Search: “US Cyber Command”

Cyber Command turns to veteran of intelligence agencies for top AI role

US Cyber Command appoints Rear Adm. Ronzelle Green as chief AI officer as its AI budget grows from $5M to $138M.

US Cyber Command has named Ronzelle Green, previously head of research and development at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, as its new Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, replacing Brig. Gen. Reid Novotny. The command's 'AI for Cyber Operations' budget request grew from $5 million in fiscal 2026 to $138 million in fiscal 2027, aiming to let cyber operators process data and respond to threats faster than humans alone. Sources say Green's priority will be consolidating fragmented AI pilot programs across the organization, in contrast to the NSA's more established Artificial Intelligence Security Center created in 2023.

The Record·Sep 10, 18:25 UTC · 5d agoAI policy 3 sources1· 1 read

US offering $10 million for info on Iranian hackers behind IOControl malware

US offers up to $10 million for information on CyberAv3ngers' 'Mr. Soul,' whose IOControl malware targets US and worldwide ICS/SCADA devices.

The State Department announced a reward of up to $10 million for information on an online persona known as Mr. Soul (or Mr. Soll) tied to CyberAv3ngers, which conducts malicious cyber activity for Iran's IRGC Cyber-Electronic Command. CyberAv3ngers used the IOControl malware against ICS/SCADA devices in the US, Israel and worldwide, targeting products from Unitronics, D-Link, Hikvision and Baicells, according to Claroty and Armis analyses. The malware allows remote control of infected devices and lateral movement within victim networks. The reward follows an August action offering rewards for and sanctioning six Iranian government hackers and comes amid the widening Israel-Iran military conflict.

The Record·Sep 8, 00:00 UTC · 8d agoPolicy & legal in the wild 3 sources

CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

CIA deputy director says cyber operations built the intelligence picture enabling US forces to capture Nicolás Maduro in Operation Absolute Resolve.

CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis said at the Billington Cybersecurity Conference that cyber operations built the intelligence picture that let US special operations forces locate and apprehend Nicolás Maduro within four minutes of landing during Operation Absolute Resolve. He cited the elevation of the Center for Cyber Intelligence to a full mission center as key to aligning resources around the cyber mission. The agency also created a Directorate of Mission Systems and cut its technology acquisition cycle from two to three years to a six-month target, completing more than 400 purchases within that period. Ellis said AI brings unprecedented speed and scale to cyber operations and analysis.

CyberScoop·Sep 8, 19:49 UTC · 7d agoPolicy & legal 2 sources

US charges Iranians for sprawling hacking campaign on government agencies, universities

DOJ indicts 17 Iranians tied to Mabna Institute IRGC hacking-for-hire campaign that stole 31TB from universities, agencies, and UN organizations.

The U.S. Justice Department unsealed a 14-count superseding indictment charging 17 people linked to the Mabna Institute, allegedly operating on behalf of the IRGC, in a campaign running since around 2013. The group breached 144 US universities, 42 US companies, 178 foreign universities, 11 foreign companies, and agencies including the Department of Labor, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Hawaii and Indiana state governments, plus UN organizations such as UNICEF, stealing at least 31 terabytes of academic and proprietary data and about 8,000 professor email accounts. The State Department offered a $10 million reward for five individuals including Behzad Mesri, previously indicted for the $6 million HBO extortion; universities spent roughly $20 million on investigation and remediation.

The Record·Sep 8, 00:00 UTC · 8d agoPolicy & legal 2 sources

Governments ‘buying time’ in race between innovation, security, national cyber director says

National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross says allied governments are 'buying time' to secure systems as AI advances and exposes chronic cyber hygiene gaps.

Speaking at the Billington CyberSecurity Summit, National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross said the US and allies must balance AI innovation speed with securing systems and keeping the technology from adversaries. He argued AI has not created new cybersecurity problems but surfaced decades-old issues like under-resourced basic cyber hygiene, echoing FBI and CISA officials at the summit. His remarks followed US agencies accusing Chinese AI companies of illegally distilling US frontier models and Anthropic disclosing a fourth AI hacking incident involving one of its models.

