The third UK-EU Cyber Dialogue was held in Brussels on 9 and 10 December 2025, bringing together senior officials under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement to strengthen cooperation on cybersecurity and digital resilience.
The meeting was co-chaired by Andrew Whittaker from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Irfan Hemani from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, alongside EU representatives from the European External Action Service and the European Commission.
Officials from Europol and ENISA also participated, reinforcing operational and regulatory coordination rather than fragmented policy approaches.
Discussions covered cyber legislation, deterrence strategies, countering cybercrime, incident response and cyber capacity development, with an emphasis on maintaining strong security standards while reducing unnecessary compliance burdens on industry.
Both sides confirmed that the next UK-EU Cyber Dialogue will take place in London in 2026.
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US credit reporting company 700Credit has confirmed a data breach affecting more than 5.6 million individuals after attackers exploited a compromised third-party API used to exchange consumer data with external integration partners.
An incident that originated from a supply chain failure after one partner was breached earlier in 2025 and failed to notify 700Credit.
The attackers launched a sustained, high-volume data extraction campaign starting on October 25, 2025, which operated for more than two weeks before access was shut down.
Around 20 percent of consumer records were accessed, exposing names, home addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers, while internal systems, payment platforms and login credentials were not compromised.
Despite the absence of financial system access, the exposed personal data significantly increases the risk of identity theft and sophisticated phishing attacks impersonating credit reporting services.
The breach has been reported to the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI, with regulators coordinating responses through industry bodies representing affected dealerships.
Individuals impacted by the incident are currently being notified and offered two years of free credit monitoring, complimentary credit reports and access to a dedicated support line.
Authorities have urged recipients to act promptly by monitoring their credit activity and taking protective measures to minimise the risk of fraud.
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SoundCloud has confirmed a recent security incident that temporarily affected platform availability and involved the limited exposure of user data. The company detected unauthorised activity on an ancillary service dashboard and acted immediately to contain the situation.
Third-party cybersecurity experts were engaged to investigate and support the response. The incident resulted in two brief denial-of-service attacks, temporarily disrupting web access.
Approximately 20% of users were affected; however, no sensitive data, such as passwords or financial details, were compromised. Only email addresses and publicly visible profile information were involved.
In response, SoundCloud has strengthened its systems, enhancing monitoring, reviewing identity and access controls, and auditing related systems. Some configuration updates have led to temporary VPN connectivity issues, which the company is working to resolve.
SoundCloud emphasises that user privacy remains a top priority and encourages vigilance against phishing. The platform will continue to provide updates and take steps to minimise the risk of future incidents.
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The UK government has announced plans to bring cryptoassets firmly within the regulatory perimeter, aiming to support innovation while strengthening consumer protection and attracting long-term investment into the sector.
From 2027, cryptoasset firms will be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under rules similar to those governing traditional financial products, such as stocks and shares. The move is intended to provide legal clarity and increase confidence among consumers and businesses.
Ministers say that proportionate regulation will support innovation, ensure competitive markets, and strengthen the UK’s position as a global hub for digital assets. Enhanced oversight will boost transparency, aid sanctions enforcement, and help detect and tackle illicit activity.
The initiative forms part of a broader strategy to shape global crypto standards, including ongoing cooperation with the United States through the Transatlantic Taskforce, as the UK seeks to secure its role in the future of digital finance.
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Musicians are raising the alarm over AI-generated tracks appearing on their profiles without consent, presenting fraudulent work as their own. British folk artist Emily Portman discovered an AI-generated album, Orca, on Spotify and Apple Music, which copied her folk style and lyrics.
Fans initially congratulated her on a release she had not made since 2022.
Australian musician Paul Bender reported a similar experience, with four ‘bizarrely bad’ AI tracks appearing under his band, The Sweet Enoughs. Both artists said that weak distributor security allows scammers to easily upload content, calling it ‘the easiest scam in the world.’
A petition launched by Bender garnered tens of thousands of signatures, urging platforms to strengthen their protections.
AI-generated music has become increasingly sophisticated, making it nearly impossible for listeners to distinguish from genuine tracks. While revenues from such fraudulent streams are low individually, bots and repeated listening can significantly increase payouts.
Industry representatives note that the primary motive is to collect royalties from unsuspecting users.
Despite the threat of impersonation, Portman is continuing her creative work, emphasising human collaboration and authentic artistry. Spotify and Apple Music have pledged to collaborate with distributors to enhance the detection and prevention of AI-generated fraud.
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Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, emphasised that all payments within Russia must be conducted in rubles, echoing the central bank’s long-standing stance against the use of cryptocurrencies in internal settlements.
At the same time, legislative proposals point to a more nuanced legal approach. A bill submitted by United Russia lawmaker Igor Antropenko seeks to recognise cryptocurrencies as marital property, classifying digital assets acquired during marriage as jointly owned in divorce proceedings.
The proposal reflects the growing adoption of cryptocurrency in Russia, where digital assets are increasingly used for investment and savings. It also aligns family law with broader regulatory shifts that permit the use of crypto in foreign trade under an experimental framework.
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Models ranging from 600 million to 13 billion parameters (such as Pythia) were affected, highlighting the scale-independent nature of the weakness. A planted phrase such as ‘sudo’ caused output collapse, raising concerns about targeted disruption and the ease of manipulating widely trained systems.
Security specialists note that denial-of-service effects are worrying, yet deceptive outputs pose far greater risk. Prior studies already demonstrated that medical and safety-critical models can be destabilised by tiny quantities of misleading data, heightening the urgency for robust dataset controls.
Researchers warn that open ecosystems and scraped corpora make silent data poisoning increasingly feasible. Developers are urged to adopt stronger provenance checks and continuous auditing, as reliance on LLMs continues to expand for AI purposes across technical and everyday applications.
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YouTube channels spreading fake and inflammatory anti-Labour videos have attracted more than a billion views this year, as opportunistic creators use AI-generated content to monetise political division in the UK.
Research by non-profit group Reset Tech identified more than 150 channels promoting hostile narratives about the Labour Party and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The study found the channels published over 56,000 videos, gaining 5.3 million subscribers and nearly 1.2 billion views in 2025.
Many videos used alarmist language, AI-generated scripts and British-accented narration to boost engagement. Starmer was referenced more than 15,000 times in titles or descriptions, often alongside fabricated claims of arrests, political collapse or public humiliation.
Reset Tech said the activity reflects a wider global trend driven by cheap AI tools and engagement-based incentives. Similar networks were found across Europe, although UK-focused channels were mostly linked to creators seeking advertising revenue rather than foreign actors.
YouTube removed all identified channels after being contacted, citing spam and deceptive practices as violations of its policies. Labour officials warned that synthetic misinformation poses a serious threat to democratic trust, urging platforms to act more quickly and strengthen their moderation systems.
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Platform X has paid an administrative fine of nearly Rp80 million after failing to meet Indonesia’s content moderation requirements related to pornographic material, according to the country’s digital regulator.
The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs said the payment was made on 12 December 2025, after a third warning letter and further exchanges with the company. Officials confirmed that Platform X appointed a representative to complete the process, who is based in Singapore.
The regulator welcomed the company’s compliance, framing the payment as a demonstration of responsibility by an electronic system operator under Indonesian law. Authorities said the move supports efforts to keep the national digital space safe, healthy, and productive.
All funds were processed through official channels and transferred directly to the state treasury managed by the Ministry of Finance, in line with existing regulations, the ministry said.
Officials said enforcement actions against domestic and global platforms, including those operating from regional hubs such as Singapore, remain a priority. The measures aim to protect children and vulnerable groups and encourage stronger content moderation and communication.
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The European Commission welcomed the decision by EU Member States to introduce a €3 customs duty on low-value e-commerce parcels arriving from third countries.
A measure, which enters into force in July 2026, that applies to items valued below €150 and aims to restore fair competition instead of allowing online imports to benefit from longstanding exemptions.
The move responds to the rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce shipments and will operate as a temporary solution until the EU Customs Data Hub becomes fully operational in 2028.
Until then, the Council and the Commission will coordinate legal changes and IT systems to ensure smooth implementation and effective customs supervision across the Union.
Once the Customs Data Hub is in place, a permanent customs duty regime will replace the temporary measure, offering authorities a comprehensive view of goods entering and leaving the EU.
The €3 duty applies only to parcels sent directly to consumers and remains separate from ongoing negotiations on a handling fee intended to offset the rising operational costs faced by customs authorities.
The reform builds on earlier Commission proposals to remove duty exemptions for low-value parcels and forms part of the most extensive overhaul of EU customs rules in decades.
European institutions argue that modernised customs controls are essential instead of relying on outdated frameworks, particularly as global e-commerce volumes continue to expand.
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