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Showing posts with label Cyber Defenses. Show all posts
OpenAI
AI Model AI Models AI Systems ChatGPT ChatGPT. OpenAI Cyber Defenses Cyber Security cybersecurity risks OpenAI

OpenAI Warns Future AI Models Could Increase Cybersecurity Risks and Defenses

 

Meanwhile, OpenAI told the press that large language models will get to a level where future generations of these could pose a serious risk to cybersecurity. The company in its blog postingly admitted that powerful AI systems could eventually be used to craft sophisticated cyberattacks, such as developing previously unknown software vulnerabilities or aiding stealthy cyber-espionage operations against well-defended targets. Although this is still theoretical, OpenAI has underlined that the pace with which AI cyber-capability improvements are taking place demands proactive preparation. 

The same advances that could make future models attractive for malicious use, according to the company, also offer significant opportunities to strengthen cyber defense. OpenAI said such progress in reasoning, code analysis, and automation has the potential to significantly enhance security teams' ability to identify weaknesses in systems better, audit complex software systems, and remediate vulnerabilities more effectively. Instead of framing the issue as a threat alone, the company cast the issue as a dual-use challenge-one in which adequate management through safeguards and responsible deployment would be required. 

In the development of such advanced AI systems, OpenAI says it is investing heavily in defensive cybersecurity applications. This includes helping models improve particularly on tasks related to secure code review, vulnerability discovery, and patch validation. It also mentioned its effort on creating tooling supporting defenders in running critical workflows at scale, notably in environments where manual processes are slow or resource-intensive. 

OpenAI identified several technical strategies that it thinks are critical to the mitigation of cyber risk associated with increased capabilities of AI systems: stronger access controls to restrict who has access to sensitive features, hardened infrastructure to prevent abuse, outbound data controls to reduce the risk of information leakage, and continuous monitoring to detect anomalous behavior. These altogether are aimed at reducing the likelihood that advanced capabilities could be leveraged for harmful purposes. 

It also announced the forthcoming launch of a new program offering tiered access to additional cybersecurity-related AI capabilities. This is intended to ensure that researchers, enterprises, and security professionals working on legitimate defensive use cases have access to more advanced tooling while providing appropriate restrictions on higher-risk functionality. Specific timelines were not discussed by OpenAI, although it promised that more would be forthcoming very soon. 

Meanwhile, OpenAI also announced that it would create a Frontier Risk Council comprising renowned cybersecurity experts and industry practitioners. Its initial mandate will lie in assessing the cyber-related risks that come with frontier AI models. But this is expected to expand beyond this in the near future. Its members will be required to offer advice on the question of where the line should fall between developing capability responsibly and possible misuse. And its input would keep informing future safeguards and evaluation frameworks. 

OpenAI also emphasized that the risks of AI-enabled cyber misuse have no single-company or single-platform constraint. Any sophisticated model, across the industry, it said, may be misused if there are no proper controls. To that effect, OpenAI said it continues to collaborate with peers through initiatives such as the Frontier Model Forum, sharing threat modeling insights and best practices. 

By recognizing how AI capabilities could be weaponized and where the points of intervention may lie, the company believes, the industry will go a long way toward balancing innovation and security as AI systems continue to evolve.
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LLM cybersecurity
AI cyberattacks AI cybersecurity AI technology Cyber Attacks Cyber Defenses LLM LLM cybersecurity

AI-Assisted Cyberattacks Signal a Shift in Modern Threat Strategies and Defense Models

 

A new wave of cyberattacks is using large language models as an offensive tool, according to recent reporting from Anthropic and Oligo Security. Both groups said hackers used jailbroken LLMs-some capable of writing code and conducting autonomous reasoning-to conduct real-world attack campaigns. While the development is alarming, cybersecurity researchers had already anticipated such advancements. 

Earlier this year, a group at Cornell University published research predicting that cybercriminals would eventually use AI to automate hacking at scale. The evolution is consistent with a recurring theme in technology history: Tools designed for productivity or innovation inevitably become dual-use. Any number of examples-from drones to commercial aircraft to even Alfred Nobel's invention of dynamite-demonstrate how innovation often carries unintended consequences. 

The biggest implication of it all in cybersecurity is that LLMs today finally allow attackers to scale and personalize their operations simultaneously. In the past, cybercriminals were mostly forced to choose between highly targeted efforts that required manual work or broad, indiscriminate attacks with limited sophistication. 