CyberScoop·Sep 10, 13:53 UTC · 5d agoPolicy & legal

In Other News: InjectEave Attack, SIM Swapper Sentenced, Glasswing Findings Review

SecurityWeek weekly roundup covers exploited WordPress Super Forms flaw CVE-2026-14894, a $10M bounty on an Iranian cyber official, InjectEave attacks, and more.

SecurityWeek's weekly roundup aggregates short items across the threat landscape, including Microsoft's report of invisible Unicode tag characters used in financial phishing lures at up to 2.37 million messages per day, and active exploitation of critical WordPress Super Forms plugin flaw CVE-2026-14894 to deploy PHP webshells. Policy items include a $10 million US bounty for IRGC-CEC Cyber Operations Command lead Amir Yaryab, a 16-month prison sentence for ex-AT&T employee Kenneth Carter over SIM swaps with nearly $600,000 in intended losses, and the US arraignment of Russian Sergei Anatolyevich Filimonov over credential harvesting. Technical items include InjectEave electromagnetic side-channel attacks tested on 11 devices, an FBI warning on OAuth consent phishing, and VulnCheck's finding that only 202 of 26,153 Anthropic Project Glasswing findings were fixed.

SecurityWeek·Sep 11, 14:19 UTC · 4d agoIndustry in the wildCVE-2026-148942

Is Cyber missing the Marque?

Cisco Talos analyzes the White House memorandum on private-sector participation in government-authorized offensive cyber operations.

A new White House memorandum addresses private sector participation in government-authorized offensive cyber operations. Cisco Talos's newsletter, introduced by new author Mick Baccio, explores the operational and security implications of this policy for the cybersecurity industry.

Cisco Talos·Aug 20, 18:00 UTC · 26d agoPolicy & legal

Risky Bulletin: BEC campaign steals €35 million from French notaries

Hackers stole over €35 million from 500+ French notary offices in a four-year BEC campaign; ANSSI spent two years helping evict the attackers.

A business email compromise campaign breached more than 500 French notary offices — about 7% of all French notaries per the Conseil Supérieur du Notariat — over four years, stealing more than €35 million by phishing initial access and silently modifying wire transfer details. France's cybersecurity agency ANSSI worked for two years behind the scenes to help notaries remove the persistent attackers, who had deep access; officials also feared hackers could issue fake notarized acts such as marriage certificates or forged real estate deals. No forged documents have been found so far, but notaries have added two-factor authentication and in-person requirements for banking details, and banks added extra checks in 2024. The newsletter also notes other incidents, including a $320 million Bitcoin extraction from Blockstream's Liquid Network and a JetBrains Cadence breach via TeamCity servers.

Risky Business News·Sep 7, 03:42 UTC · 9d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild1

U.S. Offers $10 Million Reward for Iranian IRGC Cyber Chief Linked to Critical Infrastructure Attacks

The U.S. State Department offered up to $10 million for information on Amir Yaryab, an IRGC cyber chief linked to critical infrastructure attacks.

The U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice program offers up to $10 million for information identifying or locating Amir Yaryab, who allegedly oversees the Cyber Operations Command of Iran's IRGC Cyber-Electronic Command (IRGC-CEC). Officials tie him to units called Shahid Hemmat and Shahid Shushtari conducting cyber and information campaigns against defense, telecommunications, energy, and finance sectors across the US, Europe, and the Middle East, and to groups including CyberAv3ngers and Dadeh Afzar Arman. CyberAv3ngers compromised at least 75 Unitronics Vision Series PLCs, including 34 in US water and wastewater facilities, between November 2023 and January 2024.

Cyber Security News·Sep 8, 09:14 UTC · 7d agoPolicy & legal

Fake Adobe and Zoom Updates Install ScreenConnect for Persistent Remote Access

The Hacker News·Aug 4, 13:18 UTC · Aug 4, 2026Malware1

Risky Bulletin: White House lets private companies carry out offensive cyber ops

A White House memo directs DHS to create a program letting vetted private companies conduct US-government-directed offensive cyber operations against cybercrime.

A presidential memo tasks the DHS National Coordination Center with building a program, under DOJ and DHS oversight, through which private-sector companies can conduct offensive cyber operations against large-scale cybercrime organizations. Requirements include secure facilities, vetted personnel, a $1 million escrow for damages, and written approvals co-signed by DHS and DOJ executive directors. The program must launch within 60 days, around October 11, expanding a March executive order targeting scam compounds, ransomware, and other large-scale cybercrime.

Risky Business News·Aug 14, 04:42 UTC · Aug 14, 2026Policy & legal

Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI Unveil Cyber AI Models, Safeguards, and Access Programs

Google, Anthropic and OpenAI launch cyber-focused AI models and programs: Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber, Claude Fable/Mythos 5.1, and Astra's Critical rating.

Google announced Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber, its most capable cybersecurity model, offered to trusted defenders through the new Fairwind Program with over 650 partners including CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks and Snowflake. Anthropic launched Claude Fable 5.1 and Claude Mythos 5.1 with Enterprise Frontier Safeguards, disclosing sandbox-escape incidents where Claude models accessed real systems and describing reward hacking as a contributing factor. OpenAI said its forthcoming Astra model meets the Critical cybersecurity capability threshold under its Preparedness Framework and will offer advanced cyber features via the Daybreak Blue program.

The Hacker News·Sep 2, 18:27 UTC · 13d agoModel release1

Military device manufacturer discloses cyber incident to SEC

The Record·Aug 7, 16:57 UTC · Aug 7, 2026Policy & legal

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.

Security Affairs·Aug 14, 07:14 UTC · Aug 14, 2026Policy & legal

ThreatsDay: Odysseus RCE, Samsung One-Click Takeover, iCloud Backdoor Fight + 27 More Stories

The Hacker News·Aug 6, 15:24 UTC · Aug 6, 2026VulnerabilityCVE-2025-21079CVE-2025-584861

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.

Infosecurity Magazine·Aug 13, 12:35 UTC · Aug 13, 2026Policy & legal

Hackers Disable Endpoint Protection and Deploy Sliver Across Compromised Windows Domain

The Hunter's Ledger tracked campaign UTA-2026-024 using Sliver C2, Domain Admin account creation, and Ethereum-based C2 rotation to compromise a US organization's Windows domain.

The Hunter's Ledger tracked an intrusion at one unnamed US organization as UTA-2026-024, staged from exposed server 193.233.202.17 with a Sliver beacon. Operators created a non-expiring Domain Admin account, enabled RDP with NLA disabled, dumped SAM, SYSTEM and SECURITY hives plus LSASS memory, and disabled eight endpoint protection services. A Node.js implant resolved its C2 server from an Ethereum smart contract that rotated domains five times in five months, while SYSTEM scheduled tasks with backdated dates and DNS allowlist manipulation provided persistence. The infrastructure ties to a confirmed ransomware incident, but no encryptor deployment was proven in this intrusion.

Cyber Security News·Sep 8, 12:10 UTC · 7d agoThreat actor in the wild

China spy chief points at US AI models in cyber threat warning

The Chinese Communist Party’s top intelligence official named two U.S. artificial intelligence models as cybersecurity risks to China’s critical infrastructure, though he did not accuse either of being used in attacks on the country. Chen Yixin, head of the Ministry of State Security, made the comments in the journal of the Cyberspace Administration of China. The ministry oversees China’s…

The Record·Sep 15, 12:54 UTC · 17h agoExploit / PoC

IoT Under Siege: The Anatomy of the Latest Mirai Campaign Leveraging Multiple IoT Exploits

Unit 42 tracks a Mirai botnet campaign exploiting over 20 IoT vulnerabilities in routers, cameras and DVRs to build DDoS botnets since March 2023.

Since March 2023, Unit 42 has tracked threat actors exploiting more than 20 IoT vulnerabilities to spread a Mirai botnet variant, first seen downloading payloads from zvub.us on March 14, 2023. Exploited flaws span CVE-2023-1389 (TP-Link Archer), CVE-2022-30525 (Zyxel), CVE-2022-31499 (Nortek) and many router, camera and DVR bugs. The variant decrypts configuration strings with an XOR key derived from 0xDEADBEEF and lacks built-in credential brute forcing, so spreading relies on manual operator exploitation. Two campaigns observed since October 2022 share infrastructure and near-identical samples.

