Extortion stories - IT Brief UK

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Former Black Basta affiliates target executives in Teams

2 days ago

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ReliaQuest says suspected former Black Basta operators are bombarding staff with emails and posing as IT support in Microsoft Teams to reach senior executives.

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Deepfake report finds US & X lead global incidents

4 days ago

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UK trails US in deepfake threat ranking as identifAI flags X as main spreader and political manipulation as the top use case.

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World Backup Day warnings over ransomware resilience gaps

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Cybersecurity experts say many firms are still relying on fragmented backup tools and untested recovery plans as ransomware attacks and cloud complexity surge.

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Google Mandiant report spots faster, stealthier cyberattacks

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Google's latest Mandiant report warns cyberattacks are faster and stealthier as AI-powered tools narrow defenders' response times to seconds.

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Manchester City names N-able as official cyber partner

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Manchester City appoints N-able as official cyber partner to safeguard its expanding digital operations and global fan data footprint.

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AI agents drive surge in cyber threats & extortion

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AI agents are fuelling a new wave of cyber risk, as criminals weaponise automation to speed up ransomware and sharpen extortion tactics.

Big firms detect cyberattacks but fail to contain them

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Big businesses can spot cyber intrusions but struggle to contain them fast, leaving cloud-era networks exposed to deeper, costlier breaches.

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Ransomware dominates UK cyber incidents, data loss surges

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Ransomware drives over half of UK cyber incidents as data loss surges, with healthcare, retail and complex supply chains hardest hit.

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Ransomware attacks surge 50% as industrial firms hit hardest

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Global ransomware attacks jump 50% to 7,874 in 2025, with industrial firms bearing the brunt as criminal groups reshuffle their tactics.

Ransomware attacks dip but NCC warns threat evolving

Fri, 27th Feb 2026

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Global ransomware attacks fell 17% in January, but NCC warns evolving tactics, AI and messaging apps mean risk is not receding.

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ShinyHunters pivots to subdomain phishing & vishing

Fri, 27th Feb 2026

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cloud security

ShinyHunters shifts to subdomain-brand phishing and vishing on mobiles, bypassing domain checks to hijack SSO logins and SaaS sessions.

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AI-driven cyber attacks now breach networks in minutes

Thu, 26th Feb 2026

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AI-fuelled hackers can now spread across corporate networks in as little as four minutes, outpacing human defenders by hours.

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WatchGuard warns of surge in evasive, encrypted malware

Fri, 20th Feb 2026

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WatchGuard reports a 1,548% surge in new evasive malware and a 2,000% jump in encrypted threats, straining signature-based defences.

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AI-driven phishing surge dominates 2025 cyberattacks

Thu, 19th Feb 2026

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AI-powered phishing drives a sharp 2025 surge in email and chat attacks, as Acronis warns of a new era of automated cybercrime at scale.

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Record ransomware surge as 7,458 victims named in 2025

Wed, 18th Feb 2026

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Ransomware hits record 7,458 named victims in 2025 as 124 gangs crowd dark web leak sites and new “supergroup” alliances emerge.

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Okta warns of North Korean fraud in remote tech hiring

Fri, 13th Feb 2026

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Okta warns North Korean operatives are landing remote tech jobs with stolen and synthetic identities to fund the regime and enable cyber attacks.

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AI-fuelled cyber attacks surge 70%, Check Point warns

Fri, 30th Jan 2026

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AI-driven hacking has pushed weekly cyber attacks up 70% since 2023, with Check Point warning campaigns are faster, broader and harder to stop.

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Fewer ransomware gangs, but more victims in late 2025

Thu, 29th Jan 2026

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Ransomware gangs shrank in number but hit more victims in late 2025, with leak-site postings soaring despite fewer active groups.

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AI reshapes data privacy as trust & attacks escalate

Thu, 29th Jan 2026

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AI is transforming data privacy as mistrust soars and cyber attacks accelerate, pushing firms to verify every identity and machine action.

AI drives 70% surge in weekly cyber attacks in 2025

Thu, 29th Jan 2026

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AI-fuelled automation drove a 70% surge in weekly cyber attacks in 2025, with nearly 2,000 incidents per organisation, Check Point warns.