Technology
HR firm confirms 4M records exposed in major hack
Data breaches have become alarmingly common and costly, putting sensitive information at risk. In fact, the number of data breaches in the United States jumped from 447 in 2012 to over 3,200 in 2023.
Even firms entrusted with managing personal information are not immune. The latest example is VeriSource Services, a Texas-based employee benefits and HR administration provider that experienced a major data breach.
The personal information of about 4 million people was exposed in this incident, and it took the company over a year to fully assess its impact, a critical failure for an organization specializing in data management, employee enrollment and HR support services that clients rely on to safeguard their most sensitive information.
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An illustration of a hacker at work (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What happened at VeriSource?
VeriSource discovered the breach Feb. 28, 2024, when it noticed unusual activity disrupting some of its systems. The company later determined an unknown attacker had gained unauthorized access around Feb. 27, 2024, stealing data on or about that date.
Somehow, it took VeriSource over a year to determine the full scope of the breach, including the identification all individuals who had their information exposed.
According to the investigation, this was a criminal cyberattack carried out by external threat actors (hackers), as opposed to an insider mishandling data. The perpetrators accessed sensitive personal records stored by VeriSource. In a sample notice filed with state authorities, VeriSource reported that the compromised information included individuals’ full names, mailing addresses, dates of birth, gender and Social Security numbers (via BleepingComputer).
A person working on their laptop (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
200 MILLION SOCIAL MEDIA RECORDS LEAKED IN MAJOR X DATA BREACH
Impact on affected individuals
For individuals whose data was exposed, this breach poses real risks. Information like your Social Security number, birth date and address can be misused for identity theft, such as opening fraudulent accounts or filing false tax returns in your name. Even beyond financial fraud, having such personal data in the wrong hands can lead to targeted phishing scams.
What worries me the most is the delay in fully notifying everyone affected. VeriSource had sent out preliminary breach notices to about 55,000 people in May 2024 and then to another 112,000 people in September 2024. However, those early notifications covered only a small fraction of the approximately 4 million victims eventually identified. This means the majority of affected individuals did not learn of the breach until the final notification wave in April 2025, more than a year after the data was actually compromised.
We reached out to VeriSource for a comment but did not hear back before our deadline.
WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?
A person working on a laptop (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
HERTZ DATA BREACH EXPOSES CUSTOMER INFORMATION
5 ways to protect yourself after the VeriSource data breach
If you think you were affected by the VeriSource data breach or just want to be cautious, here are some steps you can take right now to stay safe from the data breach:
1. Consider a personal data removal service: VeriSource hackers have access to your name, Social Security number, mailing address and more, which they can easily use against you. The more exposed your personal information is online, the easier it is for scammers to scam you. After the VeriSource breach, consider removing your information from public databases and people-search sites. Check out my top picks for data removal services here.
2. Safeguard against identity theft and use identity theft protection: Hackers now have access to high-value information from the VeriSource breach, including Social Security numbers. This makes you a prime target for identity theft. You can freeze your bank and credit card accounts to prevent further unauthorized use by criminals. Signing up for identity theft protection gives you 24/7 monitoring, alerts for unusual activity and support if your identity is stolen. See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft.
3. Set up fraud alerts: Requesting fraud alerts notifies creditors that they need extra verification before issuing credit in your name. You can request fraud alerts through any one of the three major credit bureaus. They’ll notify the others. This adds another layer of protection without completely freezing access to credit.
4. Monitor your credit reports: Check your credit reports regularly through AnnualCreditReport.com, where you can access free reports from each bureau once per yearor more frequently if you’re concerned about fraud. Spotting unauthorized accounts early can prevent larger financial damage.
5. Be wary of social engineering attacks and use strong antivirus software: Hackers may use stolen details like names or birthdates from breaches in phone scams or fake customer service calls designed to trick you into revealing more sensitive info. Never share personal details over unsolicited calls or emails. Also, never click on unexpected links or attachments in emails, texts or messages because they may contain malware or lead to phishing sites designed to steal your information.
The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe. Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.
HACKERS USING MALWARE TO STEAL DATA FROM USB FLASH DRIVES
Kurt’s key takeaway
What stands out in the VeriSource breach isn’t just the scale, but the silence. When a company sits on breach data for over a year, regardless of intent, it erodes trust in systems designed to protect workers. These aren’t just compliance failures. They’re human ones. Four million people had their most sensitive information exposed, and for many of them, the warning came far too late. This should be a moment of reckoning for how organizations define responsibility after a breach. A timely response isn’t just good PR. It’s a baseline expectation. And if it takes over a year to realize the full scope of a cyberattack, maybe the incident isn’t the only vulnerability worth addressing.
Should companies face stricter penalties for delayed breach notifications? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact
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Technology
Here’s your first look at Kratos in Amazon’s God of War show
Amazon has slowly been teasing out casting details for its live-action adaptation of God of War, and now we have our first look at the show. It’s a single image but a notable one showing protagonist Kratos and his son Atreus. The characters are played by Ryan Hurst and Callum Vinson, respectively, and they look relatively close to their video game counterparts.
