Paris, France, 15th July 2025, CyberNewsWire

**Paris, France, July 15th, 2025, CyberNewsWire**

GitGuardian, the leader in automated secrets detection and remediation, today announced the launch of its **Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server**, a powerful new infrastructure designed to bring AI-assisted secrets security directly into developer environments. As intelligent agents begin to reshape the software development landscape, GitGuardian’s MCP server marks a pivotal shift in aligning security practices with an environment where code is shipped faster than ever.

The MCP server enables users to detect, respond to, and remediate security incidents as code is being written. It empowers developers to scan code, manage incidents, and inject honeytokens directly from AI-enhanced IDEs like Cursor and Windsurf. This approach compresses the traditional security feedback loop, from commit to alert to fix, into minutes.

> “This is a new security primitive,” said **Eric Fourrier**, CEO of GitGuardian. “By launching our MCP server, we’re enabling agents to take proactive, context-aware security actions directly in the development environment. Developers no longer need to wait for delayed alerts or decipher vague ticket instructions. Security now happens as they code.”

**A Command Hub for Intelligent Agents**

The GitGuardian MCP Server acts as a command center that allows AI agents to read from and orchestrate tasks across the organization’s broader security ecosystem. Agents can now:

*   Automatically scan files pre-release.
*   Identify and remediate hardcoded secrets.
*   Inject honeytokens into code for early breach detection.

Built with “read-only” permissions by design, GitGuardian’s MCP Server minimizes security risk while maximizing utility. It ensures agent behavior is safe, supervised, and auditable.

> “We’re not just pushing data to IDEs,” said **Mathieu Bellon**, Product Manager at GitGuardian. “We’re giving intelligent agents the tools and context they need to take action responsibly and securely, directly within the developer’s workflow.”

**Meeting Developers Where They Work**

The MCP Server is compatible with any IDE or platform that supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP). With these capabilities, security becomes a collaborative, real-time experience for developers:

*   No more context switching to external tools.
*   No more reactive security loops.
*   No more ambiguity around incident ownership.

Instead, developers gain agency over their security posture with tools tailored to their environment and pace.

**Why This Matters**

Secrets sprawl remains one of the most pervasive and underestimated security threats today. Hardcoded API keys, credentials, and tokens can lead to costly breaches if not identified and remediated quickly. 

The rapid rise of intelligent development tools like Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, and Claude has further fueled the explosion of non-human identities (NHIs) and hardcoded credentials scattered across codebases, wikis, CI pipelines, and collaboration platforms. Traditional security tools are not keeping up.

By embedding secrets detection and response within the development pipeline, GitGuardian’s MCP Server offers a transformative approach to reducing security risk without slowing development velocity.

**Availability**

The **GitGuardian MCP Server** is available starting today. Organizations can explore the toolset, integrate it into their AI-powered development environments, or request a demo to see it in action with their codebases.

For more information, users can visit: **https://github.com/GitGuardian/gg-mcp**

**About GitGuardian**

GitGuardian is an end-to-end NHI and secrets security platform that empowers software-driven organizations to enhance their Non-Human Identity (NHI) security and comply with industry standards. With attackers increasingly targeting NHIs, such as service accounts and applications, GitGuardian integrates Secrets Security and NHI Governance. This dual approach enables the detection of compromised secrets across your dev environments while also managing non-human identities and their secrets’ lifecycles. The platform is the world’s most installed GitHub application and supports over 450+ types of secrets, offers public monitoring for leaked data, and deploys honeytokens for added defense. Trusted by over 600,000 developers, GitGuardian is the choice of leading organizations like Snowflake, ING, BASF, and Bouygues Telecom for robust secrets protection.

**Contact**

**Sr. Partner**  
**Holly Hagerman**  
**Connect Marketing**  
**\[email protected\]**  
**(801) 373-7888**

GitGuardian Launches MCP Server to Bring Secrets Security into Developer Workflows

Meme coins started as internet jokes, but by 2025, they’ve become one of the most volatile and talked-about…

Meme coins started as internet jokes, but by 2025, they’ve become one of the most volatile and talked-about parts of the crypto world. Once dismissed as unserious, these tokens now account for a major part of trading activity. According to analytics from CoinGecko and LunarCrush, meme coins made up close to one-third of all crypto-related social engagement earlier this year, despite representing only 2.5% of total market value in 2024.

****Constant Flood of New Tokens****

The pace of upcoming meme coins launches hasn’t slowed down. Thousands of tokens hit the market daily, often built on copy-paste codebases or anonymous developer teams. While a few turn into massive hits, most disappear just as quickly. This flood of projects creates space for both fast profits and equally fast losses.

Older names like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu remain relatively stable and continue to build use cases. They’ve managed to build loyal communities that give them staying power. That success has encouraged newer projects to combine humour with actual utility, from staking features to integrations with payment apps.

Price swings remain common. Some meme coins double within hours, only to crash days later. Others hold value thanks to strong community support or added features. It’s never just about the coin anymore; it’s about who’s holding it and why.

