BankInfoSecurity.com

Researchers Say PromptSpy Automates Persistence on Infected Devices
A newly discovered Android malware strain, "PromptSpy," is using Google's Gemini generative artificial intelligence model to automate part of its persistence mechanism, marking what researchers describe as the second known case of AI-driven mobile malware.

AI-powered ransomware compresses attacks from weeks to minutes. Michael Villar, director of field security technology at Akamai, says banks need AI-driven segmentation to contain intruders fast, limit lateral movement and protect sensitive data before extortion begins.

Also: EU Bans AI Tools, Notepad++ Secures Updater, Apple Patches iOS Zero-Day
This week, Cambodia shuttered 200 scam centers. EU Parliament banned AI tools. Canada Goose disputed a ShinyHunters leak. Notepad++ patched an updater flaw. Apple fixed a decades-old iOS zero-day. BeyondTrust and Dell patched critical flaws under active exploitation.

Analysts Urge Mandatory Guardrails on AI Agents, Identity and Privilege
Security leaders are pressing Treasury to embed enforceable guardrails - covering adversarial testing, AI inventory, identity privilege mapping and real-time monitoring - into its forthcoming financial-sector AI guidance as deepfake fraud, data poisoning and autonomous agent risks escalate.

Hospital, ER Open but All Clinics, Elective Care Cancelled Statewide; FBI Called In
The University of Mississippi Medical Center on Thursday said a ransomware attack has triggered its emergency operations plan and forced its hospitals to cancel all clinic and elective procedures at all locations statewide.

Ransomware, Lack of Visibility, Mischaracterizations and Nation-States, Oh My
There is a silent epidemic of ransomware attacks on commercial operational technology systems, which are mischaracterized as IT incidents even though they impact operational systems, claims a comprehensive annual review of cyberattacks targeting OT, published this week by security firm Dragos.

Cybercrime Gang Allegedly Stole 4.7 Terabytes of Data, Affecting 2.5M
Norton Healthcare, which operates nine hospitals and other care facilities in Kentucky and Indiana, has agreed to pay $11 million to settle class action litigation stemming from a 2023 data theft attack by ransomware-as-a-service gang Alphv/BlackCat that affected nearly 2.5 million people.

$300M Acquisition Strengthens Palo Alto Networks' XDR and AI Governance Platform
Palo Alto Networks plans to acquire Koi Security for $300 million to address growing AI-driven endpoint risks. The startup's technology adds deep visibility into AI agents plug-ins and nonbinary code, enhancing Cortex XDR and Prisma AIRS as enterprises confront a growing unmanaged AI attack surface.

Founder, CEO Martin Mao: AI-Driven Remediation, Data Optimization at Core of Deal
Palo Alto Networks' acquisition of Chronosphere will help unify observability and security operations. The integration with Cortex AgentiX and Cortex XSIAM aims to automate remediation, optimize telemetry pipelines and help enterprises manage soaring data volumes from cloud-native and AI workloads.

Router Maker Accuses Rivals, Competitors of Smear Campaign
The Texas attorney general invoked state consumer protection law to sue Wi-Fi router maker TP-Link Systems for misrepresenting its connections to mainland China and the security of its ubiquitous devices. The suit says TP-Link should be forced to declare that their products are made in China.

Fraud Specialist David Barnhardt on Addressing Authentication Risks of Agentic AI
Financial institutions are racing to deploy AI agents that can initiate payments, approve transactions and freeze accounts. But traditional authentication frameworks assume there's a human on the other end. As agentic AI use grows, banks are facing an authentication crisis that demands new controls.

Cyber threats are continuous, unpredictable, and increasingly sophisticated. This session provides actionable insights to help organisations prepare, respond, and recover with confidence—while enabling innovation and growth.

Why Reducing Data Volume Matters More Than Ever for SOCs and CISOs
Data minimization is often perceived as a constraint on innovation. In reality, it is the ultimate enabler of resilience. It reduces the impact of breaches, weakens ransomware leverage, improves SOC efficiency and secures the AI frontier.

AI chatbots rank as the number-one health tech hazard in 2026, followed by "digital darkness" and legacy medical device cyber issues, said Rob Schluth and Scott Luney, technology and security experts at patient safety group ECRI Institute, which compiles an annual top 10 list. They explained why.