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Threat actors are embracing ClickFix, ransomware gangs are turning on one another – toppling even the leaders – and legislation enforcement is disrupting one infostealer after one other
05 Aug 2025
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1 min. learn
“It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt” may properly be the title of the most recent ESET Threat Report, as cybercriminals play new thoughts video games with their victims, wage full-on deathmatches amongst themselves, and turn out to be the hunted recreation of legislation enforcement and personal distributors.
ESET Distinguished Researcher Aryeh Goretsky and Security Awareness Specialist Ondrej Kubovič open this installment of the ESET Research Podcast by breaking down the most recent cry amongst risk actors: ClickFix. They clarify how this method went from non-existent a yr in the past to the second most prevalent risk right now, and why it’s so efficient. They additionally look at a selected instance of this social engineering tactic FakeCaptcha, abusing the well-known human verification mechanism and weaponing it trick victims into executing malicious instructions.
Moving from rising threats to constructive developments, the second section highlights latest legislation enforcement disruptions of infostealers. Noteworthy circumstances from final 12 months embrace takedown of Redline/Meta Stealer in late 2024 and up to date operations towards LummaStealer and Danabot. Aryeh and Ondrej focus on what made these infostealer-as-a-service ventures enticing to associates, the influence of the disruptions, and ESET analysis’s particular contributions to those takedowns.
The remaining part covers the latest “deathmatch”-style infighting within the ransomware scene, that includes the minor participant Dragonforce. Despite their missing fame and low sufferer depend, Dragonforce’s operators went on a brazen offensive, defacing the info leak websites (DLS) of a number of rival teams on the darkish net – together with Mamona and BlackLock – and finally taking down additionally the DLS of the then-leader, RansomHub.
If ransomware, infostelaers or new social engineering strategies are your factor, tune in and subscribe to the ESET Research Podcast. For a extra detailed model, obtain the ESET Threat Report H1 2025 from the Threat Reports part – no paywall or registration required.
Discussed:
- ClickFix and FakeCaptcha 1:05
- Whack-a-hack, infostealer model 9:20
- Ransomware deathmatch 18:40