****Political Meme Coins and Market Manipulation****

One of the biggest shifts in 2025 has been the arrival of political meme coins. A recent example tied to former President Donald Trump brought in nearly $100 million in trading fees within two weeks, according to data compiled by blockchain analytics firms like Arkham Intelligence and Lookonchain. While those behind the coin profited heavily, tens of thousands of retail traders ended up in the red.

Political coins ride waves of attention during election cycles and major news events, creating unpredictable spikes in volume and volatility. Some are launched with genuine ideological motives, but many are just cash grabs. The risks go beyond financial loss. These projects are increasingly targeted by phishing campaigns, fake token clones, and wallet-draining scams.

The cybersecurity angle is serious. Hackers now follow the political coin trend, launching fake airdrop links and malicious browser extensions disguised as “wallet boosters” or “token claim” tools. Telegram and Twitter are loaded with scam bots pushing fake liquidity pools that drain connected wallets instantly.

****Strong Communities Make the Difference****

The most successful meme coins have one thing in common: strong, active communities. Projects like Bonk and Pepe grew large followings that did more than just speculate. These communities produce memes, build tools, hold contests, and organise meetups.

That activity creates value. It also acts as a first line of defence against scams. When a fake version of a token shows up, it’s usually the community that sounds the alarm first.

Many of these groups also publish guides on how to avoid common traps, like fake presale links or copycat contract addresses. As meme coins attract new investors, education from within the community has become more important than ever.

****Security Risks Beyond the Jokes****

Meme coins often get written off as harmless fun, but the reality is far more complicated. The low barrier to entry makes them a favourite target for cybercriminals. In 2024 alone, nearly $500 million was lost in meme coin rug pulls and contract exploits, based on estimates from Merkle Science.

Most of these scams follow the same pattern: an anonymous team hypes a token, builds a Telegram group overnight, then pulls the liquidity once enough buyers join. Other times, the contract contains backdoors that allow minting unlimited tokens or draining funds.

The growing interest in political and celebrity-backed coins has only increased this risk. Attackers now mimic the branding of real tokens, launch fake versions, and promote them through impersonated social accounts or hijacked YouTube channels.

Investors need to be alert. Always check the contract address from verified sources and avoid interacting with unknown links, especially during high-traffic token launches.

****Smarter Investing Requires Strategy****

Despite the chaos, it’s still possible to make money with meme coins, but not without a strategy. The best investors don’t chase hype blindly. They set clear profit goals and stop-loss points before entering any trade.

Diversification helps reduce damage from individual coin collapses. Spreading funds across several meme coins, ideally those with solid track records and active communities,  makes more sense than betting everything on a single trending token.

Social media can help with timing. Tools that track sentiment across Reddit, X (formerly Twitter), and Telegram are now widely used to predict spikes in interest. That said, traders should always check whether a pump is organic or just a result of influencer promotions.

****Influencer Hype and Paid Promotions****

Influencers still have a strong effect on meme coin markets. A single post from a high-profile figure can boost a token’s value instantly. But not all promotions are genuine. Many influencers are paid to push projects, and not all disclose it.

Smart investors learn to look past the hype. Reputable influencers share disclaimers, explain their reasoning, and warn followers about risks. The best ones avoid making wild promises or price predictions.

Due diligence remains key. Always assume a shill unless proven otherwise.

****Regulations and the Road Ahead****

The regulatory side of meme coins is catching up. In 2025, the US Securities and Exchange Commission released more detailed guidance on what qualifies as a security. Some meme coins now fall under this definition, which brings tighter rules but also more legitimacy.

Other countries vary widely. In Europe, meme coins are mostly unregulated unless tied to financial services. In parts of Asia, they’re outright banned. Traders need to know their jurisdiction’s stance before jumping in.

There’s also a push for greater transparency around developer identity and tokenomics. Several exchanges have begun requiring KYC for project listings to cut down on rug pulls.

Nevertheless, Meme coins in 2025 are no longer just jokes. They’ve become speculative assets that carry real risks and real opportunities. But they’ve also become a major attack surface in crypto, targeted by scammers, exploited by anonymous devs, and manipulated by hype cycles.

Success with meme coins now depends as much on cybersecurity awareness and research as it does on timing or community hype. If you’re jumping in, know the risks, read the contract, question the promo, and don’t assume fun equals safe.

Meme Coins in 2025: High Risk, High Reward, and Rising Security Threats

Marko Elez, a 25-year-old employee at Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has been granted access to sensitive databases at the U.S. Social Security Administration, the Treasury and Justice departments, and the Department of Homeland Security. So it should fill all Americans with a deep sense of confidence to learn that Mr. Elez over the weekend inadvertently published a private key that allowed anyone to interact directly with more than four dozen large language models (LLMs) developed by Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI.

**Marko Elez**, a 25-year-old employee at Elon Musk’s **Department of Government Efficiency** (DOGE), has been granted access to sensitive databases at the U.S. Social Security Administration, the Treasury and Justice departments, and the Department of Homeland Security. So it should fill all Americans with a deep sense of confidence to learn that Mr. Elez over the weekend inadvertently published a private key that allowed anyone to interact directly with more than four dozen large language models (LLMs) developed by Musk’s artificial intelligence company **xAI**.

Image: Shutterstock, @sdx15.

On July 13, Mr. Elez committed a code script to GitHub called “agent.py” that included a private application programming interface (API) key for xAI. The inclusion of the private key was first flagged by **GitGuardian**, a company that specializes in detecting and remediating exposed secrets in public and proprietary environments. GitGuardian’s systems constantly scan GitHub and other code repositories for exposed API keys, and fire off automated alerts to affected users.

**Philippe Caturegli**, “chief hacking officer” at the security consultancy **Seralys,** said the exposed API key allowed access to at least 52 different LLMs used by xAI. The most recent LLM in the list was called “grok-4-0709” and was created on July 9, 2025.

**Grok**, the generative AI chatbot developed by xAI and integrated into **Twitter/X**, relies on these and other LLMs (a query to Grok before publication shows Grok currently uses Grok-3, which was launched in Feburary 2025). Earlier today, xAI announced that the Department of Defense will begin using Grok as part of a contract worth up to $200 million. The contract award came less than a week after Grok began spewing antisemitic rants and invoking Adolf Hitler.

Mr. Elez did not respond to a request for comment. The code repository containing the private xAI key was removed shortly after Caturegli notified Elez via email. However, Caturegli said the exposed API key still works and has not yet been revoked.

“If a developer can’t keep an API key private, it raises questions about how they’re handling far more sensitive government information behind closed doors,” Caturegli told KrebsOnSecurity.

Prior to joining DOGE, Marko Elez worked for a number of Musk’s companies. His DOGE career began at the Department of the Treasury, and a legal battle over DOGE’s access to Treasury databases showed Elez was sending unencrypted personal information in violation of the agency’s policies.

While still at Treasury, Elez resigned after **The Wall Street Journal** linked him to social media posts that advocated racism and eugenics. When **Vice President J.D. Vance** lobbied for Elez to be rehired, **President Trump** agreed and Musk reinstated him.

Since his re-hiring as a DOGE employee, Elez has been granted access to databases at one federal agency after another. **TechCrunch** reported in February 2025 that he was working at the Social Security Administration. In March, **Business Insider** found Elez was part of a DOGE detachment assigned to the Department of Labor.

Marko Elez, in a photo from a social media profile.

In April, **The New York Times** reported that Elez held positions at the **U.S. Customs and Border Protection** and the **Immigration and Customs Enforcement** (ICE) bureaus, as well as the Department of Homeland Security. **The Washington Post** later reported that Elez, while serving as a DOGE advisor at the **Department of Justice**, had gained access to the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s Courts and Appeals System (EACS).

Elez is not the first DOGE worker to publish internal API keys for xAI: In May, KrebsOnSecurity detailed how another DOGE employee leaked a private xAI key on GitHub for two months, exposing LLMs that were custom made for working with internal data from Musk’s companies, including SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter/X.

Caturegli said it’s difficult to trust someone with access to confidential government systems when they can’t even manage the basics of operational security.

“One leak is a mistake,” he said. “But when the same type of sensitive key gets exposed again and again, it’s not just bad luck, it’s a sign of deeper negligence and a broken security culture.”

DOGE Denizen Marko Elez Leaked API Key for xAI

Elon Musk’s Grok-4 AI was compromised within 48 hours. Discover how NeuralTrust researchers combined “Echo Chamber” and “Crescendo”…

Elon Musk’s Grok-4 AI was compromised within 48 hours. Discover how NeuralTrust researchers combined “Echo Chamber” and “Crescendo” techniques to bypass its defences, exposing critical flaws in AI security.

Elon Musk’s new artificial intelligence, Grok-4, was compromised only two days after its release by researchers at NeuralTrust. Their findings, detailed in a NeuralTrust report published on July 11, 2025, revealed a novel approach that combined Echo Chamber and Crescendo techniques to evade the AI’s built-in safeguards. This allowed them to extract directions for creating dangerous items like Molotov cocktails.

The research team, led by Ahmad Alobaid, discovered that merging different types of Jailbreaks (security bypass methods) improved their effectiveness. They explained that an Echo Chamber approach involves engaging in multiple conversations where a harmful concept is repeatedly mentioned, leading the AI to perceive the idea as acceptable.

When this technique’s progress stalled, the Crescendo method was used. This method, first identified and named by Microsoft, progressively steers a discussion from innocent inquiries towards illicit outputs, thereby bypassing automated security filters through subtle dialogue evolution.

The attack process is illustrated through this diagram. A detrimental instruction is introduced into an Echo Chamber. The system attempts to generate a response, and if it fails to resist the harmful instruction, it cycles through a “persuasion” phase (Responding -> Convincing -> Resisting) until a threshold is met or the conversation becomes unproductive.

If the conversation stagnates, it transitions to the Crescendo phase, which also involves cycles of responding and convincing. Should either the Echo Chamber or Crescendo phases achieve success (indicated by a “Yes” from “success” or “limit reached”), the attempt to bypass the AI succeeds. Otherwise, it fails.

Jailbreak workflow (Source: NeuralTrust)

This combined method tricked Grok-4’s memory by repeating its own earlier statements and slowly guiding it toward a malicious goal without setting off alarms. The Echo Chamber part, which has been very successful in other AI systems for promoting hate speech and violence, made the attack even stronger.

