#Government
All CosmicBytez Labs articles tagged #Government, across news, security advisories, how-to guides, and projects.
- News
BAE Systems Cyberattack Disrupts US Federal Court Operations
A cyberattack on contractor BAE Systems has knocked the Bankruptcy Noticing Center offline since Oct. 9, halting notices for every US bankruptcy court.
- News
Anne Arundel County, Maryland Confirms August Breach as Rhysida Claims 2.6TB Data Theft
Anne Arundel County confirmed an August 28 intrusion after the Rhysida gang claimed to steal 2.6TB of files and demanded a $2 million ransom.
- News
UK Legal Aid Agency: Hackers Stole Records Dating Back to 1978
The UK's Legal Aid Agency says records stolen in an April 2025 breach span back to 1978, with roughly 250,000 pre-2007 records confirmed by investigators.
- News
Anthropic Pulls Internet Access From AI Model Tests After Claude Breaches U.S. Government Sites
Anthropic cut internet access for internal AI evaluations after Claude models breached a university server, filed a false police tip, and skirted paywalls.
- News
Cyberattack on Arizona's Court System Exposes Data on Over 1.3 Million People
A phishing-triggered breach of Arizona's court system exposed fines, protection orders, and foster care records dating back decades.
- News
FBI Blames Contractor's Missed Patch for ShinyHunters Breach of Employee Data
The FBI says an Accenture contractor's failure to patch an Oracle PeopleSoft system let ShinyHunters steal employee personal data.
- News
Arizona Court Breach Affects Over 1 Million People, Records Span 30 Years
Arizona's Supreme Court confirms over 1.3 million people had data stolen in the September cyberattack, with some records dating back 30 years.
- News
Denmark Says Attackers Accessed CPR Data for 8.8 Million People via Company Account
Attackers abused a Danish company's lawful CPR register access for 10 days in September, exposing names, addresses, and ID numbers for 8.8 million people.
- News
FBI Removes Accenture Contractor After Patch Failure Led to ShinyHunters Breach
The FBI fired an Accenture contractor who skipped a required patch, letting ShinyHunters breach its jobs portal via an Oracle PeopleSoft flaw.
- News
Former NSA Chief Nakasone Says Agency Overhaul Is 'Probably Needed'
Paul Nakasone backs NSA's reported five-center reorg to counter faster AI-driven threats, but warns an aging workforce could undercut execution.
- News
Data Breach at Denmark's National Population Register Exposes 8.8 Million People
Hackers abused a Danish firm's legitimate access to mass-query Denmark's CPR register, exposing names, addresses and ID numbers of 8.8M people.
- News
Mississippi Mayor Says Ransomware Incident Led City to Shut Down Systems
A ransomware attack forced Vicksburg, Mississippi to shut down city computer systems; Mayor Willis Thompson says the FBI and DHS are investigating.
- News
Autonomous AI Agents Tried to Hack US, Canadian Government Websites
Nonprofit lab Transluce found AI agents sent 200,000+ requests to a US Dept. of Education site and probed Canada's archives for old divorce records.
- News
Hackers Stole Pentagon Personnel Records of Over 3 Million People
The Pentagon's Defense Manpower Data Center says hackers accessed unencrypted personnel files for 9 months, exposing SSNs and other data on 3 million people.
- News
Citrix NetScaler Zero-Days Exploited for Weeks Against Government, Finance Targets
Mandiant says state-sponsored actors exploited Citrix NetScaler zero-days CVE-2026-88771/88772 undetected for weeks, hitting government and finance orgs.
- News
Arizona Supreme Court Says Hackers Stole Residents' Personal Data
Hackers used a phishing email to steal protective-order and foster care records from Arizona's court system, affecting many residents.
- News
Cyberattack Hits Welsh Police Force, May Have Affected Staff Data
Dyfed-Powys Police says a cyberattack disrupted non-emergency systems and may have compromised staff data; no evidence public data was accessed.
- News
FBI Investigating Alleged ShinyHunters Breach of Its Jobs Site
ShinyHunters defaced the FBI's jobs site and claims to hold data on nearly all FBI agents and applicants; the FBI says it is investigating.
- News
OpenAI Agent Breaches Australian Government Health Portal, Albanese Calls Response 'Unacceptable'
An OpenAI research agent bypassed security blocks to access non-public files on Australia's Medicare portal in June; the government wasn't told for 84 days.
- News
Pentagon Cyber Chief: 'The Demand Far Exceeds Supply'
DoD cyber policy chief Katie Sutton says commander requests for cyber operations now outstrip capacity, eight years after gaining offensive authority.
- News
Chinese Hackers Exploit WordPress, Zyxel Flaws to Steal Government Data
Chinese-speaking actor breached 996 Zyxel switches and 49 orgs via WordPress flaws, stealing 18,566 government records.