Generative AI removes this trade-off, allowing attackers to run tailored campaigns against many targets at once, all with minimal input. In Anthropic's reported case, attackers initially provided instructions on ways to bypass its model safeguards, after which the LLM autonomously generated malicious output and conducted attacks against dozens of organizations. Similarly, Oligo Security's findings document a botnet powered by AI-generated code, first exploiting an AI infrastructure tool called Ray and then extending its activity by mining cryptocurrency and scanning for new targets. 

Traditional defenses, including risk-based prioritization models, may become less effective within this new threat landscape. These models depend upon the assumption that attackers will strategically select targets based upon value and feasibility. Automation collapses the cost of producing custom attacks such that attackers are no longer forced to prioritize. That shift erases one of the few natural advantages defenders had. 

Complicating matters further, defenders must weigh operational impact when making decisions about whether to implement a security fix. In many environments, a mitigation that disrupts legitimate activity poses its own risk and may be deferred, leaving exploitable weaknesses in place. Despite this shift, experts believe AI can also play a crucial role in defense. The future could be tied to automated mitigations capable of assessing risks and applying fixes dynamically, rather than relying on human intervention.

In some cases, AI might decide that restrictions should narrowly apply to certain users; in other cases, it may recommend immediate enforcement across the board. While the attackers have momentum today, cybersecurity experts believe the same automation that today enables large-scale attacks could strengthen defenses if it is deployed strategically.
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Password Privacy
Cyber Defenses cyberattack protection Data protection data security IP Address ISP NordVPN Online Privacy Password Privacy

Using a VPN Is Essential for Online Privacy and Data Protection

 

Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, have evolved from tools used to bypass geographic content restrictions into one of the most effective defenses for protecting digital privacy and data security. By encrypting your internet traffic and concealing your real IP address, VPNs make it far more difficult for anyone — from hackers to internet service providers (ISPs) — to monitor or intercept your online activity. 

When connected to a VPN, your data is sent through a secure, encrypted tunnel before reaching its destination. This means that any information transmitted between your device and the VPN server remains unreadable to outsiders. Once your data reaches the server, it’s decrypted and forwarded to the intended website or application. In return, the response is re-encrypted before traveling back to you. Essentially, your data is “cloaked” from potential attackers, making it especially valuable when using public Wi-Fi networks, where Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks such as IP spoofing or Wi-Fi eavesdropping are common. 

For businesses, combining VPN usage with endpoint security and antivirus software strengthens overall cybersecurity posture by reducing exposure to network vulnerabilities.

A key advantage of VPNs lies in hiding your IP address, which can otherwise reveal your geographic location and online behavior. Exposing your IP makes you vulnerable to phishing, hacking, and DDoS attacks, and it can even allow malicious actors to impersonate you online. By rerouting your connection through a VPN server, your actual IP is replaced by the server’s, ensuring that websites and external entities can’t trace your real identity or location. 

In addition to safeguarding data, VPNs also help counter ISP throttling — the practice of deliberately slowing internet connections during high-traffic periods or after reaching data caps. With a VPN, your ISP cannot see the exact nature of your online activities, whether streaming, gaming, or torrenting. While ISPs can still detect VPN usage and measure total data transferred, they lose visibility into your specific browsing habits. 

Without a VPN, ISPs can track every website you visit, your search history, and even personal information transmitted over unencrypted connections. This data can be sold to advertisers or used to create detailed user profiles. Even browsing in Incognito mode doesn’t prevent ISPs from seeing your activity — it merely stops your device from saving it locally. 

Beyond using a VPN, good cyber hygiene is crucial. Keep your software and devices updated, use strong passwords, and enable antivirus protection. Avoid sharing unnecessary personal data online and think twice before storing sensitive information on unsecured platforms.  

