BotNet News

CNTI’s Cyberthreat News keeps your teams informed of today’s most significant threats. It provides insights that inform your team’s attack surfaces and enables them to better protect their organizations and the information that is stored, used, and transmitted within them.

The top-level categories in this publication include spyware (malicious software that is used to gain unauthorized access to IT or OT systems and spread through them), denial-of-service attacks, malware, ransomware, and cyberattacks backed by states, including the use of generative AI technologies to digitally intimidate journalists and threaten press freedom. These threats are often part of broader intelligence and/or military activities and can be attributed to a wide range of actors, including states, powerful individuals, criminal networks, and extremist groups.

Journalists and newsrooms in many countries are concerned about or actively experiencing a variety of cyber threats, but for several cultural, institutional and individual-level reasons, these concerns do not always translate into changes in practices or policies to counter them. Those that do not adapt to new threats are at risk of losing revenue or reputational damage, as well as facing crippling financial costs from cyberattacks. For example, research shows that newsrooms with low digital literacy or a lack of technological infrastructure are more likely to experience cyberattacks. Similarly, a study of African newsrooms found that a lack of resources, funds, or technical infrastructure makes it more difficult for journalists to take advantage of free and open digital security tools, such as virtual private networks (VPNs). This can lead to higher levels of exposure to cyber threats and vulnerabilities.