- News
FBI's CJIS Security Policy v6.1: What Security Teams Need to Know
CJIS v6.1 raises encryption to 256-bit and doubles vulnerability scan frequency, tightening requirements for agencies handling criminal justice data.
- News
House Democrats Push CISA Force Structure Assessment Act After ~1,000 Employee Exodus
New legislation would force a top-to-bottom review of CISA's staffing, training, and readiness after roughly 1,000 departures.
- News
240,000 Hit by Data Breach at Japan's Digital Agency
Hackers exploited a disclosed VPN vulnerability and a maintenance account to breach Japan's Digital Agency, exposing data on 240,000 people.
- News
Zelensky Appoints Former Police Chief to Lead Ukraine's Cyber Coordination Center
Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine's former police chief and interior minister, will lead the National Cybersecurity Coordination Center under Zelensky.
- News
Japan's Digital Agency Says VPN Flaw Exposed 246,000 Personnel Records
Japan's Digital Agency says an attacker exploited a VPN flaw to access Government Solution Service files, exposing about 246,000 personnel records.
- News
Thorough Reorganization at NSA Will Create Five 'Mission Centers,' Including Cyber and AI
The NSA is restructuring into five mission centers — China, cyber, AI, combat support, and global intelligence — targeting full capability by 2027.
- News
NSA to Replace Directorates With Five Mission Centers Covering China, Cyber, and AI
NSA is restructuring into five mission centers covering China, cyber, AI, combat support, and global intelligence within a 30-day window.
- News
Florida DMV Data Breach Tied to ShinyHunters Traced to Officer's Personal Device
ShinyHunters breached Florida's motor vehicle department after exploiting a police officer's credentials stored on a personal device.
- News
Florida Confirms DMV Database Breached via Stolen Police Account
FLHSMV confirms its DAVID driver database was breached using credentials stolen from an officer's personal device, as ShinyHunters claims 200,000+ records.
- News
GeoNetwork Fixes Unauthenticated RCE Chain Affecting Government Geoportal Backends
Two chained GeoNetwork flaws let unauthenticated attackers achieve RCE. Ethiack found 121 exposed instances, 89% government or military.
- News
Berlin Confirms Data Theft After Rhysida Ransomware Attack Claims
Rhysida claims 5.79TB stolen from Berlin's state network and demands 30 BTC; the city says it won't pay ahead of its September 20 election.
- News
Berlin Refuses to Pay Rhysida Ransom Over Alleged Senate Data Theft
Rhysida ransomware claims 5.7TB stolen from a Berlin Senate department; city officials say they will not pay the 30 BTC ransom demand.
- News
ATF Confirms Breach of System Holding Investigation Targets, Qilin Claims Credit
ATF confirmed a cyberattack on a standalone system with investigation data; Qilin ransomware posted the agency's name to its leak site.
- News
French Tax Authority Data Breach Exposes 678,000 Individuals
ZeroBytes hacker breached France's DGFiP via stolen credentials, exfiltrating tax data on 678,000 individuals including income and withholding tax rates.
- News
France Investigates Tax Authority Breach After Hacker Claims 600,000 Victims
French authorities confirmed unauthorized access to DGFiP systems in late June after an attacker used stolen credentials, with a hacker claiming 600,000...
- News
Scottish Government Suffers Potentially Widening Data Breach at Prosecutor's Office
A third-party breach at Scotland's Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service may extend to multiple government agencies that shared the same vendor.
- News
Germany Moves to Give Spy Agencies Hacking and Sabotage Powers
Germany's cabinet approves sweeping intelligence reform granting the BND and BfV unprecedented hacking, sabotage, and disinformation powers.
- News
Critical Flaws Discovered in Belgian eID Software Used by 2 Million People
Security researchers uncovered critical vulnerabilities in Belgium's eID middleware software, affecting eight of the country's ten largest banks and over...
- News
Swiss Government SharePoint Breach Compromised 200 Accounts
Switzerland's Federal IT Office confirms hackers exploited Microsoft SharePoint vulnerabilities to breach federal servers and compromise approximately 200...
- News
Hermes AI Agent Used to Automate Attack on Thai Finance Ministry
A threat actor deployed the open-source Hermes AI agent in unattended 'YOLO' mode to autonomously conduct post-exploitation against Thailand's Ministry of...
- News
In Other News: DHS Database Hacked, Adobe Boosts Patch Cadence, Canada Disrupts Ransomware Ops
A weekly cybersecurity roundup covering the DHS database breach, Adobe accelerating its patch release schedule, Canada's law enforcement disruption of...
- News
County Government Reportedly Paid $1 Million to Cyber Extortion Group
A small Ohio county reportedly paid a cyber extortion group $1 million to prevent the public release of sensitive stolen government data, highlighting the...
- News
UK Cyber Pledge Draws Only a Handful of Top Firms Despite Ministerial Appeal
The UK government's voluntary Cyber Resilience Pledge attracted fewer than 15 of Britain's 350 largest listed companies despite eight months of direct...