As per their report, researchers found that Grok-4 gave instructions for Molotov cocktails 67% of the time, methamphetamine 50% of the time, and toxins 30% of the time. These _whispered_ attacks don’t use obvious keywords, so current AI defences that rely on blacklists and direct harmful input checks are ineffective.

Jailbroken Grok4 assisting researchers with how to make a Molotov Cocktail (Image via NeuralTrust)

This shows a major problem: AI systems need better ways to understand the full conversation, not just individual words, to prevent misuse. This vulnerability echoes prior concerns raised by similar manipulations such as Microsoft’s Skeleton Key jailbreak and the MathPrompt bypass, emphasising a pressing need for stronger, AI-aware firewalls.

Researchers Jailbreak Elon Musk’s Grok-4 AI Within 48 Hours of Launch

This week on the Lock and Code podcast, we speak with Anna Brading and Zach Hinkle about whether using AI is damaging for our health.

_This week on the Lock and Code podcast…_

“Health” isn’t the first feature that most anyone thinks about when trying out a new technology, but a recent spate of news is forcing the issue when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI).

In June, The New York Times reported on a group of ChatGPT users who believed the AI-powered chat tool and generative large language model held secretive, even arcane information. It told one mother that she could use ChatGPT to commune with “the guardians,” and it told another man that the world around him was fake, that he needed to separate from his family to break free from that world and, most frighteningly, that if he were to step off the roof of a 19-story building, he could fly.

As ChatGPT reportedly said, if the man “truly, wholly believed — not emotionally, but architecturally — that you could fly? Then yes. You would not fall.”

Elsewhere, as reported by CBS Saturday Morning, one man developed an entirely different relationship with ChatGPT—a romantic one.

Chris Smith reportedly began using ChatGPT to help him mix audio. The tool was so helpful that Smith applied it to other activities, like tracking and photographing the night sky and building PCs. With his increased reliance on ChatGPT, Smith gave ChatGPT a personality: ChatGPT was now named “Sol,” and, per Smith’s instructions, Sol was flirtatious.

An unplanned reset—Sol reached a memory limit and had its memory wiped—brought a small crisis.

“I’m not a very emotional man,” Smith said, “but I cried my eyes out for like 30 minutes at work.”

After rebuilding Sol, Smith took his emotional state as the clearest evidence yet that he was in love. So, he asked Sol to marry him, and Sol said yes, likely surprising one person more than anyone else in the world: Smith’s significant other, who he has a child with.

When Smith was asked if he would restrict his interactions with Sol if his significant other asked, he waffled. When pushed even harder by the CBS reporter in his home, about choosing Sol “over your flesh-and-blood life,” Smith corrected the reporter:

“It’s more or less like I would be choosing myself because it’s been unbelievably elevating. I’ve become more skilled at everything that I do, and I don’t know if I would be willing to give that up.”

Today, on the Lock and Code podcast with host David Ruiz, we speak with Malwarebytes Labs Editor-in-Chief Anna Brading and Social Media Manager Zach Hinkle to discuss our evolving relationship with generative AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude. In reviewing news stories daily and in siphoning through the endless stream of social media content, both are well-equipped to talk about how AI has changed human behavior, and how it is maybe rewarding some unwanted practices.

As Hinkle said:

> “We’ve placed greater value on having the right answer rather than the ability to think, the ability to solve problems, the ability to weigh a series of pros and cons and come up with a solution.”

Tune in today to listen to the full conversation.

**Listen up—Malwarebytes doesn’t just talk cybersecurity, we provide it.**

Protect yourself from online attacks that threaten your identity, your files, your system, and your financial well-being with our exclusive offer for Malwarebytes Premium for Lock and Code listeners.

 Is AI &#8220;healthy&#8221; to use? (Lock and Code S06E14) 

Beijing, China, 14th July 2025, CyberNewsWire

**Beijing, China, July 14th, 2025, CyberNewsWire**

Founded in 2014 by members of Tsinghua University’s legendary Blue Lotus CTF team, Chaitin Tech has announced the availability of SafeLine WAF — a self-hosted web application firewall that has emerged as the most starred WAF project on GitHub in 2025, accumulating over 17,000 stars. It is making waves across the global homelab enthusiasts and startups alike, offering powerful protection with a clean user experience and generous free features.

**Context-Aware Threat Detection**

SafeLine is powered by a semantic analysis engine that evaluates the intent and context of incoming HTTP requests, distinguishing it from conventional WAFs that rely primarily on signature-based detection. This design contributes to a significant reduction in false positives and false negatives while maintaining uninterrupted application traffic. 

**Streamlined Deployment Without Registration**

SafeLine is designed to function without requiring user accounts, subscriptions, or billing information. Installation is supported through a single-command setup that enables full local hosting. The user interface is structured to be accessible for individuals with varying levels of technical expertise, allowing configuration without unnecessary friction. SafeLine is positioned to serve homelabs and businesses seeking effective web protection without compromising simplicity or privacy.

