Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Hacked Infrastructure Delivered Chinese Nation-State Group's Backdoor, Experts WarnThe widely used, open source text-editing software Notepad++ for Windows said attackers exploited a vulnerability to redirect some users to sites that pushed a backdoor onto their system. Security experts have tied the attack to a broader campaign perpetrated by Chinese nation-state actors.

Shanghai Firm Bets on Open-Source Strategy, Efficiency ClaimsShanghai artificial intelligence startup MiniMax released a new open-source large language model, positioning it as a direct competitor to American and other Chinese models. MiniMax says its model performs competitively on benchmark tests against leading proprietary and open models.

New Open-Source Model Rivals OpenAI, While Treading Beijing's Red LineArtificial intelligence startup DeepSeek released Thursday an updated version of its flagship reasoning model months after its Chinese origin sent shockwaves through industry. The model is a glimpse into high-performance systems being trained and deployed under norms governed by Beijing.

Governments Are Skeptical of Chinese A1 Platform's Data Security ControlsCountries across Asia are racing to ban government officials, national agencies and critical infrastructure organizations from using Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek's open-source chatbot application, citing data security and privacy risks.

Also: UnitedHealth Breach Now Affects Over Half of US PopulationIn this week's update, ISMG editors discussed two major stories shaking the tech and cybersecurity worlds - China's AI leap with DeepSeek, a new open-source bot that wiped $600 billion off of Nvidia's value, and an update on the massive UnitedHealth breach, which now affects 190 million people.

Also: Ransomware Hackers Demand BaguettesThis week, Chinese spying, Italian hacking scandal, an FBI warning and Okta fixed a bug. Google mandated MFA, zero days in PTZOptics and a Mexican airport didn't pay ransom. Cybercriminals demanded baguettes, breach lettersin Ohio and Germany will shield white hats. The Italian DPA rebuked a bank.

Espionage Group Used SoftEther VPN Client to Exploit Targeted NetworksA Chinese state-sponsored group, tracked as RedJuliett, is using open-source VPN client SoftEther to target the infrastructure of about 75 organizations in government, academic and technology sectors in multiple countries. Most of the attacks appear to target Taiwan.

UNC3886 Targeted Edge Devices for Persistence, Mandiant SaysA suspected Chinese hacking group used open-source rootkits to ensure persistence on compromised edge devices such as VMware ESXi servers for espionage campaigns, Google Mandiant said. The hacking group, which Mandiant tracks as UNC3886, is likely a Chinese threat group hacking for Beijing.