South Korean police identified seven suspects linked to a cybercrime operation that breached more than 90 organizations in the country, with ARTEX AI pentesting framework used in most of the attacks. According to local media citing the Seoul Metropolitan Police, the gang leader has a background in penetration testing and worked at a cybersecurity company between 2019 and 2022. In 38 of the incidents, the threat actor demanded ransom payments of 360 million won ($270,000), promising in exchange not to leak stolen data. Authorities believe the threat actor stole 8.2 million records from compromised organizations, including educational institutes, hospitals, large corporations, and even golf courses. Yonhap News says that the gang leader is a self-taught 32 year-old hacker and started attacking organizations in September 2025.
OpenAI has launched GPT-6.1 Terra, a new model focused on computer use, visual reasoning, coding, and everyday work, while costing significantly less than its larger models. Terra is designed as a faster and cheaper option for tasks such as filling out forms, editing videos, interpreting technical drawings, and automating repetitive desktop work. "We’re introducing GPT-6.1 Terra, a fast, efficient model that combines detailed visual reasoning and precise computer use alongside clearer, more natural writing," OpenAI explained in a blog post. "A significant step up from GPT-5.6 Terra, it excels at the communication and computer-based tasks that fill the workday, from drafting proposals and interpreting technical drawings to filling out forms and editing videos." OpenAI says GPT-6.1 Terra's API pricing is 50% lower than GPT-5.6 Terra and GPT-6.1 Sol, at $1 per million input tokens and $5 per million output tokens.
Dutch police arrest two men over AI-voiced bank fraud that allegedly used a fake app to steal card data from 170 victims, causing €380,000 in losses. Rotterdam police have arrested two men over a new type of bank fraud that used AI-generated phone calls, a fake banking app, and NFC technology to steal bank card data. In just three weeks, the scheme allegedly cost 170 victims around €380,000. “Rotterdam police arrested two suspects accused of a new form of bank-helpdesk fraud. The operation allegedly caused around €380,000 in losses for 170 victims in just three weeks.” NL Times reports. “The suspects allegedly used AI-generated phone calls and a fake banking app to copy victims’ bank cards remotely, allowing accomplices to withdraw thousands of euros. Victims came from across the Netherlands and ranged in age; dozens were in their twenties and thirties.” The suspects allegedly used AI-generated calls to trick victims into believing their bank accounts were at risk. They then persuaded them to install a fake banking app and scan their bank cards with their phones. The app used NFC to capture card data, which accomplices could use to withdraw money. Victims came from across the Netherlands and included people of all ages, with dozens in their twenties and thirties. A 23-year-old man from Vaassen, in Gelderland, is suspected of developing the technology and directing the group. A 25-year-old from Ede, also in Gelderland, is suspected of coordinating the operation. On Tuesday, a Rotterdam court ordered both men to remain in custody for at least another 90 days while the investigation continues. The case started in mid-September, when Dutch banks reported the new fraud through the Electronic Crimes Task Force (ECTF). That’s a partnership of banks, police and prosecutors that shares information and expertise to fight financial and digital crime. Within days of consulting the task force, Rotterdam’s cybercrime team had identified the digital infrastructure used by the group. Investigators monitored the servers to understand how the operation worked. They traced the people behind the technology, the phone calls made to victims, and the cash withdrawals. The scam started with a recorded message warning victims about suspicious activity on their bank accounts. “The callers used artificial intelligence (AI) to produce dozens of recordings featuring different voices, banks, companies, and scenarios. Victims were asked to press 1 if they did not recognize the alleged activity.” states the report. “They were then connected to someone posing as a bank employee.” The message asked people to press 1 if they did not recognize the activity. They were then connected to someone pretending to be a bank employee. Following a prepared script, the caller pressured them to act quickly and take steps to block their bank cards. The fake employee told victims to download an app and hold their bank card against the phone to scan it. The criminals presented this as a way to secure the accounts. If a caller ever asks you to scan your card with an app, hang up and phone your bank on the number printed on the card. According to police, the app sent data from the card’s near-field communication (NFC) chip, the technology behind contactless payments, to an app run by an accomplice. That person waited at a cash machine or payment terminal and could withdraw thousands of euros without the victim realizing what was happening. “Police described this technical method as one they had not encountered before.” the report concludes. Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon Pierluigi Paganini (SecurityAffairs – hacking, NFC)
Author: Len Noe, Solutions Architect, BeyondTrust The first question on any incident bridge isn’t about why it happened--it’s whose credentials were used. In my experience, whoever can answer that credential question in the first hour sets the pace for everything after it: what to isolate, what to revoke, whom to notify, and how far the damage could have spread. The teams that can’t answer it spend the first day reconstructing their answer from logs that were never designed to provide it. That discipline is about to be tested by a new kind of actor. On October 16, 2026, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the National Security Agency (NSA) jointly published ten voluntary practices for incident readiness and response when AI agents act in ways nobody directed.
