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Hackers Exploit Third-Party Provider to Steal $133 Million From French Bank

A major French banking group, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, has suffered a sophisticated cyberattack that allowed hackers to carry out fraudulent fin...

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Hacker attack
Anti Malwares Cyber Security Developer Security GitHub GitHub malware Hacker attack

Hackers Infiltrate GitHub Projects to Infect Cybersecurity Developers With Advanced Malware

 

Cybercriminals are distributing malware through GitHub repositories designed to look like genuine development projects. Researchers at Doctor Web found malicious code in Microsoft Visual Studio projects, Python scripts and Go files. Over 2000 computers were reportedly infected with this malware. The campaign began around 2 years ago with the initial targets being cryptocurrency users. The repositories were themed around blockchain games, game bots and cheating tools. 

The repositories even included guidance for installing Visual Studio to make them seem more legitimate to less experienced developers. However the malware has now targeted information security professionals. The malicious code is hidden within repositories that claim to be for automated scanning, security testing and log analysis. The infected files have malicious code hidden in the configuration and source code of the repository. The malicious code is hidden with lots of white space. 

When the malicious project is downloaded, it runs PowerShell scripts that fetch further malicious files from external sources. This results in an archive being downloaded containing Microsoft.exe, which is a malware loader built with Electron. The malware has been identified as Trojan.Loader.3261. Once active, the malware gathers information about the system, creates persistence and downloads further payloads. It also tries to disable Windows Defender, User Account Control, alerts and recovery features. 

The malware uses various methods to avoid being monitored by security tools, hijack legitimate windows processes and avoid detection from endpoint detection systems. The malware includes payloads such as BackDoor.AsyncRAT.115 which allows the attacker to remotely access the infected computer. It also includes Trojan.InjectNET.14 which adds a cryptocurrency hijacker to the clipboard. This changes the copied wallet addresses to ones controlled by the attacker. 

It also takes screenshots of the infected system. The malware also includes JS.Stealer.191 which steals information from browsers, VPNs, messaging applications, gaming accounts, FileZilla and Discord. This information is zipped up and sent to the attacker via a Telegram bot. The malware tries to uninstall security tools from ESET, McAfee and Malwarebytes. It also changes the hosts file in windows to prevent access to certain anti virus domains. 

The researchers found multiple variations of how the malware was deployed. They also found other incomplete components which indicates that the malware is still being developed. Future features could include auto reinstall, better persistence, managing applications when they open and updating software. This shows that even information security professionals can be vulnerable to malicious resources. The researchers recommend checking any files you download, keeping anti virus databases up to date and being cautious when cloning unknown GitHub repositories.
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Supreme Court Of India
Data protection law Digital Personal Data Protection Act DNPA Petition Investigative Journalism Journalism Rights Press Freedom Privacy Right To Information Supreme Court Of India

Publishers Move Supreme Court Against Key Provisions of Data Protection Law

 


Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), representing 21 prominent news organizations, has filed suit with the Supreme Court challenging provisions of India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and the DPDP Rules, 2025. As a result of the current data protection framework, journalists could be restricted in their activities, investigative reporting may become complex, and public access to information may be limited. 

Upon receiving notices from the Union Ministry of Law and Justice and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on October 27, 2026, the Supreme Court requested the Centre's response to the challenge. This case emphasizes the conflict between preserving the right to maintain an individual's digital privacy and preserving the right to investigate and report issues of public interest for the press. 

Indian Parliament passed the DPDP Act in August 2023, the first comprehensive law specifically designed to protect digital personal data. It establishes rules for organizations and other entities that collect and process personal information. Under the Act, these entities are considered Data Fiduciaries and are required to obtain the consent of individuals before processing personal data, except for certain permissible purposes listed below Section 7. 

A significant financial penalty is also introduced in the legislation, with data protection violations resulting in fines as high as Rs 250 crore. On November 13, 2025, MeitY notified the DPDP Rules for setting up the operational framework, with phased implementation over a period of 18 months. However, news publishers contend that the legislation does not specifically exempt journalistic activities from its provisions. 

A clear provision for news reporting is not provided by Section 7, which identifies legitimate purposes for processing personal information, nor by Section 17, which lists exemptions from the Act. According to the DNPA, this omission may pose significant challenges for reporters investigating individuals, institutions, or organizations. 

