Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 24 April 2026

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

Executive Summary

Our review of cyber security open source intelligence this week includes insights that fall into four key themes.

AI is now a standard part of an attacker’s toolkit, increasing the speed and scale of attacks and amplifying the impact of existing techniques and vulnerabilities. Phishing remains a highly successful and popular route into organisations, including exploiting weaknesses in MFA and trusted business activities. The cyber insurance market is responding to the shifting risks, with insurers tightening terms around AI related risks while claims arising from ransomware, fraud and lawsuits remain prominent. Lastly, various sources are highlighting that businesses need to strengthen their management of cyber risks, including how they plan to respond to an incident.

From our perspective at Black Arrow, we are clear that the response to these developments must be from a leadership team that is upskilled on today’s evolving risks and has worked with impartial experts to assess their risks and controls, and to practice how to protect their business during an incident rather than relying only on the Technology team assurance. Contact us to discuss how to do this in a proportionate manner.


Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

AI Is Now a ‘Standard Part of the Attacker Toolkit’

Forescout reports that artificial intelligence is now a routine part of cyber criminals’ toolkit, helping them identify weaknesses and speed up attacks. Its research found a sharp rise in AI capability, with all tested models in its latest study performing well at basic vulnerability research, compared with 55% failing a year earlier. The pace is striking: once inside a network, criminals now hand over access to other attackers in a median of 22 seconds, down from more than eight hours in 2022, increasing pressure on organisations to detect and respond far faster.

https://www.itpro.com/security/ai-is-now-a-standard-part-of-the-attacker-toolkit

Every Old Vulnerability Is Now an AI Vulnerability

In March 2026, Microsoft patched an Excel vulnerability that exposed a broader risk created by embedded AI assistants. A malicious spreadsheet could execute hidden code and use Copilot to exfiltrate data without user interaction or warning. The flaw was not new, but AI amplified its impact by acting with the same access as the host application. This means vulnerabilities in applications with embedded AI assistants can carry far greater business risk, highlighting that AI assistants effectively act as privileged systems, amplifying the impact of existing vulnerabilities.

https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/every-old-vulnerability-ai-vulnerability

New Technology Is Increasing the Speed and Depth of Cyber Attacks

Financial services firms are facing faster, broader cyber attacks as criminals use artificial intelligence to find weaknesses, craft convincing scams and target suppliers as a route into larger organisations. IBM found the finance and insurance sector accounted for 27% of all incidents in 2025, while Kroll reported that 76% of organisations experienced an AI-related security incident over the past two years. In response, banks are tightening supplier checks, improving staff awareness and investing in tools that detect genuine threats more accurately, with regulators placing greater emphasis on operational resilience and rapid recovery.

https://www.ft.com/content/954a44c6-cc11-49dd-b95a-dba61438b532?syn-25a6b1a6=1

The AI Era Demands a Different Kind of CISO

AI is rapidly increasing the speed of cyber attacks, allowing weaknesses to be found and exploited in minutes rather than days or weeks. This is exposing the limits of traditional security checks such as audits, compliance reviews and periodic testing, which only show a snapshot in time. Security leadership is increasingly focused on real‑time visibility of risks, tighter control over who and what can access critical systems and data, and stronger incident response planning.

https://cyberscoop.com/ciso-strategy-ai-real-time-risk-op-ed/

Phishing and MFA Exploitation: Targeting the Keys to the Kingdom

Phishing remained a major route into organisations in 2025, featuring in 40% of incidents, while attackers increasingly bypassed multi‑factor authentication by exploiting weaknesses in how identity controls were implemented and managed. Criminals use convincing emails about routine business tasks such as IT requests, invoices, travel and expenses, often sent from trusted or seemingly internal accounts. Attackers increasingly targeted the controls that manage who is allowed to access systems, with a sharp rise in cases where organisations were fooled into trusting malicious devices, leading to a 178% increase in these types of breaches. The trend highlights how everyday workflows and trusted systems can be turned against an organisation when controls are inconsistent or poorly enforced.

https://blog.talosintelligence.com/phishing-and-mfa-exploitation-targeting-the-keys-to-the-kingdom/

Phishing Reclaims the Top Initial Access Spot, Attackers Experiment with AI Tools

Cisco Talos reports that phishing was the main route into organisations in early 2026, responsible for more than a third of known break-ins, while attacks on internet-facing systems fell from 62% at their peak to 18% after fixes and better detection. Healthcare and public administration were the most targeted sectors, each making up 24% of incidents. Weak multi-factor authentication, used to add a second identity check, remained the most common security gap at 35%. Talos also saw attackers using an AI website builder to create convincing fake login pages and steal credentials.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2026/04/22/cisco-phishing-initial-access-2026/

Surge in Silent Subject Phishing Attacks Targets VIP Users

Cyberproof has reported a rise in phishing emails sent with no subject line, a tactic often targeting senior staff and other high value users. By removing normal warning signs, these messages are more likely to be opened and can also avoid some email security checks. The campaign grew throughout the first quarter of 2026, rising over 13% from January to February and a further 7.0% in March. Messages often include links, QR codes or attachments that lead to fake sign-in pages or harmful software, with attackers also misusing legitimate remote access tools to stay hidden inside organisations.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/silent-subject-phishing-campaigns/

Threat Actors Exploiting Trust in Everyday Workflows

Abnormal AI found that email-based cyber attacks are increasingly designed to blend into normal business activity by mimicking trusted suppliers, routine payment requests and familiar internal communications. Its analysis of nearly 800,000 email attacks across more than 4,600 organisations found that 61% of business email compromise incidents involved supplier relationships. Phishing made up 58% of attacks, with many using multi-step web links to evade detection. The findings show that attackers are exploiting trust and everyday working practices, making fraudulent messages far harder to distinguish from legitimate business communication.

https://betanews.com/article/threat-actors-exploiting-trust-in-everyday-workflows/

UK Must Brace for Rise in State-Backed Cyberattacks, Security Chief Says

The UK is facing a growing threat from state-backed cyber attacks, with the National Cyber Security Centre handling around four nationally significant incidents each week. While ransomware remains the most common risk, the most serious attacks are now increasingly linked to hostile governments. Officials also warned that rising geopolitical tensions could trigger large-scale disruptive campaigns, particularly against critical national infrastructure. In response, the government is seeking closer cooperation with AI firms and has committed £90 million over three years to strengthen cyber security, including support for smaller businesses.

https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2026/04/22/337080.htm

CISOs See Gaps in Their Incident Response Playbooks

Sygnia found that more than three quarters of senior security leaders said their organisation had suffered a cyber attack in the past year, yet 73% felt unprepared for the next one. While almost all reported having a formal incident response plan, many still struggle to put it into practice. Common weaknesses include poor coordination between decision makers, limited board and executive involvement, and delays caused by legal or communications concerns. The findings point to the importance of direct business leader involvement in incident response readiness, clearer decision‑making and coordination during attacks, and addressing visibility gaps before an incident occurs.

https://www.ciodive.com/news/cisos-gaps-incident-response-playbooks/817765/

SMEs Say Cyber Resilience Is Lacking Amid Fears Security Is Failing

A survey of 500 UK SMEs suggests cyber security readiness remains weak despite rising threat levels. One in eight businesses reported a past cyber attack, while 52% rated themselves moderately to highly vulnerable to future incidents. Fewer than one in ten provide regular staff awareness training, and less than a third have increased cyber security spending in the past two years. The findings also show limited resilience if operations are disrupted, with one in eight businesses saying they could not survive a full shutdown lasting more than 48 hours, highlighting that gaps in training, preparedness and investment translate directly into business survival risk.

https://www.emergingrisks.co.uk/smes-say-cyber-resilience-is-lacking-amid-fears-security-is-failing/

Insurance Carriers Quietly Back Away from Covering AI Outputs

Insurers are becoming more cautious about covering risks linked to artificial intelligence, with some excluding losses caused by AI generated decisions and others raising premiums. The concern is that many AI systems can produce inconsistent or hard to explain results, making claims harder to assess. Insurance providers are also asking far more detailed questions about how organisations use and control AI. Cover is proving especially difficult for businesses whose products are built around AI, while firms with clear oversight, monitoring and fallback plans are viewed more favourably by insurers.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/4159292/insurance-carriers-quietly-back-away-from-covering-ai-outputs.html

Ransomware, Fraud, and Lawsuits Drive Cyber Insurance Claims to New Peaks

Cyber insurance provider At-Bay’s 2026 analysis of more than 100,000 policy years shows cyber insurance claims rising, with overall claim frequency up 7% and average losses reaching a record $221,000. Ransomware remained the most costly incident, averaging $508,000, while financial fraud was the most common, making up about 30% of claims. In 2025, 73% of ransomware attacks started through a virtual private network, or VPN, up from 38% two years earlier, while VPNs and remote desktop tools together accounted for 87% of claims. Separate legal claims also increased significantly, adding further cost through lawsuits and business interruption.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2026/04/23/cyber-insurance-claims-report/



Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Most Organizations Fail to Fully Recover After Ransomware Attacks

Ransomware, fraud, and lawsuits drive cyber insurance claims to new peaks - Help Net Security

'The Gentlemen' Rapidly Rises to Ransomware Prominence

1 in 3 Ransomware Claims Started with SonicWall in 2025 as VPN Attacks Nearly Double in Two Years

Payouts King ransomware uses QEMU VMs to bypass endpoint security

SystemBC C2 Server Reveals 1,570+ Victims in The Gentlemen Ransomware Operation

The Gentlemen Ransomware Expands With Rapid Affiliate Growth - Infosecurity Magazine

Hidden VMs: how hackers leverage QEMU to stealthily steal data and spread malware

The Gentlemen ransomware now uses SystemBC for bot-powered attacks

Adaptavist Group breach: Ransomware crew claims mega-haul • The Register

Kyber ransomware gang toys with post-quantum encryption on Windows

'Thankful I Got Caught': FBI Arrests Teen Hacker After Massive PowerSchool Breach

Scattered Spider member Tyler Buchanan pleads guilty to major crypto theft

Ransomware’s Next Phase: From Data Encryption to Business Extortion | Silicon UK Tech News

Third ransomware pro pleads guilty to cybercrime U-turn • The Register

Ransomware negotiator admits role in attacks he was hired to resolve - Help Net Security

Ex-FBI lead urges homicide charges against ransomware scum • The Register

Ransomware and Destructive Attack Victims

'Thankful I Got Caught': FBI Arrests Teen Hacker After Massive PowerSchool Breach

Cyber attack blamed for delay telling schools music tutor in court facing child sex offence charges – The Irish News

Hackers target US banking giants Frost Bank and Citizens Bank​ | Cybernews

Automotive Ransomware Attacks Double in a Year - Infosecurity Magazine

Ransomware Hits Automotive Data Expert Autovista - SecurityWeek

M&S one year on: turning anticipation into secure by design | Computer Weekly

French govt agency confirms breach as hacker offers to sell data

Data Breaches at Healthcare Organizations in Illinois and Texas Affect 600,000 - SecurityWeek

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

Phishing reclaims the top initial access spot, attackers experiment with AI tools - Help Net Security

Surge in Silent Subject Phishing Campaigns Targets VIP Users - Infosecurity Magazine

Threat actors exploiting trust in everyday workflows - BetaNews

Tycoon 2FA Loses Phishing Kit Crown Amid Surge in Attacks - SecurityWeek

Tycoon 2FA Phishers Scatter, Adopt Device Code Phishing

Phishing and MFA exploitation: Targeting the keys to the kingdom

New iPhone phishing scam involves email sent from Apple servers | Macworld

From a Booking.com Breach to YouTube Phishing: The Internet's Security Problem Just Got Worse This Week

Watch Out for Unexpected Apple Account Change Emails. It's a Phishing Scam

Cyberattack on French government agency triggers phishing alert - Help Net Security

Business Email Compromise (BEC)/Email Account Compromise (EAC)

Threat actors exploiting trust in everyday workflows - BetaNews

Other Social Engineering

Threat actors exploiting trust in everyday workflows - BetaNews

Microsoft: Teams increasingly abused in helpdesk impersonation attacks

Tycoon 2FA Loses Phishing Kit Crown Amid Surge in Attacks - SecurityWeek

Tycoon 2FA Phishers Scatter, Adopt Device Code Phishing

US nationals sentenced for aiding North Korea’s tech worker scheme | CyberScoop

North Korea targets macOS users in latest heist • The Register

New iPhone phishing scam involves email sent from Apple servers | Macworld

Cross‑tenant helpdesk impersonation to data exfiltration: A human-operated intrusion playbook | Microsoft Security Blog

macOS ClickFix attacks deliver AppleScript stealers • The Register

AI Tools Are Helping Mediocre North Korean Hackers Steal Millions | WIRED

North Korean hackers siphon more than $12 million from crypto users in sprawling campaign | The Record from Recorded Future News

Lazarus Group Uses Fake Meetings to Hijack Crypto Firms | CoinMarketCap

How to spot a North Korean fake in a job interview - Help Net Security

2FA/MFA

Tycoon 2FA Loses Phishing Kit Crown Amid Surge in Attacks - SecurityWeek

Tycoon 2FA Phishers Scatter, Adopt Device Code Phishing

Phishing and MFA exploitation: Targeting the keys to the kingdom

Artificial Intelligence

UK Government Sound Alarm Over AI Security Risk - IT Security Guru

HR Magazine - Government advises businesses about AI cyber threats

What is Anthopic's Claude Mythos and what risks does it pose? - BBC News

Insurance carriers quietly back away from covering AI outputs | CSO Online

New technology is increasing the speed and depth of cyber attacks

The AI cybersecurity boom may be creating a bigger problem than it solves | Ctech

Anthropic's Mythos AI model sparks fears of turbocharged hacking - Ars Technica

Russia uses AI to hack Europe, Dutch intelligence warns – POLITICO

Cybersecurity in the age of AI means bigger, faster threats | TechTarget

A tsunami of flaws: When frontier AI and Patch Tuesday collide | Computer Weekly

Anthropic’s Claude Is Pumping Out Vulnerable Code, Cyber Experts Warn

AI Tools Are Helping Mediocre North Korean Hackers Steal Millions | WIRED

ECB to Quiz Bankers About Risks of Anthropic’s New AI Model, Source Says

Beyond Mythos: A Defining Moment for Cybersecurity

OpenClaw Exposes the Real Cybersecurity Risks of Agentic AI - Infosecurity Magazine

AI cloud company Vercel breached after employee grants AI tool unrestricted access to Google Workspace — hacker seeking $2 million for stolen data | Tom's Hardware

Anthropic's Mythos model accessed by unauthorized users, Bloomberg News reports | Reuters

OpenAI’s Codex agent fails as an investigator​ | Cybernews

House lawmakers get a chilling demo of ‘jailbroken’ AI - POLITICO

Time for government, business leaders to figure out AI cybersecurity regulation — Harvard Gazette

Mythos can find the vulnerability. It can't tell you what to do about it. | CyberScoop

Anthropic's Mythos AI System Might Actually Create More Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities

Every Old Vulnerability Is Now an AI Vulnerability

Commercial AI Models Show Rapid Gains in Vulnerability Research - Infosecurity Magazine

How AI companies are quietly becoming the world’s cybersecurity gatekeepers - The Hindu

New artificial intelligence bots could drain nation's cash machines | This is Money

Anthropic nuked a company's access to Claude, stopping 60 employees dead in their tracks — support via Google Form is the only recourse for vague usage policy violation | Tom's Hardware

Never put all your eggs in one basket, fintech CTO warns after Anthropic suspends 60+ accounts

UK to build ‘national cyber shield’ to protect against AI cyber threats | Computer Weekly

Bots/Botnets

The Gentlemen ransomware now uses SystemBC for bot-powered attacks

Attackers Exploit DVR Command Injection Flaw to Deploy Botnet - Infosecurity Magazine

New Mirai campaign exploits RCE flaw in EoL D-Link routers

New Mirai variants target routers and DVRs in parallel campaigns - Help Net Security

Researchers link Smartproxy.org IPs to IPIDEA botnet network Google disrupted | Cybernews

Careers, Roles, Skills, Working in Cyber and Information Security

The endless CISO reporting line debate — and what it says about cybersecurity leadership | CSO Online

CYBERUK ’26: UK lagging on legal protections for cyber pros | Computer Weekly

What it takes to win that CSO role | CSO Online

CISOs reshape their roles as business risk strategists | CSO Online

The AI era demands a different kind of CISO | CyberScoop

Cloud/SaaS

EU pushes for stronger cloud sovereignty, awards €180 million to four providers - Help Net Security

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

AI Tools Are Helping Mediocre North Korean Hackers Steal Millions | WIRED

North Korean hackers siphon more than $12 million from crypto users in sprawling campaign | The Record from Recorded Future News

Lazarus Group Uses Fake Meetings to Hijack Crypto Firms | CoinMarketCap

KelpDAO suffers $290 million heist tied to Lazarus hackers

macOS ClickFix attacks deliver AppleScript stealers • The Register

Are Russian exchanges like Grinex targeted by hackers or spies? - Cryptopolitan

Grinex exchange blames "Western intelligence" for $13.7M crypto hack

Google warns quantum computers could break crypto encryption sooner than expected. | Mashable

China's Apple App Store infiltrated by crypto-stealing wallet apps

Dozens of Malicious Crypto Apps Land in Apple App Store - SecurityWeek

Cyber Crime, Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

"DDoS is not a game. It's a crime!" Europol targets the youth in latest bid to take down DDoS-for-hire infrastructure | PC Gamer

Scattered Spider member Tyler Buchanan pleads guilty to major crypto theft

Inside Caller-as-a-Service Fraud: The Scam Economy Has a Hiring Process

The shadowy SIM farms behind those incessant scam texts - and how to stay safe | ZDNET

How Cybercrime Became a Leading Industry in ‘Scambodia’ - WSJ

Inside an Underground Guide: How Threat Actors Vet Stolen Credit Card Shops

Hackers who stole crime tip records now selling them | Cybernews

A single platform powers SIM farm proxy networks across 17 countries - Help Net Security

Data Breaches/Leaks

AI cloud company Vercel breached after employee grants AI tool unrestricted access to Google Workspace — hacker seeking $2 million for stolen data | Tom's Hardware

Hackers who stole crime tip records now selling them | Cybernews

Lovable denies data leak, cites 'intentional behavior' • The Register

From a Booking.com Breach to YouTube Phishing: The Internet's Security Problem Just Got Worse This Week

Unsecured Perforce Servers Expose Sensitive Data From Major Orgs - SecurityWeek

Data breach at edtech giant McGraw Hill affects 13.5 million accounts

Millions of hotel goers may have been exposed after hackers steal data and leak it on Telegram | TechRadar

Man gets 30 months for selling thousands of hacked DraftKings accounts

Hacker Jeffrey Epstein claims 400K records stolen from Bol | Cybernews

WhatsApp Leaks User Metadata to Attackers

France's 'Secure' ID agency probes claimed 19M record breach • The Register

Cosmetics giant Rituals confirms data breach of customer membership records | TechCrunch

Crook claims to leak 'video surveillance footage' of firms • The Register

President of German parliament hit by Signal hack, report says – POLITICO

Data Protection

GDPR works, but only where someone enforces it - Help Net Security

Data/Digital Sovereignty

EU pushes for stronger cloud sovereignty, awards €180 million to four providers - Help Net Security

Denial of Service/DoS/DDoS

"DDoS is not a game. It's a crime!" Europol targets the youth in latest bid to take down DDoS-for-hire infrastructure | PC Gamer

Four arrested in latest ‘PowerOFF’ DDoS-for-hire takedown | The Record from Recorded Future News

Europol launches Operation PowerOFF — warns 75,000 DDoS users and takes down 53 domains | TechRadar

Mirai Variant Nexcorium Exploits CVE-2024-3721 to Hijack TBK DVRs for DDoS Botnet

Bluesky hit by 24-hour DDoS attack as pro-Iran group claims responsibility

Mastodon says its flagship server was hit by a DDoS attack | TechCrunch

Encryption

Half of the 6 Million Internet-Facing FTP Servers Lack Encryption - SecurityWeek

Google warns quantum computers could break crypto encryption sooner than expected. | Mashable

Kyber ransomware gang toys with post-quantum encryption on Windows

The race to become quantum-safe | IT Pro

Fraud, Scams and Financial Crime

Ransomware, fraud, and lawsuits drive cyber insurance claims to new peaks - Help Net Security

Inside Caller-as-a-Service Fraud: The Scam Economy Has a Hiring Process

The shadowy SIM farms behind those incessant scam texts - and how to stay safe | ZDNET

How cybercrime became a leading industry in ‘Scambodia’

Two US nationals jailed over scheme that generated $5 million for the North Korean regime - Help Net Security

Inside an Underground Guide: How Threat Actors Vet Stolen Credit Card Shops

A single platform powers SIM farm proxy networks across 17 countries - Help Net Security

How to spot a North Korean fake in a job interview - Help Net Security

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Two US nationals jailed over scheme that generated $5 million for the North Korean regime - Help Net Security

How to spot a North Korean fake in a job interview - Help Net Security

Insurance

Ransomware, fraud, and lawsuits drive cyber insurance claims to new peaks - Help Net Security

Insurance carriers quietly back away from covering AI outputs | CSO Online

Cyber risks still getting lost in translation

Internet of Things – IoT

Attackers Exploit DVR Command Injection Flaw to Deploy Botnet - Infosecurity Magazine

New Mirai campaign exploits RCE flaw in EoL D-Link routers

New Mirai variants target routers and DVRs in parallel campaigns - Help Net Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

"DDoS is not a game. It's a crime!" Europol targets the youth in latest bid to take down DDoS-for-hire infrastructure | PC Gamer

Two US nationals jailed over scheme that generated $5 million for the North Korean regime - Help Net Security

Four arrested in latest ‘PowerOFF’ DDoS-for-hire takedown | The Record from Recorded Future News

Europol launches Operation PowerOFF — warns 75,000 DDoS users and takes down 53 domains | TechRadar

Scattered Spider member Tyler Buchanan pleads guilty to major crypto theft

British National Admits Hacking Companies and Stealing Millions in Virtual Currency

DraftKings hacker sentenced to prison, ordered to pay $1.4 Million

Man gets 30 months for selling thousands of hacked DraftKings accounts

'Thankful I Got Caught': FBI Arrests Teen Hacker After Massive PowerSchool Breach

Third ransomware pro pleads guilty to cybercrime U-turn • The Register

Ransomware negotiator admits role in attacks he was hired to resolve - Help Net Security

Linux and Open Source

Open source malware sees a 21 percent increase - BetaNews

Malvertising

When PUPs Bite: Huntress Uncovers “weaponised” Adware Exposing 25,000+ Systems

Malware

When PUPs Bite: Huntress Uncovers “weaponised” Adware Exposing 25,000+ Systems

Open source malware sees a 21 percent increase - BetaNews

Formbook Malware Campaign Uses Multiple Obfuscation Techniques - Infosecurity Magazine

Another npm supply chain worm hits dev environments • The Register

Self-Propagating npm Malware Turns Trusted Packages Into Attack Paths - Security Boulevard

macOS ClickFix attacks deliver AppleScript stealers • The Register

Hidden VMs: how hackers leverage QEMU to stealthily steal data and spread malware

Bitwarden NPM Package Hit in Supply Chain Attack - SecurityWeek

New Checkmarx supply-chain breach affects KICS analysis tool

109 Fake GitHub Repositories Used to Deliver SmartLoader and StealC Malware

Cargo theft malware actor spent a month inside a decoy network before researchers pulled the plug - Help Net Security

Mobile

China's Apple App Store infiltrated by crypto-stealing wallet apps

Dozens of Malicious Crypto Apps Land in Apple App Store - SecurityWeek

New iPhone phishing scam involves email sent from Apple servers | Macworld

Android Phones Shown to Have a Major Biometric Security Weakness - Tech Advisor

The History of iOS Exploits: Apple’s Flawed Security Paradigm

Models, Frameworks and Standards

GDPR works, but only where someone enforces it - Help Net Security

UK Commits £90m for Cybersecurity and Pushes for ‘Resilience Pledge’ - Infosecurity Magazine

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

No Exploit Needed: How Attackers Walk Through the Front Door via Identity-Based Attacks

What Makes Credential Stuffing Difficult to Detect? - Security Boulevard

NCSC heralds end of passwords for consumers and pushes secure passkeys | Computer Weekly

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Social media bans might steer kids into riskier corners of the internet - Help Net Security

Time for government, business leaders to figure out AI cybersecurity regulation — Harvard Gazette

CISA Budget Cuts Could Push More Security Burden onto MSSPs | news | MSSP Alert

EU's New Age Verification App Can Be Hacked Within 2 Minutes, Researchers Claim

Ex-FBI lead urges homicide charges against ransomware scum • The Register

The surveillance law Congress can't quit — and can't explain | CyberScoop

Washington’s 2026 cyber strategy normalises offensive operations | The Strategist

TP-Link seeks to secure conditional approval from FCC following router import ban — company stresses it is no longer Chinese-owned | Tom's Hardware

CISA director pick Sean Plankey withdraws his nomination | CyberScoop

Social Media

Social media bans might steer kids into riskier corners of the internet - Help Net Security

Bluesky hit by 24-hour DDoS attack as pro-Iran group claims responsibility

Mastodon says its flagship server was hit by a DDoS attack | TechCrunch

From a Booking.com Breach to YouTube Phishing: The Internet's Security Problem Just Got Worse This Week

UK probes Telegram, teen chat sites over CSAM sharing concerns

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Threat actors exploiting trust in everyday workflows - BetaNews

Another npm supply chain worm hits dev environments • The Register

Self-Propagating npm Malware Turns Trusted Packages Into Attack Paths - Security Boulevard

Bitwarden NPM Package Hit in Supply Chain Attack - SecurityWeek

New Checkmarx supply-chain breach affects KICS analysis tool

109 Fake GitHub Repositories Used to Deliver SmartLoader and StealC Malware

Unsecured Perforce Servers Expose Sensitive Data From Major Orgs - SecurityWeek

Crook claims to leak 'video surveillance footage' of firms • The Register

The US NSA is using Anthropic's Claude Mythos despite supply chain risk

Why the Axios attack proves AI is mandatory for supply chain security | CyberScoop


Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity

Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage

U.K. Forces Counter Covert Russian Submarine Activities, Officials Say - USNI News

China tests deep-sea electro-hydrostatic actuator that can cut undersea cables at a depth of 3,500 meters — state hails successful trial and hints at deployment readiness | Tom's Hardware

Russian Vessels Spotted Hanging Around UK Offshore Wind Farms, Subsea Infrastructure – Reports | Offshore Wind

The scramble to protect Britain’s undersea cables from sabotage

New undersea cable cutter risks Internet’s backbone - Ars Technica

How Iran Has Excelled at 'Threat Projection' Using Cyber

UK Must Brace for Rise in State-Backed Cyberattacks, Security Chief Says

UK faces ‘perfect storm’ for cybersecurity, says cyber chief - UKTN

Sweden Sees Russia Intensifying Cyber Attacks on Infrastructure

Poland hit by record cyberattacks in 2025 as minister warns of 'digital war'

Russia hits European thermal power plant in attempted ‘destructive’ cyberattack – Pro-Kremlin hackers are engaging in ‘riskier and more reckless behavior’ in latest attempt to cripple Western critical infrastructure | TechRadar

International law and the Iran War considered by UK's former Attorney General - The Leamington Observer

Government Can’t Win the Cyber War Without the Private Sector - SecurityWeek

Iran claims US used backdoors in networking equipment • The Register

The U.S. must defend the final frontier against cyberattacks - SpaceNews

Seeing the Cyber in Economic Statecraft

Nation State Actors

Nation states responsible for ‘nationally significant’ cyber attacks against UK, says NCSC chief | Computer Weekly

UK Says Iran, China Drive Regular Significant Cyberattacks

Iran, Russia and China behind most major cyberattacks on UK, security chief warns | The Independent

Cyber chief: UK faces "perfect storm" for cyber security | National Cyber Security Centre

UK intelligence: 100 nations have spyware that can hack Britain – POLITICO

Cheapskate cyber strategy won't stop Beijing's finest • The Register

UK could face ‘hacktivist attacks at scale’, says head of security agency | Cybercrime | The Guardian

UK Must Brace for Rise in State-Backed Cyberattacks, Security Chief Says

The U.S. must defend the final frontier against cyberattacks - SpaceNews

Seeing the Cyber in Economic Statecraft

China

Nation states responsible for ‘nationally significant’ cyber attacks against UK, says NCSC chief | Computer Weekly

UK Says Iran, China Drive Regular Significant Cyberattacks

Iran, Russia and China behind most major cyberattacks on UK, security chief warns | The Independent

Cheapskate cyber strategy won't stop Beijing's finest • The Register

China tests deep-sea electro-hydrostatic actuator that can cut undersea cables at a depth of 3,500 meters — state hails successful trial and hints at deployment readiness | Tom's Hardware

The scramble to protect Britain’s undersea cables from sabotage

New undersea cable cutter risks Internet’s backbone - Ars Technica

UK Must Brace for Rise in State-Backed Cyberattacks, Security Chief Says

TP-Link seeks to secure conditional approval from FCC following router import ban — company stresses it is no longer Chinese-owned | Tom's Hardware

The Global Story - The Chinese cyber-attack that could have stolen data from every American - BBC Sounds

Chinese APT Targets Indian Banks, Korean Policy Circles

Russia

UK: Russian Hacking Reaches New Levels of Hostility

Iran, Russia and China behind most major cyberattacks on UK, security chief warns | The Independent

The scramble to protect Britain’s undersea cables from sabotage

U.K. Forces Counter Covert Russian Submarine Activities, Officials Say - USNI News

Russian Vessels Spotted Hanging Around UK Offshore Wind Farms, Subsea Infrastructure – Reports | Offshore Wind

Russia uses AI to hack Europe, Dutch intelligence warns – POLITICO

Sweden Sees Russia Intensifying Cyber Attacks on Infrastructure

Poland hit by record cyberattacks in 2025 as minister warns of 'digital war'

Russia hits European thermal power plant in attempted ‘destructive’ cyberattack – Pro-Kremlin hackers are engaging in ‘riskier and more reckless behavior’ in latest attempt to cripple Western critical infrastructure | TechRadar

Sanctioned Grinex halts after $13M crypto hack / The New Voice of Ukraine

Information Warfare: Russians Returning To landlines

North Korea

AI Tools Are Helping Mediocre North Korean Hackers Steal Millions | WIRED

North Korean hackers siphon more than $12 million from crypto users in sprawling campaign | The Record from Recorded Future News

Lazarus Group Uses Fake Meeting Hack

KelpDAO suffers $290 million heist tied to Lazarus hackers

North Korea targets macOS users in latest heist • The Register

UK Must Brace for Rise in State-Backed Cyberattacks, Security Chief Says

Two US nationals jailed over scheme that generated $5 million for the North Korean regime - Help Net Security

How to spot a North Korean fake in a job interview - Help Net Security

Iran

UK Says Iran, China Drive Regular Significant Cyberattacks

Iran, Russia and China behind most major cyberattacks on UK, security chief warns | The Independent

How Iran Has Excelled at 'Threat Projection' Using Cyber

Bluesky hit by 24-hour DDoS attack as pro-Iran group claims responsibility

The thin gray line: Handala, CyberAv3ngers and Iran’s proxy ops | CSO Online

Cybersecurity Risks Related to the Iran War | Dinsmore & Shohl LLP - JDSupra

International law and the Iran War considered by UK's former Attorney General - The Leamington Observer

Iran claims US used backdoors in networking equipment • The Register

Inside ZionSiphon: politically driven malware aims at Israeli water systems




Vulnerability Management

New technology is increasing the speed and depth of cyber attacks

The AI cybersecurity boom may be creating a bigger problem than it solves | Ctech

Anthropic's Mythos AI model sparks fears of turbocharged hacking - Ars Technica

A tsunami of flaws: When frontier AI and Patch Tuesday collide | Computer Weekly

What is Anthopic's Claude Mythos and what risks does it pose? - BBC News

ECB to Quiz Bankers About Risks of Anthropic’s New AI Model, Source Says

Anthropic's Mythos model accessed by unauthorized users, Bloomberg News reports | Reuters

Mythos can find the vulnerability. It can't tell you what to do about it. | CyberScoop

Every Old Vulnerability Is Now an AI Vulnerability

Commercial AI Models Show Rapid Gains in Vulnerability Research - Infosecurity Magazine

NIST to stop rating non-priority flaws due to volume increase

The History of iOS Exploits: Apple’s Flawed Security Paradigm

Vulnerabilities

Microsoft defender under attack as three zero-days, two of them still unpatched, enable elevated access

Unpatched Microsoft Defender Flaw Lets Hackers Gain Admin Access on Windows | Extremetech

Over 1,300 Microsoft SharePoint servers vulnerable to spoofing attacks

PoC Exploit Released for Windows Snipping Tool NTLM Hash Leak Vulnerability

Progress Patches Multiple Vulnerabilities in MOVEit WAF, LoadMaster - SecurityWeek

More Cisco SD-WAN bugs battered in attacks • The Register

New RDP Alert After April 2026 Security Update Warns of Unknown Connections

Android Phones Shown to Have a Major Biometric Security Weakness - Tech Advisor

Microsoft releases emergency updates to fix Windows Server issues

Critical flaw in Protobuf library enables JavaScript code execution

Actively exploited Apache ActiveMQ flaw impacts 6,400 servers

Apple Patches iOS Flaw That Stored Deleted Signal Notifications in FBI Forensic Case

Apple releases important iOS and iPadOS security fix you need to install now - PhoneArena

Oracle Patches 450 Vulnerabilities With April 2026 CPU - SecurityWeek

LMDeploy CVE-2026-33626 Flaw Exploited Within 13 Hours of Disclosure

New Firefox update patches a whopping 271 bugs with help from Claude Mythos | ZDNET

New Mirai variants target routers and DVRs in parallel campaigns - Help Net Security

Mirai Variant Nexcorium Exploits CVE-2024-3721 to Hijack TBK DVRs for DDoS Botnet

Google Patches Antigravity IDE Flaw Enabling Prompt Injection Code Execution

Microsoft issues emergency update for macOS and Linux ASP.NET threat - Ars Technica

Hackers exploit file upload bug in Breeze Cache WordPress plugin


Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.

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·       Web3


Contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.

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Links to external articles are provided for general interest and awareness only. Linking to or reposting external content does not constitute endorsement of or by any organisation, service, or product. We do not control and are not responsible for the content, security, or availability of external websites or links. Full credit is given to the original authors and sources. E&OE.

 

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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 17 April 2026