Researchers found a malicious AGENTS markdown instruction file in a customer’s Downloads folder that tricked an AI coding agent into installing a rogue npm package. They reproduced the attack against OpenAI Codex and demonstrated a related technique against Claude Code to leak OAuth tokens and hijack the account using only the malicious instructions. Markdown files such as AGENTS.md are plain-text files that contain project-specific instructions for AI coding agents, such as the tools to use, how to run tests, and the coding conventions to follow. Researchers at Forever Security, a company that monitors for risks introduced by AI agents and autonomous software, discovered the tactic on a customer’s computer, where a coding agent attempted to install the malicious npm package ‘function-color.’
Capcom disclosed a data breach exposing 11.7 million email addresses and account details after hackers accessed its CAPCOM ID service. Japanese gaming company Capcom has disclosed a data breach discovered on October 19 involving its CAPCOM ID service, which provides access to online services and games. As of October 22, attackers stole 11,774,247 email addresses, along with account details including creation dates, last login dates, login counts, and the IP addresses used for the latest logins. “We have recently discovered that unauthorized access by a third party occurred to our online membership service “CAPCOM ID” (*1) , resulting in the leakage of some customer information.” reads the company’s notice. “Number of leaked email addresses and system-specific identification information: 11,774,247 (worldwide total)” In 43 cases, hackers exposed date of birth, gender, country/region, and nickname. Capcom also reported that attackers illegally changed passwords on 196 accounts, and the company has already reset them. The company said the incident exposed personal information belonging to a small number of individuals. Capcom has activated its incident response procedures and confirmed that services using CAPCOM ID remain operational. The company has notified the relevant authorities, is investigating the breach, and has begun contacting affected customers through a dedicated support channel. The company also urges users to watch out for phishing attempts involving emails impersonating Capcom or its partners, particularly those containing suspicious links or attachments. It says it will investigate the incident, address the identified causes, and strengthen its security measures to prevent similar breaches. “In response, we implemented emergency measures and began identifying and addressing the attack method.” states the notice.”A task force was established within the company to gather information and take measures to prevent further damage. The investigation revealed that some customer information registered with “CAPCOM ID” had been leaked. In addition, unauthorized password changes were confirmed for some accounts. On the same day, the incident was reported to the Security Oversight Committee, our external advisory organization.” Capcom was previously targeted by the Ragnar Locker ransomware gang in November 2020. The attackers claimed to have stolen 1 TB of data, potentially affecting up to 390,000 people. Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon Pierluigi Paganini (SecurityAffairs – hacking, data breach)
Microsoft says Teams will begin using AI-powered phishing detection in early November 2026 to detect malicious behavior in messages. The rollout is part of a targeted release phase expected to end by mid-November, with the new security feature likely reaching general availability worldwide between early and mid-December. Microsoft first revealed in a Microsoft 365 Roadmap entry last week that the AI-powered phishing detection will use conversation context (without retaining message content) to identify phishing and suspicious behavior in higher-risk messaging scenarios, such as external first-contact chats. "Microsoft Teams is introducing AI-powered, context-aware phishing detection to help identify phishing, social engineering, impersonation attempts, and deceptive intent," the company said in a Microsoft 365 Message Center update on Wednesday.
