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In the US, the White House recently announced an Interim Final Rule on Artificial Intelligence Diffusion, a comprehensive framework designed to ensure US leadership in artificial intelligence (AI) while mitigating the risks posed by adversaries misusing advanced AI technologies. The announcement underscores the growing recognition of AI as a "Great Power" technology essential for national security, economic strength, and global influence.

The outgoing administration's fact sheet highlighted AI's

Cyberattacks targeting healthcare organizations are rising, and the financial and operational toll they take is growing. A recent report from Proofpoint found that 92% of healthcare organizations reported experiencing a cyberattack in 2024, up from 88% in 2023, while the average cost of the most expensive attack was $4.7 million. While safeguarding sensitive patient data remains a top concern, malicious actors leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies to make threat

Maybe they should have called it DeepFake, or DeepState, or better still Deep Selloff.  Or maybe the other obvious deep thing that the indigenous AI vendors in the United States are standing up to their knees in right now.  Call it what you will, but the DeepSeek foundation model has in one short week turned the AI world on its head, proving once again that Chinese researchers can make inferior hardware run a superior algorithm and get results that are commensurate with the best that researchers

Our colleagues at Sentinel Labs have again provided expert collection and analysis on the 2024 macOS Malware.  Across 2024, researchers saw a sharp rise in malware campaigns aimed at macOS users in the enterprise.  From infostealers masquerading as business and productivity apps to sophisticated modular backdoors, not to mention plenty of APT activity, threat actors were busier than ever developing and deploying malware to compromise organizations and steal sensitive data.

Linl to full report:  

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has quickly emerged as one of the most transformative digital technologies, and Israel has pioneered its use in military settings. The Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) recently established a dedicated AI and Autonomy Administration under its Directorate of Defense Research & Development (DDR&D), also known as MAFAT. This new body will drive innovation in AI and autonomous systems across all military branches, aiming to maintain the current operational advantages of

Meta will remove third-party fact-checkers from its Facebook and Instagram social media platforms as it wants to embrace free speech. They intend to replace fact checkers with the accuracy of messages being monitored by user-generated community notes. Meta's current fact-checking program, introduced in 2016, refers to posts that appear false or misleading to independent organizations to assess their credibility.

In a recent video, Meta’s Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said third-party moderator

Businesses in the UK are set to be protected by a new ransomware ban to address the threat of cybercrime, which is estimated to cost the UK economy billions of pounds every year.   The proposed legislation follows a series of serious ransomware attacks on the National Health Service (NHS), the British Library and the Royal Mail, that have caused severe disruption and cost millions in recovery costs.   The intention is to make public sector and infrastructure organizations less appealing as targe

This is a follow-up analysis of a previous blog about a zero-day exploit. The FortiGuard Incident Response (FGIR) team examined how remote attackers exploited multiple vulnerabilities in an appliance to gain control of a customer’s system. At the end of that blog, analysts revealed that the remote attacker had deployed a rootkit (a loadable kernel module, sysinitd.ko) and a user-space binary file (sysinitd) on the affected system by executing a shell script (Install.sh). Additionally, to establi

Our friends from German media is reporting that the new US administration has dismissed all members of various advisory bodies not appointed by the government, bringing an investigation into the devastating cyber-attack on US providers to an abrupt halt.  This was reported by the news agency Reuters. According to trusted sources, the investigation into the attack by the Cyber Safety Review Board has been “killed,” as reported by Reuters.  US Senator Ron Wyden-D speaks of a “massive gift to the C

A potentially catastrophic ransomware attack on Costa Rica’s largest oil refinery last year was the first real-world test of the US State Department’s new rapid response tool for cybersecurity incidents, according to a top diplomat.  The department’s cyber bureau tapped the Foreign Assistance Leveraged for Cybersecurity Operational Needs, or FALCON, one of several US initiatives developed to bolster allies and infuse global digital norms with American values.  “Our goal was to provide swift and