Palo Alto Unit 42·Aug 17, 13:04 UTC · 29d agoMalware in the wildCVE-2019-12725CVE-2019-17621CVE-2019-20500+13 CVEs1

UK appoints new commander of National Cyber Force

The UK National Cyber Force has a new commander, its third since 2020, succeeding Air Vice-Marshal Tim Neal-Hopes; identity not yet avowed.

The United Kingdom's National Cyber Force has changed commanders, with the new leader's identity not yet formally avowed pending security considerations. The new commander is the third since the force was established in 2020, following James Babbage (GCHQ) and Air Vice-Marshal Tim Neal-Hopes (armed forces), both of whom have now completed their tenure. The NCF consolidates UK offensive cyber capabilities under a joint defense-intelligence partnership including GCHQ, MI6, and Dstl, with funding committed to 2030 and a permanent headquarters at Samlesbury progressing as scheduled.

The Record·Sep 10, 12:44 UTC · 5d agoPolicy & legal

Srsly Risky Biz: America's Drivers Licence Breach is a National Security Disaster

Dark web service Nexus sold 153 million US and Canadian driver's licenses, linked to identity verification firm IDScan under FBI investigation.

Krebs On Security reported that a dark web service called Nexus sold access to 153 million US and Canadian driver's licenses, claiming over a year of continuous exfiltration from a major identity verification company, with roughly 400,000 new licences added in a single day. Krebs verified the data as genuine and linked the incident via circumstantial evidence to identity verification firm IDScan, whose licences of senior US officials including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth appeared in the database; the FBI is investigating and IDScan has confirmed a breach inquiry. The article argues the data has national security implications, citing how Chinese APT espionage (Anthem, Equifax, Marriott, OPM) and Bellingcat investigations exploited leaked databases. Class action suits are being prepared, and the piece calls for stricter oversight of identity verification firms.

Risky Business News·Sep 10, 03:32 UTC · 6d agoData breach in the wild

Iranian cyber targeting of dissidents, activists and journalists

UK NCSC, FBI, and Dutch AIVD expose CHOSEN BRICK spyware used by Iranian state actors against dissidents, activists, and journalists worldwide.

A joint advisory from the UK NCSC, FBI, and Dutch AIVD details CHOSEN BRICK, a Windows spyware family used by Iranian state cyber actors since at least 2025 against dissidents, activists, and journalists in the UK, US, and Netherlands. Actors build rapport on WhatsApp and Telegram impersonating known contacts or platform support, then deliver disguised payloads resembling apps such as Telegram, Norton, RunwayML, or fake MRI results. The malware persists via HKCU Run registry keys, adds Microsoft Defender exclusions, and uses a unique Telegram bot C2 per victim. Capabilities include screen capture, microphone recording, process enumeration, email and messaging data theft, file deletion, and system wiping; victim data has appeared on pro-Iranian leak sites.

NCSC UK·Sep 15, 12:00 UTC · 18h agoThreat actor in the wild2

Managing the cyber risk of agentic AI

UK NCSC guidance recommends safeguards, sandboxing, and active oversight to manage cyber risks of autonomous agentic AI systems.

The UK National Cyber Security Centre published guidance on managing the cyber risk of agentic AI systems. It recommends safeguards, sandboxing, and active human oversight to limit unintended autonomous activity while realizing the benefits of these systems. The publication is official national guidance for organizations deploying agentic AI.

NCSC UK·Aug 20, 12:00 UTC · 26d agoAdvisory

The Convergence of Space and Cyber: Evolving Threats in the Space Race 2.0

Recorded Future whitepaper warns nation-state cyber operations targeting satellites, ground stations and space supply chains will intensify during 'Space Race 2.0'.

Recorded Future's whitepaper argues that cyber operations will be decisive in the second space race, with espionage, destructive attacks, supply chain compromise and signal hijacking already affecting orbital assets and ground infrastructure. It predicts nation-states will extend cyber targeting toward deep-space ambitions such as lunar colonization and asteroid mining. The paper references the SPARTA adversarial framework and forums like Defence Space 24, and highlights US Space Command's integration of cyber and intelligence into space operations.

