Cybersecurity

Free built-in settings to block gambling ads, adult sites and risky apps on Android, iPhone, YouTube and Google, and what to do if your child is targeted.

CISF screeners at Goa's Dabolim airport intercepted two Delhi-bound passengers carrying concealed Bluetooth cheating kits linked to the IIT Goa Non-Teaching Staff Recruitment exam. One admitted he had sat the exam in place of another candidate. Both were handed to police and a case has been registered.

South Korea's ARTEX-linked bank hacks did not breach isolated internal networks. They hit poorly managed, internet-facing portals built for loan brokers, sales staff and partners. Korean regulators agree, and say the network-separation easing is not to blame. For India's NBFCs, digital lenders and fintechs, which rely heavily on agent, partner and API access, the lesson is to secure every external touchpoint as tightly as the core.

HexStrike AI is an open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets AI agents such as Claude, GPT, Copilot and Cursor select, configure and run more than 150 security tools on their own. This explainer covers its architecture, tool arsenal and value for authorised testing. It also sets out the governance controls CISOs need before any pilot: scoping, human approval gates, isolation, logging and dual-use risk.

Court filings and an FBI subpoena response now circulating among threat-intelligence researchers show what Telegram hands over to investigators: a user's numeric ID, username, phone number and last-login IP address with a timestamp. In one case, Telegram also switched on additional logging for the targeted accounts to capture that data. The records undercut the belief, common among cybercriminals, that Telegram offers complete anonymity.

Attackers are running Google search ads for "claude mac" whose destination is a genuine Bing search result. The chain passes through a compromised retail site to a fake Claude download page that copies a malicious terminal command to the clipboard. Push Security calls the technique "Adception": it slips past Google's ad review and link scanners by showing them only trusted domains, and serves the payload only to victims who arrive through the exact path.

CERT-In has issued a critical advisory (CIAD-2026-0046) warning that attackers are stealing payment API credentials from NBFCs, fintechs, payment providers and wallets, then triggering fund transfers directly to mule accounts. It flags the possible use of AI-assisted offensive frameworks. The alert follows a wave of AI-assisted API breaches at seven South Korean financial firms that exposed data on more than 67,000 people. In both cases attackers went through weakly guarded side APIs.

Impersonation through fake brand stores, cloned support pages and scam ads is one of the fastest-growing forms of social media fraud. Meta removed over 159 million scam ads in 2025, and the FTC recorded $2.1 billion in reported social media scam losses for Americans. Meta's Brand Rights Protection tool gives verified trademark owners AI-assisted monitoring, bulk reporting and allowlisting to find and remove fakes on Facebook and Instagram.

India’s Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) held S4C Connect, a workshop on cryptocurrency and darkweb crime, in New Delhi on 8 October 2026. Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, I4C CEO Rajesh Kumar, state and UT cybercrime chiefs and industry experts attended. The aim was to tighten coordination between the Centre and states as crypto laundering and darkweb markets drive more fraud.

Japan’s JPCERT/CC has warned of a run of intrusions around September 2026 that leaked large volumes of personal data from Japanese organisations. Attackers scanned for known flaws, reverse-engineered mobile apps to find hidden API endpoints and keys, abused internal admin APIs and NoSQL injection, and exploited the Metabase SQL injection flaw CVE-2026-72898. Internal BI tools and staff systems were also hit.

Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested a 36-year-old Madhya Pradesh software developer accused of building and selling 2,805 malicious Android APKs to fraud gangs. Police link the apps to 9,673 victims nationwide and about ₹150 crore in fraud. The case shows how ready-made malware is sold as a service outside Google Play.

Pakistan’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency says its Multan unit has arrested two men allegedly involved in registering and using multiple fake SIM cards linked to financial scams. Officers recovered two mobile phones. The case fits a wider pattern of “mule SIMs” used to hide the real callers behind fraud.