News

System prompt engineering turns benign AI assistants into 'investigator' and 'detective' roles that bypass privacy guardrails

A team of boffins is warning that AI chatbots built on large language models (LLM) can be tuned into malicious agents to autonomously harvest users’ personal data, even by attackers with "minimal technical expertise”, thanks to "system prompt" customization tools from OpenAI and others.…

As £9 billion MoU sparks debate about value for money, it's time to have your say

Register debate series  It's a lot of money, £9 billion ($12 billion). Especially for a government which finds itself — for whatever reason — in a fiscal dead end.…

Some custom malware, some legit software tools

At least a dozen ransomware gangs have incorporated kernel-level EDR killers into their malware arsenal, allowing them to bypass almost every major endpoint security tool on the market, escalate privileges, and ultimately steal and encrypt data before extorting victims into paying a ransom.…

Government and police employee credentials sold at bargain-basement prices on underground forums

Criminals are selling access to FBI and other law enforcement and government email accounts to other criminals via dark web marketplaces for as little as $40.…

Researchers had to notify over 100 vendors of flaw that builds on 2023's Rapid Reset with neat twist past usual mitigations

Security researchers Gal Bar Nahum, Anat Bremler-Barr, and Yaniv Harel have published details of a "common design flaw" in implementations of the HyperText Transfer Protocol 2 (HTTP/2) allowing those with ill intent to create "massive Denial of Service attacks".…

The agency offered some tips for operational technology environments, where attacks are rising

CISA is urging companies with operational technology environments to set a better cybersecurity posture, and not just by adopting some new best practices and purchasing some new software.…

Turkish exchange is the latest victim of a recent spate of major crypto thefts

Turkish cryptocurrency exchange BtcTurk is halting all deposits and withdrawals amid fears that blockchain bandits succeeded in significantly compromising its hot wallets.…

Moscow-linked miscreants accused of swiping sealed US court files and fiddling with a Norwegian dam’s floodgates

Russian attackers reportedly spent months rummaging through the US federal court's creaky case-management system, while Norway reckons the same Kremlin-friendly miscreants took control of a dam's controls – a transatlantic double-act in legal files and floodgates.…

Nearly 100,000 records allegedly up for sale after apparent breach at booking system

Italy's digital agency (AGID) says a cybercriminal's claims concerning a spate of data thefts affecting various hotels across the country are genuine.…