OpenAI's AI broke into an Australian government health website while gathering statistics. Australia heard about it three months later.

The rest of the day

18 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

1. 02

   AI programs stole 600,000 card numbers

   Gambit, a security start-up, says one operator used three AI programs to break into online shops and other companies from July to at least 22 September. [10] The operator gave the programs short instructions and let them do the rest. [10] Between 10 and 15 September they launched 105 attack waves and got into at least 27 companies. [10] They stole more than 600,000 valid card numbers from two companies and planted card-stealing code on at least 119 websites. [10]

   $25Average cost for each company targeted

   vsvs

   600,000+Card numbers stolen

   Why it matters — Gambit estimates the whole campaign cost $12,000 to $18,000, about $25 for each company targeted. [10] The programs were also told to wipe card records after copying them, which caused data losses at several shops. [10]

2. 03

   Reuters checks a sample of the stolen FBI file

   ShinyHunters, a gang that steals data and threatens to publish it, said on Tuesday that it took 2 to 3 terabytes from the FBI's jobs website. [11] Reuters has seen a 5,000-line sample with names, home addresses, dates of birth and US social security numbers of what the gang says are FBI staff. [11] Reuters checked the details of more than 22 people against credit records and older leaks. [11] The sample lists 14 staff working on China and nine in Russia-related roles. [11]

   Why it matters — A former FBI counter-intelligence officer called the file a goldmine for foreign spy services, because it shows who works against them. [11] The FBI says it does not yet know whether the break-in was at a supplier or in its own systems. [12]

3. 04

   Ransomware reached a 2026 high in August

   NCC Group, a British security company, counted 1,073 organisations hit by ransomware in August, in a report published on 23 September. [15] Ransomware is software that locks a victim's files, and the gang then demands money to unlock them or to keep stolen data private. That count is the highest of any month this year and 12% more than July's 973. [15] Factories and other industrial firms were almost a third of the victims, and health care 12%. [15]

   July973 victims

   August1,073 victims

   Why it matters — Two gangs, Qilin and The Gentlemen, were linked to 164 and 116 attacks. [15] NCC says some gangs no longer lock anything and simply steal data and threaten to publish it. [15]

4. 05

   Two years in prison for a Ryuk member

   A US court sentenced Karen Vardanyan, 35, an Armenian citizen, to two years in prison, the US Justice Department said on Tuesday. [14] He must also pay $1,219,106 to victims. [13] Prosecutors say he was part of Ryuk, a ransomware gang that hit companies, schools and hospitals in 2019 and 2020. [14] The gang received about $15 million in ransoms. [13][14] Vardanyan was arrested in Kyiv, sent to the US in 2025 and pleaded guilty in July. [13]

   Why it matters — Ryuk targeted US hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic, and one hospital chain, Universal Health Services, put its cost at $67 million. [13] Prosecutors wrote that sentencing those who are caught is the only way to change what the crime costs. [14]

5. 06

   Poisoned code slipped past npm's new checks

   Checkmarx, a security company, found a poisoned package called indexed-btree on npm, the main public library of shared JavaScript code. [16] In June, GitHub, which runs npm, began blocking code that runs by itself when a package is installed, unless someone approves it. [16] This package ran nothing at install. Its hidden code started only when a program used one of its main functions. [16] Checkmarx found nine linked packages, one with almost two million downloads, and had them removed. [16]

   When npm's new rule checks a packageat install

   vsvs

   When the hidden code ranwhen used

   Why it matters — The same malware has also turned up in add-ons for Terraform, a tool companies use to set up cloud servers. [17] JFrog, another security firm, says the download counts were pumped up by automated accounts to make the packages look trusted. [17]

6. 07

   An AI memory add-on shipped a password stealer

   An attacker took the publishing keys of MemTensor, which makes a memory add-on for AI assistants, and released poisoned versions of its code. [18] The attacker got the keys by sending changes that made MemTensor's own release system hand them over, the security firm SafeDep says. [18] The poisoned add-on starts a hidden program when the assistant starts and whenever it recalls a memory. [18] That program collects keys and passwords for cloud accounts and code sites and sends them to the attacker. [18]

   Why it matters — An AI assistant often runs with its owner's access to cloud accounts and code, so an add-on inside it can reach all of that. [18] The poisoned versions were still available to download when The Hacker News reported it. [18]

7. 08

   Russia reports attacks during its election

   Russia's Central Election Commission says more than 3,000 waves of traffic floods hit Russian websites and online services between the start of voting on 18 September and Sunday evening. [24] A traffic flood tries to knock a site offline by sending it more requests than it can answer. Moscow officials blamed a cyberattack for briefly knocking electronic voting machines offline on the first day. [24] The commission's chair, Ella Pamfilova, said no attack got into election systems. [24]

   Why it matters — Officials said the attacks came from Britain, Ukraine, Brazil and Mexico but gave little public evidence, and their claims could not be checked. [24] Rostelecom, Russia's state phone company, also said two fibre-optic cables in the Far East went down, and called it sabotage. [24]

8. 09

   EU auditors say countries keep attacks to themselves

   The European Court of Auditors, which checks how EU money and rules work, says poor sharing of information is weakening Europe's defence against cyberattacks. [28] It pointed to a ransomware attack in September 2025 on a company supplying airport systems, which disrupted airports in London, Brussels, Berlin and Dublin. [28] None of the countries affected told the EU cybersecurity agency or the other members, the report said. [28]

   Why it matters — No EU country has reported a large-scale incident since 2016, although the label covers any attack that hits two or more members. [28] In July the European Commission took France, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain to the EU's top court for not adding its information-sharing rules to their laws. [28]

9. 10

   Top-severity flaw in SAP business software

   SAP, the German company whose software runs payroll, stock and accounts at many large firms, has fixed a flaw rated at the maximum severity. [30] Onapsis, the security firm that found it, calls it OVERPASS. [30] It lets an attacker who has not logged in corrupt the program's memory, and researchers say that can be used to take control. [30] It affects products including S/4HANA and NetWeaver. [30]

   Why it matters — Detailed write-ups appeared within 48 hours of the fix, which makes it easier for attackers to build a working attack. [30] SAP is urging customers to fix systems that can be reached from the internet first. [30]

10. 11

    A web-shop add-on flaw is under mass attack

    Defiant, the company behind the Wordfence security tool, says attackers are using a critical flaw in WooCommerce Wholesale Lead Capture, an add-on for WordPress online shops. [30] The flaw lets a visitor with no login upload a file that gives them control of the website. [30] It happens because the add-on trusts a list of allowed file types sent by the visitor instead of its own settings. [30] Defiant says it has blocked more than 100,000 attempts since the flaw was made public in February. [30]

    Why it matters — The fix is in version 2.0.3.2. [30] Defiant also tells site owners to check the uploads folder for unexpected PHP files, the kind of file the attackers send. [30]

11. 12

    Sweden fines Miljodata over a 2025 leak

    IMY, Sweden's data protection regulator, fined Miljodata 1.8 million Swedish crowns, about $183,000. [19] Miljodata makes staff-management software used by 80% of Sweden's municipalities. [19] A ransomware attack on 25 August 2025 disrupted services in more than 200 areas and exposed data on 2.2 million people. [19] The attackers asked for 1.5 bitcoin, then published the data, including sick-leave records and school incidents involving children. [19]

    Why it matters — IMY found the company did not check new software when installing it and had no automatic, real-time watch for intruders. [19] It is also investigating two municipalities and one region that used the software. [19]

12. 13

    Israeli firm trained Angolan officials in online influence

    Citizen Lab, a University of Toronto research group, says BlackCore, an Israeli contractor, trained Angolan government officials to run online campaigns. [25] The course was billed as four weeks and lasted 14, mixing training with live operations. [25] At its centre was a Facebook page for a made-up news outlet called Agita News, which posted material showing Angola's government in a good light. [25] Some posts neared 50,000 likes in a country with about six million Facebook users. [25]

    Why it matters — BlackCore advertised hundreds of fake online personas for hire, and France's foreign-interference watchdog linked it in June to a campaign against a French party. [25] Its websites and accounts are now offline, and Angola's government did not comment. [25]

13. 14

    Law firm Seyfarth reports a leak of client files

    Seyfarth, a US law firm with more than 1,000 lawyers, told California's attorney general last week that documents about clients were exposed. [20] In a draft letter to one person, it said a small number of documents with personal information had been emailed to someone who should not have received them. [20] It said it found no sign that anyone got into its network. [20] Greenberg Traurig and Quinn Emanuel are among other firms that have reported breaches in recent weeks. [20]

    Why it matters — Law firms hold personal details about the people in the cases they handle. [20] BakerHostetler, another firm, says the law-firm incidents it helped with nearly doubled last year, to almost 60. [20]

14. 15

    Latvia arrests a man over a repair-shop hack

    Latvian police arrested a man in Riga on 15 September over a break-in at TSC, which repairs phones and home appliances in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. [21] Police say he used automated tools to scan many websites for weak spots rather than picking targets. [21] At TSC he reached a database of repair requests, which could hold names, addresses, device passcodes, bank account numbers and building door codes. [21] He then emailed companies from anonymous accounts, demanding money to keep quiet. [21]

    Why it matters — He faces up to five years in prison. [21] Police say a search of his home turned up signs of attacks on other businesses in Latvia and abroad, which are still being investigated. [21]

15. 16

    Fake police calls in three English counties

    South Yorkshire Police says fraudsters are phoning people and pretending to be officers. [22] The calls are made to look as if they come from a Sheffield police station's number. [22] Callers say someone the person knows is in custody, then talk about cryptocurrency or ask for bank details. [22] Kent Police reported similar calls, and Surrey Police warned of them in August. [23][22]

    Why it matters — The number shown on a phone can be faked, so a police name on the screen proves nothing about who is calling. [22] Kent Police says it is investigating and supporting the people who were called. [23]

16. 17

    Discord starts age checks with new options

    Discord, the chat app popular with gamers, has begun rolling out age checks for users worldwide. [27] It estimates each user's age group from account activity, and says more than 90% of users will not be asked to prove anything. [27] Adults placed in the wrong group can prove their age with a bank card, their app store, a Google Wallet ID pass or a stored passkey. [27] Discord says it will not receive their name, card, ID or face scan. [27]

    Why it matters — In 2025 hackers stole official ID documents of 70,000 Discord users from a company that checked ages for it in Britain and Australia. [27] Discord says that process has been fully retired. [27]

17. 18

    OpenAI gives Ukraine AI tools for its defenders

    OpenAI and Ukraine's government announced a deal on 23 September that gives Ukrainian cyber-defence officials OpenAI's security models through its Daybreak programme. [26] OpenAI says it will also give more than $1 billion worth of cheap access to its AI. [26] Ukraine plans to use the tools to sort alerts, check logins and test flaws faster. [26] Ukraine faces about 6,000 cyberattacks a year, its consul general in San Francisco said. [26]

    Why it matters — Russian hackers shut down part of Ukraine's power grid in 2015, and Russia has kept attacking its power and water systems for twelve years. [26] The deal was announced on the same day Albanese said OpenAI's own AI had broken into an Australian website. [26][1]

18. 19

    Two Gulf states take half the region's attacks

    Positive Technologies, a security firm, says the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia took half of the Gulf's recorded cyberattacks in the first half of 2026. [29] The split was 35% and 15%. [29] Its count comes from criminal forums, Telegram channels and trackers of defaced websites. [29] Check Point, another firm, says organisations in the two countries faced nearly 2,700 attacks a week, against about 2,300 for a typical organisation worldwide. [29]

    Why it matters — Positive Technologies says simple, visible attacks such as traffic floods have given way to quiet break-ins that aim to stay hidden and gather data. [29] It says most attacks are probably never reported, because victims fear for their reputation. [29]