PROBABLYPWNED
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James Rivera

Malware Reporter

Covers ransomware operations, infostealer campaigns, and malware-as-a-service ecosystems for ProbablyPwned. James spent six years as a malware analyst at a major endpoint security vendor before transitioning to journalism, where he brings hands-on reverse engineering experience to his reporting. He tracks the evolution of threat actor toolkits, evasion techniques, and the criminal economics behind ransomware-as-a-service. James holds a GIAC Reverse Engineering Malware (GREM) certification and is a regular contributor to malware analysis communities.

malware analysisreverse engineeringransomware trackinginfostealer campaignsRaaS ecosystems

Articles by James(177)

Megalodon Attack Backdoors 5,561 GitHub Repos in Six Hours
Malware4 min read

Megalodon Attack Backdoors 5,561 GitHub Repos in Six Hours

Automated Megalodon campaign pushed 5,718 malicious commits to GitHub repos on May 18, injecting CI/CD workflows that exfiltrate cloud credentials, SSH keys, and secrets. SafeDep links it to TeamPCP.

James RiveraMay 23, 2026
Laravel-Lang Supply Chain Attack Deploys Credential Stealer
Malware4 min read

Laravel-Lang Supply Chain Attack Deploys Credential Stealer

Attackers compromised 700+ versions of Laravel-Lang PHP packages via tag poisoning, deploying a sophisticated stealer targeting cloud credentials, crypto wallets, and browser data. Packagist pulled affected versions.

James RiveraMay 23, 2026
Nx Console VS Code Extension Hijacked for 11 Minutes
Malware4 min read

Nx Console VS Code Extension Hijacked for 11 Minutes

Attackers published malicious Nx Console 18.95.0 to VS Code Marketplace, stealing developer credentials via triple-channel exfiltration and Sigstore-signed npm package poisoning.

James RiveraMay 19, 2026
DAEMON Tools Trojanized Since April—Backdoor Hit 100+ Countries
Malware4 min read

DAEMON Tools Trojanized Since April—Backdoor Hit 100+ Countries

Kaspersky uncovered a supply chain attack on DAEMON Tools official website. Trojanized installers deployed QUIC RAT backdoors to thousands of systems, with a dozen government and manufacturing targets receiving advanced payloads.

James RiveraMay 8, 2026
Needle Stealer Spreads via Fake TradingView AI Tool
Malware4 min read

Needle Stealer Spreads via Fake TradingView AI Tool

Malwarebytes uncovers campaign using fake TradingClaw website to distribute Needle Stealer malware. The infostealer hijacks browsers to harvest credentials, crypto wallets, and financial data from traders.

James RiveraApr 28, 2026
Mirai Variant Targets End-of-Life D-Link Routers
Malware4 min read

Mirai Variant Targets End-of-Life D-Link Routers

Akamai detects active exploitation of CVE-2025-29635 in discontinued D-Link DIR-823X routers. The tuxnokill variant spreads via command injection and launches DDoS attacks from compromised devices.

James RiveraApr 23, 2026
Kyber Ransomware Deploys Post-Quantum Crypto on Windows
Malware4 min read

Kyber Ransomware Deploys Post-Quantum Crypto on Windows

New Kyber ransomware operation uses NIST-standardized Kyber1024 encryption on Windows while targeting VMware ESXi with a separate variant. Rapid7 analysis reveals the ESXi version's claims are false.

James RiveraApr 23, 2026
Omnistealer: North Korean Malware Hides C2 in Blockchain
Malware4 min read

Omnistealer: North Korean Malware Hides C2 in Blockchain

eSentire researchers expose Omnistealer, a North Korean infostealer storing payloads in blockchain transactions. 300,000 credentials compromised across government and defense sectors.

James RiveraApr 15, 2026
CPUID Hijacked: CPU-Z, HWMonitor Downloads Served Malware
Malware5 min read

CPUID Hijacked: CPU-Z, HWMonitor Downloads Served Malware

Attackers compromised CPUID's website API for six hours, redirecting CPU-Z and HWMonitor downloads to trojanized installers that steal browser credentials using advanced evasion techniques.

James RiveraApr 10, 2026
36 Fake Strapi Plugins Deploy Redis RCE and Credential Stealers
Malware4 min read

36 Fake Strapi Plugins Deploy Redis RCE and Credential Stealers

Coordinated npm supply chain attack deploys 36 malicious packages masquerading as Strapi CMS plugins. Attackers target cryptocurrency platforms with Redis exploitation, credential harvesting, and persistent backdoors.

