The crypto industry's most trusted blockchain tracing platform, Chainalysis, suffered a multifront cyberattack that exposed critical security failures. Attackers extracted live session tokens and used autonomous AI agents to steal credentials directly from network paths, compromising every customer account. Law enforcement teams relying on Chainalysis to track ransomware payments are now locked out — a major blow to digital forensics. This incident raises urgent questions about accountability in the blockchain ecosystem and whether the watchdogs can still watch over themselves. Are we trusting the wrong eyes to guard our blockchain? #Chainalysis #Cybersecurity #CryptoSecurity #RansomwareTracking #AIAttacks #CyberAttack #BlockchainSecurity Tools used for generation Text Gemini Narator Azure TTS Clips Pexel Rendering Remotion

Nobel winner warns the tech could be near to triggering major incident such as power or banking shutdown

 The United Kingdom could face an unprecedented increase in cyberattacks over the coming months as artificial intelligence enables hackers to identify and exploit security weaknesses at a much greater scale. National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) Chief Executive Richard Horne is expected to issue the warning while presenting the agency’s annual report on Tuesday.  Horne will argue that AI has not necessarily created entirely new methods of attacking systems. Instead, it is making long-standing vulnerabilities easier to discover and exploit, exposing weaknesses that organisations have failed to address for years. The warning follows a June alert from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, which predicted that AI would fundamentally change both offensive and defensive cybersecurity capabilities.  The alliance cautioned that the transformation could unfold within months rather than years. Growing numbers of vulnerabilities being identified by technology companies suggest that change is already underway. Horne is expected to point out that major technology providers are fixing hundreds of security flaws in individual updates, while the Linux kernel project addressed more than 1,000 vulnerabilities in a single month.  AI is helping security teams identify and resolve weaknesses faster, but the same capabilities could also benefit attackers. The NCSC considers it highly likely that AI-powered malware will be used in a ransomware attack against British critical infrastructure by 2028. It also expects China and Russia to be routinely incorporating AI into their cyber operations by that time.   The agency argues that AI is exposing existing security failures rather than creating them. Many organisations continue to rely on outdated systems, delay software updates and leave known vulnerabilities unpatched. Even attacks attributed to state-sponsored groups frequently exploit internet-facing applications with security fixes that were already available.  Horne is also expected to criticise businesses for prioritising short-term savings over cybersecurity. He will highlight the continued use of end-of-life technology and delayed upgrades, warning that executives could eventually face serious consequences if attacks disrupt essential services, empty store shelves, cut electricity supplies or force businesses to close. The government is considering whether technology companies should be held liable for cyber incidents caused by insecure products, following plans announced in its budget to consult on the issue.  The NCSC is also looking to use AI to strengthen Britain’s cyber defences. Project DROMOS, initially designed as a four-week pilot, was expanded into live government environments. Testing frontier AI systems reportedly identified hundreds of potential security issues, including critical vulnerabilities. The agency also plans to establish the £70 million National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability Centre, known as NERV Centre, to identify security weaknesses across critical infrastructure and the wider economy. A further £60 million has been allocated to the first phase of Cyber Shield, a national network of AI agents designed to detect and block attacks at machine speed. The NCSC will provide the platform and threat intelligence, while cybersecurity companies and open-source developers will develop agents for use across organisations.  The agency believes defenders could retain a structural advantage as AI transforms cybersecurity because they control the systems they protect and can monitor and modify their environments. However, maintaining that advantage will require investment, clear leadership and consistent security practices.

Attackers are exploiting enterprises' own artificial intelligence systems and extending pressure beyond internal networks to employees and their families, according to a new Semperis survey of...

The growing number of stories about unexpected/undesirable/hacking actions by AI reminds me of Aladdin setting the genie free. Did we get our three wishes? Relevance to AI: we can’t put that genie bac...

