Security researchers are increasingly warning that cyberattacks no longer rely on obvious malware or suspicious downloads. Instead, many modern campaigns succeed by blending into routine, trusted workflows, the everyday actions people perform at work without a second thought.
Recent research highlights how effective this approach has become.
Across very different attack scenarios, the same strategy appears repeatedly, with hackers designing their operations to look normal. By abusing familiar tools, platforms, and brands, malicious activity can pass unnoticed long enough to execute.
Developer Workflows Abused
In a new report, Microsoft Defender researchers described a campaign targeting software developers through malicious code repositories disguised as legitimate Next.js projects.
Developers were compromised simply by performing routine actions such as opening a project in Visual Studio Code or running a development server. Hidden loader code executed during these normal steps, establishing command and control communication and enabling follow on activity, including potential credential exposure.
The researchers also noted that attackers leveraged legitimate cloud hosting platforms as staging infrastructure, allowing malicious traffic to blend in with normal development activity.
Familiar Brand Used as Cover
In separate research by Malwarebytes, researchers documented a campaign targeting general users through fake Zoom meeting websites.
Victims were presented with a convincing simulation of a video call, complete with participant names and audio. After a brief delay, a forced update was silently downloaded, installing a rogue version of legitimate monitoring software that enabled covert surveillance.
The attack relied less on technical sophistication and more on exploiting trust in a widely used, recognizable service.
While these campaigns target different audiences, they share the same underlying principle: trust itself has become the attack surface. By embedding malicious activity inside workflows that feel routine and safe, attackers reduce the likelihood that victims will pause, question, or intervene.
As work continues to shift toward cloud platforms and workflow driven tools, these incidents serve as a reminder that security awareness must extend beyond suspicious files and emails. Even familiar actions can carry risk when trust is assumed by default.
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