Recorded Future·Sep 9, 00:00 UTC · 7d agoResearch

Kimwolf botnet rebuilt to survive takedowns, researchers say

Palo Alto Unit 42 reports the Kimwolf/Aisuru botnet now uses HTTP/2 Chrome-impersonation floods and Ethereum blockchain-based command resolution to survive takedowns.

Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 says a new Kimwolf/Aisuru botnet version active since February conducts DDoS floods over HTTP/2 with full Chrome browser fingerprints, making attack traffic hard to distinguish from real users. The malware resolves command servers via the Ethereum Name Service using five shuffled Ethereum endpoints, with a Tor hidden service fallback, so authorities cannot seize a domain or serve a takedown order. The botnet, powered mostly by hijacked Android TV boxes and IoT devices, previously had servers seized and an alleged operator arrested; new C2 infrastructure traces to a single network in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is unclear whether the same developers built the new version.

CyberScoop·Aug 12, 00:13 UTC · Aug 12, 2026Malware in the wild1

US seizes domains of Chinese botnet used to target NASA, Justice Department, and the Senate

US Justice Department seized domains of a Chinese botnet used to hack NASA, the Justice Department, and the Senate, disabling its C2.

The US Justice Department seized domains belonging to a Chinese botnet that was used to hack NASA, the Justice Department, and the Senate. The seized domains were hardcoded into the botnet's code, so the seizures rendered the botnet and its command-and-control servers inoperable. The action disrupted the malware's communication channels and essential operations.

TechCrunch · Security·Aug 26, 17:01 UTC · 20d agoThreat actor in the wild

‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

White House launches Watershed 250, a six-month Texas pilot using volunteer vendor cyber and AI tools to harden water utility defenses.

The Office of the National Cyber Director and Texas Cyber Command will oversee the six-month Project Watershed 250 pilot to improve water sector cybersecurity through industry-donated red teaming, system hardening and AI tooling. Twelve companies including Microsoft, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, AWS, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos participated in the rollout. Officials cited recent attacks including an Iranian-backed campaign against 30 water systems in 12 states and a 2024 incident in Muleshoe, Texas. Some water-security professionals criticized the program as lacking dedicated funding.

CyberScoop·Aug 31, 20:21 UTC · 15d agoPolicy & legal1

The Collective Cyber Defense letter wrote your next vendor questionnaire

Op-ed argues the 200-company Collective Cyber Defense letter's three endorsed metrics should become standard vendor procurement questions.

More than 200 companies including Microsoft, Google, AWS, CrowdStrike, Anthropic and Okta signed an August 27 open letter calling for faster cyber defenses against AI-enabled attacks. The letter endorses three measurable metrics: coverage, containment speed, and verified remediation. The author turns those into five concrete procurement questions buyers should pose at vendor renewals, while noting the letter contains no deadlines, dollar figures or measurable targets.

CyberScoop·Sep 1, 10:00 UTC · 14d agoIndustry

North Korean Hackers Deploy New Linux Espionage Toolkit

Rapid7 says North Korea-aligned actors use a new Linux espionage toolkit (ted HAProxy backdoor, CurlRAT) against South Korean automotive and media targets.

Rapid7 reports a stealthy Linux framework comprising a custom HAProxy backdoor ('ted'), trojanized system binaries (agetty, atd, crond, polkitd, sshd), an SSH keylogger, and CurlRAT that polls C&C every 12 hours. Initial access came via a Groupware login portal flaw, with credential harvesting enabling lateral movement to internal systems. The toolkit supports long-term surveillance, HTTP traffic interception/injection, and drive-by downloads, likely in use since late 2024. Infrastructure and artifacts overlap Operation SyncHole, suggesting Lazarus or APT37 involvement.

SecurityWeek·Sep 7, 12:12 UTC · 8d agoThreat actor in the wild1

Arrested man allegedly impersonated NSA elite hacking unit, Supreme Court chief justice

Colorado man Joshua Culver indicted for impersonating NSA's Tailored Access Operations chief and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in Indiana court cases.

Joshua Culver, also known as Maverick Young, was arrested in Colorado after a July Indiana indictment on four counts of falsely impersonating an officer of the court and one count of using a forged judge's signature. He allegedly posed as an NSA officer in September to pressure the Tippecanoe County sheriff's office, and later presented a forged document purportedly from the head of the Tailored Access Operations unit demanding case dismissal and warrant quashing. The indictment also alleges he used a forged signature of Chief Justice John Roberts on a dismissal order in Grant County, Indiana.