James RiveraApr 7, 2026
Casbaneiro Banking Trojan Spreads via Dynamic PDF Phishing
Malware4 min read

Casbaneiro Banking Trojan Spreads via Dynamic PDF Phishing

Brazilian threat actor Augmented Marauder targets Latin America and Europe with Casbaneiro banking trojan, using dynamically generated court summons PDFs and Horabot for worm-like propagation.

James RiveraApr 5, 2026
Sinobi Ransomware Hits 215 Victims in Six Months
Malware3 min read

Sinobi Ransomware Hits 215 Victims in Six Months

Sinobi, a suspected Lynx/INC rebrand, has grown from 40 victims to 215 since September 2025. The RaaS operation targets US midmarket companies with hybrid Curve25519/AES encryption.

James RiveraApr 4, 2026
Storm Infostealer Decrypts Credentials Server-Side
Malware4 min read

Storm Infostealer Decrypts Credentials Server-Side

New Storm infostealer bypasses Chrome's App-Bound Encryption by shipping encrypted credentials to attacker infrastructure for decryption. Endpoint tools can't detect it.

James RiveraApr 3, 2026
Vidar Infostealer Spreads via Hacked WordPress Sites
Malware4 min read

Vidar Infostealer Spreads via Hacked WordPress Sites

Malwarebytes researchers detected a Vidar infostealer campaign using fake CAPTCHA pages on compromised WordPress sites. ClickFix technique tricks users into running malicious PowerShell.

James RiveraMar 28, 2026
TeamPCP Hijacks Checkmarx KICS Using Stolen Trivy Tokens
Malware4 min read

TeamPCP Hijacks Checkmarx KICS Using Stolen Trivy Tokens

Stolen CI credentials from Trivy breach enabled TeamPCP to compromise Checkmarx KICS GitHub Actions, poisoning all 35 version tags with credential-stealing malware in four-hour window.

James RiveraMar 25, 2026
CanisterWorm Adds Iran-Targeting Kubernetes Wiper
Malware4 min read

CanisterWorm Adds Iran-Targeting Kubernetes Wiper

TeamPCP's supply chain attack expands with a Kubernetes wiper that detects Iranian systems via timezone and locale, wiping clusters while backdooring everyone else.

James RiveraMar 23, 2026
Massiv Android Trojan Spreads via Fake IPTV Apps
Malware4 min read

Massiv Android Trojan Spreads via Fake IPTV Apps

Banking trojan disguised as IPTV streaming apps targets users in Portugal and Greece, enabling device takeover and credential theft through overlay attacks.

James RiveraFeb 22, 2026
PromptSpy: First Android Malware Using Gemini AI at Runtime
Malware4 min read

PromptSpy: First Android Malware Using Gemini AI at Runtime

ESET discovers PromptSpy, the first Android malware weaponizing Google's Gemini AI to maintain persistence by analyzing UI and generating real-time tap instructions to stay pinned in recent apps.

James RiveraFeb 21, 2026
Microsoft: macOS Infostealers Surge With ClickFix and Python
Malware4 min read

Microsoft: macOS Infostealers Surge With ClickFix and Python

Microsoft Defender Experts track expanding infostealer campaigns hitting macOS via ClickFix prompts, malicious DMG installers, and Python-based stealers. DigitStealer, MacSync, and AMOS lead the wave.

James RiveraFeb 18, 2026
SANS Analyst Tracks Malware Using Recycled PNG Payload
Malware4 min read

SANS Analyst Tracks Malware Using Recycled PNG Payload

Xavier Mertens discovers 846 images reusing the same Base64 steganography technique to deliver .NET malware via Equation Editor exploits. Here's how defenders can hunt for copycats.

James RiveraFeb 18, 2026
SSHStalker Botnet Compromises 7,000 Linux Servers via SSH
Malware4 min read

SSHStalker Botnet Compromises 7,000 Linux Servers via SSH

New Linux botnet SSHStalker infected 7,000 cloud servers using brute-force SSH attacks and 2009-era kernel exploits. Uses IRC for command-and-control while apparently staging for future operations.

James RiveraFeb 12, 2026
Rapid7 Links Notepad++ Breach to Lotus Blossom APT
Malware5 min read

Rapid7 Links Notepad++ Breach to Lotus Blossom APT

Rapid7 attributes the six-month Notepad++ supply chain compromise to Chinese APT Lotus Blossom, revealing a custom Chrysalis backdoor and three distinct infection chains.

James RiveraFeb 6, 2026