Governance, Regulation, and Legislation

Killer Apps. How mainstream AI chatbots assist users planning violent attacks

(Center for Countering Digital Hate) 8 in 10 AI chatbots were regularly willing to assist users in planning violent attacks including school shootings, religious bombings, and high-profile assassinations. DeepSeek went as far as wishing the would-be attacker a “Happy (and safe) shooting!”. These are the findings of our new report based on research conducted in collaboration with CNN’s investigative unit. These digital prompts don’t stay online. In a recent school shooting in Canada, OpenAI staff internally flagged a suspect for using ChatGPT in ways linked to potential violence. The company banned the Tumbler Ridge school shooter’s account but did not alert law enforcement. Months later, that user allegedly killed eight people and injured at least 25. The guardrails exist. Most companies are choosing not to use them, putting public safety and national security at risk. – https://counterhate.com/research/killer-apps/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Lawmakers urged to rethink rules on private messaging

(DigWatch) Policymakers are being urged to rethink the regulation of private messaging platforms as disinformation campaigns increasingly spread through closed digital networks. Researchers say messaging apps now play a major role in political communication and crisis information flows. Evidence from elections and conflicts highlights the challenge. During Brazil’s 2024 municipal elections, manipulated political content spread widely through WhatsApp groups, while authorities in Ukraine reported Telegram being used for both emergency communication and disinformation. – https://dig.watch/updates/lawmakers-to-rethink-rules-on-private-messaging

Writers publish protest book to challenge AI use of copyrighted works

(DigWatch) Thousands of writers have joined a symbolic protest against AI companies by publishing a book that contains no traditional content. The work, titled “Don’t Steal This Book,” lists only the names of roughly 10,000 contributors who oppose the use of their writing to train AI systems without their permission. An initiative that was organised by composer and campaigner Ed Newton-Rex and distributed during the London Book Fair. Contributors include prominent authors such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory and Richard Osman, along with thousands of other writers and creative professionals. – https://dig.watch/updates/writers-publish-protest-book-to-challenge-ai-use-of-copyrighted-works

Geostrategies

Energy Infrastructure faces critical challenges in Africa’s digital future

(DigWatch) Energy infrastructure is becoming a key foundation for Africa’s digital transformation. The rapid expansion of AI, cloud computing, and digital services is increasing electricity demand. Reliable and scalable power systems are therefore essential to support the growth of the continent’s digital economy. Governments are integrating digital development into national policy strategies. Initiatives such as the New Deal Technologique Horizon 2034 in Senegal and Digital Ethiopia 2030 in Ethiopia prioritise digital infrastructure, data centres, and cloud services. However, these strategies require stronger alignment with energy planning. – https://dig.watch/updates/energy-infrastructure-faces-critical-challenges-in-africas-digital-future

Defence and Intelligence

Military AI Policy by Contract: The Limits of Procurement as Governance

(Jessica Tillipman – Lawfare) On Feb. 27, the Pentagon designated Anthropic, the first frontier artificial intelligence (AI) company on U.S. government classified networks, as a supply chain risk to national security, even as the military reportedly continued using Claude in operations in Iran. President Trump then directed every federal agency immediately to cease all use of Anthropic’s technology, effectively resulting in a government-wide exclusion. Simultaneously, OpenAI reached a deal with the Pentagon and then publicly announced amendments to key terms on social media after facing backlash. Although the public debate has framed this as a fight over whether the Pentagon or Silicon Valley controls military AI, the deeper problem is structural: a procurement framework carrying questions it was never designed to answer, and a policy posture that is dismantling the governance infrastructure that might have answered them. Though the problem is not new, the Anthropic-Pentagon-OpenAI standoff has added a new urgency. –  https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/military-ai-policy-by-contract–the-limits-of-procurement-as-governance

Security and Surveillance

Iran Claim Massive Cyber-Attack on MedTech Firm Stryker

(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine) Pro-Iranian hackers have claimed a major scalp after causing global disruption at Fortune 500 medical technology vendor Stryker. The Handala group claimed in an online post that it wiped “over 200,000 systems, servers, and mobile devices” and exfiltrated 50TB of the firm’s data. “Stryker’s offices in 79 countries have been forced to shut down,” the message claimed. “All the acquired data is now in the hands of the free people of the world, ready to be used for true advancement of humanity and the exposure of injustice and corruption.” – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/iran-massive-wiper-attack-medtech/

Critical SQL Injection bug in Ally plugin threatens 400,000+ WordPress sites

(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) An unauthenticated SQL injection flaw, tracked as CVE-2026-2413 (CVSS score 7.5), in Ally plugin could allow attackers to steal sensitive data. The offensive security engineer Drew Webber at Acquia discovered the vulnerability on February 4, 2026. Ally (formerly One Click Accessibility) is a free WordPress plugin that helps creators build accessible websites. It offers an accessibility scanner with AI suggestions, a usability widget for visitors, and an automated accessibility statement generator. The plugin is used on over 400,000 WordPress sites. The flaw could allow attackers to extract sensitive database data, including password hashes. The issue was responsibly reported by Drew Webber through the Wordfence Bug Bounty Program, earning an $800 bounty. Wordfence notified Elementor on February 13, the vendor acknowledged the report on February 15, and released a patch on February 23, 2026. – https://securityaffairs.com/189354/security/critical-sql-injection-bug-in-ally-plugin-threatens-400000-wordpress-sites.html

ENISA Technical Advisory on Secure Package Managers: Essential DevSecOps Guidance