Cybersecurity researchers have discovered an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven intrusion ecosystem run by affiliates of the INC and The Gentlemen ransomware groups. Central to the operation is an "Autonomous Red Team Kill Chain Framework" referred to as Phantom. The threat actor is assessed to be Russian-speaking and functions both as an intrusion and data-extortion operator, as well as an
AI agents paying for API calls with the x402 SDKs could sign a payment for their full balance of a supported token if a malicious API asked for it, security firm V12 said on October 22. The cause was the SDKs' default client, which set no spending limit until releases on August 18 added one. The risk was limited to agents who automatically signed payments and whose apps set
INTERPOL’s Operation Serengeti III led to 1,462 arrests, disrupted 10,909 malicious networks and recovered $105 million across 21 countries. INTERPOL announced the results of Operation Serengeti III, a multinational cybercrime crackdown that led to 1,462 arrests, disrupted 10,909 malicious networks and recovered more than $105 million in illicit funds. The operation brought together law enforcement agencies from 21 countries between June 29 and August 31, 2026, targeting online fraud, ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), scams and digital extortion. “One of Africa’s largest cybercrime enforcement operations saw law enforcement agencies from 21 countries arrest 1,462 suspects, disrupt 10,909 malicious networks and recover more than USD 105 million in illicit funds.” reads the agency’s announcement. “Authorities identified 65,929 victims targeted by cybercriminal networks, underscoring the scale and sophistication of today’s digital threats. Financial investigations linked criminal activity to losses exceeding USD 385 million. ” The scale of the operation is striking. Investigators identified 65,929 victims, while financial investigations linked the criminal activity to losses exceeding $385 million. The figures highlight how cybercrime continues to generate substantial profits by combining technical capabilities with familiar forms of deception. The results also show why tackling these operations requires more than taking down websites or blocking malicious IP addresses. Investigators need to identify the people behind the infrastructure, follow the money and connect evidence collected across jurisdictions. Uganda saw one of the largest actions in the operation. Authorities broke up two international fraud networks and arrested 365 foreign nationals suspected of running online investment and pension scams targeting people across Asia. Investigators found call centres where staff followed prepared scripts to convince victims to invest through fake trading platforms and websites. The scams targeted people who believed they were making legitimate investments, including pensioners. These cases show how criminal groups combine technology with organized social engineering to deceive victims and steal their money. Source: Interpol – Suspected Scam Call centre in Uganda. In Angola, authorities shut down two illegal cryptocurrency mining centres, arrested nine suspects and seized over 2,000 mining devices and six illegal power stations. The electrical equipment was worth more than $1 million. In Nigeria, investigators arrested a suspect linked to phishing and business email compromise (BEC), which involved stealing software credentials and collecting about 2.1 million email addresses. They also recovered a luxury car suspected of being bought with criminal money. A separate Nigerian investigation traced over $2.4 million linked to an investment scam promoted through messaging apps, with much of the money laundered through cryptocurrency. Authorities also targeted loan app fraud in Tanzania, vehicle import scams in Gabon and arrested 30 suspects in the Republic of Congo. Operation Serengeti III relied on intelligence provided before the enforcement phase. Investigators from 20 African countries and the United States received information about suspicious domains, IP addresses and command-and-control infrastructure associated with criminal activity. Private-sector cybersecurity companies also supported the operation, providing threat intelligence, technical analysis and investigative expertise. INTERPOL listed Group-IB, Kaspersky, Fortinet, TrendAI, Team Cymru, Uppsala Security, Cybercrime Atlas and Meta among the participating partners, alongside other organizations. This cooperation matters because criminal infrastructure rarely respects national boundaries. A phishing domain, a compromised account, a fraudulent investment platform and the bank accounts used to move stolen funds may all involve different countries and service providers. Investigators need to connect those elements quickly enough to identify suspects and preserve evidence. INTERPOL’s 2026 African Cyber Threat Assessment Report highlights the growing role of AI in cybercrime as financial losses rise. Criminals can use AI to create convincing messages, improve social engineering and target more victims. While AI does not replace the need for criminal infrastructure or ways to move stolen money, it can make scams easier to repeat and harder for victims to recognize. INTERPOL said several investigations remain active. Authorities are continuing to identify suspects, trace illicit proceeds and analyze digital evidence recovered during the operation. That qualification is important. Arrests and infrastructure disruptions are meaningful enforcement results, but they don’t automatically establish how many criminal organizations have been dismantled permanently, how much of the stolen money will reach victims, or whether other operators will rebuild the disrupted services. “Cybercrime networks operate without regard for borders, exploiting technology to target victims on an unprecedented scale.” INTERPOL Director of Cybercrime Neal Jetton said. “Operation Serengeti III reinforces a clear message: while cybercrime is increasingly borderless, international cooperation remains one of the most effective tools for disrupting criminal networks, recovering criminal assets and protecting communities from digital harm.” Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon Pierluigi Paganini (SecurityAffairs – hacking, Operation Serengeti)
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