Prompt injection attacks threaten AI chatbots, and other cybersecurity news to know this month

A total of 110.8 million accounts were leaked in the second quarter of the year, equivalent to 855 every minute.

Almost half of these breaches were of accounts originating in the US, while Russia, Spain, France and Turkey made up the rest of the top five most breached countries.

The global average cost of a data breach has increased by 15% in the past three years, according to a new IBM report. Cost of Data a Breach 2023 reveals that 51% of organizations plan to improve their cybersecurity as a result of a breach.

Basic cyber hygiene still protects against 98% of attacks, Microsoft says. The minimum standards every organization should adopt are: requiring phishing-resistant multifactor authentication; applying zero trust principles; using up-to-date anti-malware tools; keeping on top of systems and software updates; and protecting data.

The bonuses of top company executives are increasingly being tied to cybersecurity metrics. It is part of a trend to make cybersecurity a top-level consideration, with companies including Johnson & Johnson and the London Stock Exchange Group among those tying a portion of bonuses to a cyber goal in 2022.

The Five Eyes intelligence alliance has detailed how Russian state-sponsored hackers Sandworm are using an Android malware called Infamous Chisel to attack Ukranian soldiers’ devices, scan files, monitor traffic and steal sensitive information.

Microsoft has identified seven emerging hybrid warfare trends from Russia’s cyberwar with Ukraine. These include weaponizing pacifism by amplifying discontent about the war and stoking fears of World War III. Other tactics include demonizing refugees and mobilizing nationalism.

A cybercrime couple have pleaded guilty to trying to launder $4.5bn of Bitcoin stolen in a hack in 2016. Heather Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein were arrested last year after police traced the funds. Prior to her arrest, Morgan released a series of rap videos under the name Razzlekhan.

Consolidating cybersecurity tools and testing and augmenting resilience measures are among seven steps companies can take to control their cybersecurity spend without compromising on its effectiveness.

We need to be realistic about the impact of generative AI, Paul Swartz and Francois Candelon of the BCG Henderson Institute argue. Technology’s impact on productivity growth has been consistently overstated, they say, and analysts could be repeating that mistake with generative AI.