While investigating issues involving public accountability, journalists often obtain personal information from public records, interviews, documents, and other sources. A lack of a journalistic exemption may raise questions about whether consent is required before such information may be collected or used. Further, the association emphasized that earlier versions of data protection legislation, drafted in 2018, 2019, and 2021, included exemptions for journalistic purposes. They have been removed from the final framework and are a key part of the legal challenge. 

Moreover, the dispute also involves amendments to the Right to Information Act (RTI Act), which raise concerns regarding the impact of the new provisions on transparency and access to government information. DPDP Rule 23 also presents a challenge, which provides the Central Government with the authority to request information from Data Fiduciaries and intermediaries through an authorized agent. Moreover, the rule prohibits these entities from disclosing the fact that a request has been made.

News publishers have expressed concern over the possibility that the provision could affect the confidentiality of journalistic sources and create confusion regarding the handling of information obtained during investigations. Moreover, the association has questioned the amendment to Section 8(1)(j) of the Right to Information Act, which was implemented by Section 44(3) of the DPDP Act. 

A public authority previously had the option of withholding personal information that had no connection to public activities or that could cause an unwarranted invasion of privacy. If a larger public interest justified the disclosure, information could be released. Information related to personal information has been broadly exempted from the amended provision. 

Publishers argue that this change could make it more difficult for them to obtain government records required for investigations of matters such as conflicts of interest, public appointments and the use of public funds. Those seeking information about welfare programs, recruitment processes, and government services can also benefit from such information. However, the amendment does not remove every route for disclosure. 

Information may be released in accordance with Section 8(2) of the RTI Act when the public interest outweighs the potential harm to protected interests. Despite the government's assertion that stronger privacy safeguards are necessary for preventing misuse of personal information, the current provision pertaining to public interest continues to protect transparency as it does today. In addition, the legal dispute involves constitutional protections of privacy.

In its 2017 Justice K.S. Puttaswamy decision, the Supreme Court recognized privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21, albeit clarifying that the right is not absolute. This case raises the question as to how that protection should be applied simultaneously with freedom of speech and information access rights for the public. After issuing notice to the Centre, the Supreme Court declined to grant an interim stay on the challenged provisions before hearing the government's response. 

According to the bench, a blanket restriction on disclosure of digital personal information is not necessary, but a more proportionate approach is required. Additional hearings will be held on November 17, 2026 in regards to this matter. An examination by the court may have broader implications for how the privacy laws in India apply to news organizations, investigative reporting, and the public's right of access to public records.

It is expected that the Supreme Court's decision in this case will have a significant impact on the balance between individuals' rights to privacy, freedom of the press, and access to information for the general public. Its findings may also affect the way news organizations handle personal data when conducting investigations in India.
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Vulnerabilities and Exploits
SAML Security Patch SonicWall Vulnerabilities and Exploits

SonicWall Patches Exploited VPN Authentication Flaw

 

SonicWall has released security updates addressing a high severity vulnerability in SonicOS that could allow attackers to bypass SAML authentication and its associated multifactor authentication requirements. Tracked as CVE-2026-19868, the flaw affects the SSL VPN component of the operating system used by SonicWall firewalls. The company disclosed the issue alongside six other vulnerabilities in an advisory published on November 6, 2026. Its security team investigated a report indicating potential exploitation, raising concerns for organizations relying on affected appliances to secure remote connections. 

The vulnerability does not allow anyone to enter without credentials. Instead, an attacker must possess valid credentials for an alternative authentication method. Those credentials could then be used to bypass SAML authentication controls, potentially avoiding multifactor authentication enforced through SAML. According to SonicWall, exposure exists only when SAML login is enabled for the SSL VPN. The flaw received a CVSS severity score of 7.1 and was reported by Ryan Harris of The Electronic Office, distinguishing it from an unrestricted authentication bypass affecting every configuration. 

Affected products include Gen7 TZ, NSa, NSsp, and NSv firewalls running SonicOS 7.3.3-7015 or earlier. Gen8 TZ, NSa, and NSv firewalls running SonicOS 8.2.2-8015 or earlier are also vulnerable. SonicWall addressed the issue in SonicOS versions 7.3.4-7013 and 8.2.3-8015, respectively. The company said no workarounds are available and strongly urged customers to upgrade promptly. For administrators, the immediate priority is therefore identifying affected firewall models, checking their installed software versions, and applying the appropriate fixed release rather than relying on an unverified temporary configuration change. 