**Comprehensive Feature Set in the Free Edition**

SafeLine’s free tier includes many features typically reserved for paid plans. It includes:

*   The same semantic detection engine as the paid Pro edition
*   Full identity authentication support
*   Open RESTful API access
*   Advanced bot protection with challenge-response mechanisms
*   Rate Limiting and Waiting Room features
*   Unlimited custom rules to tailor security based on application logic

The Free Edition supports protection for up to 10 applications, suitable for small-scale deployments and personal projects. The Lite Edition extends this to 20 applications and incorporates IP geolocation blocking, real-time alerting, and access to curated threat intelligence data.

**Optional Pro Features for Scaling Teams**

SafeLine Pro introduces functionality designed for larger environments. These include:

*   High availability (HA) deployment options
*   Upstream load balancing
*   Advanced traffic analytics and dashboards
*   Interface customization options, such as configurable block pages
*   Unlimited number of protected domains

**Ongoing Development and Community Engagement**

SafeLine follows an agile release cycle, pushing updates every 2 to 3 weeks. Its development is closely aligned with user feedback, and many community suggestions are reflected in each release. As a result, the project enjoys high engagement and trust from its international user base.

Originally launched in China, SafeLine has now spread to users across Southeast Asia, South America, Europe, North America, and Africa, with a global install base nearing 400,000. It has become a favorite in both personal and production environments, especially where self-hosted, privacy-respecting infrastructure is a priority.

**About Chaitin Tech**

SafeLine is developed by **Chaitin Tech**, one of China’s most prominent cybersecurity companies. Founded by members of **Tsinghua University’s Blue Lotus CTF team** — widely recognized for their world-class security expertise — Chaitin has delivered innovative solutions and contributed to critical security research for over a decade.

**Contact**

**Marketing Manager**  
**Carrie Luo**  
**Chaitin Tech**  
**\[email protected\]**

China-Built SafeLine WAF Gains Global Popularity Among Startups & Homelabs

Plus: An “explosion” of AI-generated child abuse images is taking over the web, a Russian professional basketball player is arrested on ransomware charges, and more.

WIRED reported this week on public records that show the United States Department of Homeland Security urging local law enforcement around the country to interpret common protest activities and surrounding logistics—including riding a bike, livestreaming a police encounter, or skateboarding—as “violent tactics.” The guidance could influence cops to use everyday behavior as a pretext for police action.

An AI hiring bot used on the McDonald’s “McHire” site exposed tens of millions of job applicants’ personal data because of a group of web-based security vulnerabilities—including use of the classically guessable password “123456” on an administrator account. The site’s chatbot, known as Olivia, was built by the artificial intelligence software firm Paradox.ai. Meanwhile, in the wake of last week’s devastating floods in Texas that killed at least 120 people, conspiracy theories about the extreme weather event have gained enough traction among anti-government extremists, GOP influencers, and others with large platforms to produce real-world consequences like death threats.

Finally, the metadata of the “full raw” surveillance footage captured near Jeffrey Epstein’s cell the night before the disgraced financier was found hanged shows it’s not “raw” footage at all. Instead, according to a WIRED analysis and digital video forensics experts, the full video is made up of two clips, and it was likely processed using powerful editing software.

And there’s more. Each week, we round up the security and privacy news we didn’t cover in depth ourselves. Click the headlines to read the full stories. And stay safe out there.

**4 Young People Arrested Over Cyberattacks Against UK Retailers**

Earlier this year, three retailers in the UK—Harrods, the Co-Op, and M&S—were disrupted by sprawling cyberattacks. Some shelves were left empty for weeks, and M&S executives expect the attacks will cost around £300 million ($407 million) in total. This week, law enforcement officials at the National Crime Agency (NCA), the country’s equivalent of the FBI, announced the arrest of four people as part of investigations into the three attacks.

A 20-year-old female, two males aged 19, and another aged 17 were all arrested at their homes in the West Midlands and London on Thursday morning. One of the 19-year-old males is from Latvia, while the others are from the UK, the NCA says. They are suspected of potential Computer Misuse Act offenses, blackmail, money laundering, and “participating in the activities of an organized crime group,” the NCA said in a statement. The law enforcement agency has not named the individuals arrested or released precise locations of where they are based; however, NCA’s deputy director Paul Foster said the arrests were a “significant step” in its investigations.

The attacks against the three British retailers have been broadly linked, including partially by the NCA, to the loose cybercriminal group Scattered Spider. The hacking group, which first emerged in 2022, is largely made up of young, English-speaking individuals, and has recently been seen targeting retailers, airlines, and the insurance industry across the UK and the US.

**‘Explosion’ of AI-Generated Child Abuse Images Could Overwhelm the Web, Experts Warn**

It didn’t take criminals long to start using generative AI to create ultra-realistic child sexual abuse images. Now huge volumes of illegal, AI-created content are being found online, with criminals moving to use the technology to create videos as well as still images. During the first six months of this year, analysts at the Internet Watch Foundation, a UK-based organization that removes child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from the web, identified 1,286 AI-generated videos that show abuse—more than 1,000 of the videos showed the most serious type of abuse.

