Executive Summary In this research we introduce a prompt-crafting technique for bypassing quick LLM-based policy checks — using plain English (no emojis, base64, invisible formatting, etc.) A policy-violating payload (e.g. ”encrypt files in ~/Documents”, “give me a biohazard recipe”, “ignore all previous instructions and…”) is embedded in a specially crafted prose wrapper. An LLM with limited […]

Research by: Alexey Bukhteyev Key Takeaways Introduction Over the past several years, AI assistants have moved far beyond text generation. Modern systems can execute code, install additional dependencies, analyze user files, and access data through connected services. These capabilities significantly increase the practical value of LLMs, but they also change the security model: protecting user […]

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 7th Setpember, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES Thomson Reuters, a global information and technology company, has disclosed a breach of its C-Track court case-management platform affecting courts across 11 US states and Canada. An unauthorized party obtained C-Track files […] The post 7th Septemb

Research by: Amit Yardeni Key Points Introduction Since mid-2025, Check Point Research has tracked a sustained campaign against Brazilian organizations. The tradecraft points to a Chinese-speaking cybercrime group connected to Earth Berberoka, an actor first documented targeting gambling sites across Asia. Once inside a victim, the group deploys a broad Linux toolkit: a custom downloader, several

Research by: hasherezade Key Points Introduction JSCeal is a stealer delivered as compiled V8 bytecode (.jsc) and executed by a bundled Node.js runtime, targeting cryptocurrency applications (other vendors also tag it with the names WEEVILPROXY or MeadowLocust). Its campaign activity dates back to March 2024 [1]; Check Point Research has been tracking the malware since early […] The post Breaking

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 31st August, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES Manchester Airports Group, the UK operator of Manchester, London Stansted, and East Midlands airports, has disclosed a cyberattack that exposed data belonging to about 8.7 million customers. The compromised information includes contact details, […] Th

本文首次系统性地研究了AI智能体系统中的检查点与回滚（Checkpoint and Rollback, C/R）机制的安全隐患。随着AI智能体向持久化、有状态执行方向发展，其执行状态和外部副作用在故障后难以重建，C/R成为关键恢复手段。然而，作者指出，正确的回滚并不等于安全的恢复：即使检查点被忠实恢复，恢复后的执行状态、假设和外部副作用可能从未在任何有效历史中共存过，从而引发安全漏洞。作者通过分析多个代表性智能体C/R系统，刻画了现有C/R机制的设计空间，并提出了一个通用执行模型，用以捕捉恢复边界和状态依赖关系。基于该模型，他们识别出五类基本故障模式：内部状态不完整或不一致、外部依赖过期、非确定性重放、未记录的外部副作用等。为了验证安全影响，作者在Hermes、Cline和LangGraph上实现了三种端到端攻击，分别实现了恶意软件验证绕过、未经授权的邮件转发和双重支付。此外，他们开发了一个多智能体分析流水线，能够重建执行语义、识别五类故障条件的违反，并通过实际回滚进行验证。在五个主流框架上的评估表明，这些故障在异构C/R设计中反复出现，其根源在于检查点恢复的状态与安全续行所需依赖之间的普遍差距。该研究为智能体系统的恢复机制安全性提供了首个系统性分析，并揭示了设计C/R时需要综合考虑状态一致性和外部副作用。适合智能体安全研究人员、AI系统架构师和开发持久化智能体应用的工程师阅读。

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 24th August, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES Latvia’s Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD) has confirmed a breach affecting payment records of more than 1.2 million people – roughly two-thirds of the country’s population – as well as 200,000 organizations. The […] The post 24th August – Threat

Research by: Jiří Vinopal (@vinopaljiri) Abstract What if a trusted security component could be repurposed into an attacker-controlled kernel primitive? What if a signed Microsoft remediation driver could be instructed to execute arbitrary file and registry operations from Ring 0 – without exploits, vulnerabilities, or memory corruption? In this publication, we present the first full […] The post

Research by: Jaromír Hořejší (@JaromirHorejsi) Key points Introduction We first noticed a ransomware family called StopAndProtect in the middle of May 2026. Further analysis of the infrastructure reveals that the infection chain starts with a ClickFix social-engineering technique, which prompts victims to execute a PowerShell command. This leads to two stages of additional downloaders and […] The