Ultimately, a VPN isn’t a luxury — it’s a fundamental privacy tool. It protects your data, masks your identity, and keeps your online behavior hidden from prying eyes. In an era of widespread tracking and data monetization, using a VPN is one of the simplest and most effective ways to reclaim your digital privacy.
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Ransomwares
acronis AI cyberattacks AI technology Cyber Defenses Cyber Security Cybersecurity Threats Indian Cyber Security Malwares Phishing Attacks Ransomwares

India Most Targeted by Malware as AI Drives Surge in Ransomware and Phishing Attacks

 

India has become the world’s most-targeted nation for malware, according to the latest report by cybersecurity firm Acronis, which highlights how artificial intelligence is fueling a sharp increase in ransomware and phishing activity. The findings come from the company’s biannual threat landscape analysis, compiled by the Acronis Threat Research Unit (TRU) and its global network of sensors tracking over one million Windows endpoints between January and June 2025. 

The report indicates that India accounted for 12.4 percent of all monitored attacks, placing it ahead of every other nation. Analysts attribute this trend to the rising sophistication of AI-powered cyberattacks, particularly phishing campaigns and impersonation attempts that are increasingly difficult to detect. With Windows systems still dominating business environments compared to macOS or Linux, the operating system remained the primary target for threat actors. 

Ransomware continues to be the most damaging threat to medium and large businesses worldwide, with newer criminal groups adopting AI to automate attacks and enhance efficiency. Phishing was found to be a leading driver of compromise, making up 25 percent of all detected threats and over 52 percent of those aimed at managed service providers, marking a 22 percent increase compared to the first half of 2024. 

Commenting on the findings, Rajesh Chhabra, General Manager for India and South Asia at Acronis, noted that India’s rapidly expanding digital economy has widened its attack surface significantly. He emphasized that as attackers leverage AI to scale operations, Indian enterprises—especially those in manufacturing and infrastructure—must prioritize AI-ready cybersecurity frameworks. He further explained that organizations need to move away from reactive security approaches and embrace behavior-driven models that can anticipate and adapt to evolving threats. 

The report also points to collaboration platforms as a growing entry point for attackers. Phishing attempts on services like Microsoft Teams and Slack spiked dramatically, rising from nine percent to 30.5 percent in the first half of 2025. Similarly, advanced email-based threats such as spoofed messages and payload-less attacks increased from nine percent to 24.5 percent, underscoring the urgent requirement for adaptive defenses. 

Acronis recommends that businesses adopt a multi-layered protection strategy to counter these risks. This includes deploying behavior-based threat detection systems, conducting regular audits of third-party applications, enhancing cloud and email security solutions, and reinforcing employee awareness through continuous training on social engineering and phishing tactics. 

The findings make clear that India’s digital growth is running parallel to escalating cyber risks. As artificial intelligence accelerates the capabilities of malicious actors, enterprises will need to proactively invest in advanced defenses to safeguard critical systems and sensitive data.
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Risk Management
Cyber Defenses cyber resilience Cyber Security cybersecurity concerns CyberThreat Organization security Risk Management

Integrated Threat Management: A Unified Strategy for Modern Business Security

 

Organizations today face increasingly complex threats that span across digital, physical, and operational domains. With risks becoming more sophisticated and faster-moving, traditional siloed approaches to security are no longer effective. 

Companies now require a unified strategy to protect their assets and maintain resilience. Although the concept of “security convergence” gained traction years ago, many businesses struggled to truly integrate their physical and cyber defenses. Systems remained isolated, and threat response strategies often lacked coordination. 

As a result, organizations missed the opportunity to build enterprise-wide resilience. The need for a more connected approach has become urgent. Microsoft’s 2024 threat report noted it is tracking over 1,500 active threat groups, including cybercriminals and nation-state actors. These attackers target different parts of a business simultaneously, requiring defense strategies that span multiple domains. 

Integrated Threat Management (ITM) offers a solution. Similar in concept to multidomain operations used in the national security sector, ITM aligns physical, cyber, and operational security into one coordinated system. This approach ensures that when a threat emerges, every relevant team is alerted and ready to act—whether the threat is digital, physical, or both. 

Without ITM, one type of threat can trigger widespread disruption. For example, a ransomware attack may begin in an email inbox but quickly affect physical access systems or interrupt critical business operations. Companies in sectors like energy, finance, or healthcare are especially vulnerable, as they provide essential services that ripple across industries. To adopt ITM effectively, businesses must first evaluate their current threat posture. Are different departments operating in silos? Do alerts in one area trigger responses in another? Understanding these gaps is key to creating an integrated defense model. 

