Operation Lightning dismantled SocksEscort proxy botnet exploiting 369,000 IPs in 163 countries, disrupting fraud networks and freezing $3.5M crypto.
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Microsoft brings phishing-resistant Windows sign-ins via Entra passkeys
Microsoft is rolling out passkey support for Microsoft Entra on Windows devices, adding phishing-resistant passwordless authentication via Windows Hello.
The feature is opt-in and will enter public preview from mid-March through late April 2026 for worldwide tenants. Government cloud environments (GCC, GCC High, and DoD) follow with mid-April through mid-May rollout windows.
Notably, this also extends passwordless sign-in to unmanaged Windows devices, a gap that previously left personal and shared devices relying on password-based authentication.
Google paid $17.1 million for vulnerability reports in 2025
Google paid over $17 million to 747 security researchers who reported security bugs through its Vulnerability Reward Program (VRP) in 2025.
The company says it has awarded over $81.6 million in bug bounties since the first Vulnerability Reward Program went live in 2010, while the highest reward paid last year was of $250,000.
“Our VRP once again confirmed the ongoing value of engaging with the external security research community to make Google and its products safer,” Google said.
AI-generated Slopoly malware used in Interlock ransomware attack
A new malware strain dubbed Slopoly, likely created using generative AI tools, allowed a threat actor to remain on a compromised server for more than a week and steal data in an Interlock ransomware attack.
The breach started with a ClickFix ruse, and in later stages of the attack, the hackers deployed the Slopoly backdoor as a PowerShell script acting as a client for the command-and-control (C2) framework.
IBM X-Force researchers analyzed the script and found strong indicators that it was created using a large language model (LLM), but could not determine which one.