Cybersecurity Archives | Page 2 of 388 | Digital Watch Observatory

Singapore warns of Microsoft impersonation scams causing major losses

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) have warned the public about technical support scams that impersonate Microsoft. Authorities said at least 10 cases had been reported since February 2026, with total losses exceeding S$1.7 million.

In this scam variant, victims typically encounter a pop-up alert in their web browser. The alert falsely appears to originate from Microsoft and claims that the user’s device has been hacked or compromised.

Victims are then instructed to contact a so-called technical support officer through an internet-based phone number. After making contact, victims may be transferred to another scammer posing as a police officer, who claims that their device has been used for criminal activities such as money laundering.

Authorities in Singapore said victims may be instructed to make bank transfers, provide banking credentials, or grant remote access to their devices. In some cases, scammers asked victims to download remote access applications or click links that allowed them to take control of bank accounts.

SPF and CSA advised members of the public to verify alerts through official software provider channels. They noted that Microsoft does not include phone numbers in error or warning messages, and that users should not call numbers displayed in suspicious pop-ups or click links or buttons within such alerts.

People who believe they have fallen victim to the scam are advised to disconnect their computer from the internet, contact their bank, remove applications installed under the scammer’s instructions, and run an anti-virus scan. They should also change passwords and banking credentials using a trusted device, remove unauthorised payees, and report the incident to the police and CSA’s SingCERT.

Why does it matter?

Technical support scams remain one of the most effective forms of cyber-enabled fraud because they combine social engineering, impersonation and remote access techniques. By exploiting trust in well-known brands such as Microsoft and creating a sense of urgency, scammers can persuade victims to hand over sensitive information or direct access to their devices.

The cases also highlight how cybersecurity and financial security are increasingly interconnected. Basic cyber hygiene practices, such as verifying security alerts through official channels, avoiding unsolicited remote access requests and reporting incidents quickly, can help prevent account compromise and reduce financial losses.

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Japan strengthens generative AI procurement guidelines

Japan has approved updated guidelines for the procurement and use of generative AI across government information systems, strengthening governance and risk-management requirements for public administration.

The revised document, titled ‘The Guideline for Japanese Government’s Procurements and Utilizations of Generative AI for the sake of Evolution and Innovation of Public Administration’, was approved on 12 June 2026 by the Council for the Promotion of a Digital Society Executive Board Meeting.

The guidelines update a first version adopted in May 2025 and reflect advances in generative AI technologies, expanded government use cases and domestic and international AI policy developments. They are intended to promote the use of generative AI in government while setting rules for governance, procurement, development, operation and use.

The document covers generative AI systems and models, large language models, AI governance frameworks, high-risk generative AI projects, Chief AI Officers and risk management throughout the lifecycle of government AI systems.

Each ministry and agency is expected to promote the use of generative AI while assessing risks for specific use cases. Chief AI Officers will be responsible for centrally managing generative AI systems, including planning, administrative data handling, procurement, operation and risk cases.

The guidelines also set out a framework for high-risk uses of generative AI. Chief AI Officers must assess risk classifications with planners, use a high-risk project assessment tool and report likely high-risk projects to the Advanced AI Utilization Advisory Board, including project details, objectives, mitigation measures and quality assurance plans.

Why does it matter?

Japan’s update shows how governments are moving from experimentation with generative AI towards formal operating rules for public-sector deployment. The guidelines link AI adoption to procurement controls, lifecycle governance, high-risk assessment and institutional accountability through Chief AI Officers. That matters because public administrations are under pressure to use GenAI to improve services and efficiency, while also managing risks related to security, administrative decision-making, personal data, intellectual property, and public trust.

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EU tests cyber crisis response for rail and maritime networks

The European Commission has carried out Cyber Europe 2026, a large-scale cybersecurity exercise testing how Europe would respond to attacks on rail and maritime transport networks.

Organised by the EU Agency for Cybersecurity, the exercise took place on 10 and 11 June and involved around 5,000 experts from across the EU, industry and partner countries. Participants included cybersecurity specialists from the public and private sectors, policymakers, the EU institutions and representatives from the UK, Norway, Switzerland and Ukraine.

The scenario simulated cyberattacks on Europe’s rail and maritime networks, causing severe operational disruption and escalating into a wider cybersecurity crisis. The exercise was designed to test coordination between authorities, industry and institutions during a major cross-border incident affecting critical transport infrastructure.

Cyber Europe 2026 was also the first EU-wide test of the 2025 EU Cyber Blueprint, which clarifies roles and responsibilities during a cyber crisis. The exercise also tested the Cybersecurity Reserve, created under the Cyber Solidarity Act to provide support during significant cybersecurity incidents.

The Commission said lessons from the exercise will help consolidate the Cyber Blueprint and embed cyber crisis management more firmly into the EU’s wider emergency preparedness and response frameworks.

Why does it matter?

Transport networks are critical infrastructure, and cyber incidents affecting ports, railways or logistics systems can disrupt trade, supply chains, military mobility and emergency response across borders. Cyber Europe 2026 is important because it tests not only technical response, but also EU-level coordination, crisis decision-making and support mechanisms under newer cyber resilience tools such as the Cyber Blueprint and Cybersecurity Reserve.

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Europol-backed operation dismantles crypto laundering service used by ransomware gangs

An international law enforcement operation has dismantled a cryptocurrency laundering service allegedly used by ransomware gangs and cybercriminal networks to process more than €336 million in illicit funds.

The platform, known as ‘AudiA6’, is suspected of laundering proceeds from ransomware attacks, large-scale cryptocurrency thefts and other cybercrime activity between 2022 and 2025. Europol said the service was linked through its analysis to more than 15 international cybercrime investigations.

The coordinated action, supported by Europol and Eurojust, led to the arrest of two alleged administrators in Georgia. Authorities also took down 25 domains, seized more than 30 servers, blocked Telegram accounts used by the network and froze or seized cryptocurrency assets worth more than €778,000.

Investigators allege that the service used thousands of fraudulent exchange accounts created with stolen or purchased identities. Criminal clients allegedly transferred cryptocurrency to wallets controlled by the group and received laundered funds through complex transaction chains designed to obscure the money trail.

Authorities also confiscated more than 80 vehicles and several properties in Georgia. Europol said the case highlights how specialised money laundering services help sustain ransomware and other forms of cybercrime by making it easier for criminal groups to cash out stolen digital assets.

Why does it matter?

Crypto laundering services are a key part of the cybercrime economy because they allow ransomware groups and other attackers to turn stolen digital assets into usable funds. Disrupting such infrastructure can weaken criminal business models. Still, the case also shows why cybercrime investigations increasingly require cooperation between cyber units, financial investigators, prosecutors, crypto exchanges and cross-border law enforcement agencies.

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Canada introduces Safe Social Media Act targeting online harms and AI chatbots

Canada has introduced the Safe Social Media Act, legislation that would establish new online safety requirements for social media platforms and certain AI chatbot services. Bill C-34 aims to make regulated services more accountable for addressing online harms before they occur.

The Safe Social Media Act would create a new legislative and regulatory framework through the proposed Digital Safety Act. Regulated services would be required to identify, assess and mitigate risks on their platforms, implement safety-by-design features, make user guidelines easily accessible, provide tools such as blocking and reporting mechanisms, and publish Digital Safety Plans.

The bill would prohibit children under the age of 16 from holding social media accounts. Social media services could seek an exemption if they demonstrate that sufficient safeguards for children are in place.

The Safe Social Media Act is organised around three core duties: a Duty to Protect Children, a Duty to Act Responsibly and a Duty to Make Certain Content Inaccessible. Social media services would be required to assess and mitigate risks associated with seven categories of harmful content, including child sexual victimisation, content inducing a child to self-harm, cyberbullying, hatred, violence, terrorism or violent extremism, and intimate content shared without consent.

Regulated social media services would also be required to make certain content inaccessible to users in Canada, including content that sexually victimises a child or revictimises a survivor, and intimate content communicated without consent, including sexualised deepfakes. The government said these categories can cause substantial and lasting harm even when a single item is shared.

Under the proposed legislation, AI chatbot services would be subject to a tailored Duty to Act Responsibly. The proposed requirements include mitigating the risk that chatbots communicate harmful content, being transparent about reporting thresholds in crisis situations, and reducing the risk of harmful chatbot behaviour.

