NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission returned safely to Earth after 167 days in orbit, completing hundreds of hours of research aboard the International Space Station.
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A Simple Silver Fix May Finally Stop Solid-State Batteries From Cracking
A nanoscale silver coating could be the key to making ultra-powerful solid-state batteries finally work.
Replacing the liquid electrolyte inside today’s batteries with a solid one could unlock a new generation of rechargeable lithium metal batteries. In theory, these batteries would be safer, store far more energy, and recharge much faster than the lithium-ion batteries now in widespread use. Scientists and engineers have been chasing this goal for decades, but progress has been slowed by a persistent flaw. Solid, crystal-based electrolytes tend to develop microscopic cracks that gradually spread during repeated charging and use, eventually causing the battery to fail.
A thin silver layer with a big impact.
LOTUSLITE Backdoor Targets U.S. Policy Entities Using Venezuela-Themed Spear Phishing
Security experts have disclosed details of a new campaign that has targeted U.S. government and policy entities using politically themed lures to deliver a backdoor known as LOTUSLITE.
The targeted malware campaign leverages decoys related to the recent geopolitical developments between the U.S. and Venezuela to distribute a ZIP archive (“US now deciding what’s next for Venezuela.zip”) containing a malicious DLL that’s launched using DLL side-loading techniques. It’s not known if the campaign managed to successfully compromise any of the targets.
The activity has been attributed with moderate confidence to a Chinese state-sponsored group known as Mustang Panda (aka Earth Pret, HoneyMyte, and Twill Typhoon), citing tactical and infrastructure patterns. It’s worth noting that the threat actor is known for extensively relying on DLL side-loading to launch its backdoors, including TONESHELL.
Microsoft: Windows 11 update causes Outlook freezes for POP users
Microsoft is investigating widespread reports that a January Windows 11 security update is causing the classic Outlook desktop client to freeze and hang for users with POP email accounts.
POP (Post Office Protocol) is an email retrieval protocol used for downloading emails from a server to a local device. While POP isn’t as widely used as IMAP or Exchange, it is still popular among home users and small businesses.
This known issue affects users who have installed the KB5074109 security update for Windows 11 25H2 and 24H2, with those impacted reporting that classic Outlook does not exit properly and will not restart after being closed.
StealC hackers hacked as researchers hijack malware control panels
A cross-site scripting (XSS) flaw in the web-based control panel used by operators of the StealC info-stealing malware allowed researchers to observe active sessions and gather intelligence on the attackers’ hardware.
StealC emerged in early 2023 with aggressive promotion on dark web cybercrime channels. It grew in popularity due to its evasion and extensive data theft capabilities.
In the following years, StealC’s developer added multiple enhancements. With the release of version 2.0 last April, the malware author introduced Telegram bot support for real-time alerts and a new builder that could generate StealC builds based on templates and custom data theft rules.
Black Basta boss makes it onto Interpol’s ‘Red Notice’ list
The identity of the Black Basta ransomware gang leader has been confirmed by law enforcement in Ukraine and Germany, and the individual has been added to the wanted list of Europol and Interpol.
Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) identified Oleg Evgenievich Nefedov, a 35-year-old Russian national, as the leader of the Black Basta ransomware gang.
The Ukrainian police in collaboration with German authorities also identified two additional individuals allegedly working for the ransomware operation and conducted raids at two locations in the Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions.