TechLetters ☕️ AI browsers can be hacked with words. CIA cyber-hit Venezuela, and what. HackingTeam returns. Conti operator in court. RAND calls for US-Chuna cyber détente.
AI web browsers vulnerabilities. Agentic browsers don’t just render pages. They execute “intent”. So links, page text, screenshots, and address-bar input may be read as trusted commands under the user’s session.
Security
CIA was making successful cyberoperations/attacks against Venezuelan government (disabling the computer network used by Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro’s intelligence service). The goal apparently was to “do something”. “An administration official proposed knocking a hydroelectric dam in Venezuela offline with a cyberattack, one of the sources said, but the idea seemed half-baked”. So now the US ships fleet is being deployed? https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/29/politics/maduro-cyberattack-trump-cia
HackingTeam rebranded as Memento Labs, still offers cyber espionage capabilities. The tools were used vs media, universities, government, financial institutions in Russia. Phishing + Chrome 0-day exploit. Just clicking a link was enough for full infection. https://securelist.com/forumtroll-apt-hacking-team-dante-spyware/117851/
Ukrainian Oleksii Lytvynenko, extradited from Ireland, appeared in U.S. court. He was to help deploy Conti ransomware: network intrusions, data encryption, ransom demands, threats to leak. According to FBI: 1,000+ victims worldwide; at least $150M in ransoms; victim’s data leaked. Charges: conspiracy to commit computer fraud (up to 5 years) and wire fraud (up to 20). https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ukrainian-national-extradited-ireland-connection-conti-ransomware
Technology Policy
RAND advises to limit USA-China hot competition & stabilise based on peaceful coexistence & mutual understanding. They advise to negotiate cybersecurity treaties. These authors omit that the competition is no longer in the CYBER domain, but also INFO (propaganda/disinformation/influence)? https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RRA4100/RRA4107-1/RAND_RRA4107-1.pdf
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