There aren’t a lot of other details about the show just yet, but this is Amazon’s official description:
The God of War series storyline follows father and son Kratos and Atreus as they embark on a journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye. Through their adventures, Kratos tries to teach his son to be a better god, while Atreus tries to teach his father how to be a better human.
That sounds a lot like the recent soft reboot of the franchise, which started with 2018’s God of War and continued through Ragnarök in 2022. For the Amazon series, Ronald D. Moore, best-known for his work on For All Mankind and Battlestar Galactica, will serve as showrunner. The rest of the cast includes: Mandy Patinkin (Odin), Ed Skrein (Baldur), Max Parker (Heimdall), Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (Thor), Teresa Palmer (Sif), Alastair Duncan (Mimir), Jeff Gulka (Sindri), and Danny Woodburn (Brok).
While production is underway on the God of War series, there’s no word on when it might start streaming.
Technology
300,000 Chrome users hit by fake AI extensions
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Your web browser may feel like a safe place, especially when you install helpful tools that promise to make your life easier. But security researchers have uncovered a dangerous campaign in which more than 300,000 people installed Chrome extensions pretending to be artificial intelligence (AI) assistants. Instead of helping, these fake tools secretly collect sensitive information like your emails, passwords and browsing activity.
They used familiar names like ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Assistant. If you use Chrome and have installed any AI-related extension, your personal information may already be exposed. Even worse, some of these malicious extensions are still available today, putting more people at risk without their knowing.
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More than 300,000 Chrome users installed fake AI extensions that secretly harvested sensitive data. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What you need to know about fake AI extensions
Security researchers at browser security company LayerX discovered a large campaign involving 30 malicious Chrome extensions disguised as AI-powered assistants (via BleepingComputer). Together, these extensions were installed more than 300,000 times by unsuspecting users.
Some of the most popular extensions included names like AI Sidebar with 70,000 users, AI Assistant with 60,000 users, ChatGPT Translate with 30,000 users, and Google Gemini with 10,000 users. Another extension called Gemini AI Sidebar had 80,000 users before it was removed.
These extensions were distributed through the official Chrome Web Store, which made them appear legitimate and trustworthy. Even more concerning, researchers found that many of these extensions were connected to the same malicious server, showing they were part of a coordinated effort.
While some extensions have since been removed, others remain available. This means new users could still unknowingly install them and expose their personal data. Here’s the list of the affected extensions:
- AI Assistant
- Llama
- Gemini AI Sidebar
- AI Sidebar
- ChatGPT Sidebar
- Grok
- Asking ChatGPT
- ChatGBT
- Chat Bot GPT
- Grok Chatbot
- Chat With Gemini
- XAI
- Google Gemini
- Ask Gemini
- AI Letter Generator
- AI Message Generator
- AI Translator
- AI For Translation
- AI Cover Letter Generator
- AI Image Generator ChatGPT
- Ai Wallpaper Generator
- Ai Picture Generator
- DeepSeek Download
- AI Email Writer
- Email Generator AI
- DeepSeek Chat
- ChatGPT Picture Generator
- ChatGPT Translate
- AI GPT
- ChatGPT Translation
- ChatGPT for Gmail
FAKE AI CHAT RESULTS ARE SPREADING DANGEROUS MAC MALWARE
These malicious tools were listed in the official Chrome Web Store, making them appear legitimate and trustworthy. (LayerX)
How the fake AI Chrome extension attack works
These fake extensions pretend to offer helpful AI features, such as translating text, summarizing emails, or acting as an AI assistant. But behind the scenes, they quietly monitor what you are doing online.
Once installed, the extension gains permission to view and interact with the websites you visit. This allows it to read the contents of web pages, including login screens where you enter your username and password.
In some cases, the extensions specifically targeted Gmail. They could read your email messages directly from your browser, including emails you received and even drafts you were still writing. This means attackers could access private conversations, financial information and sensitive personal details.
The extensions then sent this information to servers controlled by the attackers. Because they loaded content remotely, the attackers could change their behavior at any time without needing to update the extension.
Some versions could also activate voice features through your browser. This could potentially capture spoken conversations near your device and send transcripts back to the attackers.
If you installed one of these extensions, attackers may already have access to extremely sensitive information. This includes your email content, login credentials, browsing habits and possibly even voice recordings.
We reached out to Google for comment, and a spokesperson told CyberGuy that the company “can confirm that the extensions from this report have all been removed from the Google Web Store.”
BROWSER EXTENSION MALWARE INFECTED 8.8M USERS IN DARKSPECTRE ATTACK
Once installed, the extensions could read emails, capture passwords, monitor browsing activity and send the data to attacker-controlled servers. (Bildquelle/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
7 ways you can protect yourself from malicious Chrome extensions
If you have ever installed an AI-related Chrome extension, taking a few simple precautions now can help protect your accounts and prevent further damage.