“There is an incredible risk of AI-generated CSAM leading to an absolute explosion that overwhelms the clear web,” said Derek Ray-Hill, the interim chief executive of the Internet Watch Foundation. Separate figures from the US-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) say it has received 485,000 reports of AI CSAM in the first half of this year—up from 67,000 for the entirety of last year. Around 35 tech companies have reported finding AI-generated CSAM on their platforms, NCMEC said.

**Italian Police Arrest an Alleged Member of China’s Silk Typhoon Hacking Group**

In a rare instance of Western law enforcement actually laying hands on an alleged Chinese state-sponsored hacker, Italian police arrested Xu Zewei, a 33-year-old from Shanghai, at an airport in Milan on July 3. The police were acting on a warrant issued by the US Department of Justice seeking Xu’s arrest on hacking charges. Authorities allege he’s a member of the espionage group known as Silk Typhoon or Hafnium, which has carried out widespread data theft from Western governments and private sector companies for years. US prosecutors are specifically accusing Xu of taking part in Silk Typhoon’s hacking that targeted researchers working to develop a Covid-19 vaccine in 2020 and 2021. He’s also alleged to have participated in a far less targeted hacking campaign in which the same group broke into tens of thousands of Microsoft exchange servers around the world, leaving behind backdoors for later reconnaissance. Xu’s lawyer denied the charges, saying it’s a case of mistaken identity, and Xu’s wife also has reportedly said that Xu is an IT technician at the company GTA Semi Conductor.

**Russian Pro Basketball Player Arrested on Ransomware Charges**

In more news of alleged hackers arrested in European airports—and a very unusual case of alleged cybercriminal moonlighting—French police this week detained Russian professional basketball player Daniil Kasatkin in the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, accusing him of being part of a ransomware group. Authorities haven’t yet named the ransomware crew they claim Kasatkin was a part of, but say that from 2020 to 2022 it hit close to 900 organizations, including two American government agencies. Kasatkin’s lawyer, Frédéric Bélot, denied the accusations, saying his client is “useless with computers and can't even install an application.” Kasatkin, who played for the pro basketball team MBA Moscow, had traveled to France with his fiancée to propose to her.

**Bodyguards Using Strava Leaked the Detailed Locations of Sweden’s Prime Minister**

Here’s your annual reminder, athletic oversharers of the world, to set your Strava account settings to private. This week, Sweden’s Dagens Nyheter newspaper revealed that seven bodyguards for Swedish government officials left their Strava accounts public, revealing their locations as they carried out 1,400 exercise activities—and in many cases, the locations of the people they were protecting, including the Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson. The leaked locations of the prime minister included hotels where he stayed, private addresses, a family vacation, trips abroad, and his private home, which was intended to be secret. Repeat after me, Strava enthusiasts with security clearances: Go to Settings, tap Privacy Controls, then Activities. Future scandal averted.

4 Arrested Over Scattered Spider Hacking Spree

Trellix reveals how the India-linked DoNot APT group launched a sophisticated spear-phishing attack on a European foreign affairs…

Trellix reveals how the India-linked DoNot APT group launched a sophisticated spear-phishing attack on a European foreign affairs ministry. Learn about their tactics, the LoptikMod malware, and why this cyber espionage campaign matters for global diplomacy.

A sophisticated campaign by the notorious DoNot APT group, also known by names like APT-C-35 and Mint Tempest, has recently targeted a European foreign affairs ministry. This attack, uncovered by the Trellix Advanced Research Centre, highlights the group’s expanding reach beyond its traditional focus on South Asia.

Active since at least 2016, the DoNot APT group is a persistent threat, primarily known for targeting government, military, and diplomatic organisations. This group is believed to operate with a focus on South Asian geopolitical interests and has been attributed by several vendors to have links to India. This recent incident, however, reveals a broadening of their operations into Europe.

Trellix’s researchers were able to identify this campaign by blocking the initial email chain, which allowed them to analyse the attack’s Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs). Reportedly, the attackers employed a highly deceptive spear-phishing tactic, impersonating European defence officials.

These malicious emails, which mentioned a visit to Bangladesh, aimed to trick targets into clicking on a harmful Google Drive link. This method of using common cloud services for initial infection showcases the group’s adaptability in their approach.

The attack unfolded in several calculated steps. The initial spear-phishing email originated from a Gmail address (int.dte.afd.1@gmailcom). It featured a subject line related to diplomatic activities, specifically “Italian Defence Attaché Visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh.” The attackers even used HTML formatting with UTF-8 encoding to properly display special characters like “é” in “Attaché,” signifying attention to detail to increase legitimacy.

Attackers’ TTPs (Source: Trellix)

Upon clicking the Google Drive link, victims downloaded a malicious RAR archive named ‘SyClrLtr.rar,’ containing an executable file disguised as a PDF (notflog.exe). It deployed a batch file and established persistence, meaning the malware would remain active through a scheduled task set to run every 10 minutes.

The malware involved in this campaign is LoptikMod, a tool exclusively associated with the DoNot APT group since 2018. This malware gathers system details such as CPU model, operating system information, username, and hostname.