The legislation would establish an independent Digital Safety Commission of Canada responsible for enforcing the framework, assessing compliance, conducting audits and inspections, issuing compliance orders and imposing administrative monetary penalties. The Commission would also handle certain complaints, develop guidance and support research on online safety best practices.

Why does it matter?

The Safe Social Media Act reflects a growing international shift towards preventative online safety regulation. Rather than focusing solely on the removal of illegal content after it appears, the proposed framework would require platforms and AI services to assess risks proactively and implement measures designed to reduce harm before it occurs.

The inclusion of AI chatbot services is particularly notable, as governments worldwide are increasingly examining the safety implications of generative AI systems. If adopted, the legislation could position Canada among the first countries to apply a comprehensive online safety framework that combines platform accountability, child protection measures and AI-specific obligations under a single regulatory regime.

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ILO highlights child protection risks amid digital transformation

The International Labour Organization (ILO), together with UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), used a high-level roundtable in Türkiye to highlight the growing connection between digital transformation and child protection.

While the event focused primarily on eliminating child labour, discussions also examined the opportunities and risks associated with rapid technological change.

ILO Türkiye Director Yasser Hassan noted that digital transformation can support economic development, productivity growth and poverty reduction. However, he warned that rapidly evolving technologies may also expose children to new forms of exploitation, including technology-enabled commercial sexual exploitation and other online harms.

Participants stressed that child protection considerations should be incorporated into the design, deployment and governance of digital technologies from the outset. The discussion reflected growing international concern that digitalisation can create new vulnerabilities alongside economic opportunities, particularly for children and young people.

The ILO roundtable also highlighted Türkiye’s broader policy agenda, including digital transformation initiatives within the National Employment Strategy 2025–2028. Stakeholders emphasised the importance of ensuring that digital innovation is accompanied by education, social protection, labour rights protections and child safeguarding measures.

Why does it matter?

The discussion reflects an increasingly important policy debate: how digital transformation can be harnessed while protecting vulnerable groups from emerging risks.

As governments, businesses and international organisations accelerate the adoption of AI, digital platforms and connected technologies, concerns about online child exploitation, digital rights and technology governance are becoming more prominent.

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EU publishes the final Code for labelling AI-generated content

The European Commission has published the final Code of Practice on marking and labelling AI-generated content, offering practical guidance for providers and deployers preparing to comply with transparency obligations under the EU AI Act.

The code is voluntary, but the underlying transparency obligations in Article 50 of the AI Act will apply from 2 August 2026. The Commission said the code is intended to help organisations implement those obligations in a consistent, practical and proportionate way.

The framework covers two main areas. Providers of generative AI systems are guided on marking and detecting AI-generated or manipulated audio, image, video and text content, including through machine-readable solutions where technically feasible. Deployers are guided on labelling deepfakes and AI-generated or manipulated text published to inform the public on matters of public interest.

Under the AI Act, users must also be informed when they are interacting with interactive AI systems, such as chatbots. The transparency requirements are intended to help people recognise when content has been generated or altered by AI and to reduce the risk of deception and manipulation.

The Commission has also published a set of the EU icons that deployers may use to label certain AI-generated content. The code does not replace the AI Act or future Commission guidelines on Article 50, which are expected before the transparency obligations begin to apply.

The Commission and the AI Board will now assess the code’s adequacy. If assessed positively, providers and deployers who sign the code may use its measures to help demonstrate compliance with the AI Act’s transparency rules.

Why does it matter?

The code is an important step in turning the AI Act’s transparency provisions into operational practice. Labelling and machine-readable marking rules could shape how platforms, AI providers, media organisations and other deployers handle synthetic text, images, audio and video. The measures are especially relevant for public-interest information, where undisclosed AI-generated or manipulated content can affect trust, elections, journalism and public debate.

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CISA updates vulnerability remediation rules

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has issued a binding directive requiring federal civilian agencies to prioritise vulnerability remediation based on risk.

Binding Operational Directive 26-04 directs agencies to align their vulnerability management policies around four criteria: whether an affected asset is exposed, whether a vulnerability is listed in CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue, whether exploitation can be automated and the likely technical impact after exploitation.

