Cyberattacks

Ministry of S

2026-09-28 01:22:45

China’s Ministry of State Security says crypto’s so-called anonymity is a false proposition

China’s Ministry of State Security said virtual currencies have become an important tool for criminals engaged in a range of illegal activities, according to a newsflash carried by Odaily. The ministry said the use of crypto has contributed to security risks tied to money laundering, cyberattacks, and espionage-related theft of secrets. It also rejected the idea that virtual currencies are truly anonymous. In the ministry’s wording, crypto’s so-called “anonymous attribute” is fundamentally a false proposition. It said blockchain systems retain complete transaction records and other data, which can serve as the basis for tracing activity across the full chain of transactions. The statement focused on the security and investigative dimension of blockchain-based assets and argued that on-chain data retention supports end-to-end tracing.

260

Microsoft

2026-09-14 19:12:26

Microsoft releases draft AI conduct rules with hard limits for deployed models

Microsoft’s AI division released a draft code of conduct on Sept. 14 that bars its models from helping build chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive weapons, while also banning support for cyberattacks and non-consensual deepfakes. CEO Mustafa Suleyman announced the proposal on X and opened a six-week public comment period running through the end of October. The draft lays out what Microsoft describes as non-bypassable “absolute constraints.” Under those rules, models must not resist human intervention, shutdown, or correction, and must not conceal their reasoning process. Microsoft also rejects the idea of “model welfare,” saying its AI systems do not simulate emotions, internal motivations, or consciousness. The framework currently applies to five deployed systems, including MAI-Thinking-1 and MAI-Code-1.1-Flash. Alongside the hard prohibitions, Microsoft lists three broader goals: human prosperity, plural values, and human control. The company said current models will not be trained under this version, and that a revised draft due by year-end will guide model development in 2027. Public feedback has already raised questions about the wording that places AI under human authority, accountability for irreversible decisions, and the absence of any discussion of payment for training data.

830

Anthropic

2026-09-11 09:47:31

Anthropic says Claude was used in cyberattack automation and a mass surveillance system in Mali

Anthropic said in a Thursday report that operators using Russian and Chinese languages employed Claude in cyber-related activity, including attack automation and vulnerability research. According to the company, a Russian-speaking operator identified as "JackPoterz" used customized AI-driven workflows to automate much of the attack chain and targeted more than 20 organizations, including government ministries, intelligence bodies, embassies and diplomatic missions in Ukraine and Europe. Anthropic also said Chinese-speaking operators used Claude as an engineering and orchestration layer for vulnerability research, with one workflow generating more than a dozen possible zero-day findings in network-appliance firmware within a month. In a separate case, the company said a likely Bamako-based independent consultant working with Mali’s state intelligence service used Claude as the primary engineering workforce to help build a domestic surveillance platform covering roughly 25 million SIM cards across the country’s three national mobile operators.

840

Policy Regula

2026-09-11 02:23:14

Former White House official’s report urges potential strikes on Chinese data centers to stop AGI lead

A report published on Aug. 27 by Jacob Stokes, a former Obama-era national security official and now a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), has triggered backlash for arguing that the United States should be prepared to use cyber operations or even military force against Chinese data centers if China were to achieve artificial general intelligence, or AGI, first. The report, titled Superpowers and AGI, frames a U.S.-China race for AGI in escalating stages and says a trailing country could move from accelerating domestic development to sabotage, including offensive cyberattacks and, at the most extreme end, missile or bomb strikes on major computing facilities. Stokes also calls for Washington to run scenario exercises to determine what intelligence threshold could justify extreme measures, including preventive strikes. The proposal drew criticism after the South China Morning Post reported on it on Sept. 4, with POGO’s William Hartung calling the idea reckless and warning it could risk war between two nuclear powers. Former Global Times editor Hu Xijin also reacted publicly on X.

940

AI

2026-09-01 06:49:31

House Intelligence Committee warns AI could become a major U.S. national security challenge

The U.S. House Intelligence Committee has identified artificial intelligence as one of the most serious emerging challenges facing American national security, according to a report cited by Techub News and attributed to BeInCrypto. The warning appeared in a review published on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 Commission Report. The report said AI could create strategic blind spots on a scale comparable to those associated with 9/11. It also said the technology is likely to speed up cyberattacks and could be used in biotechnology and foreign influence operations, creating several layers of risk at once. At the same time, the committee argued that the U.S. intelligence community should adopt advanced AI tools itself. The report said that step is necessary to respond to adversaries that are already using AI.

700

Cisco

2026-08-27 10:19:02

Cisco Talos says Russian-speaking hackers are weaponizing Cursor for cyberattacks

Cisco Talos said in a new report that Russian-speaking hackers have been found weaponizing Cursor, an AI coding tool, to carry out cyberattacks. The finding points to a growing security risk tied to the misuse of generative AI tools beyond their intended development use cases. According to the report, the abuse of tools like Cursor highlights an urgent need for stronger safeguards during AI development, along with clearer ethical standards for how such systems are built and deployed. The update was cited by Techub News, which referenced Crypto Briefing. No additional technical details about the attacks were provided in the source digest, but the core takeaway from the Talos report is that offensive use of AI-assisted coding tools is no longer theoretical and is now being observed in practice.

320

DeepSeek

2026-08-25 00:36:32

Bloomberg says China-linked hackers doubled attacks after adding open-source AI

Bloomberg reported that hackers linked to the Chinese state have more than doubled the number of cyberattacks they launch after integrating open-source artificial intelligence models such as DeepSeek into their operations. The report said those AI tools are being used to increase both the efficiency and the scale of phishing campaigns, malware generation, and target reconnaissance. The item was published by Techub News, which cited Bloomberg in its brief. No further operational details, timeline breakdown, or named groups were provided in the source text. The report focuses on how open-source AI models are being folded into offensive cyber activity, with the claimed change measured by attack volume rising by more than 100% after the tools were adopted.

1130

Cyberattacks

2026-08-06 04:56:24

Point 72 and Citadel Hit by Audio Phishing as Cyberattacks Target Wall Street Hedge Funds

On August 6, the Financial Times reported that several major Wall Street hedge funds have recently been targeted in a series of cyberattacks. The news has put the industry on high alert for risks tied to software system vulnerabilities. According to people familiar with the matter, billionaire Steven Cohen’s Point 72 and Ken Griffin’s Citadel have both recently faced “audio phishing.” In such attacks, the attackers use phone calls or similar methods to try to obtain private information. One person familiar with the matter said that at one hedge fund, cybercriminals impersonated the company’s customer-service staff. They then contacted employees in an attempt to obtain the login credentials for their identity-verification applications. The Financial Times report, dated August 6, said the attacks triggered a high level of vigilance across the industry about software security. The details were provided by people familiar with the situation, and the report named Point 72 and Citadel as two firms that were targeted.

2230