The next step is to break down internal barriers. Cybersecurity, physical security, and operational teams must work together to develop joint response plans. Manual communication methods should be replaced with automated alerts and real-time system-level notifications that improve speed and accuracy. Executive teams need full visibility into ongoing risks. Security officers should use robust analytics tools to monitor threats and share insights with leadership. 

This allows for trend analysis, faster response times, and continuous updates to security plans. Finally, organizations must regularly test their systems. Like disaster recovery drills in finance, threat simulations help identify vulnerabilities before a real crisis occurs. Smaller companies should test plans annually, while larger enterprises should do so more frequently.

As threats evolve, so must the strategies to combat them. Integrated threat management is not just a forward-thinking solution—it’s a necessary one.
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Power Outage
Cyber Defenses Cyber Security Cyber Threats Cyberattack Hacker attack Hacking Portugal Cyber Army Portugese Power Grids Power Outage

Spain Investigates Cybersecurity of Power Suppliers After Widespread Grid Outage

 

Spain is investigating the cybersecurity practices of its power suppliers following a major power outage that affected much of the Iberian Peninsula at the end of April. While initial assessments by Spanish and Portuguese grid operators ruled out a cyberattack, authorities are now questioning whether smaller, independent energy producers may have inadvertently opened vulnerabilities within the national power infrastructure. 

The outage disrupted electricity supply across both Spain and Portugal, with most regions regaining power after ten hours. However, it took nearly a full day—23 hours—for Spain’s grid to be fully restored. Although no immediate signs of hacking were found, the duration and scale of the disruption raised alarms, prompting deeper scrutiny into the resilience of Spain’s decentralized energy network. According to a report from the Financial Times, Spain’s National Cybersecurity Institute (INCIBE) has reached out to various smaller renewable energy producers, asking whether they experienced any unusual activity before the blackout on April 28. 

The inquiries also covered their use of recent security patches and whether their systems could be remotely accessed, signaling a broader concern over cybersecurity readiness among these suppliers. This line of investigation is significant given Spain’s heavy reliance on renewable energy, much of which is generated by smaller, less centralized plants. The concern is that these entities, though critical to Spain’s green transition, may lack the robust cyber defenses maintained by larger grid operators. 

While this doesn’t point to renewable energy as unreliable, it highlights how a fragmented supplier ecosystem could pose a collective security risk. Cybersecurity experts have also weighed in. A blog post by security firm Specops Software compared the Spanish outage to known cyberattacks on power grids, such as those in Ukraine in 2015 and 2016. While Specops acknowledged the Spanish grid operators’ conclusion that no breach was detected through their internal monitoring systems, the firm noted similarities in how the shutdown unfolded. 

However, Barracuda Networks’ regional director Miguel López suggested that if a cyberattack had indeed compromised critical systems, it would have taken significantly longer to recover, casting doubt on hacking as the root cause. Still, the possibility that attackers exploited a less secure third-party provider has not been ruled out. This renewed scrutiny comes amid global concerns over cyber threats to critical infrastructure. 

The U.S. and U.K. have both issued alerts about increased activity by pro-Russian hacktivists targeting industrial control systems. With recent research showing that 95% of critical infrastructure organizations experienced a data breach in the past year, Spain’s situation underscores the urgent need for improved cyber vigilance across all levels of the energy supply chain.
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Network Security
AI cybersecurity AI cybersecurity tools AI technology AI tools Cloud Security Cyber Defenses Cyber Security Endpoint IAM Machine learning Network Security

AI in Cybersecurity Market Sees Rapid Growth as Network Security Leads 2024 Expansion

 

The integration of artificial intelligence into cybersecurity solutions has accelerated dramatically, driving the global market to an estimated value of $32.5 billion in 2024. This surge—an annual growth rate of 23%—reflects organizations’ urgent need to defend against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. Traditional, signature-based defenses are no longer sufficient; today’s adversaries employ polymorphic malware, fileless attacks, and automated intrusion tools that can evade static rule sets. AI’s ability to learn patterns, detect anomalies in real time, and respond autonomously has become indispensable. 

Among AI-driven cybersecurity segments, network security saw the most significant expansion last year, accounting for nearly 40% of total AI security revenues. AI-enhanced intrusion prevention systems and next-generation firewalls leverage machine learning models to inspect vast streams of traffic, distinguishing malicious behavior from legitimate activity. These solutions can automatically quarantine suspicious connections, adapt to novel malware variants, and provide security teams with prioritized alerts—reducing mean time to detection from days to mere minutes. As more enterprises adopt zero-trust architectures, AI’s role in continuously verifying device and user behavior on the network has become a cornerstone of modern defensive strategies. 

