The City of London Corporation, London and Partners and Microsoft have launched an AI Innovation Challenge, where participants will vie to spot and stop cybercriminals using fake identities and audio and visual deepfakes to commit fraud. With the increase of such events and the ubiquity of GenAI models, Nvidia, the multinational AI chip-maker, is increasingly becoming the modern-day Standard Oil. Nvidia’s chips can be found in just about all areas of economic activity, from education to medicine and in nearly all financial and professional services.
With its growing usage, its potential for fighting cybercrime increases, given its ability to analyse vast amounts of data rapidly, decipher patterns, and ultimately lead to higher fraud detection rates and greater trust in and securitise customer services. Banks in the United Kingdom lead the way in AI adoption, particularly as some 90 percent of them have already onboarded generative AI models to their asset portfolios.
Participants of the AI Innovation Challenge have until 26 July 2024 to register for the competition, which is scheduled for six weeks between September and November. The final event promises to be a display of fraud detection and other cybersecurity innovations developed during the course of the competition.
A recent study has revealed that ChatGPT and similar large language models (LLMs) are highly effective in launching cyberattacks, raising significant concerns in the cybersecurity field.
Researchers Richard Fang, Rohan Bindu, Akul Gupta, and Daniel Kang tested ChatGPT-4 against 15 real-life ‘one-day’ vulnerabilities, finding that it could exploit these vulnerabilities 87% of the time. These vulnerabilities included websites issues, container management software, and Python packages, all sourced from the CVE database.
The study utilised a detailed prompt with 1,056 tokens and 91 lines of code, including debugging and logging statements. The research team noted that ChatGPT-4’s success stemmed from its ability to handle complex, multi-step vulnerabilities and execute various attack methods. However, without the CVE code, ChatGPT-4’s success rate plummeted to just 7%, highlighting a significant limitation.
The researchers concluded that while ChatGPT-4 currently stands out in its ability to exploit one-day vulnerabilities, the potential for LLMs to become more powerful and destructive is a major concern. They emphasised the importance of the cybersecurity community and LLM providers collaborating to integrate these technologies into defensive measures and carefully consider their deployment.
A report by Howden has stated that cyber insurance premiums are on a downward trend worldwide despite the rise in ransomware attacks as businesses are upping their capacity to mitigate losses from cybercrime. The surge in insurance premiums first arose during 2021 and 2022 because of COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in cyber incidents but has since declined in the following years. The cyber insurance market witnessed significant price reductions in 2023/24, attributed to advancements such as multifactor authentication that significantly enhanced data protection, decreasing insurance claims.
Sarah Neild, the head of UK cyber retail at Howden, highlighted the fundamental role of multifactor authentication in securing data, comparing it to a basic security measure akin to locking the door when leaving the house. Neild stressed the multifaceted nature of cybersecurity, underscoring the importance of increased investments in IT security, including employee training.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, global ransomware attacks saw a decline as hackers from these regions shifted their focus to military activities. However, recorded ransomware incidents surged by 18% in the first five months of 2024 compared to the previous year—ransomware functions by encrypting data where hackers typically offer victims a decryption key in exchange for cryptocurrency payments. While business interruption remains the primary cost after a cyberattack, businesses can mitigate these expenses by instituting improved backup systems such as cloud backup systems.
Although most of the cyber insurance business is concentrated in the United States, the report anticipates that the fastest-growing market will be Europe in the coming years due to lower current penetration levels. Finally, the report finds that smaller firms exhibit lower rates of cyber insurance adoption, which can partly be attributed to a need for more awareness regarding cyber risks.
OpenAI has launched CriticGPT, a new model based on GPT-4, designed to identify and critique errors in ChatGPT’s outputs. The tool aims to enhance human trainers’ effectiveness by assisting them in providing feedback on the chatbot’s performance.
Similar to ChatGPT’s training process, CriticGPT learns through human feedback, focusing on identifying intentionally inserted errors in ChatGPT’s code outputs. Evaluations showed that CriticGPT’s critiques were preferred over ChatGPT’s in 63% of cases involving naturally occurring bugs, highlighting its ability to minimize irrelevant feedback.
