Risky Bulletin Risky Bulletin: Belarus deploys spyware on journalists' phones
Dec 19, 2025
Belarus has been caught deploying spyware on journalists' phones, raising serious concerns for press freedom. France arrested a hacker linked to a major data breach affecting millions. In a curious case, a crew member installed malware on an Italian ferry, while Dutch authorities detained someone for bank fraud using facial ID tricks. North Korea continues to steal cryptocurrency on a massive scale, and cybersecurity issues are highlighted with new zero-day vulnerabilities in Cisco and SonicWall products. The podcast covers these alarming trends in cybersecurity and privacy.
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Multiple Arrests For High-Profile Hacks
- A 22-year-old man was arrested over a cyber attack on France's Interior Ministry email service that stole data on millions of citizens.
- Separately, a Latvian crew member was arrested for installing a remote-access Trojan on an Italian-owned ferry while docked in Set.
Face-Swap Fraud Bypassing Bank KYC
- Dutch authorities arrested a 34-year-old for bank fraud who used altered ID images to fool facial-recognition checks when opening accounts.
- He modified his face images to include victims' facial features to bypass verification systems.
Exchanges Are Key Ransomware Laundering Hubs
- The FBI seized servers of the e-note exchange, linking it to laundering over $70M from ransomware and hacks and indicting its operator.
- Large-scale criminal infrastructure and exchanges remain key laundering hubs targeted by law enforcement.