Governance, Regulation, Legislation, Geostrategies

 

SAHRC releases report on child online protection – The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has released its report on children’s privacy and safety online, following a stakeholder conference held in Johannesburg on 28 March 2026. The report, Children’s Rights to Privacy and Safety on Online Platforms: Legislative Gaps and the Case for Reform, examines whether South Africa’s existing legal framework is keeping pace with the risks children face on digital platforms. – https://dig.watch/updates/south-africa-calls-for-stronger-child-online-safety-laws

 

EESC debates European technological sovereignty and promotes digitally skilled workforce – During the October plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) which took place on October 21 and 22, attendees conducted a debate on European technological sovereignty which brought up questions about industrial competitiveness, economic resilience, and control over critical digital infrastructure. The EESC highlighted that the European Union needed to strengthen its capabilities in strategic technologies like AI and semiconductors as well as develop its digital workforce. – https://dig.watch/updates/eesc-links-tech-sovereignty-to-digital-workforce

 

China targets zero-carbon computing facilities in new industrial climate plan – China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has published a new action plan to strengthen carbon emissions management across the industrial and information technology sectors between 2026 and 2030. The plan includes the development of zero-carbon computing facilities alongside factories and industrial parks, bringing digital infrastructure into the country’s broader decarbonisation framework. – https://dig.watch/updates/china-zero-carbon-computing-facilities-climate

 

UK Environment Agency calls for greater transparency on data centre water use – The UK’s Environment Agency has called for greater transparency and stronger consideration of water efficiency in datacentre development, warning that existing monitoring arrangements provide an incomplete picture of the sector’s water consumption. In written evidence submitted to Parliament, the agency said data centres are not required to report site-level water use to the regulator and suggested that major non-household water consumers should publish their consumption and efficiency measures. – https://dig.watch/updates/uk-environment-agency-data-centre-water

 

Security, Surveillance

 

FBI and CISA Warn of SafePay Ransomware Attacks on 600 Organizations – CISA, the FBI, the US Secret Service, Germany’s Landeskriminalamt Rheinland-Pfalz, and two UK law enforcement agencies jointly published an advisory this week on SafePay, a ransomware group they describe as one of the most active operations currently running. The group has breached at least 600 organizations across critical infrastructure sectors since August 2024, spanning North America, South America, Europe, and Australia. “Since August 2024, SafePay ransomware group’s operations have affected a wide range of businesses and critical infrastructure in North America, South America, Europe, and Australia. SafePay ransomware was among the most active ransomware groups in 2026. The SafePay threat actors have impacted at least 600 separate victims from multiple critical infrastructure sectors.” reads the joint advisory, “The authoring agencies encourage organizations to implement the recommendations in the Mitigations section of this advisory to reduce the likelihood and impact of SafePay ransomware incidents.” – https://securityaffairs.com/201464/cyber-crime/fbi-and-cisa-warn-of-safepay-ransomware-attacks-on-600-organizations.html

 

PHP2Shell Attacks Started Four Days Before Public Disclosure, AWS Reports – Attackers attempted to exploit two critical PHP vulnerabilities four days before the flaws became public, according to Amazon Threat Intelligence. “Amazon Threat Intelligence identified a PHP2Shell exploitation attempt dating to Oct. 17, 2026, in MadPot telemetry, four days before public disclosure of CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619.” reads the report published by Amazon team.”The exploit attempt originated from an IP address associated with a commercial anonymization network. While the vulnerability was under embargo, the targeting of a honeypot from an anonymized IP address suggests the activity was conducted by a threat actor, though it remains unclear how the actor acquired exploit information prior to disclosure”. The activity began on October 17, 2026, and appeared in telemetry from MadPot, AWS’s network of honeypots designed to attract and study malicious activity. The company said the first attempt targeted a honeypot from an IP address linked to a commercial anonymization network. The vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619, were still under embargo at the time. – https://securityaffairs.com/201479/hacking/php2shell-attacks-started-four-days-before-public-disclosure-aws-reports.html

 

