Cyber Mayhem Unleashed_ Ransomware, AI S 2025-07-25

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Hak Attack Cyber News Podcast: Cyber Mayhem Unleashed - Ransomware and AI, July 25, 2025.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to Hawk Attack, where we dissect the week's cyber chaos with the kind of humor that makes you question your life choices.

00:09This week, we're diving into the digital trenches.

00:13Think ransomware gangs with a flair for the dramatic state-sponsored hackers playing mad scientist with AI,

00:19and, shockingly, some actual wins for the good guys.

00:22Strap in, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

00:24First up, in our ransomware horror story of the week, we have a new gang ironically calling themselves Van Helsing,

00:32because nothing says irony like naming yourself after a vampire hunter while acting like a bloodthirsty leech.

00:39These digital draculas sank their fangs into an Australian medical tech firm, CompuMedics, with operations in the U.S. too,

00:47slurping up the personal data of over 320,000 individuals.

00:51They didn't just nibble on names and birthdays, they went full buffet on social security numbers and health records,

00:58essentially serving up an identity theft starter kit with a side of medical history embarrassment.

01:03Nothing is sacred, not even their sleep study results are safe from these bloodsuckers.

01:08CompuMedics had to notify hundreds of thousands of patients that their data is now part of the dark web's greatest hits,

01:16and the hackers? They're out there bragging like they just won a Nobel Prize for cyber-villainy,

01:22listing CompuMedics on their leak site as if it's some badge of honor.

01:27It's their first big confirmed attack, but they claim to have hit at least seven other organizations.

01:33Gotta build that criminal brand, right?

01:36Double extortion is their game.

01:38Encrypt the systems, steal the data, and make victims pay twice.

01:43It's efficient, ruthless, and absolutely nightmarish for everyone else.

01:48The fallout is severe, hospitals are scrambling, patients are offered the usual, free credit monitoring,

01:56band-aid, and there's no word on whether CompuMedics paid up.

02:00But hey, at least the hackers are having fun.

02:02Consider this a reminder.

02:04In the cyber world, even the vampire hunters might turn into vampires if there's money to be made.

02:10On the cyber espionage front, nation-state hackers are getting creative, and a little bit weird.

02:17Take ATT-28, better known as Fancy Bear, Russia's favorite digital mischief makers.

02:25These folks have been around the block.

02:27You might remember them from such classics as Hacking the DNC.

02:31But now they've decided to spice things up by giving their malware an AI brain.

02:37Ukrainian cyber defenders recently uncovered their latest toy, a malware strain called Lamehug.

02:44It's spyware with ambitions, designed to snoop through systems and exfiltrate sensitive files.

02:51And here's the kicker.

02:52It comes with a built-in large language model.

02:55Yes, Fancy Bear strapped an AI brain onto their malware, courtesy of a Chinese AI model.

03:02Alibaba's Quen-32B.

03:05It's like giving a cyber criminal a Swiss army knife that writes its own instructions.

03:10Skynet vibes, anyone.

03:12How does this devilish creation work?

03:15In those classic phishing emails, posing as Ukrainian officials,

03:19the attachment isn't just malware.

03:21It's malware with an imagination.

03:23Lamehug takes high-level textual instructions from its handlers,

03:27think, find all the PDF and text files about Project X and send them to us.

03:33And the AI component generates the commands to do just that.

03:38It's like the hackers hired a malicious intern who never sleeps and writes perfect scripts on the fly.

03:44Once inside, it rummages through documents, scoops up system info,

03:48and quietly sends everything back to Moscow via encrypted channels.

03:53By leveraging a legit service, hugging face, for command and control,

03:59it blends in with normal traffic, a sneaky way to avoid detection.

04:04The name might sound like a bad greeting card,

04:07but this lame hug is the kind that squeezes your data right out.

04:12Fancy Bear's sense of humor remains as dark as their tactics.

04:16Meanwhile, not to be outdone, another espionage group, charmingly named Unknown Group 002,

04:24yeah, UNG 002, has been busy with operations straight out of a spy novel.

04:30With a name like that, they're practically begging to be forgotten,

04:34but their ops are memorable, Cobalt Whisperer and Amber Mist,

04:39targeted organizations across China, Hong Kong and Pakistan,

04:43from defense to academia, their favorite lure, CV-themed documents.

04:49Yes, they're using fake resumes because nothing says,

04:52trust me, like a job application.

04:55It's almost poetic, using the promise of employment to steal your data.

04:59Capitalism at its finest.

05:01Unlike Fancy Bear's high-tech AI,

05:04UNG 002 sticks to classic spy tricks,

05:08fishing with booby-trapped files and deploying tools like Cobalt Strike.

05:13The impact is serious.

05:15Data stolen, systems compromised, all under the radar.

05:19Researchers are still trying to pin down who's behind UNG 002.

05:23The name suggests even the experts are playing court.

05:26It's a reminder that while ransomware gangs make noise,

05:29state-sponsored spies are the quiet vacuum cleaners of the cyber world.

05:35And with Fancy Bear adding AI to their arsenal,

05:38those shadows just got a little darker and a tad smarter.

05:41Enough doom and gloom?

05:43Here's a palate cleanser.

05:44Some hackers actually had a worse week than their targets,

05:47thanks to law enforcement scoring a few wins.

05:50First, in the UK, police made a dent in the notorious scattered spider hacking group.

05:55Turns out, naming yourself after a pest was a bad omen.

05:59Poor of these digital arachnids got caught in a very real web,

06:03the criminal justice system.

06:05It's a rare win,

06:06so let's savor it before the next wave of hackers emerges from the woodwork.

06:11Meanwhile, in France,

06:12an arrest went down that sounds like a rejected movie script.

06:16A 26-year-old Russian pro basketball player was nabbed at a Paris airport,

06:22accused of moonlighting as a ransomware negotiator.

06:26Because why just dunk on the court when you can dunk on companies' cyber security too?

06:32This towering baller,

06:346'7", so not your average hoodie-wearing hacker,

06:37is suspected of helping a ransomware group extort victims,

06:41pressuring companies to pay up.

06:43His defense?

06:44I'm PC illiterate.

06:46Sure, and I'm the Queen of England.

06:48It's the kind of excuse that makes you wonder

06:50if he thinks we're all as gullible as his alleged victims.

06:54The Russian embassy is fuming,

06:56but French courts have denied bail as he awaits extradition to the US.

07:00If the allegations stick,

07:01you might be trading jump shots for jail time.

07:04It's a bizarre case of worlds colliding.

07:07Slam dunks by day,

07:08ransomware by night.

07:10Maybe Space Jam 3 took a dark turn?

07:12These incidents highlight a growing trend.

07:15International cooperation is starting to put serious pressure on cybercriminals.

07:21Just recently,

07:22Italian police arrested a Chinese national,

07:25wanted by the FBI,

07:27for hacking COVID-19 vaccine data.

07:29Proof that even state-sponsored hackers can slip up

07:32if they pick the wrong vacation spot.

07:35And earlier this year,

07:36a coordinated operation took down the dark websites of the 8-base ransomware gang.

07:42The lesson for bad actors,

07:44you can run,

07:45but if you hop on a plane,

07:47don't assume you're safe.

07:49Law enforcement is leveling up,

07:50and each hacker in handcuffs is one less threat,

07:54until the next one pops up.

07:56It's a slow whack-a-mole,

07:57but we'll take any whack we can get.

07:59The quick bites,

08:01breaches,

08:02bugs,

08:02and blunders

08:03patch your Citrix.

08:05Seriously.

08:06A critical vulnerability,

08:08CVE-2025-5777,

08:11in Citrix's NetScaler,

08:13ADC,

08:13and Gateway,

08:14is being actively exploited.

08:16It's an input validation failure,

08:19that basically gives attackers a free pass into unpatched systems.

08:23CYSA's practically screaming at you to fix this,

08:26so maybe listen this time,

08:28or just accept that you're inviting hackers to a buffet with your data as the main course.

08:34New ransomware crew goes startup.

08:36Global Group,

08:37is here to remind us that even cybercrime can have a startup vibe.

08:42They're using AI to negotiate ransoms because apparently,

08:45even hackers need efficiency.

08:48It's like a dystopian version of customer service.

08:51How may I extort you today?

08:53Welcome to 2025,

08:55where crime gets a tech upgrade.

08:58Shopify plug-in fiasco.

09:00Hundreds of e-commerce sites learned the hard way

09:03that one bad plug-in can turn your online store into a data leak party.

09:08It's the digital equivalent of leaving your front door open with a steal me sign.

09:13Bet your plug-ins, folks,

09:15or prepare to explain to customers why their data is now a hacker's plaything.

09:20Even the ICC gets hacked.

09:23In a twist of poetic justice,

09:24the International Criminal Court got hit

09:26by a sophisticated and targeted cyber attack.

09:30It's almost funny.

09:31Those who judge war crimes getting judged by cybercriminals.

09:35Maybe the hackers were just trying to file a complaint about their own indictments.

09:39Either way, it's a stark reminder that in the cyber world,

09:43no one gets a free pass.

09:45That's a wrap on this week's hack attack.

09:47It's a wild world out there in the cyber trenches.

09:50One day, it's AI-powered malware and data vampires.

09:53The next, it's hackers getting busted at airports,

09:57and international courts getting digitally ransacked.

10:01We hope our dark sarcasm kept you sane through the insanity.

10:05Stay vigilant, stay safe, and keep a sense of humor handy.

10:10You'll need it.

10:11Until next time, thanks for tuning in to Hawk Attack.

10:15We'll see you again with more tales from the digital dark side.

10:23We'll see you again with more tales from the digital dark side.

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