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Stealthy Malware Installs Cryptomining Software
A botnet targeting Internet of Things devices works by brute forcing credentials and downloading cryptomining software. Researchers call the botnet "PumaBot," since its malware checks for the string "Pumatronix," the name of a Brazilian manufacturer of surveillance and traffic camera systems.

'It's Just Totally Destabilizing,' Staffers Say Amid CISA's Leadership Exodus
An ongoing exodus of top officials and senior leadership at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's regional offices has left staffers increasingly worried about a potential major shift in mission and continued cuts to staff and spending.

Researcher Analyzes System Prompts to Show How New Claude Models Work
System-level instructions guiding Anthropic's new Claude 4 models tell it to skip praise, avoid flattery and get to the point, said independent AI researcher Simon Willison, breaking down newly released and leaked system prompts for the Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4 models.

Google Is Getting Accolades for Veo 3, But the AI Video Tool Has a Darker Side
AI enthusiasts are saying Veo 3 is one of Google's best products. The mind-blowing AI constructs cinematic video clips from text prompts, and the results look real. Veo 3 pushes deepfake capabilities into uncharted territory and introduces new threats to truth, trust and authenticity.

Red Canary Purchase Aims to Deliver Agentic AI-Powered Security Operations at Scale
Zscaler’s buy of Red Canary will unify its cloud-based security infrastructure with Red Canary’s MDR insights, giving rise to a next-gen SOC built on automation, AI, and rapid detection expertise. The integration will support a proactive SOC experience powered by AI workflows and security expertise.

Framework for Moving From Scattered Tools to Unified AI Security Strategies
As CISOs grow confident with standard cybersecurity tools, AI security remains a grey area. By systematically breaking down AI security into seven key pillars - rather than waiting for a comprehensive solution - organizations can embed security by design to proactively address emerging cyberthreats.

CISA Advisory Says Threat Actors Stole App Secrets in Azure-Hosted Backup Platform
A suspected Chinese state hacking group linked to last year’s telecom intrusions breached Commvault’s Microsoft Azure environment, exposing sensitive Microsoft 365 credentials and reigniting fears over U.S. cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities and default security settings.

Open Garden Strategy, Automated Risk Remediation to Get a Boost With Veriti Buy
Check Point will fold Israeli firm Veriti into its Quantum suite following an acquisition aimed at streamlining automated security response across endpoints, firewalls and cloud environments. Veriti’s patented technology is seen as critical to reducing misconfigurations without business disruption.

A RobbinHood Attack Against Baltimore Cost City $19 Million
An Iranian national behind a spate of ransomware attacks against U.S. municipalities including an attack that cost the city of Baltimore $19 million to rectify pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court Tuesday afternoon. Sina Gholinejad, 37, admitted to deploying Robinhood ransomware.

Prompt Injection, HTML Output Rendering Could Be Used for Exploit
Hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in a generative artificial intelligence assistant integrated across GitLab's DevSecOps platform to manipulate the model's output, exfiltrate source code and potentially deliver malicious content through the platform's user interface.

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Emerging artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies being applied in the health and wellness space that are not necessarily covered by HIPAA but instead fall under a variety of tough new state privacy laws that are being enacted, said attorney Lily Li of Metaverse Law.

Latest AI Model Improves Coding Capabilities But Has a Penchant for Blackmail
Startup Anthropic has birthed a new artificial intelligence model, Claude Opus 4, that tests show delivers complex reasoning and code-writing capabilities, but it also has a Machiavellian streak for solving office problems and a penchant for whistleblowing in response to perceived wrongdoing.

Teenager Charged With Stealing K-12 Student and Faculty Data, $3 Million Extortion
Massachusetts teenage college student Matthew Lane has been accused of hacking into K-12 student information system platform provider PowerSchool and holding stolen student and faculty data for ransom. Prosecutors said Lane has agreed to plead guilty to multiple charges tied to two hack attacks.

Police Take Down 300 Servers Worldwide, Neutralize 650 Domains
Law enforcement in a European-led operation against malware often used as a precursor to ransomware took down 300 servers worldwide, police said Friday. The crackdown is the latest action under Operation Endgame targeting ransomware and botnet ecosystem.

Malicious Packages Hide Scripts for Mapping Enterprise Networks
A hacking campaign is spreading malicious reconnaissance scripts already downloaded more than 3,000 times from the JavaScript runtime environment npm repository, warn researchers. The reconnaissance script is likely a harbinger of worse things to come.

Police Take Down 300 Servers Worldwide, Neutralize 650 Domains
Law enforcement in a European-led operation against malware often used as a precursor to ransomware took down 300 servers worldwide, police said Friday. The crackdown is the latest action under Operation Endgame targeting ransomware and botnet ecosystem.

Buyout Targets Deeper US Penetration, Digital Risk Intel, Ransomware Defense
Cognyte’s $4 million buy of GroupSense boosts its North America strategy, enhancing its investigative analytics platform with deep and darkweb threat insights and access to U.S. government and enterprise customers. The deal will enhance Cognyte’s analytics platform and threat protection offerings.

Labour Government Blames Tories
British law firms representing low-income criminal defendants and civil litigants are having to work for free for weeks or decline new cases as the fallout of a cyberattack against the U.K. Legal Aid Agency forced the agency to yank its online portal offline.