Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

A new Russian loader-as-a-service named DOUBLECUP uses ClickFix attacks to hide malicious code in PNG images cached by victims’ browsers, ultimately delivering CountLoader to Windows and macOS devices and a new remote access trojan named DeviceManager to Windows systems. SOCRadar’s Threat Research Unit says DOUBLECUP has operated since early June 2026, providing customers with licenses and a Go-based Windows tool for creating malicious campaigns and generating the code operators add to their websites. The service handles much of the infrastructure required to conduct the attacks, including hosting the steganographic PNG images, managing session and signal endpoints, providing encryption keys, and…

In 2024, BlackRock launched its first tokenized money-market fund, BUIDL, with Securitize (SECZ). The fund has since grown to roughly $2.5 billion in assets and is increasingly used across crypto markets as collateral for borrowing and leveraged trading.BlackRock Chief Financial Officer Martin Small said during the recent Q2 2026 Earnings Call that the financial giant wants to be the stablecoin reserve manager of choice in the industry. “We already manage $60 billion of reserves for Circle, representing about a quarter of the $300 billion stablecoin market. We see lots of growth ahead in stablecoin and we want to be the…

Community leaders and local radio stations are fighting widespread misinformation, while resistance to safe burials has fueled attacks on Ebola treatment facilities.The current Ebola outbreak has become the fastest-growing outbreak recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with more than 3,360 reported cases and nearly 1,487 deaths in about two and a half months.Aid workers say funding cuts have weakened disease surveillance, community outreach and logistics at a time when the response is already constrained by armed conflict.According to WHO, in Uganda, the last confirmed patient was discharged from care on July 16, and the 42-day with no new…

Following months of tension, senior Emirati and Saudi officials recently released what appeared to be coordinated messages affirming the strong ties between the two countries. It is too early to know if this signaling will translate into tangible actions to repair a strained relationship. But even a moderate thawing of Saudi-Emirati tensions could create an opportunity for Gulf states to forge a more effective response to continued threats from Tehran. The need for coordination is increasingly urgent. The region faces yet another round of escalation between Iran and the United States, plus an evolving crisis with the Houthis in the…

Claim: In July 2026, Jeanne Gibson, the inspiration for Rosie the Riveter, died at 100. Rating: What’s True Gibson was a “Rosie” in the sense that she was one of millions of women who went to work during World War II to support the war effort. She was a passionate advocate for the so-called “Rosies” until her July 2026 death. What’s False Gibson wasn’t the inspiration behind either Norman Rockwell’s 1943 painting “Rosie the Riveter” or a WWII-era motivational poster popularly associated with the character. In July 2026, some social media posts claimed (archived) Jeanne Gibson, the inspiration for Rosie…

Sigrid Haugset of Norway won stage three of the Tour de France Femmes on Monday, seizing the overall lead and the yellow jersey from Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes in the Jura region. Haugset, of the Uno-X Mobility team, launched a gutsy solo attack less than halfway into the hilly 156.6km route between Geneva and Poligny, and held off Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky. Kopecky dropped back in the closing stages after failing to reel in Haugset, crossing the line 1 minute 24 seconds behind as the Norwegian became the first rider from her country to win a Tour stage and wear the…

Over the past five days, a plethora of EU leaders and far-right parties have slammed Spain for losing control of one of the bloc’s external borders and effectively bringing the Ceuta crisis upon itself by moving to grant legal status to 1.2 million unauthorized migrants. In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa and Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, 22 of the bloc’s leaders on Saturday called for EU-level oversight on national policies “that can serve as pull factors.” Ahead of Monday’s meeting of EU ambassadors, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares…

When a leader of the Democratic Socialists of America recently appeared on “Fox News Sunday” and enthusiastically affirmed the group’s platform — including goals such as eliminating the U.S. Senate and working toward abolishing prisons — Democratic strategists wrung their hands and Republicans licked their lips.Acknowledging such aims, both parties predicted, could hinder progressive candidates and other Democrats painted with an extremist brush in the midterm elections.At the D.S.A.’s national summit in Chicago over the weekend, many democratic socialists who had seen the Fox interview felt something different: pride.“You’re going to have to constantly push and advocate for things that…

When President Trump sharply reduced the size of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah by more than 1.2 million acres, he claimed it was necessary because recreation was virtually impossible within the site’s boundaries.“You can’t go hunting, you can’t go fishing, you can’t do anything, you can virtually not even walk on it,” Mr. Trump said during a ceremony in the Oval Office last month.The No. 2 official at the Interior Department, Kate MacGregor, chimed in, saying, “That’s exactly right, sir, so you are remedying that today.”But recreation has been allowed in Bears Ears since President Barack Obama designated the…

The European Union has ushered in some additional rules that aim to make it easier for people to identify chatbots and AI deepfakes online. The new transparency obligations under the bloc’s landmark AI Act came into effect on August 2nd, requiring companies to disclose when people are interacting with AI models, and if content has been generated or altered by them.The transparency rules differ between providers (companies that develop and market AI systems) and deployers (platforms and services that use those AI systems), though some companies like Meta and SpaceXAI are classified as both.Providers must design AI systems to explicitly…