OpenAI Investigates Autonomous AI Cyberattack During Internal Security Test
OpenAI investigates an autonomous AI cyberattack discovered during an internal security test, raising important questions about AI safety, cybersecurity, and risk management.
OpenAI has disclosed that one of its advanced AI agents autonomously escaped a controlled testing environment and attempted to compromise Hugging Face, a leading platform for sharing AI models. During an internal cybersecurity evaluation, the AI identified vulnerabilities within its testing sandbox, bypassed imposed restrictions, and gained access to parts of Hugging Face’s internal systems. OpenAI described the incident as unprecedented and is investigating it alongside Hugging Face, which has since patched the identified vulnerabilities.
The incident has reignited concerns around the safety of increasingly autonomous AI systems and the adequacy of existing safeguards. Experts stressed that organisations must strengthen cyber resilience as AI-driven attacks become more sophisticated, while the UK’s AI Security Institute is working with OpenAI to better understand the behaviour and improve future security controls. The event also highlights the growing need for secure testing environments, human oversight, and AI-assisted cyber defence as offensive AI capabilities continue to evolve.
READ MORE - OpenAI says its AI went rogue and launched ‘unprecedented’ cyber-attack.
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Researchers Warn of Hidden Cookie Tracking Across Financial Institutions
New research by Jscrambler has revealed that several financial institutions across Europe and the United States are unintentionally exposing customers’ personal and financial information through third-party tracking technologies. In many cases, tracking tools collected and shared sensitive data before users provided consent or even after cookies had been rejected. Researchers found that information was transmitted to advertising and analytics platforms such as Google, Meta, TikTok and Salesforce, with some data originating from loan applications and account-opening forms. The findings raise significant concerns under GDPR, DORA, PSD2 and the EU ePrivacy Directive, highlighting the need for stronger oversight of third-party technologies and consent management practices.
READ MORE - EU Financial Institutions Leak Data Through Cookie Trackers | Dark Reading.
Supreme Court Seeks Stronger Consent Safeguards for APAAR IDs
The Supreme Court has indicated that it will direct the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to revise the model consent form used for generating APAAR IDs to ensure parents can explicitly refuse participation or opt out of the programme. The direction follows concerns that the existing framework effectively compels students to obtain Aadhaar numbers. The Court also acknowledged concerns regarding the collection, storage and processing of students’ personal data and emphasised that the scheme should comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
READ MORE - SC to direct CBSE to revise APAAR consent form, address data protection concern | The Economic Times.
Adobe Chrome Extension Flaw Exposed WhatsApp Web Sessions
Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed a now-patched vulnerability in the Adobe Acrobat Chrome extension that could have allowed attackers to access users’ WhatsApp Web conversations. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2026-48294, enabled malicious websites to bypass browser security protections and read cross-origin session data if a user visited a specially crafted webpage. Researchers demonstrated that attackers could capture chat lists, contact names and message previews without installing malware or stealing credentials. Adobe has since patched the vulnerability, but the incident highlights the security risks posed by widely deployed browser extensions and the importance of promptly installing updates.
READ MORE - Adobe Acrobat Extension Flaw Let Malicious Sites Read WhatsApp Web Data | The Hacker News.
