Research Saturday

Darren Meyer, Security Research Advocate at Checkmarx, is sharing their work on "Bypassing AI Agent Defenses with Lies-in-the-Loop." Checkmarx Zero researchers introduce “lies-in-the-loop,” a new attack technique that bypasses human‑in‑the‑loop AI safety controls by deceiving users into approving dangerous actions that appear benign. Using examples with AI code assistants like Claude Code, the research shows how prompt injection and manipulated context can trick both the agent and the human reviewer into enabling remote code execution. The findings highlight a growing risk as AI agents become more common in developer workflows, underscoring the limits of human oversight as a standalone security control. The research can be found here: ⁠Bypassing AI Agent Defenses With Lies-In-The-Loop Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Schwalbe, DomainTools Head of Investigations and CISO, is sharing their work on "Inside the Great Firewall." This two-part research project analyzes an extraordinary 500–600GB leak that exposes the internal architecture, tooling, and human ecosystem behind China’s Great Firewall. Across both parts, you break down thousands of leaked documents, source code repositories, diagrams, packet captures, and telemetry that reveal how systems like the Traffic Secure Gateway, MAAT, Redis-based analytics, and modular DPI engines work together to censor, surveil, and fingerprint users at scale. Taken together, the research shows how the Great Firewall functions not just as a technical system, but as a living censorship-industrial complex that adapts, learns, and coordinates across government, telecoms, and security vendors. The research can be found here: Inside the Great Firewall Part 1: The Dump Inside the Great Firewall Part 2: Technical Infrastructure Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jaron Bradley, Director of Jamf Threat Labs, is sharing their work on "ChillyHell: A Deep Dive into a Modular macOS Backdoor." Jamf Threat Labs uncovers a newly notarized macOS backdoor called ChillyHell, tied to past UNC4487 activity and disguised as a legitimate applet. The malware showcases robust host profiling, multiple persistence mechanisms, timestomping, and flexible C2 communications over both DNS and HTTP. Its modular design includes reverse shells, payload delivery, self-updates, and a brute-force component targeting user credentials. The research can be found here: ⁠ChillyHell: A Deep Dive into a Modular macOS Backdoor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please enjoy this encore of Research Saturday. This week, we are joined by ⁠Michael Gorelik⁠, Chief Technology Officer from ⁠Morphisec⁠, discussing their work on "New Noodlophile Stealer Distributes Via Fake AI Video Generation Platforms." A new threat dubbed Noodlophile Stealer is exploiting the popularity of AI-powered content tools by posing as fake AI video generation platforms, luring users into uploading media in exchange for malware-laced downloads. Distributed through convincing Facebook groups and viral campaigns, the malware steals browser credentials, cryptocurrency wallets, and can deploy a remote access trojan like XWorm. The campaign uses a layered, obfuscated delivery chain disguised as legitimate video editing software, making it both deceptive and difficult to detect. The research can be found here: ⁠⁠⁠New Noodlophile Stealer Distributes Via Fake AI Video Generation Platforms Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex Berninger, Senior Manager of Intelligence at Red Canary, and Mike Wylie, Director, Threat Hunting at Zscaler, join to discuss four phishing lures in campaigns dropping RMM tools. Red Canary and Zscaler uncovered phishing campaigns delivering legitimate remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools—like ITarian, PDQ, SimpleHelp, and Atera—to gain stealthy access to victim systems. Attackers used four main lures (fake browser updates, meeting invites, party invitations, and fake government forms) and often deployed multiple RMM tools in quick succession to establish persistent access and deliver additional malware. The report highlights detection opportunities, provides indicators of compromise, and stresses the importance of monitoring authorized RMM usage, scrutinizing trusted services like Cloudflare R2, and enforcing strict network and endpoint controls. The research can be found here: You’re invited: Four phishing lures in campaigns dropping RMM tools Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices