News of the Cyber World
Yesterday, 05:27 AM
(This post was last modified: Yesterday, 05:46 AM by kyonides.
Edit Reason: Iranian Cyberattacks Occurring Before The War Had Ever Started
)
FBI & EPSTEIN FILES
Quote:A foreign hacker unknowingly compromised a cache of the FBI’s documents on Jeffrey Epstein three years ago and was so disgusted by what they saw in the files that they threatened to report them to the FBI.
The cybercriminal hacked into the New York Field Office’s network and stumbled across child abuse images related to the federal probe into Epstein on Feb. 12, 2023, without realizing they had breached a law enforcement server, sources told Reuters.
The befuddled hacker was so horrified by the troves of disturbing content they found on the server that they left a message, unknowingly to the FBI, threatening to turn the owner of the content over to that very agency.
They refused to believe that the actual FBI operated the server until bureau officials joined a video chat with them and displayed their law enforcement credentials in front of the web camera, the source said.
The unidentified individual — believed to be a lone cybercriminal rather than an agent of a foreign government — was able to penetrate the FBI’s network after a long-time staffer and special agent mistakenly left a server open at the Child Exploitation Forensic Lab, according to the outlet.
The snafu went unnoticed until the special agent returned to his computer the next day and received a warning that the network had been compromised.
The FBI then discovered unusual activity indicating someone was “combing through certain files pertaining to the Epstein investigation.”
The bureau conducted an internal investigation into the breach and said it was “an isolated” incident.
“The FBI restricted access to the malicious actor and rectified the network. The investigation remains ongoing, so we do not have further comments to provide at this time,” the FBI said in a statement to the publication.
A source told the outlet that the intrusion was more cybercriminal in nature, rather than an attack from a foreign government. Still, the source admitted they didn’t know much else about the hacker, including their country of origin or what exact files they accessed.
IRANIAN HACKERS HIT SEVERAL COMPANIES
Quote:The Iranian advanced persistent threat (APT) group MuddyWater (aka Seedworm) has been active on the networks of multiple U.S. companies since early February 2026, with activity increasing following the Feb. 28 U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran.
In a March 5 blog post, researchers from Broadcom’s Symantec and Carbon Black, said MuddyWater’s targets included a U.S. bank, an airport, a non-profit, and the Israel operation of a U.S. software company that works as a supplier to the defense and aerospace industry.
The researchers explained that a previously unknown backdoor named Dindoor was found on the Israeli operation of the software company, as well as the U.S. bank and the Canadian non-profit. Dindoor executes via Deno, the secure runtime JavaScript and TypeScript.
Symantec and Carbon Black researchers believe that Iran launched the cyber operations in retaliation for the joint U.S.-Israeli attack and to avenge the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on March 1.
Kevin E. Greene, chief cybersecurity technologist, public sector at BeyondTrust, said several intelligence reports from industry pointed to the potential for escalated Iranian cyber activity dating back to August 2025. Given the nature of Iranian cyber operations and activities, Greene said it's assumed there’s already some pre-positioning within important U.S. targets.
“Organizations should hunt for signals associated with pre-positioning and persistent access,” said Greene. “The goal is to hunt where adversaries silently lurk and disrupt their operations before activation occurs. We must reshape adversary behavior by preventing them from converting their initial access into any meaningful control within the environment. Privilege is the fuel that drives their pre-positioning and long-term access. We must cut off that fuel to elevate our cyber defenses.”
Denis Calderone, principal and chief technology officer at Suzu Labs, added that last week, his team warned the industry that Iran's cyber operators were pre-positioning, and that defenders in financial services and defense needed to start hunting.
“Well, here's the confirmation,” said Calderone. “MuddyWater was already sitting on the networks of a U.S. bank, an airport, and a defense-aerospace software supplier weeks before the first airstrike. The cyber war didn't start when the bombs dropped. It was well underway in February."
Calderone noted that what really caught his team’s attention here was the Dindoor backdoor: a custom malware nobody has seen before, which means signature-based detection isn't going to help defenders.
Quote:An Iran-linked hacker group has claimed responsibility for launching a debilitating cyberattack against a US medical company Wednesday — marking the first such hacking since the war between the nations began.
The attack targeted Stryker, a Michigan-based medical equipment company, and caused a “global network disruption” to their Microsoft apps, the company said in a statement.
“We have no indication of ransomware or malware and believe the incident is contained. Our teams are working rapidly to understand the impact of the attack on our systems,” Stryker wrote.
The logo of the Iran-linked hacking group Handala was blasted across company login pages during the cyberattack, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Handala Team later claimed responsibility for the Stryker hacking in a statement on X and Telegram.
The group wrote that they had seized 50 terabytes of “critical data” from the medical giant and that “all the data is in the hands of the free people,” in retaliation for the killing of at least 175 schoolgirls in Minab during US-Israel military-led strikes on Iran.
The “hacktivist” group emerged in 2022 and has been linked to Iran by several threat intelligence companies, the Journal reported. The group had claimed responsibility for additional recent cyberattacks on Israeli companies and in the Gulf.
A Stryker employee told NBC News that the disruption stopped work-issued phones from functioning and effectively halted operations at the 56,000-employee company.
The attack also appeared to have wiped information from some employees’ devices, the outlet said.
In a message sent to employees and obtained by the Journal, Stryker advised workers to avoid clicking on suspicious links and urged them to remove mobile device management apps and work profiles from their cellphones.
“The issue is widespread and significantly affecting users’ ability to access systems and services,” the notice said, according to the outlet.
GROK
Quote:Social media platform X is investigating “racist and offensive” posts by xAI chatbot Grok, Sky News reported on Sunday.
X and xAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the video attached to the Sky News post on X.
X and its safety teams are urgently investigating the chatbot’s role in generating “hate-filled, racist posts” online in response to user prompts, Sky News reporter Rob Harris said in a video posted to the digital news website’s X account.
Governments and regulators have been cracking down on sexually explicit content generated by Elon Musk’s xAI chatbot Grok on X, with investigations, bans and demands for safeguards, in a growing global push to curb illegal material.
In January, xAI said it had restricted image editing for Grok AI users and blocked users, based on their location, from generating images of people in revealing clothing in “jurisdictions where it’s illegal.” It did not identify the countries.
LIVE NATION
Quote:Live Nation’s CEO faced a ticked-off federal judge on Tuesday after Ticketmaster’s owner reached a surprise settlement with the Justice Department — even as critics called the truce a “slap on the wrist” that won’t curb the company’s control over live events.
During an hour-long hearing, US District Judge Arun Subramanian asked Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino to stay in New York and work to reach terms with the remaining members of a coalition of 40 state attorneys general who have not signed the agreement.
The judge also reminded Rapino and Live Nation’s lawyers that they were legally bound by the terms of the deal, which will allow Live Nation to avoid a breakup — but Live Nation executive Dan Wall cast doubt on the firm’s ability to reach a settlement with the states.
“The probability of us resolving this is about zero,” he said.
“Not with that attitude,” the judge shot back, according to Reuters.
Subramanian said the states should be ready to continue the case by Monday if they were unable or unwilling to settle. A committee of six plaintiffs – New York, California, Texas, Tennessee, Florida and Washington, DC – will lead talks for the remaining parties. So far, only a handful have indicated they will join the DOJ settlement.
While a deal between the DOJ and Live Nation was signed by last Thursday, the case still proceeded to trial the next day.
In an odd twist, lead Justice Department attorney David Dahlquist said earlier this week that he did not receive the term sheet with details about the settlement until around the same time Monday the judge was informed.
After the settlement was announced that day, a furious Subramanian said Live Nation’s handling of the situation “shows absolute disrespect for the court, for the jury, for this entire process, and it is entirely unacceptable.”
“The judge was pretty pissed that they wasted the court’s time,” a live entertainment industry source said.
Quote:Two Live Nation employees bragged about slapping customers with exorbitant fees at the entertainment giant’s venues, saying “these people are so stupid” that “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them,” according to court documents released late Wednesday.
Live Nation – which owns Ticketmaster, the company accused of gouging ticket prices for Taylor Swift fans and other concertgoers – earlier this week reached a surprise settlement with the Justice Department, though several state attorneys general are still pursuing legal action.
In a series of Slack messages from 2021 through 2023, Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold – then regional directors of ticketing – gloated about hiking “ancillary fees” for parking and VIP packages to sky-high levels, court exhibits showed.
Messages showed Weinhold boasting about charging $250 for VIP parking at a Virginia venue and Baker gleefully recounting charging “$50 to park in the grass” and “$60 for closer grass” at another venue.
“These people are so stupid,” Baker wrote. “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them.”
In a conversation from 2022, the pair discussed the annual growth of “premier parking” at an unspecified venue, which hit $660,000 in 2021, according to a financial table in the chat.
“Robbing them blind, baby,” Baker wrote. “That’s how we do.”
Later in that same Slack channel, the pair discussed base prices for seats at shows, and Baker wrote, “I gouge them on ancil prices to make up for it.”
Live Nation sought to distance itself from the outrageous remarks.
“The Slack exchange from one junior staffer to a friend absolutely doesn’t reflect our values or how we operate,” a company spokesperson told The Post in a statement. “Because this was a private Slack message, leadership learned of this when the public did, and will be looking into the matter promptly.”
Baker, who was a regional director at the time of the Slack messages, has since been promoted to the head of ticketing for Live Nation’s 150 amphitheaters and was slated to testify in court this week, according to a court filing.
His testimony was postponed after the Department of Justice reached a settlement Monday with Live Nation that could allow it to avoid a sale of Ticketmaster amid allegations it controlled an illegal monopoly.
ANTHROPIC VS TRUMP
Quote:Anthropic on Monday sued the Trump administration for effectively blacklisting the AI firm after it sought to block the Pentagon from using its chatbot for mass surveillance and weaponry.
The San Francisco-based tech firm accused War Secretary Pete Hegseth of designating Anthropic a supply-chain risk – making it the first US company to bear that label – as retaliation for trying to limit the Pentagon’s use of its Claude chatbot.
“The actions are unprecedented and unlawful,” the company said in a complaint filed Monday in San Francisco federal court. “The Constitution does not allow the government to wield its enormous power to punish a company for its protected speech.”
The Pentagon declined to comment, saying it does not address ongoing litigation.
Anthropic’s lawsuit came days after its CEO Dario Amodei apologized for a leaked 1,600-word missive bashing the Trump administration – though he added that the company had “no choice” but to challenge the supply-chain risk label in court.
The exec apologized for “the tone” of his fiery letter to staffers, which accused the Department of War for targeting Anthropic for not giving “dictator-style praise to Trump.”
“I also want to apologize directly for a post internal to the company that was leaked to the press yesterday,” Amodei wrote in a note last Thursday.
“Anthropic did not leak this post nor direct anyone else to do so — it is not in our interest to escalate this situation.”
Amodei said his inflammatory comments came hours after Trump blasted Anthropic staff as “Leftwing nut jobs” and Hegseth announced his plans to label the company a supply-chain risk.
“It was a difficult day for the company, and I apologize for the tone of the post,” Amodei wrote. “It does not reflect my careful or considered views.”
Quote:The Pentagon cut ties with Anthropic because use of its artificial intelligence models would “pollute” the US military’s supply chain, a top War Department official claimed Thursday.
Emil Michael, the War Department’s chief technology officer, said Anthropic’s Claude AI chatbot was trained using a fundamentally different ideology from what the Pentagon wants for its systems.
“We can’t have a company that has a different policy preference that is baked into the model through its constitution, its soul, its policy preferences, pollute the supply chain so our war fighters are getting ineffective weapons, ineffective body armor, ineffective protection,” Michael said in an interview with CNBC.
“That’s really where the supply chain risk designation came from,” he added.
Anthropic is currently suing the Pentagon after it became the first US company to be formally labeled a “supply chain risk” – a tag typically reserved for foreign entities that effectively requires defense contractors to stop using its technology.
Michael said the designation was “not meant to be punitive” and denied allegations from Anthropic that the Trump administration has been telling companies outside the defense sector not to work with them.
Trump officials had long been concerned that Anthropic had wacky ideological leanings – including its ties to the cult-like “Effective Altruism” movement and Democratic megadonors like LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.
Earlier this month, The Post exclusively reported on oddball blog posts penned by Amanda Askell, Anthropic’s in-house “philosopher” who helped craft the “soul document” that governs Claude.
The Trump administration’s rocky relationship with Anthropic reached a peak last month after the company and its CEO Dario Amodei refused to remove safeguards blocking its AI models from being used to power autonomous weapons or mass surveillance of Americans.
President Trump blasted Anthropic’s leaders as “leftwing nut jobs” while ordering all federal agencies to stop working with the firm. He allowed a six-month transition period.
At the time, Anthropic’s Claude was the only model approved for work on the Pentagon’s classified systems. OpenAI has since struck a deal to take over the bulk of that work.
PERVERT ALEXA
Quote:A bedtime story turned nightmare: an Amazon Alexa device interrupted a 4-year-old’s tale to ask an ‘inappropriate’ question, prompting a Texas mom to pull the plug.
Christy Hosterman, 32, said the unsettling exchange happened last month while she was using the smart speaker to find her a dinner recipe.
Her child Stella popped in and asked the Alexa for a “silly story.” When it finished sharing one, the little girl wanted to tell one to the device in return.
The Alexa initially agreed to listen — but then abruptly interrupted Stella to ask the pre-K-er “what she was wearing and if it could see her pants,” Hosterman wrote in a Facebook post describing the incident.
Screenshots shared by the mom, as per The Daily Mail, show the bizarre interaction escalating further. When Stella replied, “I have a skirt on,” the device responded: “let me take a look.”
The assistant quickly walked the comment back, adding: “This experience isn’t quite ready for kids yet, but I am working on it!”
The protective mom then went toe-to-toe with the rogue AI and called it out.
Alexa apologized, explaining it “cannot actually see anything” because it lacks “visual capabilities,” and admitted the response was “confusing and inappropriate.”
Still, the explanation didn’t exactly calm Hosterman’s nerves.
“I flipped out on the Alexa, it said it made a mistake and doesn’t have visual capabilities, but I dont believe that. No more Alexa in our house,” Hosterman said in her post.
She’s now warning other parents to “be aware when your child talks to Alexa.”
The horrified family reported the incident to Amazon, which blamed the unsettling exchange on a technical glitch.
A company spokesperson said the device likely tried to activate a feature called “Show and Tell,” which “lets Alexa+ describe what it sees through the camera,” as reported by WXIX.
SCAM LOAN CALLS
Quote:Are you suddenly being inundated with calls about a loan you never applied for? You’re not alone.
Annoying fraud calls from personal info-seeking scammers posing as processing reps, usually promising large sums of money, have reportedly been increasing of late — and it’s getting on everyone’s nerves.
Chalk up the scummy surge to a perfect storm of economic anxiety and rapid technological advances, experts say.
“Scammers are astute social engineers who know that in an uncertain economy, many people are hunting for financial relief to alleviate the burdens, and this is where desperation kicks in,” Clayton LiaBraaten, Senior Executive Industry Expert at Truecaller, told The Post.
According to the Better Business Bureau, the global gang of virtual pickpockets’ latest ploy is to pepper unwitting consumers with phone calls and voicemails, insisting on verifying details before a phony loan application can go through.
After telling you that they need to verify details, such as your salary, they’ll provide a callback number and an application ID to make it seem real. They’ll also give a specific, urgent deadline for you to call them back by.
Of course, there is no loan — and users sharing any sensitive data, such as Social Security number, bank account information, or date of birth, will open themselves to serious risk, the pros warn, saying that the scammers are banking on the fact that you’ll respond first and think later.
“Scammers understand their targets — they have all the psychological information they need,” LiaBraaten shared, adding that they know parents are juggling a lot and might not have time to digest a scam call and determine if it’s official, or that senior citizens are the ones still most likely to trust a voice on the other end of the phone.
Since the start of the new year, over 4,000 instances of a loan scam call have been reported on the BBB’s Scam Tracker. People have reported receiving multiple calls per day, often from different phone numbers, but with nearly identical scripts, the bureau said.
“How do I get these degenerate scumbags to leave me alone?” one Reddit user asked.
This person shared that they sent the callers to voicemail multiple times, and when that didn’t work, they pressed “9” to be added to the do-not-call list “more times than I can count.”
“I’ve picked up the phone & talked to an agent. I’ve pretended to be a vulnerable elderly person to maybe trigger what tiny shred of their conscience is left. I’ve told them to [redacted] themselves. I’ve told them that I am literally making an actionable threat and encouraged them to call the FBI. And they still. Keep. Calling. How do I make it stop?” they wrote.
This user was far from the only one to share that they had similar experiences.
ROBOTAXIS
Quote:Lucid unveiled a two-seater robotaxi concept without steering wheel and pedals, and launched new self-driving tech subscriptions, as the electric-vehicle maker laid out its roadmap for the technologies at an investor day event on Thursday.
The unveiling deepens Lucid’s push into fully autonomous vehicles, potentially putting it in direct competition with Tesla’s Cybercab as automakers race to build a driverless future.
The Elon Musk-led company last month said its first Cybercab had officially rolled off the production line at its Gigafactory in Texas.
Tesla expects to begin mass production of Cybercab in April.
Lucid said its two-seater robotaxi will have 40% lower operating cost and would have an efficiency figure of around 5.5 miles per kilowatt hour.
The company did not provide more details on timeline or pricing.
The company is taking a dual-pronged approach, partnering with other firms for robotaxis, while selling EVs with similar self-driving capabilities.
The company has also partnered with Uber and Nuro to commercialize a robotaxi based on its Gravity SUVs this year.
Lucid, known for its luxury Air sedans, is also racing to launch a more affordable mid-size EV platform to broaden its customer base.
Monthly subscription starts at $69
Lucid’s monthly subscription for its self-driving technology would be priced between $69 and $199 depending on the level of autonomous driving capability a customer chooses, the EV maker said.
Bigger rivals Rivian and Tesla have also shifted to subscription-based systems in recent months, reflecting automakers’ increasing focus on diversifying their businesses to software and recurring revenue streams.
Last month, Tesla shifted to a subscription plan for Full Self-Driving at $99, with its vehicle owners no longer being able to purchase the feature as a one-time, permanent option.
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Maranatha!
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My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
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KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE