Today Phishing for Answers analyzes some of the most important cybersecurity trends of 2023 in Latin America. Read our analysis of the region’s most significant threats and adversaries, as well as what to expect in 2024.

Hackers rarely divulge their secrets, but there are exceptions to every rule. Meet Guacamaya, a hacktivist group that has stolen approximately 25 TB of data from Latin American governments, armed forces, and companies. Not only does this group publicize all of its exfiltrated information, but they even record videos showing their code and procedures used during attacks. Read more about this one-of-a-kind threat actor in the next post of our Hacker Spotlight series.

Which cyber adversary targets South American victims, relies on commodity malware, and is constantly soaring to new heights? Meet Blind Eagle, one of the most sophisticated known threat actors operating in Latin America. As part of our Hacker Spotlight series, Phishing for Answers covers a range of regional cybercriminal groups to bring awareness to the threat landscape in Latin America.

This week, we introduce Part 2 of our series about Andy Greenberg’s book, Tracers in the Dark. Find out how a team of law enforcement agents used cryptocurrency analysis to take down one of the largest darknet sites in history.

For years, criminals used Bitcoin to encrypt and anonymize their activities on the dark net - until investigators found a way to trace these payments. In Part 1 of our two-part series about Andy Greenberg’s book, Tracers in the Dark, we analyze how law enforcement regained the ability to hunt down digital crime lords.

To begin the new year, Phishing for Answers analyzes some of the largest cyberattacks of 2022 and how they disrupted the industry. Read our brief rundown of this year’s major breaches, the hackers that orchestrated them, and what to expect in 2023.

Today Phishing for Answers interviews Sarah Albert, a small business owner whose Instagram accounts were hacked in May 2022. Sarah describes how fraudsters took control of her social media, messaged her contacts, and cost her weeks of lost income. Find out more about how she ultimately recovered as well as her new security practices following the cyberattack.

Remember LAPSUS$, the group of teenage hackers that breached Microsoft, Okta, T-Mobile and the Brazilian Ministry of Health? Although most of LAPSUS$ leaders were arrested earlier this year, the cybersecurity community can still learn from these cybercriminals. Through the use of intelligence methodologies and cyber threat intelligence (CTI) frameworks, we explore the capabilities of this hacking unit.

What would happen if hackers turned off the electricity in a major metropolitan area? Or if they tried to poison drinking water by tampering with a water treatment plant? Unfortunately, we don’t have to imagine what would happen, as these refer to real events. Today, Phishing for Answers discusses Russian threats to critical infrastructure, what happens when the cyber and physical worlds collide, and how the world can respond.

Conti, one of Russia’s most notorious ransomware gangs, recently declared their support for the Kremlin in the ongoing war. Two days later, this cybercriminal group was hacked by a suspected Ukrainian researcher. Find out more about how this powerful ransomware group received a dose of its own medicine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has sparked involvement at every layer of the cyber world, including underground hacking groups. Within anonymized networks and dark web forums, hackers are increasingly engaging in Ukraine- and Russia-related activities. These cybercriminal groups are profiting by selling stolen data on the darknet and are even being recruited to aid in both sides of the war. Read more to learn about how covert hacking groups are playing an important role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

When browsing the Internet, you have likely encountered those annoying pop-up windows prompting you to accept cookies. But what exactly are Internet cookies? Find out more about why these bits of data are so important to the browsing experience and how they have been used to violate user data privacy.

As the year of 2021 draws to a close, Phishing for Answers reflects back on some of the largest cyberattacks and how they disrupted the supply chain. Read our brief rundown of this year’s major supply chain attacks and the hackers that orchestrated them.

Politicians and high-profile celebrities are not the only ones who have had their social media accounts hacked - it can happen to any user! Recent research has shown that cybercriminals are increasingly targeting social media accounts to exfiltrate data and find other users to exploit. But what should you do if you become a victim? Find out more about which social media platforms are most often targeted, what steps to take if your accounts are hacked, and how to prevent it in the future.

Not all cyberattacks involve hacking, sometimes it just involves human deception. Social engineering seeks to exploit user psychology to gain access to valuable information. Read 5 important characteristics of social engineering attacks - what they look like, how they trick users, and ways to avoid becoming a victim.

Between June and August 2021, a Trojan malware attack compromised the accounts of many banking customers in Mexico. The attackers stole user credentials, accessed their sensitive data, and even completely emptied some of the accounts - all without being detected. How did this malware execute such a devastating attack? Learn more about the exact methodologies used by these cybercriminals, as well as how financial institutions and their customers can work together to increase the security of online banking activities.

This week’s #howitworks post is all about the dark web. Learn more about the legitimate and illegitimate uses of the dark web and how it ensures anonymous browsing. The #howitworks series aims to help readers to gain a basic understanding of important technologies and related security implications. This series is a part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2021, which is dedicated to raising awareness about cybersecurity issues and data protection.

We are now more aware than ever of the negative effects technology can have on users. But how exactly has the digital world impacted the human experience? This quarter’s Cybersecurity Book Club choice, The Cyber Effect by Dr. Mary Aiken, aims to answer all of our questions about why technology tends to be so addictive and time-consuming, how it impacts child development, and how it facilitates criminal activity.

There are many aspects of the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan - humanitarian, political, regional, economic, etc. But what about the cybersecurity implications of the recent events in the country? What types of sensitive data can Taliban militants now access? How can the Afghan people protect their private information? And how can the Taliban’s increased access to government databases and military technology potentially harm US national security? Read more to learn about what the Taliban’s rise to power means for the global cyberspace.

Slow web browsing, annoying pop-up ads, suspicious downloads…these could be an indication that your device has been affected by malicious software (malware). Read more to learn 7 important characteristics about malware - what it is, how it spreads, and what we can do about it.