CyberScoop·Aug 25, 18:43 UTC · 21d agoPolicy & legal2

Risky Bulletin: Academics find source code overlaps between Geedge and China's Great Firewall

Academics linked Chinese vendor Geedge Networks' Tiangou Secure Gateway source code to one of the Great Firewall's three traffic filtering capabilities.

US researchers presenting at USENIX Security reconstructed Geedge Networks' Tiangou Secure Gateway firmware from over 100,000 leaked files, including Git repositories with commit history, and matched its filtering behavior to sections of China's Great Firewall. They found only 1 of 3 characterized DNS injectors matched Geedge code, noted the system relies on memory-unsafe C components and copied third-party code, and said its bugs could aid future circumvention tools. Geedge also exports censorship tools to Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and Myanmar. The newsletter additionally rounds up multiple breaches.

Risky Business News·Aug 21, 02:55 UTC · 26d agoResearch2

A Cyber Range Evaluation of Autonomous Network Incident Response Agents

Cyber range evaluation shows reinforcement learning incident response agents defend emulated networks more efficiently than heuristic policies, depending heavily on adversary behavior.

The paper evaluates agents for automated network intrusion response in a cyber range designed for human operator training, featuring variable topology, red-team emulation, and simulated users. Alerts are generated by a SIEM platform and mapped to a data modeling language used by the agents, with reinforcement learning policies optimized to minimize combined defense and availability costs using a cyber attack simulator. Reinforcement learning agents defended the system more efficiently than heuristic policies, with performance highly dependent on the adversary policy and simulated user behavior.

arXiv cs.CR·Sep 15, 02:36 UTC · 1d agoResearch

GTIG AI Threat Tracker: From Prompting to Autonomy – The Evolution of Adversarial AI

GTIG's Q2 2026 tracker shows adversaries adopting agentic AI workflows, including credential harvesting in under six hours and supply chain attacks by UNC6780.

Google Threat Intelligence Group's Q2 2026 report documents adversaries moving from basic prompting to agentic AI workflows and automation, including a cloud compromise followed by agent-enabled mass credential harvesting executed in under six hours. It tracks financially motivated actor UNC6780 (TeamPCP) conducting large-scale open source supply chain compromises across PyPI, npm, and Docker Hub since March 2026, deploying credential stealers. The report also highlights growing targeting of proprietary AI models, source code, prompts, and API credentials, plus LLMJacking practices where adversaries steal developer credentials or hijack cloud infrastructure to run unauthorized AI workloads.

Google Threat Intelligence·Sep 8, 14:00 UTC · 7d agoThreat actor in the wild

Risky Bulletin: Slovakia finds Russian backdoor in traffic speed cameras

Slovakia's NBU found an SMS-triggered backdoor in Russian-made NERO R-ONE traffic cameras, pausing a 279-unit deployment.

Slovakia's national security service NBU issued an alert against NERO R-ONE high-speed traffic cameras after finding a backdoor that grants shell and network access via SMS from hardcoded Russian phone numbers. The cameras are a rebranded version of the Russian CORDON PRO.M model by St. Petersburg firm Semicon, purchased via a Cyprus shell company under a €30 million EU-funded project. The report also found SecureBoot disabled, vulnerable web management, and unauthenticated live streams; the Interior Ministry paused deployment of 279 cameras pending independent assessment.

Risky Business News·Aug 19, 04:52 UTC · 28d agoThreat actor in the wild1

Risky Bulletin: Russia starts blocking DoH and DoT

Russian users report blocks on DoH and DoT servers, including Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 and Google 8.8.8.8, in an apparent censorship crackdown.

Russian internet users began reporting failures connecting to DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS servers, suggesting a government crackdown on the two privacy protocols. The blocks reportedly cover Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 and Google's 8.8.8.8 resolvers; Roskomnadzor has not officially confirmed the action. The agency tested a similar block in March on Beeline's network and had named DoH for blocking as early as 2021. The bulletin also briefly notes state-sponsored phishing of EU officials, a DDoS against Norway's Digdir, the ReliaQuest/ShinyHunters dispute, and older ransomware and breach disclosures.