CISA said the directive consolidates and updates earlier requirements for internet-accessible systems and known exploited vulnerabilities. The agency said the approach is intended to help federal civilian agencies focus remediation on the vulnerabilities most likely to cause serious harm.

The directive comes as threat actors continue to exploit unpatched vulnerabilities, with CISA warning that AI software services could help attackers identify and exploit weaknesses more quickly. The agency said AI-enabled exploitation may further reduce the time defenders have between a patch release and attempted compromise.

The directive also requires agencies to consider whether a system may already be compromised before applying a patch. CISA said applying a patch generally does not remove an attacker who already has access to a system, making compromise checks important for risk management.

CISA will monitor agency compliance and provide implementation support. Although the directive is binding only for federal civilian agencies, CISA encouraged other organisations to adopt similar risk-based vulnerability management practices.

Why does it matter?

The directive reflects a shift in federal cybersecurity from treating vulnerability remediation as a fixed checklist to prioritising flaws based on exploitation risk, exposure, and potential impact. That matters because attackers increasingly move quickly from disclosure to exploitation, and AI tools may further shorten that window. For governments and critical organisations, vulnerability management is becoming a continuous risk-management process rather than a periodic patching exercise.

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Canada expands AI strategy with safety measures

Canada will invest C$50 million to expand the Canadian AI Safety Institute as part of its new national AI strategy, with a focus on emerging AI risks, technical research and transparent evaluations of AI models.

The strategy, titled ‘AI for All’, says trustworthy AI infrastructure is necessary as AI capabilities grow and agentic AI systems become more widely adopted. According to the government, citizens, businesses, and public institutions need clearer ways to identify which AI systems are safe to use, how risks are assessed and what standards apply.

Canada also plans to work on AI transparency measures, including watermarking of AI-generated content, to help people understand when they are interacting with AI systems or AI-generated material. The government said such measures should support more informed choices about AI products and content.

The strategy also includes plans to create a Canada Trusted AI Certification programme to help users identify trustworthy AI products in the market. Canada will renew funding for the Standards Council of Canada’s AI Programme to support AI testing, certification, interoperability and participation in global standards work.

The AI strategy links safety measures with wider work on privacy, online harms and democratic resilience. The government says it will modernise consumer privacy legislation, introduce online safety laws and protect elections and democratic institutions from AI-enabled misinformation and foreign interference.

Canada also plans to accelerate applied AI research, testing and deployment with law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies in areas such as fraud and extortion prevention, cyber defence, threat detection and data protection.

Why does it matter?

Canada’s strategy treats AI safety not only as research, but as part of the infrastructure needed for adoption and public trust. Certification, model evaluation, watermarking and standards can shape how governments, businesses and citizens decide which AI systems to use. The strategy also shows how AI governance is expanding across privacy, online safety, cybersecurity, elections and national security, rather than remaining limited to innovation policy.

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New NIST study reveals inherent weaknesses in AI defences

A new study by a researcher at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology suggests that fixed AI guardrails cannot provide complete protection against adaptive adversarial prompts.

The paper, published in IEEE Security & Privacy by NIST senior scientist Apostol Vassilev, uses logic linked to Kurt Gödel’s incompleteness theorems to argue that a finite set of AI safety rules cannot be universally robust against every possible prompt-based attack.

According to NIST, the finding does not mean AI systems cannot be hardened. Instead, it supports moving away from a ‘one and done’ security model towards continuous monitoring, testing and updating.

The recommended approach includes ongoing red-team work to identify adversarial prompts before attackers exploit them, continuous updates to strengthen guardrails and operational resilience measures that limit the impact of successful attacks and enable quick recovery.

NIST said the goal is not to eliminate all vulnerabilities, but to make exploitation more difficult and costly. As AI systems are deployed more widely, organisations should treat AI security as a permanent operational process rather than a problem that can be solved through a fixed set of controls.

Why does it matter?

The study reinforces a central challenge in AI governance: security controls for AI systems cannot be treated as static compliance measures. As AI tools are integrated into business operations, public services and security-sensitive environments, organisations may need continuous red-teaming, guardrail updates, monitoring and incident response. The policy relevance lies in shifting AI risk management from one-time assurance towards ongoing operational resilience.

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