Author: HackWatchit

New research from Cisco Talos reveals a rise in cybercriminals abusing Large Language Models (LLMs) to enhance their illicit activities. These powerful AI tools, known for generating text, solving problems, and writing code, are, reportedly, being manipulated to launch more sophisticated and widespread attacks. For your information, LLMs are designed with built-in safety features, including alignment (training to minimize bias) and guardrails (real-time mechanisms to prevent harmful outputs). For instance, a legitimate LLM like ChatGPT would refuse to generate a phishing email. However, cybercriminals are actively seeking ways around these protections. Talos’s investigation, shared with Hackread.com highlights three primary methods…

Jordan Drysdale // ADVISORY: The techniques and tools referenced within this blog post may be outdated and do not apply to current situations. However, there is still potential for this blog entry to be used as an opportunity to learn and to possibly update or integrate into modern tools and techniques. For the lazy server and system admins, automating those boring functions of updating packages, finding outdated ones, checking scans, et cetera, Ansible has some very nice features. Here is a quick breakdown on some of those features I have found to be very useful (throughout post, useful stuff in…

A critical NetScaler ADC and Gateway vulnerability dubbed “Citrix Bleed 2” (CVE-2025-5777) is now likely exploited in attacks, according to cybersecurity firm ReliaQuest, seeing an increase in suspicious sessions on Citrix devices. Citrix Bleed 2, named by cybersecurity researcher Kevin Beaumont due to its similarity to the original Citrix Bleed (CVE-2023-4966), is an out-of-bounds memory read vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to access portions of memory that should typically be inaccessible. This could allow attackers to steal session tokens, credentials, and other sensitive data from public-facing gateways and virtual servers, enabling them to hijack user sessions and bypass multi-factor authentication…

At the June Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) meeting, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) CIP-015-1 was formally approved. The new standard signals a significant shift for the North American electric sector, mandating internal network security monitoring of industrial control systems (ICS) within the electronic security perimeter, moving beyond protection at the network edge. Within the year, it will also cover electronic access control and physical access control systems.  The final rule approves CIP-015-1, which NERC submitted in response to Order No. 887. The FERC has also directed NERC to develop further modifications to proposed Reliability Standard CIP-015-1, within…

Here’s a look at the most interesting products from the past month, featuring releases from: Akamai, AttackIQ, Barracuda Networks, BigID, Bitdefender, Contrast Security, Cymulate, Dashlane, Embed Security, Fortanix, Fortinet, Jumio, Lemony, Malwarebytes, SpecterOps, StackHawk, Stellar Cyber, Sumsub, Thales, Tines, Vanta, and Varonis. Bitdefender unifies security, risk management, and compliance in a single platform Bitdefender announced GravityZone Compliance Manager, a new addition to its GravityZone platform that helps organizations reduce the burden of compliance and streamline audit readiness. The solution provides real-time visibility, automated remediation, audit-ready reports, and one-click compliance documentation fully integrated with Bitdefender endpoint security and risk analytics. StackHawk…

House appropriators have advanced a homeland security spending bill that endorses many of the Trump administration’s budget proposals, while rejecting steep cuts to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence personnel. The fiscal 2026 homeland security appropriations measure includes $66.36 billion in discretionary spending. The GOP-led committee passed the bill Tuesday on a 36-27 vote. The bill follows the broad contours of Trump administration policies by prioritizing funding for Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Appropriators are also expecting significant funding for the Department of Homeland Security to be included in the budget reconciliation bill. While the full House —…

In brief President Trump called the practice of denying banking services to crypto companies and conservatives “very bad and very dangerous.” Trump said that banking regulators, not banks themselves, drive debanking through intimidation and control. The White House is reportedly considering an executive order to prevent regulators from targeting specific groups. President Donald Trump said Friday that debanking of crypto companies is a “very bad and very dangerous” practice that was likely instigated by the Biden administration, but still remains a problem in the United States.“There is a lot of debanking,” Trump said in the Oval Office this evening, in…

Sierra Ward // Editor’s note: Though infosec professionals may see this advice as basic to the point of being obvious, as we visit with people and interact with swaths of other industries, we realize that it isn’t. Even if you know about security, you know many people who think even basic information security is an enigma (ie. your mom). Sometimes when we know very advanced stuff it’s hard to explain the most basic steps, but the most basic steps have value so share this with someone you care about. A couple of months ago I was reading the newspaper and saw…

Why is Effective NHI Management Crucial? Is complete independence in cybersecurity attainable? When we increasingly rely on cloud technologies, the security of non-human identities (NHIs) has emerged as a crucial concern. Effective NHI management grants autonomy and ensures a robust cybersecurity posture, thus fostering independence. Understanding the Role of Non-Human Identities (NHIs) The role of human identities is well understood, but what about non-human identities? These are machine identities that are a result of a unique “Secret,” much like an encrypted password, token, or key, and permissions assigned by a destination server. In this context, think of the Secret as…