Sales Development Representative

Third-Party data breach at online DIY firm manomano affects nearly 38 million people. Ad tech company Optimizely has confirmed a data breach following a vishing attack that leaked business contact information from some internal business systems. - Advertisement - Voice phishing (vishing) leverages phone calls or audio messages to lure victims into disclosing their login credentials, authorizing a rogue app, or disclosing sensitive information such as credit card numbers. New York-based Optimizely serves over 10,000 businesses across 21 global locations and employs 1,500 people. Its clients include clothing company H&M, payment giant PayPal, automaker Toyota, telecommunications giant Vodafone, and video conferencing firm Zoom. Vishing attack on ad tech company leaks customer data. According to data breach notification letters sent to affected customers, Optimizely learned of the data breach on February 11 after a threat actor contacted the ad tech company claiming to have compromised its systems. - Advertisement - Upon learning of the data breach, Optimizely initiated an investigation and determined that the leak stemmed from a vishing attack. The unauthorized access enabled the attacker to exfiltrate basic business contact information. However, they were unable to escalate privileges, install malicious software, or gain persistence by creating a backdoor for future exploitation. "The threat actor gained access to Optimizely's systems through a sophisticated voice-phishing attack, but was unable to escalate privileges, install software, or create any backdoors in the Optimizely environment," the ad tech company stated. Additionally, no sensitive client information was compromised, and the attack was limited to some business systems, CRM, and a subset of internal documents. "The incident was confined to certain internal business systems including Zendesk, records in our Salesforce CRM, and a limited set of internal documents used for back-office operations," it added. The vishing attack also did not disrupt operations at the ad tech company, and the threat actor's access was terminated successfully. Meanwhile, Optimizely has notified law enforcement and launched an investigation with third-party cybersecurity experts to determine the scope of the incident. The ad tech company also advised impacted customers to be on the lookout for potential spear phishing attacks leveraging the stolen information. "Voice phishing is effective because it turns security into a real time conversation, where an attacker can build trust and convince employees to hand over credentials," said Pete Luban, Field CISO at AttackIQ. "Vishing is becoming more popular, and potent, as attackers combine call scripts with leaked personal details and spoofed caller IDs, or pairing the phone call with a convincing login prompt or a fake support workflow. In Optimizely's case, even if the stolen data ends up being limited, it's still valuable fuel for follow-up scams, since personal information makes future phishing and vishing attempts far more convincing." ShinyHunters linked to Optimizely vishing attack. So far, the ad tech company has not attributed the vishing attack to any threat group. However, the tactics are consistent with the aggressive hacking campaign by the prolific hacking gang ShinyHunters. Since 2025, the group has conducted vishing attacks on single sign-on (SSO) platforms, Okta, Microsoft, and Google, affecting over 100 organizations. Some notable downstream victims of the ShinyHunters' vishing campaign include Canada Goose, investment platform Betterment, streaming website SoundCloud, fintech company Figure, and business intelligence platform CrunchBase. "Marketing, PR, and advertising companies like Optimizely are not typically the primary targets of major data breaches, which makes this incident unique," noted Chance Caldwell, Senior Director of the Phishing Defense Center at Cofense. "Attackers often focus on high-value enterprises, yet ad-tech platforms hold substantial sensitive data on behalf of their clients." - Advertisement - In January, Google's cybersecurity company Mandiant warned that ShinyHunters was targeting more cloud platforms and seeking more sensitive data for extortion. Additionally, the cybercrime group started using more aggressive tactics, including harassing employees and business partners to force victim organizations to pay the ransom. ShinyHunters also deploys a sophisticated phishing toolkit to meet callers' specific needs, such as providing contextual screens matching the victim's authentication flows to harvest login credentials and MFA codes. However, Mandiant insists that ShinyHunters' breaches do not stem from product vulnerabilities but from the effectiveness of its social engineering tactics. Subsequently, the cybersecurity firm recommends deploying phishing-resistant MFA, such as FIDO2 security keys, and ditching SMS-based two-factor authentication. - Advertisement -