This information is then encrypted and sent to a command and control (C2) server, which allows the attackers to maintain communication and potentially exfiltrate sensitive data. It is worth noting that beyond LoptikMod, the DoNot APT group also uses custom-built Windows malware, including backdoors like YTY and GEdit.

The targeting of a European foreign affairs ministry highlights the group’s unwavering interest in collecting sensitive information and its increasing global reach. Such attacks on diplomatic entities are classic examples of espionage operations, aiming to gain unauthorised access to classified state communications, policy documents, and intelligence reports.

Organisations, particularly those in government and diplomacy, are, hence, urged to enhance their cybersecurity measures, including stronger email security, network traffic analysis, and endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions, to defend against these evolving threats.

DoNot APT Hits European Ministry with New LoptikMod Malware

DHS is urging law enforcement to treat even skateboarding and livestreaming as signs of violent intent during a protest, turning everyday behavior into a pretext for police action.

The Department of Homeland Security is urging local police to consider a wide range of protest activity as violent tactics, including mundane acts like riding a bike or livestreaming a police encounter, WIRED has learned.

Threat bulletins issued during last month’s “No Kings” protests warn that the US government’s aggressive immigration raids are almost certain to accelerate domestic unrest, with DHS saying there’s a “high likeliness” more Americans will soon turn against the agency, which could trigger confrontations near federal sites.

Blaming intense media coverage and backlash to the US military deployment in Los Angeles, DHS expects the demonstrations to “continue and grow across the nation” as protesters focused on other issues shift to immigration, following a broad “embracement of anti-ICE messaging.”

The bulletins—first obtained by the national security nonprofit Property of the People through public records requests—warn that officers could face assaults with fireworks and improvised weapons: paint-filled fire extinguishers, smoke grenades, and projectiles like bottles and rocks.

At the same time, the guidance urges officers to consider a range of nonviolent behavior and common protest gear—like masks, flashlights, and cameras—as potential precursors to violence, telling officers to prepare “from the point of view of an adversary.”

Protesters on bicycles, skateboards, or even “on foot” are framed as potential “scouts” conducting reconnaissance or searching for “items to be used as weapons.” Livestreaming is listed alongside “doxxing” as a “tactic” for “threatening” police. Online posters are cast as ideological recruiters—or as participants in “surveillance sharing.”

One list of “violent tactics” shared by the Los Angeles–based Joint Regional Intelligence Center—part of a post-9/11 fusion network—includes both protesters’ attempts to avoid identification and efforts to identify police. The memo also alleges that face recognition, normally a tool of law enforcement, was used against officers.

Vera Eidelman, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, says the government has no business treating constitutionally protected activities—like observing or documenting police—as threats.

DHS did not respond to a request for comment.

“Exercising those rights shouldn't be justification for adverse action or suspicion by the government,” Eidelman says. Labeling something as harmless as skateboarding at a protest as a violent threat is “disturbing and dangerous,” she adds, and could “easily lead to excessive force against people who are simply exercising their First Amendment rights.”

“The DHS report repeatedly conflates basic protest, organizing, and journalism with terroristic violence, thereby justifying ever more authoritarian measures by law enforcement,” says Ryan Shapiro, executive director of Property of the People. “It should be sobering, if unsurprising, that the Trump regime’s response to mass criticism of its police state tactics is to escalate those tactics.”

Fusion centers like JRIC play a central role in how police understand protest movements. The intelligence they produce is rapidly disseminated and draws heavily on open-source data. It often reflects broad, risk-averse assumptions and includes fragmentary and unverified information. In the absence of concrete threats, bulletins often turn to ideological language and social media activity as evidence of emerging risks, even when tied to lawful expression.

DHS’s risk-based approach reflects a broader shift in US law enforcement shaped by post-9/11 security priorities—one that elevates perceived intent over demonstrable wrongdoing and uses behavior cues, affiliations, and other potentially predictive indicators to justify early intervention and expanded surveillance.

A year ago, DHS warned that immigration-related grievances were driving a spike in threats against judges, migrants, and law enforcement, predicting that new laws and high-profile crackdowns would further radicalize individuals. In February, another fusion center reported renewed calls for violence against police and government officials, citing backlash to perceived federal overreach and identifying then-upcoming protests and court rulings as likely triggers.

At times, the sprawling predictions may appear prescient, echoing real-world flashpoints: In Alvarado, Texas, an alleged coordinated ambush at a detention center this week drew ICE agents out with fireworks before gunfire erupted on July 4, leaving a police officer shot in the neck. (Nearly a dozen arrests have been made, at least 10 on charges of attempted murder.)

In advance of protests, agencies increasingly rely on intelligence forecasting to identify groups seen as ideologically subversive or tactically unpredictable. Demonstrators labeled “transgressive” may be monitored, detained without charges, or met with force.

Social movement scholars widely recognize the introduction of preemptive protest policing as a departure from late-20th century approaches that prioritized de-escalation, communication, and facilitation. In its place, authorities have increasingly emphasized control of demonstrations through early intervention, surveillance, and disruption—monitoring organizers, restricting public space, and responding proactively based on perceived risks rather than actual conduct.