Cybersecurity researchers have reported that artificial intelligence (AI) assisted with ransomware called FunkSec, which entered the market in late 2024 and claimed more than 85 victims. "The group uses double extortion tactics, combining data theft with encryption to pressure victims into paying ransoms," Check Point Research said in a new report from The Hacker News. "Notably, FunkSec demanded unusually low ransoms, sometimes as little as $10,000, and sold stolen data to third parties at reduc

A federal grand jury has indicted a 51-year-old church pastor on 26 counts of fraud, after allegedly using his position to deceive victims into investing in a cryptocurrency investment scam.  That would seem unusual, but what is even more bizarre is that the pastor alleged to be behind the scheme claims that the inspiration for the project came to him in a dream.  Francier Obando Pinillo, of Miami, Florida, is alleged to have exploited his position at a Spanish-language church in Pasco, Washingt

Silverfort has discovered that a misconfiguration can bypass an Active Directory Group Policy designed to disable NTLMv1, allowing NTLMv1 authentications to persist. Microsoft announced the full decommission of NTLMv1 from Windows 2025.  Unified Identity Security company Silverfort has discovered a security vulnerability involving a misconfiguration in Active Directory.  This vulnerability allows NTLMv1 authentication to persist despite attempts to disable it through Group Policy.

NTLMv1 is an o

A new phishing campaign relies on legitimate links to trick victims into logging in and giving attackers control of their PayPal accounts. The phishing emails inform the intended victim of a payment request, providing legitimate-looking details, such as an amount and transaction ID, and even contain warnings that one would typically find in an email from PayPal. The messages come from a genuine PayPal address and include a genuine URL, which allows them to pass security checks and makes them app

The US Commerce Department on 14 January 2025 announced a new rule that will ban certain Chinese and Russian connected car technology from being imported to the United States.  Software and hardware built into Vehicle Connectivity Systems (VCS), such as telematics control units and cellular, satellite and Wi-fi functions, which are manufactured in China and Russia will be banned, along with any connected cars containing them.

Separately Russian and Chinese Automated Driving System (ADS) software

Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit is pursuing legal action to disrupt cybercriminals who create malicious tools that evade the security guardrails and guidelines of generative AI (GenAI) services to create harmful content.  According to a spokesman, it has observed a threat group seeking out vulnerable customer accounts using generative AI, then creating tools to abuse these services.[1]

See:  https://redskyalliance.org/xindustry/microsoft-s-new-copilot-ai-agents

According to an unsealed complaint

French cybersecurity firms and law enforcement agents, together with partners from the United States, have successfully removed Chinese-built malware from thousands of infected PCs.  In a press release shared on the US Justice Department (DOJ) website, it was said a Chinese state-sponsored threat actor called Twill Typhoon (AKA Mustang Panda) built a custom version of the PlugX malware which can “infect, control, and steal information from victim computers.  Since at least 2014, Mustang Panda ha

What is the E-ZPass Smishing Scam?  Recently, scammers have been targeting consumers with a "smishing" scam where they send a text or email claiming to be from the E-ZPass tolling agency.   The message claims that a driver has an unpaid toll and they need to settle their bill using a link provided in the message before late fees are incurred.

InfraGard Rhode Island urges you to NEVER click on links from unknown senders, in both text messages and emails.

What should you do if you have received a

On 7 January 2025, the US government announced the launch of the US Cyber Trust Mark, a new cybersecurity safety label for Internet-of-Things (IoT) consumer devices. "IoT products can be susceptible to a range of security vulnerabilities," the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said. "Under this program, qualifying consumer smart products that meet robust cybersecurity standards will bear a label including a new 'US Cyber Trust Mark.'"

As part of the effort, the logo will be accompanied

Spoofed email addresses in malspam campaigns continue to work for attackers who use them to bypass security mechanisms and trick victims into triggering the malware. Despite safeguards like DKIM, DMARC, and SPF designed to prevent attackers from spoofing well-known domains, attackers are getting around these by abusing neglected domains that lack DNS records, making them harder to detect.

Researchers have identified how these spam campaigns use disused domains to distribute phishing emails cont