Cybersecurity brief - 2026-02-24. 2026-02-24 Major Incidents or Breaches * Optimizely, a New York-based ad tech company, confirmed a data breach following a voice phishing (vishing) attack that led to unauthorised access to customer data. * Vanta Diagnostics (formerly Vikor Scientific), a US healthcare diagnostics firm, reported a data breach affecting 140,000 individuals, attributed to the Everest ransomware group. * The University of Mississippi Medical Center was forced to close all clinics and cancel elective procedures following a ransomware attack. * PayPal disclosed that an application error led to a data breach, exposing customer personal information for nearly six months and resulting in fraudulent transactions. * France's Ministry of Economy disclosed a data breach, as noted in Check Point Research's latest threat intelligence bulletin. Newly Discovered Vulnerabilities * Two recently patched vulnerabilities in RoundCube Webmail are being actively exploited in the wild, including an XSS flaw via animate tags in SVG documents. * Researchers identified multiple security vulnerabilities in Android mental health apps with a combined 14.7 million installs, potentially exposing sensitive medical information. * Microsoft is investigating a bug in the classic Outlook desktop client that causes the mouse pointer to disappear for some users. * Supply chain attacks continue to be observed in the npm ecosystem, with at least 19 malicious npm packages actively harvesting cryptocurrency keys, CI secrets, and API tokens. * Researchers reported ongoing malware campaigns using malicious JPEG files with embedded payloads to deliver MSI installers. Notable Threat Actor Activity * APT28 (Russia-linked) has been attributed to a new campaign targeting Western and Central European entities using webhook-based macro malware. * The Iranian state-sponsored group MuddyWater deployed new malware strains in attacks against organizations in the Middle East and Africa. * The Everest ransomware group claimed responsibility for the Vanta Diagnostics breach. * A Russian-speaking hacker used generative AI to compromise over 600 FortiGate firewalls, targeting credentials and backups for potential ransomware operations. * Autonomous AI agents have been leveraged in a new class of supply chain attack targeting crypto wallets. * The Shai-Hulud-like npm supply chain campaign is actively spreading through malicious packages. * Spanish authorities arrested four alleged members of the Anonymous Fenix hacktivist group for DDoS attacks against government and political websites. * A Romanian hacker pleaded guilty to selling access to a US state government network. * Oleksandr Didenko, a Ukrainian national, was sentenced in the US for selling stolen identities to North Korean IT workers for use on freelance platforms. Trends, Tools, or Tactics of Interest * There is a surge in ATM jackpotting attacks, with losses exceeding $20 million in 2025; attackers continue to use longstanding tools and tactics. * Cryptojacking campaigns are deploying bespoke XMRig miners using pirated software bundles, leveraging BYOVD (Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver) exploits and time-based logic bombs for lateral movement. * Threat actors are increasingly using AI, including generative AI, to automate and scale attacks against exposed infrastructure, such as FortiGate firewalls. * Supply chain attacks remain prevalent, with npm and Docker ecosystems being active targets for malware distribution and credential harvesting. * Exposed endpoints and internal APIs in LLM (Large Language Model) infrastructure present new attack surfaces for organizations adopting AI technologies. * Ongoing campaigns use vishing (voice phishing) and deepfake audio to compromise organisations, as highlighted by the Optimizely breach and industry analysis of AI-generated voice threats. * Attackers are exploiting the persistent reuse of trust via stolen tokens and compromised devices, bypassing traditional identity-based security controls. * Malicious actors are using typosquatting (e.g., fake Huorong security site) to distribute remote access trojans such as ValleyRAT. Regulatory or Policy Developments Affecting the Security Industry * CISA has ordered US federal agencies to patch actively exploited RoundCube Webmail vulnerabilities within three weeks. * The arrest of hacktivists and cybercriminals in Spain, the US, and Romania demonstrates ongoing law enforcement efforts targeting cybercrime and hacktivism.

Sagepath Reply named Optimizely's 2025 North America Solution Partner of the Year. Feb 17, 2026, 11:00 ET ATLANTA, Feb. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Sagepath Reply, a digital experience consultancy part of the Reply Group, announced today that it has been recognized as Optimizely's 2025 North America Solution Partner of the Year. This distinction honors the team that consistently delivers measurable business impact, drives exceptional customer satisfaction, and demonstrates deep, cross-platform expertise across the Optimizely ecosystem leveraging Optimizely One, Optimizely's integrated digital experience suite and Opal, Optimizely's platform for marketers to create, govern and scale AI agents. Optimizely's annual Partner Awards program recognizes top-performing partners across its network. In North America, the program evaluates more than 200 partners and includes five award categories, honoring organizations that play a pivotal role in shaping outcomes for mutual customers and the broader digital experience community. Within this year's North America Partner Awards, Sagepath Reply was named "Solution Partner of the Year", an award recognizing partners that deliver measurable customer outcomes through AI-driven experience programs and successful Optimizely One and Opal platform implementations. Working closely with clients, Sagepath Reply supports organizations in implementing Optimizely One, combining digital and AI strategy, experience design, custom integrations, continuous optimization, and analytics to design and deliver seamless customer journeys. This also includes deep expertise in leveraging Opal, Optimizely's AI platform designed to help marketing teams build, manage, and scale AI-driven experiences, to enhance personalization, content performance, and experimentation across channels. Recent projects include implementations of Optimizely One for global brands in the financial services, manufacturing, retail, and construction equipment industries, supporting their digital experience and personalization initiatives across key customer segments. "This recognition reflects our commitment to helping organizations unlock the full potential of digital customer experience (CX) and personalization. Our partnership with Optimizely is about more than just technology; it's about engineering growth," said Victoria Greendyke, Partner at Sagepath Reply. "By combining our CX competencies, deep technical rigor and advanced AI capabilities, we ensure our clients aren't just implementing a platform, but are gaining a competitive engine that evolves with the market. The award underscores our team's ability to deliver measurable outcomes through innovative solutions and a strong partnership with the Optimizely team." This recognition further strengthens Sagepath Reply's industry recognition, following its inclusion in the 2025 Gartner(R) Market Guide for Strategic Website Agencies. Reply Reply [EXM, STAR: REY, ISIN: IT0005282865] specializes in the design and implementation of solutions based on new communication channels and digital media. Reply is a network of highly specialized companies supporting key industrial groups operating in the telecom and media, industry and services, banking, insurance and public administration sectors in the definition and development of business models enabled for the new paradigms of AI, cloud computing, digital media and the Internet of Things. Reply services include: Consulting, System Integration and Digital Services. www.reply.com Sagepath Reply Sagepath Reply is an AI-native digital experience consultancy that helps enterprises design, build, and optimize digital solutions that deliver real business impact. With expertise in strategy, design, technology, and analytics, the firm partners with clients to drive measurable growth through data-driven digital experiences. www.sagepath-reply.com Optimizely Optimizely is a leading digital experience platform that enables teams to run experiments, deliver personalized content and commerce, and optimize customer experiences across web, mobile, and other channels. Optimizely's Opal solution is a market leader in AI-enabled marketing operations. Its platform empowers organizations to innovate confidently and improve digital outcomes at scale. www.optimizely.com Media contact SOURCE Reply