The Public Prosecution Service (OM), the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI), and the police have completed their pilot with genealogical DNA databases. The result is a completely new investigative tool for the Netherlands for serious criminal cases. In two of the six selected cold cases, the pilot yielded useful leads. The method compares DNA profiles from […]
Albert Heijn, Etos, and Gall & Gall have been dealing with a cybersecurity incident since Sunday afternoon, October 11. According to Albert Heijn, immediate measures were taken to protect the IT environment. Part of these measures included the preventive temporary shutdown of several systems. According to the company, recovery efforts are focused on the careful […]
According to the Danish newspaper Politiken, at least three user accounts of the Danish IT company Pays used the password “123456” at the time a hacker gained access to the Danish Civil Registration System (CPR). One of these accounts was the company’s administrator account. The incident demonstrates how a weak basic security measure can have […]
Revolut has inadvertently leaked customer identity documents following a fraudulent data request.Criminals posed as a government agency and successfully bypassed security procedures. This incident demonstrates that even large fintech companies are vulnerable to sophisticated social engineering. The leaked documents significantly increase the risk of identity fraud for those affected.It highlights the urgent need for stricter […]
The Dutch Data Protection Authority allows the Tax Administration to process special categories of personal data in exceptional cases. This data may be specifically used for bias and fairness research into automated selection systems. The primary objective of this measure is to effectively detect and correct discrimination by algorithms. This marks an interesting shift within […]
Oncology company Novocure reports that hackers gained access to internal systems in August, exposing the data of more than 1,400 American patients. For fewer than 50 patients, additional identifying information was stolen; contact and personnel data were also affected. According to Novocure, the attackers did not gain access to medical treatment equipment, and all systems […]
Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has committed another painful blunder with its facial recognition software. An innocent customer was wrongly identified as a shoplifter, after which he was publicly removed from the supermarket and prevented from paying for his groceries. Although Sainsbury’s later acknowledged the error and offered £150 in compensation – which the customer immediately donated […]
The Proofpoint AI-Era Ransomware Report 2026 shows that 65% of affected organisations state that AI makes ransomware attacks more effective through convincing phishing, impersonation, and password theft. Attacks increasingly start via human interaction rather than technical vulnerabilities, while 66% of victims also lost sensitive data. Notably, 58% paid the ransom, but 22% were subsequently extorted […]
OpenAI is currently testing a feature in the US that allows ChatGPT Pro users to link their bank and credit card accounts via Plaid for personal budget insights. Although the AI has read-only access and cannot perform transactions, privacy experts warn of significant risks. Due to the accessible, human-like conversational style of chatbots, users may […]
Google now allows users to log in via a selfie video, with the company storing this biometric data centrally. With each new login attempt, a live video is compared against the original stored on Google’s servers. While Google claims that the videos are stored encrypted and that movement prompts protect against deepfakes, this development raises […]