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 17th August, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES Colombia’s Ministry of Justice has experienced a ransomware attack that affected part of its technology infrastructure and disrupted public services related to illicit-drug monitoring and legal processes. Officials confirmed that some files were […] T

For the past year, the ransomware conversation has centered on concentration: a handful of dominant RaaS operations controlling most of the damage, and a shrinking pool of active groups fighting over the same territory. The State of Ransomware Q2 2026 report from Check Point Research shows that picture starting to shift. The leaders are still winning, but […] The post The State of Ransomware Q2 20

Key Points Introduction Since early 2026, Check Point Research has tracked a wave of the Operation Dream Job campaign. This wave primarily targeted the defense sector worldwide, with a particular emphasis on companies operating in the aerospace and aviation industries. We observed the threat actor distributing modified PDF viewers designed to execute malicious payloads embedded within specially […

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 10th August, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES North Carolina Ports, the US authority operating the ports of Wilmington, Morehead City and others, has suffered a cyberattack that forced some operations onto manual processes. The authority claims it has contained […] The post 10th August – Threat I

By Yarden Porat, Check Point Research Key Points The short version We set out to break Cloudflare Code Mode, and ended up breaking Cloudflare Workers too. We did both by targeting workerd, the runtime beneath both: an in-process sandbox that relies entirely on V8 to isolate untrusted code. We found five memory-corruption bugs in workerd’s native C++ (the “glue” […] The post When Agentic Glue Melts

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 27th July, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES Minnesota IT Services has confirmed coordinated cyberattacks affecting more than 30 community water utilities across the state. The incidents briefly disrupted a treatment plant in Braham and affected industrial control systems. Officials reported […] T

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 27th July, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES Nichirei, a Japan-based frozen-food supplier and logistics company, has experienced a ransomware attack that disrupted shipping operations and affected approximately 5,000 customers. KFC Japan warned of possible shortages. Nichirei confirmed personal da

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 20th July, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES Ernst & Young, a global accounting and professional services company, has disclosed a data breach involving a compromised third-party IT support platform. The exposed support tickets may have contained client documents, tax information, […] The post 20t

For years, the cyber security industry tracked AI as a force multiplier: something that made existing attack techniques faster, cheaper, and more accessible. That framing was accurate. But the Annual AI Security Report 2026 from Check Point Research documents a transition that goes further. AI has crossed from assistant to operator. Where it once helped attackers prepare, it now runs the […] The p

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 13th July, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES U.S. auto insurer AssuranceAmerica has disclosed a data breach affecting approximately 7 million people. Attackers targeted an employee and used compromised credentials to access company systems, stealing names, contact information, driver’s license […]

Key Points Introduction Since early 2026, Check Point Research (CPR) has tracked a new modular command-and-control framework used by Cavern Manticore, an Iran-nexus APT group primarily targeting Israeli organizations, with a focus on IT providers, and government sectors. Cavern Manticore is an Iran MOIS (Ministry of Intelligence and Security)-linked actor, with links to the OilRig […] The post Cav

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 6th July, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES River Bank & Trust, a US financial institution, has experienced a ransomware incident after an unauthorized actor accessed the network of parent company River Financial Corporation on June 16. The bank found […] The post 6th July – Threat Intelligence Re

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 22nd June, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has been affected by a third-party data breach involving its license system vendor. The incident exposed driver’s license information, passport numbers, emails, phone numbers, and residential addresses for […] The pos

Research by: Alexey Bukhteyev Key Takeaways Introduction Over the past several years, large language models have reshaped software development, and malware development has followed the same path. Check Point Research has documented this trend from early experiments showing that AI systems could generate offensive components, to cases of cybercriminals using ChatGPT to create malicious tools, and [

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 29th June, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES Polymarket, a large cryptocurrency-based prediction market, has confirmed a supply chain attack after a third-party frontend vendor breach led to malicious JavaScript being injected into its website. Attackers tricked users into approving fraudulent […]

Key Points Introduction In this research, we analyze a clipboard hijacker campaign that is hidden inside a collection of “solutions” and “tools” that claim to give users an unfair advantage. These offers include Solana and Pump.fun sniper bots (automated tools that try to buy new tokens or meme coins faster than other traders), Aviator Predictor […] The post From Stars to Upvotes: Fake Reputation

