In the NEWS - Cybercrime, Infrastructure - but no AI - UPDATES

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We get plenty of cyber news in Germany. That’s why I focus on my area. Still, afaik we don’t get everything covered — or at least I don’t see everything all the time. But since the big blackout in Berlin a few weeks ago, I expect everyone to know that our infrastructure is built on thin ice. Cyberattacks, on the other hand, are still somewhat more niche, I feel. However, we do get frequent news and official warnings about ransomware attacks, like this one from earlier this month:

https://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/westfalen-lippe/cybersicherheit-handwerk-owl-100.html#:~:text=Der%20deutsche%20Mittelstand%20ist%20nur%20schlecht%20auf,kann%20den%20Weg%20f%C3%BCr%20Hacker%20in%20jeden

In other news, something I see personally on my Google News feed is trading and investment ads about AI and other trading apps. As a 40-year-old who grew up with IT and who is “in the market” (financial markets), I see these ads regularly and I know how much fake stuff is going on. I mean, I even get emails from politicians who want to send me money…

https://www.radiobielefeld.de/nachrichten/polizeibericht/cybertrading-betrug-fake-anlagetipps-von-politikern.html

Social engineering is still the classic approach that works best. As I learned 22 years ago: “the problem sits in front of the PC most of the time” and recent studies show that workshops about "cyber awareness" will not even help much:  https://today.ucsd.edu/story/cybersecurity-training-programs-dont-prevent-employees-from-falling-for-phishing-scams

Here, in Bielefeld, someone sent fake warnings about computer problems (probably something like “your computer is infected”), and victims ended up giving access to their PC, bank accounts and critical data. The crazy part is seeing attacks like that originating from around the corner — not from India. Usually you see these scammers coming from third party countries (look up scammers payback on Youtube).

https://www.radiobielefeld.de/nachrichten/polizeibericht/support-anrufer-betrug-computerbetrug-mit-gefaelschten-gefahrenmeldungen.html