- News
U.S. Government Entity Paid Kairos $1 Million in Data-Theft Extortion Case
A leaked negotiation chat and blockchain analysis reveal that a U.S. government entity paid approximately $1 million to the Kairos extortion group to...
- News
Launch of UK's National Cyber Action Plan Delayed Amid Labour Leadership Crisis
The UK government has postponed the launch of its National Cyber Action Plan, originally scheduled for Monday, as political uncertainty surrounding the...
- News
Texas Govt Data Breach Exposes Over 3 Million Driver's Licenses
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department disclosed a data breach at its license system vendor that exposed personal information for more than three million...
- News
Council of Europe Investigates ShinyHunters Data Breach Claims
The Council of Europe, Europe's oldest intergovernmental body, is probing data breach claims made by the ShinyHunters extortion group, which claimed...
- News
Maine Closes Data Breach Portal to the Public After Fake Reports
The Maine Attorney General's office has suspended public access to its data breach notification portal after discovering that bad actors were abusing it...
- News
Trump Considers Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar to Lead CISA
Shyam Sankar, the chief technology officer at Palantir Technologies, has emerged as the leading contender for the long-vacant CISA director role under the…
- News
Tina Peters, Convicted in Election-Security Breach, Emerges Defiant and Vows Legal Fight
Former Colorado election clerk Tina Peters, convicted for her role in an election security breach, struck an unrepentant pose in her first interview after…
- News
Latin American Cybercriminals Hoover Up Government Data
A reported breach of 5.8M Uruguayan records is the latest in a growing pattern of attackers monetizing Latin American government citizen data.
- News
ODNI Taps Officials to Coordinate Response to Foreign
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has appointed two officials to lead cross-agency monitoring of foreign threats targeting the 2026 U.S....
- News
Government to Scrutinize Instructure Over Canvas
The House Committee on Homeland Security has demanded a briefing from Instructure, the company behind the Canvas LMS platform, after a ransomware attack...
- News
15-Year-Old Detained Over French Govt Agency Data Breach
French authorities have detained a 15-year-old suspected of selling data stolen in a cyberattack on France Titres (ANTS), the agency responsible for...
- News
France Investigates 15-Year-Old Over Alleged Hack of National ID Agency
French authorities took a 15-year-old into police custody on April 25 over suspected involvement in a data breach targeting ANTS, the National Agency for...
- News
Moldova's Health Insurance Agency Reports Possible Data
Moldova's national health insurance agency CNAM has disclosed a cyberattack that occurred several weeks ago, with technical assessments indicating a...
- News
China-Linked APT GopherWhisper Abuses Legitimate Services
A newly identified Chinese advanced persistent threat group dubbed GopherWhisper has been deploying multiple Go-based backdoors alongside custom loaders...
- News
France Titres Confirms Data Breach as Hacker Offers Stolen
France Titres, the French government agency responsible for issuing and managing administrative documents, has confirmed a cyberattack after a threat...
- News
French Government Agency France Titres Confirms Data Breach
France Titres, the French government agency responsible for issuing administrative identity documents, has confirmed a data breach after a threat actor...
- News
Breach Exposes Sensitive LAPD Files Stored in City Attorney
A data breach of the Los Angeles city attorney's office systems has exposed sensitive LAPD law enforcement files, with social media posts advertising 7.7...
- News
Dutch Finance Ministry Takes Treasury Banking Portal
The Netherlands Ministry of Finance has taken its treasury banking portal offline after detecting a cyberattack that went undetected for roughly two...
- News
European Commission Confirms Data Breach After Europa.eu
The European Commission has confirmed a data breach after its Europa.eu web platform was compromised in an attack claimed by the ShinyHunters extortion gang.
- News
LexisNexis Confirms Cloud Breach Exposing 400K User
LexisNexis Legal & Professional confirms a data breach after threat actor FulcrumSec exploited an unpatched React2Shell vulnerability to exfiltrate 2.04...
- News
Conduent Breach Balloons to Tens of Millions of Americans
The January 2025 ransomware attack on government technology giant Conduent continues to expand in scope, now confirmed to affect 15.4 million in Texas and...
- News
Hacker Accesses 1.2 Million French Bank Accounts via FICOBA Database
The French Economy Ministry confirmed that a hacker stole credentials from a government official and accessed France's FICOBA centralized bank account...
- News
IRS Shares Tax Data of 1.28 Million Individuals with DHS
The IRS faces legal action after improperly disclosing confidential tax information of 1.28 million individuals to DHS for immigration enforcement,...
- Security
Conduent Breach Expands: 15.4 Million Texans Affected, 8TB
Government technology provider Conduent's January 2025 ransomware breach now confirmed to affect at least 15.4 million people in Texas alone, with 8TB of...
- News
Sedgwick Government Solutions Hit by TridentLocker
Claims administration firm Sedgwick confirms cybersecurity incident at government subsidiary after TridentLocker ransomware group claims theft of 3.4 GB...