News
Authors: Audra Campbell and Oscar Presnall
DarkTower identified and investigated the “Ghost Hacker’s Operating System” Telegram channel, operated by user @ghosthackerOS (ID: 848925336), who claims to be the creator of “the world’s most advanced spamming operating system” known as Ghost Hacker OS. Through Telegram-based collection and analysis of a tutorial video uploaded on 26MAR2026, DarkTower…
Maria Harika, James Hubner, Mitchell Riggan, Joseph Green
Introduction
On 09JAN2026, Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters (SLSH) leaked a BreachForums (BF) user database containing over 320,000 user records on their Dedicated Leak Site (DLS). While the dataset was publicly released in JAN2026, analysis indicates the data originates from a breach that occurred in OCT2025. The JAN2026 leak is a high…
Trevor Wilson
Introduction
A Telegram Emoji Pack is a collection of custom static or animated images that users can add to the messenger to personalize their communication. Telegram Premium users are able to subscribe to exclusive packs with unique designs, while any user can view them in messages. Users can also create and upload their…
Phishing is one of the most popular online scams with the holidays seeing no exception. The season is rife with phishing scams as threat actors blend in amongst the multitudes of legitimate messages from popular brands. Phishing scams are executed through emails, text messages (SM[i]Shing), phone calls (Vishing), and social media, becoming more sophisticated over…
Ashlyn Schultz
On 10OCT2023, the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades’ newest android app was shared on the group’s official telegram channel. The first message shared was an image advertising the Al-Qassam app, receiving about 650,000 views and over 10,000 reactions. The second message shared was a download of the app and a text telling users to…
Gary Warner
Crypto-Investment Scams
By now you’ve certainly heard about the link between human trafficking and pig butchering. Last year the Internet Crime Complaint Center received complaints about crypto-related investment frauds resulting in $3.3 Billion dollars in losses to U.S. citizens. It was the first year in recent history where Business Email Compromise losses were…
The IC3.gov annual report shows the top fraud categories in 2022. Crypto Investment Scams and Call Center Scams are surging! Let’s take a deeper look at the underlying trends and causes.
Maria Harika
Ransomware
Ransomware is a continually evolving type of malware that implements encryption to hold a victim’s data at ransom. When a system is hacked and infected, ransomware has the ability to lock and encrypt data, restricting victim access, and hold the data for a monetary ransom in exchange for decryption. Costs of these ransoms can…
Robin J. Pugh
Have you ever received an email with a too-good-to-be-true vacation offer? You’re right to be skeptical, but holiday or travel-related fraud is a much bigger category than just those “bargain travel” offers. Americans reported almost 54,000 incidents of travel-related fraud to the FTC in 2021, costing over $95 million. You’ve won an…
Joseph Margolies
With the holidays quickly approaching, the season of giving for some reigns as the season of taking for many others. One avenue used to trick victims out of their money involves scammers fronting as representatives for charitable organizations. These charity scams operate by contacting victims and asking for donations to fund their efforts…