Russian Satellite Makes a Close Approach To A Commercial Radar Satellite Used by Ukraine – A Russian-made satellite called Kosmos 2612 got very close to ICEYE-X36 last week, a commercial Earth-observation satellite that may support countries like Ukraine. CNN reports it may have come within less than a mile. Orbital monitoring company LeoLabs says the behavior is consistent with rendezvous and proximity operations, meaning maneuvers designed to bring two spacecraft together. “A rare move by a Russian-made satellite may have brought it within less than a mile of a commercial Earth-observation satellite that may be used to provide national security services to countries such as Ukraine.” states CNN. “It’s not clear what, exactly, the Russian satellite, called Kosmos 2612 or Cosmos 2612, intended to accomplish with its close approach. But the behavior was consistent with rendezvous and proximity operations, or maneuvers carried out in orbit that are designed to bring two spacecraft together, said orbital monitoring services company LeoLabs, which tracks space junk and activity in Earth orbit, in a statement.” – https://securityaffairs.com/201446/breaking-news/russian-satellite-makes-a-close-approach-to-a-commercial-radar-satellite-used-by-ukraine.html

 

European Commission released a study on online financial scams – The European Commission released a study on financial scams on online platforms and the measures available to counter them. The study was commissioned in 2025 to support the Commission’s supervisory and enforcement tasks under the Digital Services Act. The study provides a typological mapping of online financial scams and categorises them into six broad groups: (i) investment scams, (ii) romance scams, (iii) e‑commerce scams, (iv) employment and collaboration scams, (v) unexpected‑gain scams, and (vi) disaster‑relief scams. It finds that investment scams and romance scams are the most common and fastest‑growing forms of scams in Europe and notes that the scam landscape is increasingly redefined by overlapping methods across different categories. – https://dig.watch/updates/eu-commission-released-study-on-financial-scams

 

Ransomware Attacks Rise as Rival Gangs Vie For Market Supremacy – Almost 3000 ransomware attacks took place between July and September 2026 and the figure marked a significant increase when compared with the same period last year. According to an analysis by Nord Security, the 2894 ransomware attacks which took place during the quarter represents a 50% increase when compared with the same period last year. It also represents a slight increase when compared with the previous quarter of this year, as the July to September period saw an 8.6% rise in ransomware attacks when compared with April to June. Published on October 21, the Nord Security report suggested that the significant rise in ransomware activity is a result of the impact of law enforcement takedowns on ransomware groups. Researchers suggested that the action against the likes of Lockbit, BlackCat and RansomHub helped to reduce ransomware activity during 2025. “Now, the market is stabilizing, and the numbers we see today are merely the first stepping stone in ransomware’s new era,” said Vakaris Noreika, VP of product research and development at Nord Security. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/rival-gangs-vie-for-market/

 

What Amazon’s Blocking of Meta’s AI Shopping Agent Reveals About Current Identity Protocols – Amazon recently blocked Muse, Meta’s AI shopping agent, from making purchases on its site. According to Amazon, Meta never requested access to its store, Muse doesn’t identify itself as an agent while browsing, and it appears to capture and store customer credentials, all without Amazon’s knowledge or consent. Meta counters that credentials go into secure storage the model itself never reads. Amazon’s terms now require agents to identify themselves via a text snippet in HTTP requests; Muse doesn’t send one. Strip away the corporate sparring and this is a familiar security problem wearing a new outfit: one organization’s autonomous software is acting inside another organization’s systems, and there’s no shared way to establish who, or what, is actually there. We solved this for humans years ago. OIDC and SAML let you log into a partner’s application without that partner managing your password, because there’s an agreed protocol for asserting identity and federating trust across organizational boundaries. That protocol doesn’t yet exist, in any adopted form, for agents. And the industry knows it. The OpenID Foundation published a whitepaper, Identity Management for Agentic AI, alongside concrete draft extensions like OIDC-A, which propose agent-specific claims and delegation chains on top of standard OpenID Connect. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence put out a concept paper on agent identity and authorization. In addition, OWASP’s Agentic Applications Top 10 names Identity & Privilege Abuse as a top-line risk category. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/opinions/amazon-metas-ai-shopping-agent/

 

Defense, Military, Warfare

 