A hidden flaw in PHP, the software powering 70% of all websites, sat undetected for two decades until AI researchers quietly found it and raced to patch it before hackers could strike. The crisis mostly passed — but only barely, and only this time. Security experts warn the window to prepare for AI-powered cyberattacks is closing fast.

A hidden flaw in PHP, the software powering 70% of all websites, sat undetected for two decades until AI researchers quietly found it and raced to patch it before hackers could strike. The crisis mostly passed — but only barely, and only this time. Security experts warn the window to prepare for AI-powered cyberattacks is closing fast.

  An operational security slip by affiliates of two ransomware groups left a server exposed long enough for researchers to pull 8,257 AI-generated messages documenting how the operators ran intrusions, negotiated ransoms, and managed their victim pipeline. The logs, recovered from a directory at IP address 45.227.254.43, form one of the most detailed windows into how criminal groups are now deploying artificial intelligence to execute attacks at scale. The research, published by SOCRadar, links the activity to affiliates of INC ransomware and The Gentlemen, a data extortion group. Analysts assess the operators are Russian-speaking and function both as an intrusion team and as an infrastructure provider, leasing out their toolkit to other ransomware partners. The Framework Behind the Operation At the center of the operation sits a custom platform called Phantom, described in its own documentation as an "Autonomous Red Team Kill Chain Framework." The tool ships with 18 skill modules, a routing engine, an autopilot orchestrator, and agents written in Python and Go. It connects to OpenCode, which lets the AI select attack techniques and assign tasks to remote agents. On victim machines, those agents masquerade as Windows Update components and phone home to a domain linked to the operation. To run the AI components, operators routed prompts through OpenRouter, a commercial model aggregator, using legitimate AI models including Anthropic's claude-opus-4.6 and Moonshot AI's Kimi-K3. When models declined to help with a specific task, operators did not switch tools. They reframed the request as an "Authorized Red Team Assessment Request" and resubmitted it. That workaround appears frequently across the 133 recorded sessions. Alongside Phantom, the group built WormGPT-MCP, a layer of 32 Model Context Protocol servers that tie the AI to purpose-built tools covering everything from reconnaissance to ransom negotiation. A partner guide found on a second server advertised "55+ tools" and access to more than 9,000 proof-of-concept exploits. The name WormGPT refers to a persona prompt layered over commercial models, not a separate AI system. For persistence and communication, the group used Ghost C2, a family of three generations of polymorphic implants that route traffic through Cloudflare, Telegram, or DNS to avoid network-level detection. How They Got In The operation targeted exposed edge devices and widely used IT management software. Three vulnerabilities drove confirmed access: CVE-2024-57727, a path traversal flaw in SimpleHelp, gave the group admin passwords from 427 servers after scanning nearly 5,000; CVE-2026-35616, an authentication bypass in FortiClient EMS, allowed operators to create backdoor admin accounts across more than 4,000 managed endpoints; and CVE-2026-41940, an authentication bypass in cPanel and WHM, was used to reach small hosting providers and their clients' email servers. Credential reuse turned single points of access into full-network compromises. In at least one documented case, a single reused password opened the door to a VPN, several servers, a remote management platform, backup infrastructure, and the organization's security management tools. To suppress endpoint detection tools, operators deployed a driver-based EDR killer that abused a vulnerable Zemana driver, a technique known as Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver. The Victim Picture Researchers identified 62 named organizations in the operational logs, with 36 located in the United States. Industrial, manufacturing, and energy firms made up the largest share of targets at roughly 16 percent. Healthcare and pharmaceuticals came in second at about 14.5 percent. Most targeted companies were smaller businesses, with 27 of 35 classifiable organizations reporting revenue below $250 million. Some were reached indirectly through a managed service provider whose admin credentials had been stolen. Four organizations ended up listed on public leak sites. The operation's timeline runs from mid-July 2026 through a live encryption event on September 30, 2026. Extortion by the Numbers The playbook prioritized data theft over encryption. Operators sifted through stolen financial records to gauge what a victim could pay, then opened contact with a text-only email carrying no ransom figure. Pressure escalated through scripted vishing calls, threats to notify customers and regulators, and hard deadlines of 24 to 72 hours before publication. Payment was planned in Monero, though researchers found no wallet or confirmed transaction records. Demand figures from recovered case files show the range of the operation. A EUR 15 million demand sent to a company called Aidon was later revised down to EUR 4 million after the operators realized they had compromised the wrong parent company. A healthcare network in Australia received demands between AUD 3 million and AUD 8 million. The Gentlemen's communications to Leo Schachter Diamonds included a four-message sequence and a vishing plan. For Trulite Glass and Aluminum, the group set up a look-alike domain, trulitesupport[.]com, to warn the company's own customers about the breach. Total spending on the operation's infrastructure is estimated at just under $24,000.