The United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency added the vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on November 6. Under Binding Operational Directive 26-04, federal agencies must address it by November 20. However, public information about exploitation remains limited. Neither SonicWall nor CISA disclosed details about the suspected attacks, their targets, or their impact. It also remains unclear whether attackers exploited the weakness before a patch became available. That distinction matters because the available reporting does not establish that this was a zero-day. 

The remaining six vulnerabilities broaden the advisory’s significance, although SonicWall did not identify them as exploited. Two management interface flaws, each rated 8.8, could permit unauthorized actions under certain circumstances without authentication. Three pre-authentication buffer overflows affect the SSL VPN service and TACACS+ authentication client, potentially causing application denial of service. A weak password hashing issue affects virtual appliances but requires highly privileged local access. Together, these findings make the updates relevant beyond the SAML bypass alone, while keeping each vulnerability’s prerequisites and consequences distinct.
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US Healthcare
AI Systems Artificial Intelligence discrimination LAPD Law Enforcement Policing Technology US Healthcare

AI in Policing Risks Amplifying Racial Bias, Researchers Warn

 




When the Los Angeles Police Department started feeding decades of arrest records into predictive algorithms, it believed it was upgrading how it approached crime. What it actually did, researchers now argue, was automate its existing prejudices.

The growing use of artificial intelligence in law enforcement is raising alarms among criminologists and legal scholars who say these systems absorb the biases already embedded in historical police data and repeat them at scale. Far from offering a neutral, data-driven view of crime, the tools risk entrenching the same inequalities they claim to transcend.

At the core of the problem is how these systems learn. AI tools for predictive policing are trained on past arrest and crime records, which means they begin with a picture of crime shaped by previous policing decisions rather than by crime itself. Areas that received heavier patrol in earlier decades show more recorded incidents. The algorithm reads that density as a future risk signal and directs officers back to those same neighborhoods. More arrests follow. The data is updated. The cycle repeats.

Sarah Brayne, a sociologist at the University of Texas at Austin, spent time inside the LAPD studying how the department used big data systems. In research published in the *American Sociological Review*, she found the department was increasingly using data to predict crime rather than respond to it. The data flowing into those systems was skewed from the start: crimes in public places were more likely to be recorded, and patrol resources were disproportionately concentrated in Black neighborhoods. Once that history was absorbed by the algorithm, Brayne wrote, "the predictions appear impartial." They were not. The models, she concluded, create "a feedback loop in which they not only predict events such as crime or police contact, but also contribute to their future occurrence."

The problem sharpens when that underlying data was produced under conditions of institutional misconduct. Researchers at New York University's AI Now Institute studied 13 jurisdictions across the US and found that in nine of them, police departments had trained predictive systems on records gathered during documented periods of unlawful or biased policing. Chicago is the starkest case. The city's police department was under federal investigation for discriminatory practices at the same moment it adopted a risk-flagging algorithm to identify people likely to be involved in shootings. The residents federal investigators had identified as targets of biased policing overlapped substantially with those the algorithm flagged. The list eventually grew to more than 400,000 names, 56 percent of them Black men.

Chicago shut down the program in 2019 after its own inspector general raised concerns about its effectiveness. Los Angeles scrapped a similar initiative, Operation LASER, the same year. A 2023 analysis of Geolitica, formerly known as PredPol, one of the most widely deployed predictive policing tools in the country, found a success rate below half a percent across more than 23,000 predictions made in Plainfield, New Jersey.

Not everyone in the field believes the technology is fundamentally broken. Dr. Dimitrios Kollias, an associate professor in multimodal artificial intelligence at Queen Mary University of London, argues that modern AI systems do not simply replay their training data. "They can combine learned information in new ways and generate outputs that were not explicitly present in those examples," he told the BBC. He acknowledges dirty data is a genuine concern but argues systems can be tested for unfair outcomes and redesigned when they fail. As those systems grow more autonomous, he adds, ensuring they remain under meaningful human control becomes a priority in its own right.

The consequences of algorithmic bias run well beyond law enforcement. A 2019 study published in the journal Science examined a healthcare AI tool used to allocate additional patient support across US hospitals. The system measured patient need by predicting the cost of their care. Because less was already being spent on Black patients than on equally sick white patients, often due to poorer access to care, the algorithm systematically directed resources toward white patients. When researchers recalibrated it to predict illness directly rather than cost, the share of Black patients selected for extra support would have risen from roughly 18 percent to 47 percent. The fix was straightforward once someone looked for the problem. That is precisely the case researchers make for independent oversight.