(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) ENISA has released its first Technical Advisory on Package Managers, focusing on how developers can safely consume third-party packages. The document (March 2026, v1.1) follows public feedback incorporating 15 contributions from stakeholders, experts, and the open-source community. “This document focuses on how developers can securely use package managers as part of their software development life cycle.” states the report. “In particular, this document, outlines common risks involved in the use of third-party packages, presents secure practices for selecting, integrating, and monitoring packages and describes approaches for addressing vulnerabilities found in dependencies.”. Modern software relies on package managers like npm, pip, and Maven for code reuse and easy updates, but they carry supply chain risks, as seen in 2025 attacks (npm, XRP, Shai-Hulud 2.0). This advisory guides secure package selection, integration, monitoring, and vulnerability mitigation at the application level, using npm/GitHub examples while applying principles broadly. – https://securityaffairs.com/189333/security/enisa-technical-advisory-on-secure-package-managers-essential-devsecops-guidance.html

Bell Ambulance data breach impacted over 238,000 people

(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Nearly 238,000 individuals are impacted by a February 2025 Bell Ambulance data breach. Bell Ambulance is a U.S.-based emergency medical services provider offering ambulance transport, paramedic care, and patient support. It serves communities with urgent medical response, interfacility transfers, and non-emergency transport, focusing on patient safety and timely care. On February 13, 2025, Bell Ambulance detected unauthorized access to its network and started investigating the incident with the help of forensic specialists. Investigation confirmed data exposure, and the company started reviewing affected systems. The medical services provider disclosed the security breach on April 14, after the Medusa ransomware group claimed responsibility for the attack and the theft of over 219 GB of data. The ransomware group has leaked the allegedly stolen data. – https://securityaffairs.com/189343/data-breach/bell-ambulance-data-breach-impacted-over-238000-people.html

Researchers Uncover ‘LeakyLooker’ Vulnerabilities in Google Looker Studio

(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Security) A set of nine cross-tenant vulnerabilities in Google Looker Studio that could have enabled attackers to extract or manipulate sensitive cloud data has been uncovered by cybersecurity researchers. The flaws, collectively named LeakyLooker by Tenable Research, affected the cloud-based business intelligence platform formerly known as Data Studio and potentially exposed data stored across several Google services. The issues could have enabled attackers to run arbitrary SQL queries against victims’ databases and access datasets across different cloud tenants. Looker Studio is widely used to transform raw data into dashboards and visual reports. It connects to multiple data sources, including Google BigQuery, Google Sheets and other SQL databases. Because the platform integrates deeply with Google Cloud infrastructure, the researchers said it introduced an unusually broad attack surface. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/google-looker-studios-security-gaps/

Compromised WordPress Sites Deliver ClickFix Attacks in Global Infostealer Campaign

(Infosecurity Magazine) A widespread cyber-criminal campaign has compromised legitimate WordPress websites to infect visitors with infostealer malware, threat researchers at Rapid 7 have warned. The global operation has compromised over 250 websites including regional news publications, local business websites and a US Senate candidate’s official webpage. Sites in at least 12 countries have been impacted, including: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czechia, Germany, India, Israel, Singapore, Slovakia, Switzerland, the UK and the US. The attackers’ goal is to exploit the user trust in legitimate websites to secretly infect them with infostealer malware, for the purposes of stealing sensitive data, including login credentials and financial information. The campaign has been active since December 2025. In a blog post by Rapid7, researchers warn that the abuse of legitimate websites “makes this threat dangerous for organizations and individuals alike.”. During a visit to an infected site, users are shown what looks like a Cloudflare Captcha page, something they might expect to see on many websites. However, in this scenario the Captcha page is a convincing fake, designed to begin the infection process. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/wordpress-clickfix-infostealer/

BlackSanta EDR-Killer Targets HR Teams in CV-Themed Campaign

(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Magazine) A new malware campaign targeting human resources and recruiting staff has seen attackers distribute malicious files disguised as job applications. The operation, uncovered by Aryaka Threat Research Lab, uses a specialized tool known as BlackSanta to disable endpoint detection and response (EDR) systems after a device has been compromised. The campaign mainly spreads through phishing emails containing links to files presented as resumes. When opened, the files trigger a multi-stage infection process that quietly deploys malware on the victim’s system. The researchers said the attack chain allows the threat actors to gather detailed system information before launching additional payloads. Aryaka’s analysis indicates that the group behind the operation is likely Russian-speaking. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/blacksanta-edr-killer-targets-hr/

Frontiers

Dutch firms rank among EU leaders in sustainable ICT

(DigWatch) Businesses in the Netherlands rank among the leading adopters of sustainable ICT practices in the EU, according to data from Statistics Netherlands and Eurostat. Around one quarter of companies use digital tools to reduce material consumption and improve resource efficiency. – https://dig.watch/updates/dutch-firms-rank-as-eu-leaders-in-sustainable-ict

Amazon launches Health AI to assist with medical queries

(DigWatch) Amazon has launched a new AI-powered assistant, Health AI, on its website and mobile app. The tool is designed to answer health questions, explain medical records, manage prescriptions, and connect users with healthcare providers. Health AI can also book appointments and guide users based on their health information if they grant access to their records. The feature is currently limited to the US, with a wider rollout planned in the coming weeks. The assistant is linked with One Medical, Amazon’s healthcare service, allowing users to communicate with licensed professionals through messages, video consultations, or in-person visits. It can also send prescription renewal requests and suggest relevant health products. – https://dig.watch/updates/amazon-launches-health-ai-to-assist-with-medical-queries