1) Remove any suspicious or unused browser extensions
On a Windows PC or Mac, open Chrome and type chrome://extensions into the address bar. Review every extension listed. If you see anything unfamiliar, especially AI assistants you don’t remember installing, click “Remove” immediately. Malicious extensions depend on going unnoticed. Removing them stops further data collection and cuts off the attacker’s access to your information.
2) Change your passwords
If you installed any suspicious extension, assume your passwords may be compromised. Start by changing your email password first, since email controls access to most other accounts. Then update passwords for banking, shopping and social media accounts. This prevents attackers from using stolen credentials to break into your accounts.
3) Use a password manager to create and protect strong passwords
A password manager generates unique, complex passwords for each account and stores them securely. This prevents attackers from accessing multiple accounts if one password is stolen. Password managers also alert you if your login credentials appear in known data breaches, helping you respond quickly and protect your identity. Check out the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2026 at Cyberguy.com.
4) Install strong antivirus software and keep it active
Good antivirus software can detect malicious browser extensions, spyware, and other hidden threats. It scans your system for suspicious activity and blocks harmful programs before they can steal your information. This adds an important layer of protection that works continuously in the background to keep your device safe. Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at Cyberguy.com.
5) Use an identity theft protection service
Identity theft protection services monitor your personal data, including email addresses, financial accounts, and Social Security numbers, for signs of misuse. If criminals try to open accounts or commit fraud using your information, you receive alerts quickly. Early detection allows you to act fast and limit financial and personal damage. See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft at Cyberguy.com.
6) Keep your browser and computer fully updated
Software updates fix security vulnerabilities that attackers exploit. Enable automatic updates for Chrome and your operating system so you always have the latest protections. These updates strengthen your defenses against malicious extensions and prevent attackers from taking advantage of known weaknesses.
7) Use a personal data removal service
Personal data removal services scan data broker websites that collect and sell your personal information. They help remove your data from these sites, reducing what attackers can find and use against you. Less exposed information means fewer opportunities for criminals to target you with scams, identity theft or phishing attacks.
Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.
Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com.
Kurt’s key takeaway
Even tools designed to make your life easier can become tools for cybercriminals. Malicious extensions often hide behind trusted names and convincing features, making them difficult to spot. You can significantly reduce your risk by reviewing your browser extensions regularly, removing anything suspicious and using protective tools like password managers and strong antivirus software.
Have you checked your browser extensions recently? Let us know your thoughts by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Technology
Anthropic refuses Pentagon’s new terms, standing firm on lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance
Less than 24 hours before the deadline in an ultimatum issued by the Pentagon, Anthropic has refused the Department of Defense’s demands for unrestricted access to its AI.
It’s the culmination of a dramatic exchange of public statements, social media posts, and behind-the-scenes negotiations, coming down to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s desire to renegotiate all AI labs’ current contracts with the military. But Anthropic, so far, has refused to back down from its two current red lines: no mass surveillance of Americans, and no lethal autonomous weapons (or weapons with license to kill targets with no human oversight whatsoever). OpenAI and xAI had reportedly already agreed to the new terms, while Anthropic’s refusal had led to CEO Dario Amodei being summoned to the White House this week for a meeting with Hegseth himself, in which the Secretary reportedly issued an ultimatum to the CEO to back down by the end of business day on Friday or else.
In a statement late Thursday, Amodei wrote, “I believe deeply in the existential importance of using AI to defend the United States and other democracies, and to defeat our autocratic adversaries. Anthropic has therefore worked proactively to deploy our models to the Department of War and the intelligence community.”
He added that the company has “never raised objections to particular military operations nor attempted to limit use of our technology in an ad hoc manner” but that in a “narrow set of cases, we believe AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values” — going on to specifically mention mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. (Amodei mentioned that “partial autonomous weapons … are vital to the defense of democracy” and that fully autonomous weapons may eventually “prove critical for our national defense,” but that “today, frontier AI systems are simply not reliable enough to power fully autonomous weapons.” He did not rule out Anthropic acquiescing to the military’s use of fully autonomous weapons in the future but mentioned that they were not ready now.)
The Pentagon had already reportedly asked major defense contractors to assess their dependence on Anthropic’s Claude, which could be seen as the first step to designating the company a “supply chain risk” – a public threat that the Pentagon had made recently (and a classification usually reserved for threats to national security). The Pentagon was also reportedly considering invoking the Defense Production Act to make Anthropic comply.
Amodei wrote in his statement that the Pentagon’s “threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request.” He also wrote that “should the Department choose to offboard Anthropic, we will work to enable a smooth transition to another provider, avoiding any disruption to ongoing military planning, operations, or other critical missions. Our models will be available on the expansive terms we have proposed for as long as required.”
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