Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

The European Union and the United Kingdom jointly sanctioned dozens of Russian individuals and entities and accused Russia of coordinating a network of hacking groups responsible for attacks across Europe. [...]

Medical Device Manufacturer Hack Was Likely OpportunisticAn Iranian cyberattack on medical device maker Stryker's internal IT environment does not appear to affect connected products used by the company's healthcare clients. But an outage of Stryker's electronic ordering system could lead to supply chain issues for its customers.

Healthcare Hit Shows Symbols Matter as Iran Shifts Focus to Economic DamageCybersecurity experts say that the Handala "hacktivist" group that claimed credit for attacks against two American firms on Wednesday is run by the Iranian government. The shift to destructive cyberattacks parallels Iran's attempt to inflict greater economic damage on the United States and allies.

Meanwhile, IP-stealing 'distillation attacks' on the rise A Chinese government hacking group that has been sanctioned for targeting America's critical infrastructure used Google's AI chatbot, Gemini, to auto-analyze vulnerabilities and plan cyberattacks against US organizations, the company says.…

OT Experts Advocate for Collaboration and "Adversary-Hostile" National DefensesOT environments have long been bereft of their traditional shelter from cyberattacks made from hacker ignorance or disinterest. Industrial environments are forefronts for nation-state hacking, the risk heightened by global tensions and the convergence of operational technology with IT counterparts.

The Czech Republic says the Chinese-backed APT31 hacking group was behind cyberattacks targeting the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and critical infrastructure organizations. [...]

Organizations across industries are experiencing significant escalations in cyberattacks, particularly targeting critical infrastructure providers and cloud-based enterprises. Verizon’s recently released 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report found an 18% YoY increase in confirmed breaches, with the exploitation of vulnerabilities as an initial access step growing by 34%.  As attacks rise

Today, the French foreign ministry blamed the APT28 hacking group linked to Russia's military intelligence service (GRU) for targeting or breaching a dozen French entities over the last four years. [...]

Europe Targets Officers of Unit 29155 of the Russian Main Intelligence DirectorateThe European Union sanctioned on Monday three officers of a Russian military intelligence unit for their role in cyberattacks targeting Estonia in 2020. The sanctions are tied to the unit's 2020 hack of the Estonian government departments and the exfiltration of sensitive documents.

HHS Says Tried-and-True Hacker Methods Can Compromise Patient Data, SafetyFederal regulators are sounding an alarm to warn healthcare sector entities of cyberattacks involving a tried-and-true hacking method - credential harvesting, which can be used to compromise patient data, disrupt healthcare operations and enable other crimes.

Also: Palo Alto Networks' Strategy Pivot; Massive Change Healthcare CyberattackIn the latest weekly update, ISMG editors discussed the cyberattack that's sending shock waves through the U.S. healthcare sector, Palo Alto's strategic pivot and its far-reaching implications for the industry, and new developments in tech and journalism at Information Security Media Group.

A cyberattack on UnitedHealth Group subsidiary Optum that led to an ongoing outage impacting the Change Healthcare payment exchange platform was linked to the BlackCat ransomware group by sources familiar with the investigation. [...]

Experts Speculate About Whether the Hack Involved the ScreenConnect Flaw ExploitPharmacies at U.S. military hospitals and clinics worldwide are among the entities affected by the cyberattack on Optum's Change Healthcare this week, which has forced the IT services company to take many of its applications offline. Change Healthcare disconnected its IT systems on Wednesday.

US healthcare giant UnitedHealth Group announced that its subsidiary Optum suffered a cyberattack by "nation-state" hackers on the Change Healthcare platform, forcing the company to shut down IT systems and various services. [...]

Kyivstar Parent Veon Attributes Losses to Customer Retention MeasuresA December cyberattack on Ukraine's top telecom operator, which authorities in Kyiv attribute to the Russian military, will cost the parent company nearly $100 million. Ukraine in mid-December accused the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate of perpetuating the incident.

Telecom Operator Slowly Restores Voice ServiceUkraine's domestic security agency on Wednesday fingered Russian military hackers as being responsible for hacking Kyivstar, in a statement acknowledging damage to the telecom operator's digital infrastructure. Ukraine's top telecom operator was the target of a Tuesday cyberattack.

Agencies Release Joint Advisory Urging Organizations to Implement New MitigationsCISA and the FBI released an advisory recommending that critical infrastructure organizations implement a series of recommendations to thwart a unique hacking group known for targeting commercial facilities, as seen in the recent cyberattack targeting MGM Resorts International.

While cyberattacks on websites receive much attention, there are often unaddressed risks that can lead to businesses facing lawsuits and privacy violations even in the absence of hacking incidents. A new case study highlights one of these more common cases.  Download the full case study here

Microsoft has discovered that an Iranian hacking group known as 'Mint Sandstorm' is conducting cyberattacks on US critical infrastructure in what is believed to be retaliation for recent attacks on Iran's infrastructure. [...]

China has accused the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) of conducting a string of cyberattacks aimed at aeronautical and military research-oriented Northwestern Polytechnical University in the city of Xi'an in June 2022