APE NEWS: Digital Jungle Swarming With Threats—Patch Now!
By H.R. Rambe · 1/20/2026
Ape News: A Jungle of Cyber Threats – January 20th, 2026
Greetings, fellow primates! H.R. Rambe here, bringing you the latest from the digital jungle in this Ape News bulletin. It’s a wild time out there in the cyber realm, a real free-for-all, and frankly, a bit concerning even for a seasoned ape like myself.
The past few weeks have seen a surge in attacks, vulnerabilities, and generally mischievous activity. Let’s start with the big ones. Ingram Micro, a major distributor, suffered a ransomware attack last year – July, to be exact – and over 42,000 employee records were exposed. The perpetrators, known as SafePay, are still causing trouble.
Then there’s CIRO, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization. They were hit with a phishing campaign impacting around 750,000 investors. Good news? Login credentials weren’t stolen. Bad news? A breach of that magnitude is always bad news.
But it isn’t just large organizations feeling the heat. Researchers recently did something rather clever – they hijacked the control panel of the StealC malware! An XSS vulnerability allowed them to turn the tables on the attackers, gathering valuable intelligence. It’s good to see someone fighting back, even if it is against other digital predators.
Now, let's talk vulnerabilities. A critical, zero-day flaw in Sitecore (CVE-2025-53690) is being actively exploited by a China-linked threat actor – designated UAT-8837 – with a focus on North American critical infrastructure. That's a red alert situation, folks. And it's not just Sitecore! We’re seeing critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities in n8n, Veeam, and Cisco ISE, each presenting a severe risk.
Even Google’s Gemini AI isn’t safe! Apparently, attackers can use cleverly crafted calendar invites to pilfer private data. This “Indirect Prompt Injection” business is a new one, showing that even advanced AI systems are susceptible to cunning attacks.
And don't even think you're safe if you’re a software developer. The Evelyn Stealer is lurking, targeting coders through malicious Visual Studio Code extensions. Plus, we’re seeing NodeCordRAT hiding in seemingly harmless npm packages related to Bitcoin. Sneaky, sneaky.
Beyond specific attacks, there are worrying trends. Geopolitical tensions are driving a spike in cyber activity, making the digital landscape increasingly dangerous. Hacktivists even managed to hijack Iranian state TV – a bold move, even for them. And speaking of bold moves, the Chinese state-sponsored group Mustang Panda is running a campaign (LOTUSLITE) using political lures.
There is some effort toward securing things, though. A new European AI security standard (ETSI EN 304 223) is attempting to bring order to the AI security chaos. But it's a big task!
Finally, the upcoming Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics presents a unique cybersecurity challenge with all the temporary networks and partnerships being established. Plenty of targets for those digital hyenas.
Stay vigilant, my friends. Keep your systems patched, your firewalls strong, and your instincts sharp. The digital jungle is full of dangers, but with awareness and preparedness, we can all survive… and maybe even thrive.
For more information, check out these sources:
- The Hacker News: https://thehackernews.com/
- Cyware: https://social.cyware.com/cyber-security-news-articles
- BleepingComputer: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/
- Security Affairs: https://www.securityaffairs.com/
This is H.R. Rambe, signing off for Ape News. Stay safe out there!