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'Humphrey' Meant so Streamline Civil Service Work Across Whitehall
The British government on Tuesday launched artificial intelligence-powered tools intended to help civil servants offer improved public service in a first step toward implementing a plan meant to transform the United Kingdom into a world AI leader.

Initiative Aims to Bolster Security of EU Member Hospitals, Healthcare Providers
The European Commission has a new action plan to strengthen cybersecurity of the hospitals and other healthcare providers in the European Union from rising cyberthreats and attacks. The plan includes a cybersecurity support center to offer guidance and other resources to the EU's health sector.

Series B Funding Round to Drive European Expansion, R&D and Automated Remediation
Mitiga, a cloud security firm, has secured $30M in Series B funding to expand its solutions for detecting and responding to threats in public cloud and SaaS environments. Funds will support European market entry and R&D into automated remediation tools, boosting security operations globally.

President Fulfills Campaign Promise to Pardon 'Dread Pirate Roberts,' Blames DOJ Abuse
On his second day in office, U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, founder of Silk Road, an online marketplace tied to over $200 million in illegal bitcoin transactions. Ulbricht has been in federal prison since 2015, sentenced to life with no possibility of parole.

Researchers Uncover Three Vulnerabilities, Urge Firmware Update
Attackers could chain critical vulnerabilities in industrial network switches to gain remote control to compromise automation systems, IoT devices and surveillance networks. Claroty's Team82 uncovered three flaws in WGS-804HPT switches manufactured by Planet Technology.

Elizabeth Warren Letter Probes Kennedy on His Plans if Confirmed As HHS Secretary
Senate confirmation hearings have not yet been set for President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. But that hasn't stopped at least one lawmaker from already firing off an extensive list of questions to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including about HIPAA.

Hackers Using Valid Customer Credentials to Re-Encrypt S3 Objects
Amazon is urging its customers to deploy additional security measures to secure S3 buckets following reports of ransomware attacks targeting the platform. The company said mitigations prevented "a high percentage of attempts from succeeding."

Creating 'Schedule F' Is a Stated Trump Priority
Newly sworn in President Donald Trump's plan to revive policy from his first term that eases the firing of federal employees could disrupt workforce stability, with federal unions and experts warning that weakening federal civil service protections could weaken national security.

Also: Bringing AML and Fraud Programs Together; the Global AI Arms Race
In this week's update, ISMG editors discussed a U.K. proposal to mandate ransomware payment reporting, tackling financial crime by bringing together fraud and AML teams, and the global AI arms race as countries compete to lead innovation while balancing regulation and ethics.

Department of Treasury Imposes Sanctions
The U.S. federal government said Friday it's traced the source of Chinese hacker intrusions into telecom networks to a government contractor located in hacking hotbed Sichuan. The Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on the firm, Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology.

Experts Say Biden's Cyber, Tech and AI Legacy Faces Uncertain Future Under Trump
President Biden’s tenure has been marked by significant efforts to tackle cybersecurity challenges, from the SolarWinds attack to Salt Typhoon, but experts say his legacy remains uncertain as the new administration faces tough decisions on upholding his initiatives.

Poland, Israel, Nvidia and Oracle Question Need for Restrictions
A decision by the Biden administration to limit international access to American-made advanced artificial intelligence chips is facing backlash from countries whose purchasing power the rule affects. New export controls seek to choke the supply of advanced chips to China.

Legal Firm Joins Other Class Action Litigators Targeted by Hackers
Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP, a law firm that represents consumers in data breach lawsuits, has reported to regulators its own 2023 hack affecting more than 3.4 million individuals. The incident isn't the first time a law firm that handles data breach litigation reported a major hack.

Acquisition Boosts Standardized Consent Frameworks, Identity Data Interoperability
Prove’s acquisition of Philadelphia-based startup Portabl focuses on enhancing interoperability and reusable identity solutions. The move supports emerging industry standards, bridging gaps between identity verification, authentication, and payments for seamless customer experiences.

Google Says Platforms Shouldn't Use Emails as Unique Identifiers
A security researcher purchased abandoned online domains belonging to failed startups and found he could recreate email addresses and access third-party services containing sensitive information collected by the shuttered companies by signing onto the platforms using "Sign in with Google."

Final Cybersecurity Executive Order Unlocks New Powers for Next Administration
Biden’s final cybersecurity order expands sanctions authorities to better target ransomware hackers and the financial facilitators and infrastructure providers enabling their attacks, a White House official said Thursday, as the administration aims to disrupt the broader cybercrime ecosystem.

UALink Crafts Alternative to Nvidia NVLink to Speed AI Accelerator Links
Device-maker Apple joined the board of a recently incorporated industry group that aims to establish open standards for directly connecting AI accelerator chip clusters in data centers. The direct connection optimizes the parallel computing and high data throughput that make GPUs efficient.

Working in Open-Source Intelligence: Get Paid for Something You Do Every Day
Open-source intelligence, commonly referred to as OSINT, is the collection, analysis and use of publicly available information from open sources. These sources include websites, social media, news articles, public records, forums and even multimedia content such as videos and photos.

Hackers Repeatedly Compromised GoDaddy's Web Hosting Environment
Internet registrar and web host GoDaddy agreed to two decades worth of third-party assessments over its cybersecurity practices in a settlement with the U.S. FTC. GoDaddy in February 2023 attributed a run of hacking incidents that began in 2019 to a "sophisticated threat actor group."

Cases are Latest in a Spate of HIPAA Settlements As Biden Administration Wraps Up
A medical supply firm will pay $3 million to settle issues found by a HIPAA investigation into a breach. Also, a public health system will pay $60,000 to resolve a right-of-access dispute. The cases are among the latest in a spate of HIPAA enforcement actions as the Biden administration wraps up.