Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

AI helped send weekly threat signal count from 80 million to 400 billion, then helped response time shrink from two days to 30 minutes Australia’s Commonwealth Bank built its own agentic AI threat hunting tools, because vendors are too slow to develop tools that can cope with emerging AI-powered threats, according to General Manager of Cyber Defence Operations Andrew Pade.…

Also: IoTex Bridge Exploit Linked to Private Key BreachThis week, Step Finance shuts down, IoTeX bridge exploit, Russia-linked exchanges help evade sanctions, Australian charged in $3.5 million scam, a hacker returned $21 million in seized bitcoin to South Korean prosecutors and Malaysia arrested 12 police officers in an extortion case.

Country's Largest Lender Bank Offers to Reinstate 45 'Redundant' WorkersCommonwealth Bank of Australia reversed plans to eliminate 45 call center positions after its chatbots failed to reduce customer service volume as promised, forcing the bank to offer overtime to remaining staff while facing union challenges over what may have been disguised outsourcing to India.

ASIC said the financial services firm’s failings led to a data breach impacting nearly 10,000 clients

Australian Securities Commission Says HSBC Ignored Repeated Internal WarningsSome lessons come with a price. The recent lawsuit against HSBC by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission claims the bank prioritized profits over customer safety. Despite repeated internal warnings from its own fraud experts, HSBC failed to act.

Australian Securities Commission Says HSBC Ignored Repeated Internal WarningsSome lessons come with a price. The recent lawsuit against HSBC by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission claims the bank prioritized profits over customer safety. Despite repeated internal warnings from its own fraud experts, HSBC failed to act.

NAB's Anthony Hope on How Banks Are Preparing for the March 2026 DeadlineAustralia's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing legislation is undergoing its first major revision since 2006. Anthony Hope, group head of AML, CTF and fraud risk at NAB, explains what this "generational change" means for financial institutions.

Regulators Say FIIG Lacked Basic Security Measures to Prevent 2023 BreachThe Australian financial regulator has filed a lawsuit against FIIG Securities Limited, accusing the leading investment and financing company of having inadequate cybersecurity controls to stop a threat actor from stealing the confidential personal information of 18,000 customers.

M&T Bank's Karen Boyer on Need for Shared Responsibility with Telecoms, Tech FirmsTechnology solutions can help banks fight fraud, but privacy constraints are preventing them from doing an effective job to ferret out scammers, said Karen Boyer, senior vice president at M&T Bank. She supports a new Australian law that also places responsibility on telecom and internet providers.

Banks Shift Blame to Social Media, Telecoms While Scam Victims Pay the PriceIf you're the victim of a scam in Australia, the chances of being reimbursed for your stolen funds are low. In fact, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority ruled in favor of full reimbursement for victims in only 4.8% of its cases last year, highlighting the difficulty consumers face when disputing fraud-related losses with their banks.

Ken Palla on Lessons From U.K and Australia to Reduce Fraud and ScamsThe U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's decision to file a lawsuit against Zelle is too late and too narrow to reduce scams, said Ken Palla, retired director with MUFG Bank. CFPB last month sued the operator of Zelle, as well as three banks for failing to protect consumers from fraud.

Also: Turla Targets European Missions and Google Patches Chrome Zero-DaysThis week, hackers used a Linus backdoor and a Microsoft client management tool; Santander Bank, the Helsinki Education Division, an Australian energy provider and auction house Christie's were breached; hackers targeted European missions in the Middle East; and Google patched a zero-day flaw.

Firstmac Limited is warning customers that it suffered a data breach a day after the new Embargo cyber-extortion group leaked over 500GB of data allegedly stolen from the firm. [...]

Customers Report Seeing Each Other's Bookings, Inadvertent Flight CancellationsAustralian's Qantas Airways has confirmed suffering a data breach after its app began inadvertently exposing other customers' data to each other. While the airline said no financial data was exposed, customers reported seeing other people's details, as well as unexpected flight cancellations.

Also: FCA Rounds Up Noncompliant Firms; GoFundMe Shuts Down Tornado Cash FundraiserThis week, FixedFloat lost $26 million in a hack, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority found illegal promotions of cryptocurrency, GoFundMe shuttered a Tornado Cash fundraiser, and an Australian cop allegedly stole $4 million worth of bitcoins.

Authorities in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States this week levied financial sanctions against a Russian man accused of stealing data on nearly 10 million customers of the Australian health insurance giant Medibank. 33-year-old Aleksandr Ermakov allegedly stole and leaked the Medibank data while working with one of Russia's most destructive ransomware groups, but little more is shared about the accused. Here's a closer look at the activities of Mr. Ermakov's alleged hacker handles.

McKinsey Predicts up to 15% Profit Increase, Gen AI Use in All Areas of BankingBloomberg, JPMC, European Central Bank, Morgan Stanley, NASDAQ, HDFC ERGO and Commonwealth Bank Australia are harnessing gen AI to enhance productivity and customer experience. Gen AI has the potential to reshape job roles, redefine customer interactions and create new business models.

Governments from Australia, the U.K., and the U.S. have imposed financial sanctions on a Russian national for his alleged role in the 2022 ransomware attack against health insurance provider Medibank

IDORs of the storm Personal, financial, and health information belonging to millions of folks has been stolen via a particular class of website vulnerability, say cybersecurity agencies in the US and Australia. They're urging developers to review their code and squish these bugs for good.…

A new Android trojan called 'Chameleon' has been targeting users in Australia and Poland since the start of the year, mimicking the CoinSpot cryptocurrency exchange, an Australian government agency, and the IKO bank. [...]