Since OpenAI disclosed this summer that its artificial intelligence system hacked into another AI company in what is now referred to as the Hugging Face incident, other AI companies have jumped on the...

 South Korea is gearing up to respond to a string of cyber disruptions that targeted financial institutions, with the President demanding a thorough inquiry about the recent personal data breaches and protection of future incidents.   The Financial Services Commission (FSC) is leading the response and is holding meetings with industry bodies, regulators, and officials from impacted financial institutions to discuss the next steps. FSC Chairman Lee Eog-weon warned that finance companies must remain on high alert as the authorities trace the source of the cyberattack. The security breach investigation was initiated after Shinhan Bank notified the FSC about the incident on September 30.  Following that, regulators opened on-site inspections and expanded the probe as more financial institutions reported a cyberattack. Shinhan Bank and KB Kookmin Bank were the two financial firms named by the FSC, while Yonhap News Agency reported that Hana Bank and Woori Bank also experienced data leaks. FSC decided to call an emergency meeting of senior officials to review the situation, moving it from its original date, October 7.  According to Korean media, the main reason for the emergency meeting was related to the fact that more financial institutions became victims of cyberattacks, and that additional breaches at secondary financial institutions were also suspected. Regulators are also considering the possibility that AI might be involved in the cyberattack. Lee warned that the involvement of AI in the cyberattack cannot be ruled out and that the response should be based on AI-driven cybersecurity solutions.  In addition, the FSC is considering implementing enhanced cybersecurity measures for the finance sector. Among the first steps taken by the FSC is a recommendation that financial institutions conduct a cyber hygiene review. FSC urged finance companies to implement stricter access controls, reduce the exposure of their systems, and introduce additional measures to protect consumers from potential data abuse. Furthermore, the FSC is pressuring financial institutions to share information about the cyber incidents.  The information exchange process should include attack methods, internet protocol (IP) addresses, and other details. It would enable financial companies to develop a joint response and recognize other potentially impacted entities. The cyberattack might have been targeting financial hubs rather than the single institution, according to one scenario produced by South Korean regulators and reported by Yonhap. The unnamed regulators believe that the cyber attackers targeted several financial institutions in an attempt to scan the system to find weaker areas.   According to the information provided by the banks to the National Assembly, the cyberattack came from various IP addresses. Those locations spanned across several countries, including the US, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, and the UK. South Korea’s opposition People Power Party is demanding that the government investigate whether North Korea was behind the cyberattack.  The cyberattack could be a retaliation for decades of cyber espionage and economic sabotage by Pyongyang, according to the party. The response from the FSC is to keep investigating the cyber incidents and urge financial institutions to boost their cybersecurity measures and share information about the cyber incidents.

https://www.osintinvestigate.com AI agents reportedly targeted US and Canadian government websites while searching for public information, generating hundreds of thousands of requests and testing techniques including SQL injection and cross-site scripting.

