Browsing: Security

Two U.S. banks, Artisans’ Bank and VeraBank, have disclosed that thousands of their customers were affected by an August ransomware attack on Marquis Software, a financial software vendor. The breach exposed personal information, including Social Security numbers, for tens of thousands of individuals, though the banks confirmed their own systems remained secure.

US Customs and Border Protection is increasingly relying on portable drones for surveillance, transitioning these devices from experimental tools to standard equipment. This strategy aims to create a distributed system capable of real-time tracking, which critics fear could extend far beyond traditional border areas.

France’s national postal service, La Poste, experienced a widespread network failure, causing many of its digital services, including its website and banking app, to be unavailable for over twelve hours. While the cause was not officially stated, reports suggest it was a DDoS attack, raising concerns about potential impacts on Christmas deliveries.

Georgian prosecutors have arrested the country’s former security service head, Grigol Liluashvili, on bribery charges. He is accused of protecting fraudulent call centers that defrauded victims globally, with investigators alleging he received approximately $1.4 million in bribes.

OpenAI is reportedly developing a new “Skills” feature for ChatGPT, mirroring a similar capability found in Claude AI. This upcoming addition aims to enhance ChatGPT’s functionality by allowing users to provide folder-based instructions for specific tasks, workflows, and domain knowledge, moving beyond the current prompt-engineered GPTs.

OpenAI has introduced “formatting blocks” in ChatGPT, a new feature that adapts the user interface to better suit specific tasks like writing emails or documents. This update transforms the output into a rich-text editing experience, making it feel more like a dedicated task tool.

A newly discovered security vulnerability affects specific motherboard models from major vendors like ASRock, ASUS, GIGABYTE, and MSI. This flaw allows for early-boot direct memory access (DMA) attacks, bypassing UEFI and IOMMU protections designed to secure the system during startup. Attackers with physical access could exploit this to inject malicious code or access sensitive data before the operating system loads.

A US Inspector General report investigating Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s use of Signal for sensitive communications recommends a single procedural change to enhance the security of classified information and prevent similar incidents.

Aflac has confirmed that a data breach in June compromised the personal information of more than 22 million customers. The incident, which was not ransomware-related, exposed sensitive details including Social Security numbers and health data. The company has begun notifying affected individuals and is offering two years of identity protection services.

Baker University recently disclosed a data breach that occurred in December 2024, affecting over 53,000 individuals. Attackers gained access to the university’s network and stole personal, health, and financial information. The institution is offering free credit monitoring services to those impacted.