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Zscaler uncovered “Edgecution,” a malicious Edge extension deployed via fake Outlook update sites shared in Teams phishingAttack uses ZIP archives with Python runtime to escape browser sandbox, creating a backdoor capable of shell/PowerShell execution and system data theftBelieved linked to Initial Access Brokers tied to ransomware group Payout Kings, showing evolving sophistication in access‑for‑sale operationsIf you are using the Edge browser be careful - there is a malicious campaign going round that uses the browser to deploy a backdoor via an extension.According to security researchers Zscaler, scammers are reaching out to their victims via Microsoft Teams, pretending to be IT support. They claim the user needs to install an Outlook update, or a spam filter, and direct the victims to a fake “Outlook Updates Management Console” website. There, the users are instructed to run one of the three provided processes, all of which download a ZIP archive that, when executed, creates a scheduled task. This task starts the Edge browser in headless mode (invisible to the user) and installs an extension officially called “Edge Monitoring Agent”. Zscaler, on the other hand, calls it “Edgecution”.Creating a Native Messaging manifestThe ZIP archive also contains an embedded Python runtime and a Python-based backdoor. The runtime creates a Native Messaging manifest - a file that tells the browser how to communicate with the backdoor. That’s the way the threat actors managed to escape the browser’s sandbox and run the backdoor on the compromised computer itself. That backdoor can do multiple things, from executing shell commands, to running PowerShell and arbitrary Python code. It can also write files on the host, enumerate running processes, and gather system information. Zscaler believes this is the work of an Initial Access Broker (IAB), a malicious group whose only job is to obtain access to a victim’s infrastructure and then sell it - or share it with a partnering group. This particular IAB, the researchers believe, is connected to a ransomware operation called Payout Kings. “The Edgecution browser extension illustrates the evolving sophistication of initial access brokers operating in the ransomware landscape,” Zscaler warns. “The reliance on a malicious browser extension to relay commands to a Python-based native host demonstrates a creative approach to evade traditional endpoint detection.”A full list of Indicators of Compromise (IoC) can be found on this link.Via BleepingComputer

Halo Campaign Evolved's executive producer, Damian Kahn, says the team wanted to explore the relationship between Sergeant Johnson and Master Chief for the three new missionsThe new missions were also inspired by Troy Denning's Halo novelsHalo Studios suggests players play them after the original storyHalo Campaign Evolved executive producer Damian Kahn and creative director Max Schlomberg have confirmed that the remake's three new missions were created with the help of Halo book author Troy Denning.In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Summer Game Fest 2026, where we went hands-on with the upcoming game, the developers explained that the Halo universe has a lot to explore, but they wanted to explore the relationship between Sergeant Johnson and Master Chief in the missions of Operation: METEORITE."If you think about it, in the original game, you see Sergeant Johnson as such an important character in these original games, but you don't really get to know Sergeant Johnson that well, or his relationship with Chief," Kahn said. "That really set the stage for us creatively to think about, 'Hey, let's talk about a mission that they went on a year before the events of The Ring,' and then really to go into their relationship and how they fight alongside each other."Even beyond that, there's all this other universe. You've got Spartans and ODSTs. You've got the Brutes. You've got the Prophets. It's really just us leaning into these other elements of the story that we can tell more deeply, that then let you go back and appreciate more of the campaign and what's there."Schlomberg added that Troy Denning, one of the authors who writes some of the Halo novels, like Halo: Last Light, Halo: Retribution, and Halo: Silent Storm - A Master Chief Story, also "helped with the story" of the three missions."It's a lore-authentic story," he said, explaining that series veterans who have been fans for 25 years and played on Xbox or PC are going to get new bits of information that they've been wanting, allowing them to "piece more of the puzzle together," such as the Covenant War."It's really going to be fun for them," Schlomberg added. "But then also, if you're brand new to the experience, maybe you're a PlayStation player, you've never played before, and this is going to be something that would be really good to play after you play the main ring storyline."However, the creative director suggests that players play the new missions "after they've played and experienced the original.""It is meant to be played that way, because we've made it more of an intermediate difficulty experience, it's a little bit progressed further along. You start off, and it's a little bit more challenging than the first mission of Halo," he said."But again, you can play it in any order you would like. We're not going to make you choose or anything like that, but we just suggest that you play it that way."Halo Campaign Evolved arrives on July 28 for PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC.