German hospital network Katholische Hospitalvereinigung Ostwestfalen (KHO) has recently confirmed that service disruptions at three hospitals were caused by a Lockbit ransomware attack.  The attack began in the early morning of December 24, 2023.  It severely impacted the systems that support the operations of three hospitals in Bielefeld, Rheda-Wiedenbrück, and Herford, Germany.

Panasonic Avionics Corporation, a leading supplier of in-flight communications and entertainment systems, recently disclosed a data breach affecting an undisclosed number of individuals after its corporate network was breached more than one year ago, in December 2022.  The company stated that on December 30, 2022, it identified evidence of an issue potentially impacting certain systems in its corporate network environment that occurred on or around December 14, 2022.

A "recruiter" approached a blockchain developer on LinkedIn for a web development job and asked him to download npm packages from a GitHub repository, which led to the developer's MetaMask wallet emptying. It is not uncommon for legitimate technology interviews to include some kind of take-home exercise or proof-of-concept (PoC) assignment involving writing code or debugging, thus making the lure convincing even to technically savvy individuals like developers.

The Ohio Lottery has recently confirmed that it was targeted in a cyberattack, and a ransomware group claims to have stolen a significant amount of information from the organization’s systems.  The Ohio State Lottery informed customers on its website that it had experienced a “cybersecurity event” but assured the public that its gaming system was fully operational.  However, it said it decided to shut down some critical systems to contain the incident.

Mortgage servicing firm LoanCare recently started informing more than 1.3 million individuals of a data breach impacting their personal information.  A subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial (FNF), LoanCare provides loan subservicing for mortgage loaners, including banks, credit unions, and mortgage firms.  According to LoanCare, the data breach resulted from a cyberattack on FNF’s internal systems.  The incident was identified on November 19, resulting in business disruptions.  The company noted that the incident was contained on November 26, 2023.

A team of researchers from Umeå University, Paderborn University, Université du Luxembourg, and INRIA analyzed vulnerabilities in software written in Java, one of most widely used programming languages, in a study titled "An In-Depth Study of Java Deserialization Remote-Code Execution Exploits and Vulnerabilities." They examined Java products that use deserialization, which is the process of restoring packaged information to its last state, such as user settings, game functions, shopping carts, or banking applications, and conducted a thorough analysis of vulnerabilities and attacks.

A recent study conducted by Rui Zhu, a Ph.D. candidate at Indiana University Bloomington, discovered a potential privacy threat posed by OpenAI's Large Language Model (LLM), GPT-3.5 Turbo.  As part of the experiment, Zhu used a GPT-3.5 Turbo feature that allows the model to recall personal data and successfully avoided the model's privacy safeguards. Although there were flaws, the model correctly provided the work addresses of 80 percent of Times employees tested.

Apple's AirTags help users find their keys or track their luggage, but AirTag features have also allowed them to be used as a tracking tool for domestic abusers and criminals in stalking targets. Apple has implemented measures to notify iPhone and Android users if an AirTag is in their vicinity for an extended period without the presence of its owner's iPhone, which could mean that an AirTag has been planted to track their location secretly.

NASA has released its first Space Security Best Practices Guide (BPG), a document aimed at improving cybersecurity for future space missions. Concerns regarding the threats that hackers pose to satellite networks and other space initiatives have grown. In August, the FBI, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) warned that foreign intelligence entities were infiltrating and subverting space industry through various means, including hacking campaigns.