Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

A U.S. government agency paid $1M to Kairos, a group focused on data theft and extortion rather than ransomware, Ransom-ISAC reports. A new case study from Ransom-ISAC reconstructs a complete data-extortion incident involving a U.S. government body and a threat actor called Kairos, using a leaked negotiation transcript and blockchain tracing of the ransom payment. […]

A purported leak exposing 5.8 million records of Uruguayan citizens is the latest incident where cybercriminals targeted government agencies to monetize citizen data.

Malware Targeted macOS Users Visiting Patel Foundation Merchandise PageTwo months after Iran-linked hackers exfiltrated FBI Director Kash Patel's personal email, the government official's name is tangled up in another cyber incident, this time through a MAGA swag shop he co-founded. ClickFix malware on the site tried to trick shoppers into running a malicious command.

UK Government Said It Is Working With Chinese Officials to Remove ListingsThe U.K. government is working with Chinese officials to remove the sensitive de-identified data of 500,000 participants of the UK Biobank that was listed for sale on the Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba. U.K. officials said the incident did not appear to involve a cyberattack.

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Phones, email, and core systems knocked out at Higham Lane in Nuneaton Students at a school in Warwickshire, England, have scored an extended Christmas break after a cyberattack crippled its IT systems, forcing classrooms to close and staff to summon government incident responders.…

Hackers Target French Interior Ministry, Germany Summons Russian AmbassadorThe French Ministry of Interior is investigating a suspected nation-state cyberattack that targeted its email server. Additionally, the German government on Friday attributed a 2024 hacking incident on air traffic control systems to Russian nation-state hackers.

Cybersecurity Programs, Workforce Face Disruption If Congress Fails to ActA potential government shutdown threatens to gut federal cybersecurity operations, with key programs set to expire, agency cyber staff facing layoffs and no public contingency plans in place - leaving core defenses, threat sharing and incident response at risk.

The Office of the Governor of Nevada revealed that the incident has shut down in-person State services, while government phone lines and websites are offline

Hacker Breaches Government-Approved Messaging App Used by Top Trump OfficialsA Signal clone messaging app apparently being used by top advisers to U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly went dark Monday following a reported hacking incident. TeleMessage said it temporarily suspended messaging services "out of an abundance of caution."

Incident Reporting Low, Government Study FindsRansomware attacks targeting U.K. organizations continued to rise last year concluded the British government despite a low reporting rate by victims. The findings come as the government is considering banning public sector organization from paying ransom and mandating incident reporting.

Government Says Managed Service Providers Need More RegulationThe British government pledged to introduce stricter rules surrounding incident reporting and supply chain vulnerability patching through legislation it previewed in July 2024. The proposed Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will bring under its scope managed service providers.

Also: Infostealer Malware Compromises Mexican Government ComputersThis week, DeepSeek exposed sensitive data, hackers exploited unpatched Zyxel flaws, infostealer malware on Mexican government computers, Smiths Group incident, PowerSchool breach notifications, an Apple zero-day, XWorm RAT backdoor, and Credit Control Corporation settled a lawsuit.

American business services giant and government contractor Conduent confirmed today that a recent outage resulted from what it described as a "cyber security incident." [...]

British Government Proposals Also Include Payment Bans for Critical InfrastructureBanning ransom payments by public sector and critical infrastructure entities, notifying the government of any intent to pay a ransom, and reporting incidents to authorities comprise three counter-ransomware initiatives proposed by the British government. Which ones will pass muster?

Cyber incident details involving non-profit and non-government entities across sectors such as healthcare are not centrally reported and collected, creating gaps for researchers, IT experts and others seeking to analyze trends in their industries, said Stanley Mierzwa of Kean University.

The draft of the long-awaited update to the NCIRP outlines the efforts, mechanisms, involved parties, and decisions the US government will use in response to a large-scale cyber incident.

The draft plan is designed to help businesses understand how the government will support them during a cyber incident

Organized crime types tend not to be kind to those who go against them, so this is nasty A local Japanese government agency dedicated to preventing organized crime has apologized after experiencing an incident it fears may have led to a leak of personal information describing 2,500 people who reached out to it for consultation.…

Cyber Security and Resilience Bill Includes 72-Hour Reporting Deadline, Hefty FinesThe U.K. government's proposed Cyber Security and Resilience Bill is a "good step forward" to encourage ransomware incident reporting, said Ciaran Martin, the former NCSC chief. But he said the success of the new regulations also hinges on the support mechanism for cyber victims.