Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Nation-state attackers breach water systems through weak passwords, exposed PLCs, and poor segmentation — not sophisticated malware.

Also, Lloyds Data Leak, Dutch Treasury Breach, Citrix Bug Exploit, Pay2Key ActivityThis week, Lloyds data leak hits 450K, Dutch treasury breach, Citrix flaw exploited, Iran-linked ransomware ops, TrueConf zero-day, Russian fraud ring sentenced, Romania targeted, patch gaps persist, and U.S. hospital breach affects 257K.

The list of countries exploiting Internet-connected cameras to give them eyes inside their adversaries' borders continues to expand. What should companies look out for?

Also, Russian Signal Phishing, Iran-Linked Malware, Breaches in Spain and FranceThis week, Tycoon 2FA, Trio-Tech, messaging app spying and a ransomware broker sentenced. Iran-linked hackers. Mazda disclosed a breach. Oracle patched a flaw. North Korean actors weaponized VS Code, a Spanish port ransomware attack, a French teacher data breach and a healthcare firm victim surge.

PLUS: US takes down Iranian propaganda sites; Marketing company asks 'Why Do We Have Your Information?' And more! Infosec In Brief Russian intelligence-affiliated parties are posing as customer support services on commercial messaging applications such as Signal to compromise accounts and conduct phishing attacks, the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warned last Friday.…

Former DoD CIO Leslie Beavers on Nation-State Attacks and DefenseLeslie Beavers, retired brigadier general and former acting CIO and principal deputy CIO of the Department of Defense, said the United States is already experiencing a "cyber invasion," driven by coordinated activity from adversaries including Iran, China, Russia and North Korea.

Hacktivists use proxy services from Russia, China for 'billions of designed-for-abuse connection attempts' Cybercrime has skyrocketed since the start of the Iran war, according to Akamai, which reports a 245 percent increase in everything from credential harvesting attempts to automated reconnaissance traffic aimed at banks and other critical businesses.…

Also: US' Multi-Million Dollar Scam Funds SeizureIran exchange leak raises sanctions risks, $580M frozen in scam crackdown, $61M romance scam funds seized, feds seek $327K in dating scam case, Russia exploit broker sanctioned, South Korean wallet recovery phrase exposure and arrest in custody bitcoin theft, Axiom data misuse and Uniswap lawsuit ends.

Several state-sponsored actors, hacktivist entities, and criminal groups from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia have trained their sights on the defense industrial base (DIB) sector, according to findings from Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG)

Berlin Readies Legislation Authorizing More Aggressive Stance in CyberspaceGermany wants to drastically step up defenses against cyberattacks from foes such as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, and it's looking to key ally Israel for lessons and cooperation.

Cybercriminal cryptocurrency transactions totaled billions in 2025, with activity from sanctioned countries like Russia and Iran causing the largest jump.

Iranian OT Hacking Team Has Gone Quiet … Too QuietArmed exchanges between Iran and Israel and the prospect of U.S. armed intervention against Tehran has cyber defenders warning about hacking risks to critical infrastructure. Iran's CyberAv3ngers doesn't possess the sophistication of Chinese or Russian actors but it's still a persistent threat.

Malicious Accounts Linked to Malware, Influence OperationsOpenAI is using its artificial intelligence models to detect and counter abuse and has banned accounts associated with malicious state-linked operations. Hackers aligned with Russia, China, North Korea and Iran have used OpenAI's tools for malware development and social media manipulation.

OpenAI has revealed that it banned a set of ChatGPT accounts that were likely operated by Russian-speaking threat actors and two Chinese nation-state hacking groups to assist with malware development, social media automation, and research about U.S. satellite communications technologies, among other things

ClickFix attacks are being increasingly adopted by threat actors of all levels, with researchers now seeing multiple advanced persistent threat (APT) groups from North Korea, Iran, and Russia utilizing the tactic to breach networks. [...]

Multiple state-sponsored hacking groups from Iran, North Korea, and Russia have been found leveraging the increasingly popular ClickFix social engineering tactic to deploy malware over a three-month period from late 2024 through the beginning of 2025

At least 11 state-backed hacking groups from North Korea, Iran, Russia, and China have been exploiting a new Windows vulnerability in data theft and cyber espionage zero-day attacks since 2017. [...]

An unpatched security flaw impacting Microsoft Windows has been exploited by 11 state-sponsored groups from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia as part of data theft, espionage, and financially motivated campaigns that date back to 2017

Threat Groups Are Mapping OT Networks for Future Targeting, Warns DragosA China-linked threat group called Voltzite is targeting operational technology systems at critical infrastructure organizations worldwide to steal network diagrams, OT operating instructions and information about geographic information systems, said cybersecurity firm Dragos.

Russian, Iranian and Chinese APTs Among Most Active Ransomware CollaboratorsSecurity researchers are increasingly finding it challenging to attribute cyberattacks due to surging cooperation between nation-state hackers and ransomware groups, especially for espionage purposes. They say it reflects the blurring of the lines between state-directed and criminal activities.