OpenAI plans to further develop CriticGPT’s capabilities, aiming to integrate advanced methods to improve human-generated feedback for GPT-4. The initiative underscores the ongoing role of human oversight in refining AI technologies despite their increasing automation capabilities.
Geisinger recently disclosed that on 29 November, a former Nuance Communications employee detected unauthorised patient data access just two days after the employee’s termination. Nuance Communications, a technology service provider owned by Microsoft, has access to Geisinger’s patient records as part of their IT services agreement.
Upon notification of the breach, Nuance promptly revoked the ex-employee’s access to Geisinger’s records and initiated an investigation to assess the incident’s extent. Subsequent findings revealed that the former employee had illicitly obtained information about over one million Geisinger patients. The compromised data included details such as names, dates of birth, addresses, medical record numbers, race, gender, phone numbers, and facility name abbreviations.
Geisinger clarified that sensitive information like claims or insurance details, credit card numbers, bank account information, and Social Security numbers remained secure and were not accessed by the ex-employee. Following a thorough investigation, the former Nuance employee was apprehended and is currently facing federal charges. Geisinger’s chief privacy officer, Jonathan Friesen, emphasised the organisation’s commitment to safeguarding patient privacy, stating, ‘Our patients’ and members’ privacy is a top priority, and we take protecting it very seriously.’ Friesen expressed gratitude for the swift resolution of the case while acknowledging the unfortunate breach.
The former Nuance employee, Max Vance, is now undergoing legal proceedings at the US Middle District Court in Williamsport. Geisinger has advised all impacted individuals to remain vigilant by monitoring their credit reports, account statements, and benefits for any unusual activity. In case of suspicion, affected individuals are urged to report such incidents to the relevant authorities, including law enforcement agencies and the state attorney general.
Evolve Bank and Trust, a prominent financial institution favoured by fintech startups, disclosed on Wednesday that it was victim to a cyberattack and data breach that may have impacted its affiliated companies. According to the company’s statement, the incident involved the personal information and data of some Evolve retail bank customers.
The cybercriminals linked to the breach are believed to be the infamous ransomware gang LockBit, which purportedly shared data stolen from Evolve on its dark web leak site. Evolve’s website lists several companies as partners that rely on the bank to provide various financial and lending services.
The spokesperson of one of the partner companies Affirm, posted on X that the company is investigating the incident and will directly communicate with affected consumers as more information becomes available. Affirm also notified its customers about the breach and assured them that it is safe to use their card and Money Accounts while the investigation continues.
As an Affirm Card user, we wanted to alert you of a recent cybersecurity incident at Evolve Bank and Trust, an issuing partner on the Affirm Card (not an originating bank partner for Affirm loans). pic.twitter.com/3EritQ3bSN
Other partner companies also spoke up. EarnIn’s spokesperson, Stephanie Borman, mentioned that the company is closely monitoring the situation. Marqeta’s spokesperson, Kelly Kraft, acknowledged the breach and highlighted that Evolve supports a portion of their business. Melio’s co-founder and CEO, Matan Bar, confirmed awareness of the breach and assured customers that operations remain unaffected. Finally, Mercury, another partner of Evolve, disclosed that the breach impacted company records including account numbers, deposit balances, business owner names, and emails.
We are aware of a cybersecurity attack that breached the security systems of one of our partner banks, Evolve Bank & Trust, which leaked their records, including some account numbers, deposit balances, business owner names, and emails associated with Mercury and other fintech…
As more affected companies step forward, the full extent of the breach’s impact on Evolve’s customers and partners will likely become clearer. Evolve has recently made headlines for issues related to its fintech collaborations, with the Federal Reserve ordering the bank to enhance its risk management programs concerning fintech partnerships and anti-money laundering laws.
President of Indonesia Joko Widodo has ordered an audit of government data centres following a significant ransomware cyberattack that exposed the country’s vulnerability to such incidents.