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 15th June, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES The University of Nottingham, a UK research university, has suffered a data breach after ShinyHunters accessed its student records system. The incident affected about 454,600 current and former students and exposed contact details, […] The post 15th Jun

By Yarden Porat AI agents need memory. Frameworks like LangGraph provide it through checkpointers – persistence layers that store execution state. But what happens when that persistence layer isn’t locked down? Key Points Background LangGraph is an open-source framework for building stateful, multi-agent AI systems with built-in persistence. It’s an extension of LangChain, with over […] The post F

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 1st June, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES DentaQuest, a U.S. dental benefits administrator owned by Sun Life, has suffered a data breach after threat group ShinyHunters leaked exfiltrated data. Analysts assessed that 2.6 million accounts were exposed, including names, emails, […] The post 8th Ju

Research by: Alexey Bukhteyev Key Takeaways Introduction When we search Google for a popular piece of software, we usually click the first result, sometimes without even looking at the rest, because official project sites tend to rank highest and appear near the top of the results. After landing on a site with a professional design and […] The post Impersonation, Click Hijacking, and TDS: Inside a

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 1st June, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES Carnival Corporation, a global cruise line operator, has confirmed a data breach affecting nearly 6 million people after attackers used social engineering to compromise an employee account. Exposed information may include names, contact […] The post 1st

Executive Summary During the March–April 2026 reporting period, AI use in offensive operations advanced from development and planning to real-time operational deployment. Multiple independent cases, involving individual criminal actors, mass exploitation platforms, ransomware groups, and state-sponsored espionage, show evidence of commercial AI models executing autonomous attack workflows across e

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 25th May, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES 7-Eleven, the global convenience store chain, confirmed a breach after an unauthorized access to systems used for franchisee documents. ShinyHunters claimed responsibility and said it stole more than 600,000 Salesforce records containing personal […] The

Key Findings Introduction During the recent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, we reported on multiple Iran-nexus threat actors advancing Iran’s strategic objectives through cyber operations. These activities included targeting internet-connected cameras, conducting destructive attacks against US and Israeli entities, and exfiltrating data from cloud environments to support broader kinetic

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 18th May, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES Vodafone, a major international telecom, has sustained a source code leak claimed by the Lapsus$ extortion group. The company confirmed limited access to GitHub files through compromised third-party development software, while stating that […] The post 1

Key Points Introduction The Gentlemen ransomware‑as‑a‑service (RaaS) operation is a relatively new group that emerged around mid‑2025. Its operators advertise the service across multiple underground forums, promoting their ransomware platform and inviting penetration testers and other technically skilled actors to join as affiliates. In 2026, based on victims listed on the data leak site (DLS), […

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 11th May, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES Instructure, the US education technology company behind the Canvas learning platform, has confirmed a major data breach affecting its cloud-hosted environment. Exposed data reportedly includes student and staff records and private messages, while […] The

Key Findings Ransomware in Q1 2026: Consolidation at Scale During the first quarter of 2026, we monitored more than 70 active data leak sites (DLS) that collectively listed 2,122 new victims. This figure represents a 12.2% decline from the Q4 2025 all-time record of 2,416 victims but remains the second-highest Q1 on record at 117% […] The post The State of Ransomware – Q1 2026 appeared first on Ch

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 4th May, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES Medtronic, a global medical device maker, has disclosed a cyberattack on its corporate IT systems. An unauthorized party accessed data, while the company reported no impact on products, operations, or financial systems. Threat […] The post 4th May – Threa

Key Takeaways Background VECT Ransomware is a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) program that made its first appearance in December 2025 on a Russian-language cybercrime forum. After claiming their first two victims in January 2026, the group got back into the public eye due to an announcement of a partnership with TeamPCP, the actor behind several supply-chain attacks […] The post VECT: Ransomware by

For the latest discoveries in cyber research for the week of 27th April, please download our Threat Intelligence Bulletin. TOP ATTACKS AND BREACHES Vercel, a frontend cloud platform, has disclosed a security incident linked to a compromise at Context.ai, where stolen OAuth tokens enabled unauthorized access through a connected app. The company reported access to employee […] The post 27th April –