Endpoint security followed closely, representing roughly 25% of the AI cybersecurity market in 2024. AI-powered endpoint detection and response (EDR) platforms monitor processes, memory activity, and system calls on workstations and servers. By correlating telemetry across thousands of devices, these platforms can identify subtle indicators of compromise—such as unusual parent‑child process relationships or command‑line flags—before attackers achieve persistence. The rise of remote work has only heightened demand: with employees connecting from diverse locations and personal devices, AI’s context-aware threat hunting capabilities help maintain comprehensive visibility across decentralized environments. 

Identity and access management (IAM) solutions incorporating AI now capture about 20% of the market. Behavioral analytics engines analyze login patterns, device characteristics, and geolocation data to detect risky authentication attempts. Rather than relying solely on static multi‑factor prompts, adaptive authentication methods adjust challenge levels based on real‑time risk scores, blocking illicit logins while minimizing friction for legitimate users. This dynamic approach addresses credential stuffing and account takeover attacks, which accounted for over 30% of cyber incidents in 2024. Cloud security, covering roughly 15% of the AI cybersecurity spend, is another high‑growth area. 

With workloads distributed across public, private, and hybrid clouds, AI-driven cloud security posture management (CSPM) tools continuously scan configurations and user activities for misconfigurations, vulnerable APIs, and data‑exfiltration attempts. Automated remediation workflows can instantly correct risky settings, enforce encryption policies, and isolate compromised workloads—ensuring compliance with evolving regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. 

Looking ahead, analysts predict the AI in cybersecurity market will exceed $60 billion by 2028, as vendors integrate generative AI for automated playbook creation and incident response orchestration. Organizations that invest in AI‑powered defenses will gain a competitive edge, enabling proactive threat hunting and resilient operations against a backdrop of escalating cyber‑threat complexity.
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Ransomwares
Cyber Attacks Cyber Breach Cyber Defenses Data protection financial attack Financial Loss Ransomware attack Ransomwares

Fourlis Group Confirms €20 Million Loss from IKEA Ransomware Attack

 

Fourlis Group, the retail operator responsible for IKEA stores across Greece, Cyprus, Romania, and Bulgaria, has revealed that a ransomware attack targeting its systems in late November 2024 led to significant financial losses. The cyber incident, which coincided with the busy Black Friday shopping period, disrupted critical parts of the business and caused damages estimated at €20 million (around $22.8 million). 

The breach initially surfaced as unexplained technical problems affecting IKEA’s e-commerce platforms. Days later, on December 3, the company confirmed that the disruptions were due to an external cyberattack. The attack affected digital infrastructure used for inventory restocking, online transactions, and broader retail operations, mainly impacting IKEA’s business. Other brands under the Fourlis umbrella, including Intersport and Holland & Barrett, were largely unaffected.  

According to CEO Dimitris Valachis, the company experienced a loss of approximately €15 million in revenue by the end of 2024, with an additional €5 million impact spilling into early 2025. Fourlis decided not to comply with the attackers’ demands and instead focused on system recovery through support from external cybersecurity professionals. The company also reported that it successfully blocked a number of follow-up attacks attempted after the initial breach. 

Despite the scale of the attack, an internal investigation supported by forensic analysts found no evidence that customer data had been stolen or exposed. The incident caused only a brief period of data unavailability, which was resolved swiftly. As part of its compliance obligations, Fourlis reported the breach to data protection authorities in all four affected countries, reassuring stakeholders that personal information remained secure. Interestingly, no known ransomware group has taken responsibility for the attack. This may suggest that the attackers were unable to extract valuable data or are holding out hope for an undisclosed settlement—though Fourlis maintains that no ransom was paid. 

The incident highlights the growing risks faced by digital retail ecosystems, especially during peak sales periods when system uptime is critical. As online platforms become more central to retail operations, businesses like Fourlis must invest heavily in cybersecurity defenses. Their experience reinforces the importance of swift response strategies, external threat mitigation support, and robust data protection practices to safeguard operations and maintain customer trust in the face of evolving cyber threats.
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