, custom-built rectangular structures made of DNA, in which researchers stored the message as dots and dashes, creating a nanoscale version of Morse code. To hide the message further, they turned the flat DNA origami surfaces into tubes, physically blocking the patterns from being read or imaged. With the help of a matching unlocking key, the recipient can trigger a reaction that unrolls the DNA back to its flat form, allowing them to read and verify the message.

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