The attack, which disrupted multiple government services, including immigration and airport operations, affected over 230 public agencies. Despite an $8 million ransom demand, the government of Indonesia has refused to pay to retrieve the encrypted data.
In response, state auditor Muhammad Yusuf Ateh announced that the audit would examine both the governance and financial aspects of the data centres. The head of Indonesia’s cybersecurity agency, Hinsa Siburian, revealed that 98% of the compromised data had not been backed up, highlighting a major governance issue.
Communications Minister Budi Arie Setiadi acknowledged that while backup capacity was available, budget constraints had prevented its use, which will now be made mandatory.
The cyberattack has led to widespread criticism of Minister Setiadi, with digital advocacy group SAFEnet calling for his resignation due to repeated cyberattacks.
Setiadi countered with a petition to stay on as minister and informed parliament that a ‘non-state actor’ seeking money was likely behind the attack. The government aims to fully restore services by August, using backup data centres and improved cybersecurity measures.
Why does it matter?
The IATSE’s tentative agreement represents a significant step forward in securing fair wages and job protections for Hollywood’s behind-the-scenes workers, ensuring that the rapid technological advancements do not come at the expense of human employment.
German software company TeamViewer announced on Friday that it was the target of a cyberattack earlier this week. The company accused the hacker group APT29 from Russia, known as ‘Cozy Bear’ or Midnight Blizzard, of being behind the breach. Western intelligence agencies allege that APT29 operates on behalf of Russia’s foreign spy agency.
The attack occurred on Wednesday, with the hackers gaining access to TeamViewer’s corporate IT environment. However, the company confirmed that neither its product environment nor customer data were compromised. The news follow a similar incident in March, where Alphabet’s Mandiant cyber unit caught the same group attempting to trick key German political figures with a phishing email.
The cyberattack has had immediate financial repercussions for TeamViewer. As of 1152 GMT, shares in the company had dropped by 10%, marking their worst trading day since November 2023. The incident underscores the persistent threat of cyberespionage faced by companies worldwide.
Channel Seven is currently investigating a significant breach on its YouTube channel, where unauthorised content featuring an AI-generated deepfake version of Elon Musk was streamed repeatedly. The incident on Thursday involved the channel being altered to mimic Tesla’s official presence. Viewers were exposed to a fabricated live stream where the AI-generated Musk promoted cryptocurrency investments via a QR code, claiming a potential doubling of assets.
During the stream, the fake Musk engaged with an audience, urging them to take advantage of the purported investment opportunity. The footage also featured a chat box from the fake Tesla page, displaying comments and links that further promoted the fraudulent scheme. The incident affected several other channels under Channel Seven’s umbrella, including 7 News and Spotlight, with all content subsequently deleted from these platforms.
A spokesperson from Channel Seven acknowledged the issue, confirming they are investigating alongside YouTube to resolve the situation swiftly. The network’s main YouTube page appeared inaccessible following the breach, prompting the investigation into how the security lapse occurred. The incident comes amidst broader challenges for Seven West Media, which recently announced significant job cuts as part of a cost-saving initiative led by its new CEO.
Why does it matter?
The breach underscores growing concerns over cybersecurity on social media platforms, particularly as unauthorised access to high-profile channels can disseminate misleading or harmful information. Channel Seven’s efforts to address the issue highlight the importance of robust digital security measures in safeguarding against such incidents in the future.
Russian hackers breached Microsoft systems earlier this year, stealing emails from Microsoft staff and its customers, according to the tech giant. The disclosure highlights the extensive scope of the breach, adding to the regulatory scrutiny Microsoft faces over the security of its software and systems. The hackers, identified as the Midnight Blizzard threat actor, targeted cybersecurity researchers investigating Russian hacking activities.
Microsoft has been notifying affected customers, although the company has not disclosed the number of customers or emails impacted. Initially revealed in January as affecting a small percentage of corporate email accounts, the breach continued to pose threats for months, raising concerns among the security industry and prompting a Congressional hearing. In response, Microsoft President Brad Smith stated the company is working on overhauling its security practices.