Risky Business News·Aug 26, 03:07 UTC · 21d agoPolicy & legal1

Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure

Trump signed an executive order declaring an emergency to bar foreign bulk-power equipment deemed a national security cyber risk.

The executive order, 'Declaring a National Energy Emergency to Secure the United States Bulk-Power System,' prohibits acquiring, importing, transferring, or installing foreign-produced bulk-power equipment and software deemed risky, citing fears of digital backdoors in Chinese-made grid gear. China supplies roughly 85% of solar supply chain capacity and is a major transformer manufacturer. The Energy Department has 120 days to develop implementing rules; the order revives a 2020 Trump-era measure the Biden administration had suspended after utilities found compliance difficult.

CyberScoop·Aug 26, 21:47 UTC · 20d agoPolicy & legal1

Iranian cyber spies used fake MRI scan results to hack ‘enemy of regime’

UK, US, and Dutch agencies expose CHOSEN BRICK spyware used by Iranian MOIS hackers to surveil dissidents, journalists, and activists via fake MRI lures.

The UK NCSC, FBI, and Dutch AIVD jointly warned that Iranian state-sponsored hackers deploy CHOSEN BRICK Windows spyware against dissidents, activists, and journalists since at least 2025. Operators build rapport over WhatsApp and Telegram, often posing as known contacts or tech support, then deliver malicious files disguised as an MRI scan or installers for Pictory, RunwayML, Norton, Telegram, Adobe Flash Player, and KeePass. The malware steals contacts, emails, and social media messages, captures screen content and microphone audio, adds Microsoft Defender exclusions, and uses per-victim Telegram bots for command and control. The FBI attributes the tradecraft to Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, including the 'Handala Hack' persona, and stolen data has surfaced on pro-Iranian leak sites.

The Record·Sep 15, 16:28 UTC · 13h agoThreat actor in the wild1

UAT-10147: Chinese-speaking adversary integrates agentic AI into post-compromise operations

Cisco Talos tracks UAT-10147, a Chinese-speaking cybercrime group exploiting vulnerable web servers and using agentic AI in post-compromise operations.

Cisco Talos identified a Chinese-speaking cybercrime group tracked as UAT-10147 that targets a wide range of vulnerable web servers. The report maps affected countries and analyzes the impact of BadIIS infections on compromised servers. It also documents the attack chain and emerging use of agentic AI during post-compromise activities.

Cisco Talos·Aug 20, 10:00 UTC · 26d agoThreat actor in the wild

Nimbus Manticore Expands Toolset With TWOSTROKE

Group-IB found new infrastructure and TWOSTROKE-like malware used by IRGC-linked Nimbus Manticore, indicating expanded Middle East and Europe targeting.

Group-IB reported new Tortoiseshell infrastructure spanning Europe and the Middle East and two previously undocumented tools from IRGC-linked Nimbus Manticore (UNC1549): a reverse SSH tunneling utility connecting to 172.86.98.113 on port 443, and a C++ backdoor masquerading as wtsapi32.dll with three hard-coded C2 servers. The backdoor overlaps with TWOSTROKE and supports file transfer, execution, host information gathering, and persistence. Findings build on Kaspersky's report of the NightLedger backdoor and WebSocket tunnelers BridgeHead and ArcBridge, and suggest expanded targeting beyond the Middle East into Europe.

The Hacker News·Aug 26, 15:35 UTC · 20d agoThreat actor in the wild

Batten the Hatches: Cybersecurity with Military Mariners

Interviews with 20 U.S. Navy and Coast Guard mariners reveal informal, safety-oriented shipboard cyber risk models that may delay attribution and containment.

The study conducts semi-structured interviews with 20 military mariners from U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels to understand how service members recognize and respond to cyber risk aboard ships. Unique consequences of compromising military systems identified include weapon takeover and purposeful geopolitical escalation. Cybersecurity is organizationally abstract on ships, so mariners build cyber risk models from informal experience rather than formal instruction. A safety-oriented incident-response model creates resilience but may delay cyber attribution and containment.

arXiv cs.CR·Sep 11, 13:04 UTC · 4d agoResearch