2026-05-25 14:00 UTC
Vendor Research
TIER 2
Google Threat Intelligence / Mandiant · Google Threat Intelligence Group · indexed 2026-08-16 02:02 UTC
While Russian-speaking threat actors have historically dominated the phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) landscape, a rival ecosystem is rapidly growing within the Chinese-language underground. Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) analyzed a dozen current PhaaS offerings in the Chinese underground, all of them mature services and many likely tied intricately to the broader criminal ecosystem in that region. These services not only lower the barrier to entry for Chinese cyber criminals, but reveal broader patterns on the evolution of social engineering and credential theft. Late last year, Google…
P0
2026-04-16 14:00 UTC
Vendor Research
TIER 2
Google Threat Intelligence / Mandiant · Francis deSouza · indexed 2026-08-16 02:02 UTC
Introduction Advances in AI model-powered exploitation have demonstrated that general-purpose AI models can excel at vulnerability discovery, even without being purpose-built for the task. Eventually, capabilities such as these will be integrated directly into the development cycle, and code will be more difficult to exploit than ever; however, this transition creates a critical window of risk. As we harden existing software with AI, threat actors will use it to discover and exploit novel vulnerabilities. Faced with this scenario, defenders have two critical tasks: hardening the software we u…
P60
2026-04-15 14:00 UTC
Vendor Research
TIER 2
Google Threat Intelligence / Mandiant · Google Threat Intelligence Group · indexed 2026-08-16 02:02 UTC
Written by: Jamie Collier, Robin Grunewald Germany has reclaimed its position as a primary focus for cyber extortion in Europe. While data leak site (DLS) posts rose almost 50% globally in 2025, Google Threat Intelligence (GTI) data shows that the surge is hitting German infrastructure harder and faster than its regional neighbors, marking a significant return to the high-pressure levels previously observed in the country during 2022 and 2023. Cyber Criminals Pivoting Back to Germany Germany moved to the forefront of European data leak targets in 2025. Following a 2024 period where the UK led…
P15