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France’s tax authority admits hackers made off with data on 678,000 individuals
An attacker used stolen credentials and an MFA bypass to steal tax data on 678,000 individuals from France's tax authority DGFiP.
France's General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFiP) disclosed that intrusions into its portals exposed tax data, including reference tax income, family quotient, withholding tax rate, and business identifiers such as company name and SIREN number, on 678,000 individuals and professionals. An attacker using the alias 'ZeroBytes' claimed credit on a cybercrime forum and offered a stolen database for sale, claiming the portal contains data on roughly 20 million citizens. DGFiP suspended the affected accounts, notified the CNIL, and is working with ANSSI and the finance ministry's security office; it said the main online tax portals and their login credentials were not compromised.
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White House authorizes private US companies to hack foreign criminal networks
Trump memorandum authorizes vetted private US companies to conduct government-supervised offensive cyber operations against foreign criminal networks.
The National Security Presidential Memorandum signed August 12 lets vetted private companies run offensive cyber operations against transnational criminal organizations behind ransomware, phishing and sextortion, under US government oversight. The Homeland Security Task Force's National Coordination Center, led by DOJ and DHS executive directors, must give written approval for both Cyber Surveillance Operations and Cyber Effects Operations. Participating companies must post a $1 million bond or escrow, undergo annual review, and notify authorities if they unintentionally target US persons or systems.
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Microsoft says virtually nobody was grabbing NYT articles through its chatbot
Microsoft files summary judgement briefs in NYT copyright lawsuit, arguing only 59,545 of 8.2M Copilot logs show substantial overlap with news content.
Microsoft filed new legal filings in the consolidated copyright lawsuit brought by The New York Times, authors, and publishers against Microsoft and OpenAI, arguing for summary judgement. Analysis of 8.2 million Copilot chat logs found only 59,545 contained at least 16 words in common with news content, with just 24 responses showing at least 30 matching words in the authors' case. Microsoft argues the numbers support fair use, claiming Copilot rarely reproduces substantive chunks; the Times says discovery shows Microsoft and OpenAI stole from it, and the Trump administration filed a statement of interest supporting OpenAI.
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Authorities Turn Sality's P2P Network Against Itself, Cutting Off New Malware Payloads
US and European authorities with CrowdStrike dismantled the two-decade-old Sality P2P botnet using peer-list manipulation, blocking payload delivery to infected hosts.
The US Department of Justice announced a coordinated takedown of the Sality peer-to-peer botnet, executed August 31, 2026 by authorities from the US, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania with CrowdStrike and the Shadowserver Foundation. Sality, active since 2003, infects Windows executables and delivers payloads including the EggJagger crypto clipper, which stole at least $150,000, and was used for DDoS campaigns. The operation abused the botnet's peer-list maintenance cycle to insert sinkhole nodes and isolate both super peers and NAT-hidden infections, cutting off URL and payload distribution to more than 15,000 infected machines across two P2P networks.
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US Authorizes Private Cyber Firms to Hack Transnational Criminal Networks
Trump signed a national security memorandum letting vetted private US cybersecurity firms run government-approved offensive cyber operations against transnational criminal organizations.
The August 13 memorandum creates a program managed by the National Coordination Center covering Cyber Surveillance Operations and Cyber Effects Operations against Cyber-Enabled Transnational Criminal Organizations, explicitly excluding entities that are parts of foreign governments. DOJ and DHS executive directors must co-approve every operation in writing, with extra authorization for operations raising laws-of-armed-conflict questions. Participating firms must pass vetting, annual evaluations and hold a $1 million bond or escrow. Operating procedures are due within 60 days, and the unresolved CFAA exemption question is addressed by requiring direct government control.
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A bold new strategy or a dangerous precedent? Experts are divided on Trump's memo.
Trump presidential memorandum authorizes private-sector companies to conduct federally supervised hacking operations against transnational criminal organizations.
A newly signed presidential memorandum enlists private companies in federal law enforcement hacking operations aimed at transnational criminal organizations, with a 60-day window to establish the program. Experts told CyberScoop the shift raises attribution, targeting and constitutional questions, including risks of private firms accidentally attacking foreign governments and procedures for prior approval before targeting US persons. Critics likened the approach to historical letters of marque, while supporters including NSC cyber policy director Amanda Naylor framed it as bringing private-sector speed to the fight against cybercrime and fraud.
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Trump Authorizes Private Sector Participation in Offensive Cyber Operations
The White House authorized private sector participation in government-directed offensive cyber operations against transnational groups, drawing escalation and attribution warnings.
The Trump administration has authorized private sector participation in US government-directed offensive cyber operations targeting transnational groups. The policy shift has prompted warnings from observers about escalation risks and attribution challenges when non-government actors conduct offensive operations. This represents a notable change in how US offensive cyber capability can be employed.
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When a PNG Isn’t a PNG: WordPress Patches an Author-Level Imagick RCE
WordPress 7.0.4 patches an author-level RCE in how uploaded media is handed to ImageMagick.
WordPress maintenance release 7.0.4 includes a security fix that changes how uploaded media is passed to ImageMagick, closing a path that let a logged-in author turn a crafted image upload into remote code execution. Patchstack's analysis explains the flaw as a file-type handling issue where a PNG may not be treated as a PNG. The text does not mention a CVE ID or observed exploitation, but the flaw affects extremely widely deployed software.
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