The Rainmaker Report

In this update, we cover three major cybersecurity developments from September 23, 2026: a record GDPR fine for Google, a critical zero-day in Arista Velocloud orchestration, and the disruption of a phishing service targeting Microsoft accounts. **Story 1: Google Hit with €403m GDPR Fine Over Location Data Practices** Google has been fined €403 million by the Dutch Data Protection Authority for violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) related to its handling of user location...

This week in cybersecurity: ShinyHunters turns the tables on Clop, a deep dive into Flock's camera network, and state-backed attacks on Colorado's water infrastructure. Here is your full briefing. - - **Story 1: ShinyHunters Hacks the Clop Leak Site** The threat actor ShinyHunters breached and defaced the dark web leak site operated by the Clop ransomware gang, subsequently threatening to extort the group itself. The attack compromises Clop's operational infrastructure, potentially exposing vic...

Four Spy Groups Used the Same Chrome and Windows Exploit Kit Within a Week In a rare clustering of activity, four distinct espionage groups were observed deploying the same exploit kit, dubbed BlueMoon, within a seven-day window. The kit weaponized separate zero-day vulnerabilities in Google Chrome and Microsoft Windows, allowing for remote code execution and privilege escalation. This shared infrastructure suggests either a common exploit vendor or the rapid dissemination of a private bypass, ...

In this week's cybersecurity roundup, we cover three major stories: the rise of ASCII smuggling in phishing campaigns, the U.S. disruption of the Xinbi Guarantee scam marketplace with a $52.8 million crypto freeze, and the PoisonedRefresh Linux rootkit targeting F5 BIG-IP APM devices. ## Story 1: ASCII Smuggling Phishing ASCII smuggling, a technique previously used in AI prompt injection attacks, is now being widely adopted by spammers and phishers. This method exploits Unicode control charact...

This week's cybersecurity roundup covers Microsoft's record-breaking September 2026 Patch Tuesday, a new privilege escalation PoC for CrowdStrike Falcon, and the arrest of crypto scammers after a $240 million Bitcoin theft. Story 1: Microsoft September 2026 Patch Tuesday Microsoft's September 2026 Patch Tuesday addressed a record 974 vulnerabilities, including two actively exploited zero-days. The patches cover a wide range of products, with critical fixes for remote code execution and privileg...