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Australian Securities Commission Says HSBC Ignored Repeated Internal Warnings
Some lessons come with a price. The recent lawsuit against HSBC by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission claims the bank prioritized profits over customer safety. Despite repeated internal warnings from its own fraud experts, HSBC failed to act.

Hackers Use TeamFiltration Penetration Testing Tool
A threat actor is using the password spraying feature of the TeamFiltration pentesting tool to launch attacks against Microsoft Entra accounts - and finding success. The threat actor has targeted more than 80,000 user accounts across roughly 100 cloud tenants.

300-Person Acquisition Expands Managed Services, Adds Legal and Forensics Expertise
The acquisition of Aon’s 300-person cyber unit enhances LevelBlue’s incident response and managed security services. It brings legal experience, global coverage and new law firm partnerships to strengthen its channel strategy and customer support, said CEO Bob McCullen.

Multi-Line Insurance Company Warns Customers of Potential Scams
Erie Indemnity Company, which offers a wide range of insurance including Medicare supplements and cyber coverage, has notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it has been responding to a cyber incident since last weekend. The company is also warning customers of potential scams.

WhatsApp CEO Says UK Request Sets "Dangerous Precedent"
Instant messaging app WhatsApp is seeking to join Apple's legal battle with the U.K. government over end-to-end encryption. Apple is challenging a Home Office order requiring the device maker to provide law enforcement with unencrypted copies of customer data.

Agentic AI Is Creating New Risks, New Career Opportunities for Cyber Professionals
If your AI agent decided to act on its own tomorrow, would your systems know who it was, what it did, and whether it had the right to do it? If the answer is no, it's time to give your new coworker a badge and a policy framework. These non-human identities are creating new career opportunities.

Andrea Isoni of AI Technologies on Certifications, Deepfakes and ISO 42001
AI misuse - from deepfakes to cyber incidents - continues to outpace regulation. Andrea Isoni, chief AI officer at AI Technologies discusses why stronger cyber laws, certification frameworks like ISO 42001 and risk-based prioritization are necessary to manage AI risks safely and compliantly.

VulnCheck's Garrity on the Uncertainty of the CVE Ecosystem and EUVD's Limitations
Funding shortages and incomplete coverage in critical vulnerability databases are increasing the risk for defenders. Patrick Garrity, security researcher at VulnCheck, discusses how data gaps and scoring confusion hinder response strategies for potential cyberattacks.

NextJenSecurity Founder Calls for Global Policy Shifts to Reduce Vulnerabilities
Governments worldwide are shifting from reactive responses to preventive strategies to tackle ransomware attacks. Jen Ellis, founder of NextJenSecurity, stresses the need for vulnerability accountability and secure-by-design policies to tackle systemic cybersecurity flaws.

Also: 5 Guilty Pleas in Cambodia-linked $36.9 Million Scam
Every week, ISMG rounds up cybersecurity incidents in digital assets. This week, charges against a crypto firm founder in a $530M sanctions evasion and money laundering case, guilty pleas in a $36.9M scam, an $8.3M exploit of Alex Lab, and Cetus Protocol relaunched after a $223M hack.

32 Suspects Arrested Across Asia-Pacific During Interpol-Coordinated Crackdown
Interpol on Wednesday unveiled Operation Secure, an information-stealing malware crackdown that it coordinated, resulting in the arrest of 32 suspects and the seizure of over 20,000 malicious IP addresses and 41 servers tied to infostealer-fueled crime.

Researchers Turn to AI to Fix a Zombie Flaw that AI Helped Propagate
Artificial intelligence tools that inadvertently perpetuated a decade-old bug may now also help eliminate it. The path traversal vulnerability became so embedded in developer culture that it found its way into training data for today’s AI models.

Another Top Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Official Departs
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency notched another high-level departure with the departure of Bridget Bean, CISA's acting director since the Trump administration took power in January. The agency lists Madhu Gottumukkala, CISA deputy director, as the new acting director.

Group's Advisory Follows an Updated Joint Alert from US, Australian Agencies
The American Hospital Association is warning hospitals and other healthcare sector organizations of rising double-extortion attack threats involving the Play ransomware group. The AHA alert follows an updated joint government advisory issued last week about Play's latest tactics.

Lawmakers Quiz Execs on Security; State AG Seek to Block Sale of Bankrupt Firm
While a Congressional committee grilled 23andMe executives on Tuesday about security and privacy, 28 states filed a lawsuit to stop the sale of the bankrupt genetics testing firm unless the company obtains explicit consent from each customer for the transfer or their information to a third party.

Crash Records and Driver Data Exposed in Texas Transportation Hack
Hackers accessed the Texas Department of Transportation's crash records system using a compromised account, stealing nearly 300,000 reports containing personal and vehicle information that could be used for fraud, the department warned in a letter to impacted individuals.

Experts Call for Continuous Assessments of Vendor Risk - Not Just at Onboarding
As vendor ecosystems grow in complexity, many organizations still view third-party risk management as a static assessment of vendors as they're onboarded. But organizations often focus too heavily on upfront vetting of vendors and fail to track how their risk profiles may change over time.

Team Cymru's Thomas on Social Engineering, Insider Threats and Supplier Compromise
Social engineering attacks against major British retailers have exposed critical vulnerabilities in corporate cybersecurity defenses. The attacks typically begin with threat actors calling IT help desks to reset employee credentials, said Will Thomas of Team Cymru.

Frost & Sullivan's Stahnke on How Human Risk Insights Drive Better Threat Response
Legacy cybersecurity training often fails because users skip the content or treat it as a compliance task. Forward-looking organizations now recognize that human behavior is a critical piece of their security posture, said Claudio Stahnke, industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

Malicious Accounts Linked to Malware, Influence Operations
OpenAI is using its artificial intelligence models to detect and counter abuse and has banned accounts associated with malicious state-linked operations. Hackers aligned with Russia, China, North Korea and Iran have used OpenAI's tools for malware development and social media manipulation.