Legislators are beginning to respond. In January 2024, seven US Congress members asked the Justice Department to pause grant funding for predictive policing programs until their discriminatory impact could be assessed. A White House policy from March 2024 requires federal agencies to independently test rights-impacting AI tools, though the mandate does not extend to state and local police departments. In Britain, 17 civil society organizations called the same year for a full ban on predictive policing.

Dr. Carolyn McKay, an associate professor in digital justice at the University of Sydney Law School, says cleaning up biased data is not a matter of removing a few stray errors. The corrupted records are not sitting at the edges of an otherwise sound dataset. They run through the foundation the algorithm was built on. Even systems redesigned to flag locations rather than individual people can produce the same outcomes, she warns, because the neighborhoods they target were shaped by years of concentrated policing long before any algorithm got involved.

The root of the problem, most researchers agree, is not the machine. It is the human judgment baked into the data the machine inherited. The algorithm did not decide what suspicious behavior looked like, or which crimes were worth recording. People did. Until those decisions are independently examined, AI will keep reflecting them back.



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Email Security Getaways
Barracuda Bypass Flaw Critical Vulnerability Cyber Security Email Security Getaways

Barracuda Patches Two Security Flaws That Could Let Attackers Take Over Email Security Gateways


Experts have shown how two vulnerabilities in Barracuda's Email Security Gateway can be chained to execute arbitrary commands with root privileges without requiring an attacker to log in.

The vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2026-116606 and CVE-2026-111560, affect Barracuda's email-filtering appliance and could allow remote attackers to bypass security restrictions and gain complete control of vulnerable systems.

According to cybersecurity firm watchTowr, which published its technical analysis, the attack chain combines an authorization bypass flaw with a command injection vulnerability. Barracuda released security patches for the issues earlier this week.

The first vulnerability, CVE-2026-116606, is an authorization bypass flaw that allows unauthenticated attackers to access a configuration restoration function and modify the appliance's global settings. The second, CVE-2026-111560, is a command injection vulnerability that enables commands to execute with root privileges.

Mandiant assigned CVSS severity scores of 9.3 and 8.6 to the two vulnerabilities, respectively.

How the attack chain works

In its technical investigation, watchTowr discovered that the authorization bypass stems from the appliance's password-change process. When a password change request fails, the system incorrectly returns a low-privilege user role instead of terminating the request completely.

The researchers also found that Barracuda's backup verification mechanism relies on a secret embedded within the appliance's code. Since this secret is not securely protected, attackers can generate a valid checksum for a specially crafted configuration backup and restore it on the targeted device.

The uploaded configuration can contain a manipulated timezone value. When the appliance processes this setting, it passes the value to a shell command that executes with root privileges.

watchTowr demonstrated the attack by successfully writing a file to the appliance with root-level permissions.

Affected products

CVE-2026-116606 affects Barracuda Email Security Gateway, while CVE-2026-111560 impacts five additional products, including Load Balancer Application Delivery Controller (ADC), Message Archiver, WAF Control Center, Web Application Firewall (WAF), and Web Security Gateway (WSG).

However, the complete unauthenticated attack chain applies specifically to Email Security Gateway. Exploitation of the command injection vulnerability on the other affected products requires administrator access.

What next?

Barracuda has released security updates addressing both vulnerabilities and recommends that customers install the appropriate patches or upgrade to the latest fixed firmware versions.

As of the disclosure, neither vulnerability had been listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, and no publicly reported incidents linked the flaws to active exploitation.

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RBI Data Centre
AI Security Banking Security Cyber Security cybersecurity risks Cybersecurity Training Institute data sovereignty Digital Banking Financial Cybersecurity India's Digital Infrastructure RBI Data Centre

Data Sovereignty Is Essential for India's Digital Infrastructure, Says RBI Governor


Sanjay Malhotra, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), emphasized the significance of maintaining sovereign data centers in order to safeguard critical financial information and strengthen the country's digital infrastructure. As information technology has become an integral part of the banking industry, security infrastructure, operational resilience, and cybersecurity have become increasingly important in maintaining financial stability, especially in light of the growing threat landscape being shaped by artificial intelligence (AI). 


Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the RBI's new data center complex and Cybersecurity Training Institute in Bhubaneswar on October 25, and made these remarks following the inauguration. With a capital investment of Rs 169 crore, the facility is expected to enhance the reliability of critical financial services and to reduce the likelihood that essential banking operations will be disrupted.

A spokesperson for Doordarshan reported that Malhotra explained that the central bank's technology infrastructure facilitates the use of applications by the general public, financial institutions, and government departments. He pointed out that information technology cannot be considered merely a supporting function, as several essential financial operations are directly dependent upon the availability and security of these technologies. 

NEFT and RTGS are major payment infrastructures that will be supported by the new data center. Furthermore, the RBI's integrated ombudsman system and applications used by financial institutions regulated by the central bank will be supported by the new data center. In addition to government banking operations, it will also accommodate financial institutions regulated by the RBI. 

A key component of Malhotra's statement was the RBI's role in the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) ecosystem in India. Although UPI is operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), final settlement of transactions takes place through the RBI's data centres and applications. To ensure the availability of the central bank's infrastructure within the wider digital payments ecosystem, it is important. 

Four independent data centres are located within the Bhubaneswar complex, which has been accredited as Tier IV by the Uptime Institute, the highest level of its data centre classification. This facility will be operated independently of third party cloud service providers, allowing RBI to maintain greater control over its critical infrastructure and sensitive financial information. Additionally, the project's geographical location will contribute to its resilience. 

A geographically separated and seismically isolated location in Bhubaneswar reduces the possibility that a localised disruption will affect all facilities simultaneously. The RBI previously operated three data centers in Maharashtra. Additionally, this development reflects the increasing importance of data sovereignty in the Indian financial infrastructure, where uninterrupted access to critical systems and the control of sensitive information remain essential security priorities. 

As part of the RBI's infrastructure security efforts, cybersecurity expertise is also being developed throughout the financial sector. In the Bhubaneswar project, there will be a Cybersecurity Training Institute, which will occupie approximately two-thirds of the campus, and the remaining portion will accommodate the data centre. It is intended that the institute will provide training to personnel of the RBI, bank employees, and professionals from other financial institutions. 

A number of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, quantum technology, and blockchain, will be studied as part of its programming. There will also be research activities conducted in order to investigate ways to improve the security and efficiency of financial systems. With AI posing new challenges to financial institutions, specialized training is becoming increasingly important.

The technology can provide opportunities for improving banking operations and security monitoring; however, if it is misused, it can result in cyberattacks, automated fraud, and attempts to exploit weaknesses in digital systems, increasing in sophistication. Financial sector readiness therefore relies heavily on cybersecurity professionals staying up to date on these developments. 

Governor of the Reserve Bank, Sanjay Malhotra, stressed the need to maintain personnel informed of technological developments and the growing importance of cybersecurity in the context of artificial intelligence. By attending the institute, financial sector professionals will be better equipped to comprehend emerging risks and respond to changes in cybersecurity. In addition to investing in digital infrastructure, the initiative emphasizes the importance of building human expertise. 

For data centers and advanced technology systems to be secure, trained professionals must manage operations, identify security weaknesses, and ensure service reliability are required. It was pointed out during the inauguration that cybersecurity was directly related to India's economic security by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As financial services become increasingly dependent on digital technologies and digital banking, it becomes increasingly important to protect the financial infrastructure.

As well as highlighting the institute's role in developing cybersecurity and emerging technologies, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also highlighted the institute's efforts. Due to its emphasis on energy efficiency and water conservation, the RBI has also applied for a Platinum rating with the Indian Green Building Council. 

Bhubaneswar represents a larger effort to strengthen India's control over critical financial technology infrastructure by incorporating locally sourced materials in its construction approach. To protect the country's financial ecosystem, sovereign data management, geographically distributed infrastructure, and specialized cybersecurity training will remain important. As digital payments and artificial intelligence-driven services continue to increase, a comprehensive data management system, geographically distributed infrastructure, and cybersecurity training will be essential. 

An important strategic investment is being made in Indian financial infrastructure with the establishment of the sovereign data centre and cybersecurity training institute. In order to enhance the long-term reliability and resilience of the country's digital financial systems, the RBI intends to strengthen control over critical financial data and develop specialised cybersecurity expertise.
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