Fabricated Russian Videos Backfire – Russian forces are using artificial intelligence-generated and manipulated videos to fabricate territorial gains in Ukraine, including around Kupiansk this month. These videos supplement traditional flag-raising operations and seek to create the appearance of battlefield success for Russian and foreign audiences. False battlefield reporting can distort Russian commanders’ understanding of the war against Ukraine and contribute to tactical errors. Repeatedly claiming territorial gains that have not occurred, reinforced by fabricated visual evidence, can obscure actual frontline conditions from higher command. Controlled information operations can support battlefield objectives when synchronized with military operations. Delayed disclosures, accurate footage, and targeted refutations can deny Russia operational intelligence while strengthening domestic and international confidence in Ukraine’s military position while undermining trust in Russian claims. – https://jamestown.org/kazakhstan-reaffirms-russian-energy-ties-as-ukrainian-drones-hit-oil-exports/

 

Courts and Litigation

 

California secures $6 million settlement over 23andMe genetic data – California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a $6 million settlement on 19 October 2026 with Chrome Holding Co., formerly known as 23andMe Holding Co., resolving legal disputes concerning a 2023 data breach and the subsequent sale of customers’ genetic information and biological samples during bankruptcy proceedings in the United States. The settlement was filed in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and remains subject to court approval. – https://dig.watch/updates/6-million-settlement-over-23andme-data

 

US court allows lawsuit over xAI data centre power plant to proceed – On 19 October 2026, US District Judge Debra M. Brown rejected the federal government’s attempt to dismiss an environmental lawsuit against xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, and its subsidiary, MZX Tech, which is into large-scale AI infrastructure and energy operations. She allowed the United States to join the proceedings on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency administrator. The court ruled that joining the case did not give the government authority to dismiss it unilaterally. – https://dig.watch/updates/us-court-allows-xai-data-centre-power-lawsuit

 

Meta ordered to pay $25 billion in New Mexico case over Cambridge Analytica scandal – A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after the company was found to have misled users about its privacy practices in a case related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Wednesday ruling marks one of the largest-ever legal penalties for a tech giant — and just the latest court loss for Meta this year. The company, then known as Facebook, disclosed in 2018 that the private information of as many as 87 million Facebook users was improperly obtained by political analytics firm Cambridge Analytica. The firm used that information to build profiles of American voters. New Mexico sued Facebook in 2021, accusing it of mishandling state residents’ personal information and deceiving those users about its policies in connection with the incident. – https://edition.cnn.com/2026/10/21/tech/meta-25-billion-new-mexico-judgment

 

Frontiers

 

Humanoid robot cuts model processing delay 8x with NVIDIA tech in internal tests – Bear Robotics says it has reduced the time needed to run a robotics foundation model by roughly eight times, from 500 milliseconds to 60 milliseconds, using NVIDIA software on its KR1 humanoid robot. The improvement comes through KINO-2, a new robot-learning platform designed to turn human demonstrations into tasks that KR1 can perform. The company reported a separate 4.2-fold improvement for its own model, reducing processing time from 72.3 milliseconds to 17.2 milliseconds. The figures come from Bear’s internal measurements and refer to model inference, the process of generating an output from a trained model. They do not mean the robot moves eight times faster or completes physical tasks eight times sooner. Bear Robotics, which develops robots for commercial operations, announced KINO-2 at NVIDIA GTC Berlin. The company says it has deployed more than 16,000 robots across over 5,000 customer locations, although most of those machines are service robots rather than humanoids. – https://interestingengineering.com/ai-robotics/bear-robotics-humanoid-nvidia-inference-speedup

 

Tesla fires up Optimus robot production with Musk eyeing 20,000 units per week by 2027 – Tesla has begun manufacturing its Optimus humanoid robots on production lines in Fremont, California, marking a key step toward commercial deployment. CEO Elon Musk now aims to scale output to 20,000 robots per week by the end of 2027. The factory previously built electric vehicles, but Tesla has repurposed the manufacturing space for its robotics ambitions. The initial production run marks the first time Tesla has manufactured Optimus units to production standards. However, reaching mass production will require further engineering work and improvements to manufacturing efficiency. Tesla disclosed the milestone in its third-quarter 2026 shareholder update. Musk cautioned investors that production would ramp up slowly because Optimus represents an entirely new product category for the company. – https://interestingengineering.com/ai-robotics/tesla-optimus-robot-enters-production