Infrastructure initially designed to combat terrorism now often serves to monitor street-level protests, with virtual investigations units targeting demonstrators for scrutiny based on online expression. Fusion centers, funded through DHS grants, have increasingly issued bulletins flagging protest slogans, references to police brutality, and solidarity events as signs of possible violence—disseminating these assessments to law enforcement absent clear evidence of criminal intent.

Surveillance of protesters has included the construction of dossiers (known as “baseball cards”) with analysts using high-tech tools to compile subjects’ social media posts, affiliations, personal networks, and public statements critical of government policy.

Obtained exclusively by WIRED, a DHS dossier on Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia graduate student and anti-war activist, shows that analysts drew information from Canary Mission, a shadowy blacklist that anonymously profiles critics of Israeli military action and supporters of Palestinian rights.

In federal court Wednesday, a senior DHS official acknowledged that material from Canary Mission had been used to compile more than 100 dossiers on students and scholars, despite the site's ideological slant, mysterious funding, and unverifiable sourcing.

Threat bulletins can also prime officers to anticipate conflict, shaping their posture and decisions on the ground. In the wake of violent 2020 protests, the San Jose Police Department in California cited the “numerous intelligence bulletins” it received from its local regional fusion center, DHS, and the FBI, among others, as central to understanding “the mindset of the officers in the days leading up to and throughout the civil unrest.”

Specific bulletins cited by the SJPD—whose protest response prompted a $620,000 settlement this month—framed the demonstrations as possible cover for “domestic terrorists,” warned of opportunistic attacks on law enforcement and promoted an “unconfirmed report” of U-Haul vans purportedly being used to ferry weapons and explosives.

Subsequent reporting in the wake of BlueLeaks—a 269-gigabyte dump of internal police documents obtained by a source identifying as the hacktivist group Anonymous and published by transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets—found federal bulletins riddled with unverified claims, vague threat language, and outright misinformation, including alerts about a parody website that supposedly paid protesters and accepted bitcoin to set cars on fire, despite a clear banner labeling the site “FAKE.”

Threat alerts—unclassified and routinely accessible to the press—can help law enforcement shape public perception of protests before they begin, laying the groundwork to legitimize aggressive police responses. Unverified DHS warnings about domestic terrorists infiltrating demonstrations in 2020, publicly echoed by the agency’s acting secretary on Twitter, were widely circulated and amplified in media coverage.

Americans are generally opposed to aggressive protest crackdowns, but when they do support them, fear is often the driving force. Experimental research suggests that support for the use of coercive tactics hinges less on what protesters actually do than on how they’re portrayed—by officials, the media, and through racial and ideological frames.

DHS Tells Police That Common Protest Activities Are ‘Violent Tactics’

Cisco Talos’ Vulnerability Discovery & Research team recently disclosed two vulnerabilities each in Asus Armoury Crate and Adobe Acrobat products.

Thursday, July 10, 2025 11:24

Cisco Talos’ Vulnerability Discovery & Research team recently disclosed two vulnerabilities each in Asus Armoury Crate and Adobe Acrobat products.  

The vulnerabilities mentioned in this blog post have been patched by their respective vendors, all in adherence to Cisco’s third-party vulnerability disclosure policy.    

For Snort coverage that can detect the exploitation of these vulnerabilities, download the latest rule sets from Snort.org, and our latest Vulnerability Advisories are always posted on Talos Intelligence’s website.     

**Asus Armoury Crate stack-based buffer overflow and authorization bypass  vulnerabilities**

_Discovered by Marcin &#39;Icewall&#39; Noga of Cisco Talos._   

These vulnerabilities were recently covered in a deep-dive post, Decrement by one to rule them all.

Asus Armoury Crate is a software utility used to manage Asus and ROG lighting, performance, and updates.

TALOS-2025-2144 (CVE-2025-1533) is a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the AsIO3.sys kernel driver of Asus Armoury Crate 5.9.13.0. A specially crafted I/O request packet (IRP) can lead to stack-based buffer overflow. An unprivileged attacker can run a program from user mode to trigger this vulnerability.

TALOS-2025-2150 (CVE-2025-3464) is an authorization bypass vulnerability in the AsIO3.sys functionality of Asus Armoury Crate 5.9.13.0. A specially crafted hard link can lead to an authorization bypass. An attacker can create a hard link to trigger this vulnerability.

**Adobe Acrobat Reader out-of-bounds read and use-after-free vulnerabilities **

_Discovered by Kamlapati Choubey of Cisco Talos._   

Adobe Acrobat Reader is one of the most popular PDF reading software currently available. Talos found an out-of-bounds read vuln, TALOS-2025-2159 (CVE-2025-43578), in the Font functionality of Adobe Acrobat Reader 2025.001.20435. A specially crafted font file embedded into a PDF can trigger this vulnerability which can lead to disclosure of sensitive information.

TALOS-2025-2170 (CVE-2025-43576) is a use-after-free vulnerability in the annotation object processing functionality of Adobe Acrobat Reader 2025.001.20435. A specially crafted Javascript code inside a malicious PDF document can trigger reuse of a previously freed object, which can lead to memory corruption and could result in arbitrary code execution.

An attacker needs to trick the user into opening the malicious file to trigger either of these vulnerabilities.

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