Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Also, US Sanction Cybercrime Enablers, Celine Dion Ticket ScamThis week, ransomware victims paying less, cybercrime sanctions, Celine Dion ticket scams, 23andMe to pay $18 million, a 13-year old Daixin infection, Spiral ransomware, Patch Tuesday, CISA ordered rapid SharePoint patching and Spanish police busted a cybercrime ring. Sore Egyptian World Cup losers.

Business Associates Tied to 50% of Breach Victims as AI-Aided Attacks LoomVendor incidents and hacks, especially data thefts and ransomware attacks, continue to plague the healthcare sector, accounting for the majority of major data breaches reported so far this year. The advent of AI tools in the hands of bad actors, will only heighten the threats, experts predict.

Recent Hacks Underscore Persistent and Growing Threats to Smaller OrganizationsSmall and mid-sized healthcare organizations - including medical specialty practices and regional clinics - continue to fall victim disproportionately to hacking incidents, including ransomware attacks and data thefts - affecting large populations of patients. Why does this keep happening?

Patch Rollout Slows and Ransomware Incident Volume Rises, Finds Latest Verizon DBIRThe frequency of hackers exploiting vulnerabilities in hardware and software to gain initial access to a victim's environment continues to surge, and half of all successful breaches also now involve some type of "ransomware action," according Verizon's 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report.

Internal Communications Dumped Online, Revealing Fresh Victims, Repeat TacticsRansomware group The Gentlemen, a relative newcomer to the cybercrime scene, suffered a leak of its internal communications, revealing previously non-public victims, a variety of tactics, techniques and tools, and a relentless focus on popping backup and storage infrastructure.

Ransomware Group ShinyHunters' Victims: Schools, Universities, Ambulance ServiceThe Canvas learning management system with over 30 million active K-12 and higher-education student and teacher users worldwide has been breached by attackers, leading to operator Instructure temporarily taking the service offline. Cue homework and exam scheduling chaos.

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.

Cybercrime Group First Listed Ohio Health System as a Data Theft Victim Last JuneOhio-based Kettering Health is notifying current and former patients and "affiliates" that their personal, health and financial information was potentially compromised in a May 2025 ransomware attack and data theft incident claimed by cybercriminal gang Interlock.

Bitcoin Joining Fee for Affiliates and No Proven Victims Cited by ResearchersNewcomer ransomware group 0APT is being branded a "likely scam operation," not least after a list of over 200 supposed victims turned out to be bogus, if not entirely AI-generated - never mind a 1 bitcoin joining fee for would-be affiliates and outdated crypto-locking malware.

Revenue From Supply-Chain Attacks by Clop Group Sharply Fell, Report InvestigatorsOnce lucrative steal-and-leak campaigns pioneered by Russian ransomware group Clop look set to go the way of the dinosaurs. While an estimated 25% of victims paid a ransom in the inaugural campaign five years ago, the number of victims that paid fell to zero by 2023, report ransomware responders.

Crackdown Targets Multiple Members of Cybercrime Group, Including 'Hash Crackers'Police raided two suspected members of the notorious Black Basta ransomware group - tied to over 600 victims worldwide and many millions in ransom payments - in Ukraine and issued an international arrest warrant for the Russian national suspected of being the operation's founder and ringleader.

Despite Some Well-Known Groups Disappearing, Ransomware Competition Remains FierceHere's unwelcome ransomware news: Groups' victim listings and underground chatter suggest that the count of victims and number of criminal groups behind such attacks have both risen over the past 12 months, despite repeat disruptions by law enforcement, fierce competition and fewer victims paying.

Stealthy Group Taps Blockchain 'EtherHiding' to Facilitate Victim CommunicationsThe DeadLock ransomware group, a newly emerged digital extortion group, is using blockchain smart contracts to store proxy server addresses for facilitating ransomware negotiations with victim organizations. The technique suggests the group is made up of experienced cybercriminals.

Americans Extorted at Least 5 Firms, Earning $1 Million From a Medical Device MakerTwo American cybersecurity professionals who moonlighted as BlackCat ransomware gang affiliates pleaded guilty to using the crypto-locking malware to extort at least five victims in the United States, including a medical device maker that paid a cryptocurrency ransom worth over $1 million.

Cybercrime Gang Rhysida Still Lists the Practice on Its Leak Site Among Its VictimsA Kansas medical group will pay $1.2 million to settle proposed class action litigation involving an attack that compromised the sensitive data of nearly 256,000 individuals. The Rhysida ransomware operation claimed responsibility and said it stole 3 terabytes.

Analysis of Seized LockBit Data Suggests Victims Who Pay Enjoy More Media CoverageBad news for any organization that's ever paid a ransom in a bid to avoid their breach coming to light, or for a promise from attackers to delete stolen data, with a study of seized LockBit data finding that victims who paid a ransom were more likely to see the attack get detailed in the media.

Inotiv Tells SEC 'It's Still Evaluating Full Impact and Notifying Breach Victims'Drug research firm Inotiv in a filing with federal regulators said it is still evaluating the financial and operational impact of an August cyberattack that's linked to ransomware gang Qilin. The company is also notifying nearly 10,000 people whose data was allegedly stolen in the incident.

Innovation Continues, Although Sloppy Coding Can Still Leave Data UnrecoverableRansomware groups continue to display more innovation, persistence and planning in their quest to amass ransom-paying victims and maximize profits. This has included repeat supply-chain attacks, harvesting credentials to use in later campaigns, as well as launching their own affiliate programs.

Businesses That Inherit SSL VPNs Through M&A Activity Falling Victim, Warn ExpertsMultiple large enterprises that inherited SonicWall SSL VPN devices when they acquired a smaller entity have fallen victim to the Akira ransomware group, security researchers warn. Investigations of multiple intrusions found they began when attackers used "unmonitored and unrotated" credentials.

British Health System Investigates Claim Amid Wave of Enterprise Data TheftsRansomware gang Clop has claimed the United Kingdom's National Health Service among its latest victims. The NHS confirmed that it is listed on a cybercriminal group's dark website, but did not comment on Clop's claims. The hack attack appears tied to Oracle E-Business Suite exploits.