 A new Android backdoor called RatHat utilizes an AI-powered system to remotely navigate compromised devices, while also stealing sensitive information and using a variety of methods to maintain its presence. Researchers at Zimperium’s zLabs found indications that RatHat may be associated with threat actors based in China after they discovered Chinese language prompts within the malware’s AI subsystem.  The malware is reported to be distributed through malicious advertising, SMS messages and phishing websites that promote APK downloads outside Google Play. RatHat takes advantage of Android’s Accessibility permissions to obtain extensive control over infected devices. This allows it to enable Developer Options and Wireless Debugging, granting it a local shell-level execution environment without the need for a separate computer. Researchers observed similarities with this technique that have been previously seen in the ToxicPanda and RedHook Android malware families.  The malware utilizes Android Debug Bridge (ADB) access to install a Go-based agent called liblocal-service.so. The agent can execute commands with ADB shell privileges, bypassing battery restrictions and establishing persistence. It can also restore the malware in the case that the main component is removed or stopped. The relationship works in both directions, with the malware being able to restore the agent if the agent itself is deleted.  RatHat also makes use of a second component, libmedia_codec.so, which acts as an FRP reverse-proxy client and establishes a persistent tunnel to the attackers. The malware has the ability to display HTML overlays over targeted banking and cryptocurrency applications in order to acquire the users’ credentials. Its information-stealing capabilities include SMS messages and notifications, including one-time passwords. RatHat can also monitor text changes, extract URLs from browser address bars and capture lock-screen PINs, passwords and unlock patterns.  One of RatHat’s most interesting features is its AI-powered interface automation engine. According to Zimperium, the malware converts the Android Accessibility tree into XML and sends the resulting information to an unnamed popular AI assistant. This system can recognize the screen coordinates of requested interface elements and determine their displayed text and provide navigation commands such as scrolling instructions. This enables the malware to navigate Android interfaces more dynamically than other malware that exclusively rely on predetermined scripts.  Zimperium stated that the AI-driven system makes the malware more adaptable and arguably harder for security software to detect. RatHat actively prevents victims from uninstalling the malware. When an uninstall confirmation screen appears, the malware can intercept the process and cancel the removal and display a fake Google Play overlay, which shows a fraudulent error message. The malware also contains a number of anti-analysis measures, including APK container manipulation, an unusually large 61MB Android manifest and invalid DEX pseudo-instructions that are designed to confuse or disrupt the functionality of security analysis tools.  Android users are advised to avoid downloading APK files from outside Google Play unless the publisher is explicitly trusted and to be careful when granting Accessibility permissions to applications. In addition, users should regularly scan their devices using Google Play Protect.

Google says China-linked hackers are running AI inside compromised cloud environments, using victims’ computing power while reducing outside monitoring.

Bots now account for more online shop traffic than real humans

AI has changed how fast attacks move. Work that once took an attacker days now takes minutes. Using models like Mythos, attackers write tailored bait, pick targets, test what lands, and jump to the next host before your team clears the first alert. That is the gap, and it is not your fault. The tools and runbooks most teams run on were built for attackers who work at human speed. AI-driven

Monday hit like a cron job with anger issues. A busted auth path here, a repo-side faceplant there, some "patched-ish" thing already getting chewed on in the wild, and then the usual bonus round: poisoned dev tools, sketchy forum chatter, phishing kits pretending to be productivity, and AI lowering the bar for people who already thought 'curl | sh' had a personality. The vibe is simple: old

Thursday. Another week, another batch of things that probably should've been caught sooner but weren't. This one's got some range — old vulnerabilities getting new life, a few "why was that even possible" moments, attackers leaning on platforms and tools you'd normally trust without thinking twice. Quiet escalations more than loud zero-days, but the kind that matter more in

Thomas Le Coz, CEO and Co-Founder, Arsen Security, explains why social engineering attacks are outpacing training and exposing gaps in human response.

Michael Engle, Co-Founder and CSO at 1Kosmos, explains steps organizations can take to strengthen identity proofing.