A rapidly evolving bank malware now has far greater capabilities to infect Android devices and steal personal information, according to researchers.

The cybersecurity firm Zimperium says the so-called DoubleTrouble trojan “has rapidly evolved in both its distribution methods and capabilities,” and is now permeating channels on the social platform Discord.

“In its latest evolution, the malware has integrated several new and advanced features, significantly expanding its capabilities beyond earlier iterations. These enhancements enable more effective data theft, device manipulation, and evasion techniques.

The new functionalities include: displaying malicious UI overlays to steal PIN codes or unlock patterns, comprehensive screen recording capabilities, the ability to block the opening of specific applications, and advanced keylogging functionality.”

Researchers say the malware convinces users to download it by masking itself as an extension or an add-on, and it uses the Google Play icon to appear trustworthy.

It also manipulates device functionality by exploiting Android’s Accessibility Services, allowing it to block legitimate banking or security apps with misleading “system maintenance” prompts.

In addition, the malicious software simulates user actions like taps and swipes, allowing attackers to remotely control infected devices and steal data, including passwords and banking details, with alarming precision.

The trojan’s attacks are ongoing, primarily targeting users in Europe through phishing websites and Discord-hosted APKs. Specific victim counts remain unknown at time of publishing.

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The Philippine government has officially launched a blockchain-based system to verify government documents on the Polygon network as part of a broader initiative to modernize public services and improve trust in state-issued records, local media reported on July 31.

The new platform, introduced on July 30 by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), allows users to confirm the authenticity of documents like Special Allotment Release Orders and Notices of Cash Allocation by referencing cryptographic hashes stored on the Polygon blockchain.

The hashes serve as tamper-proof identifiers, enabling real-time validation without exposing confidential information.

The rollout comes amid rising concern over the misuse of artificial intelligence in document forgery. Officials say the system is designed to address these challenges while enhancing accountability in how public funds are allocated.

“This initiative is part of our broader commitment to integrating secure, emerging technologies into governance,” said Maria Francesca Montes Del Rosario, DBM undersecretary, during the launch event. The department partnered with Bayanichain, a local blockchain firm, to develop and deploy the infrastructure.

The announcement coincided with a temporary disruption on the Polygon network, caused by a technical issue with its Heimdall consensus layer. While core block production remained intact, several public-facing services, such as block explorers, briefly failed to display network activity.

Despite the timing, government officials confirmed the launch proceeded uninterrupted. The blockchain validation system is now accessible through an official portal that allows users to scan QR codes or enter reference codes tied to budget documents. The system checks the code against the blockchain to confirm the document’s integrity.

The Philippines joins a growing list of countries experimenting with blockchain for public record-keeping. However, the network hiccup highlights the importance of stability and redundancy when state infrastructure relies on decentralized platforms operated by third parties.

A major cybersecurity incident has exposed sensitive personal and health records of tens of thousands of Americans.

In a notice, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) says 103,000 individuals across the United States with accounts on Medicare.gov are impacted by a data breach.

CMS says it discovered that user data had been compromised after receiving multiple complaints through its call center. According to the federal agency, hackers may have used information from external sources to collect data such as names, dates of birth, Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers, coverage start dates and ZIP codes to fraudulently create Medicare.gov accounts.

Once inside, the thieves gained access to more sensitive data, including provider details, mailing addresses, dates of service, diagnosis codes, services received and plan premiums.

“On May 2, 2025, representatives at our 1-800-MEDICARE call center flagged complaints from people with Medicare who had received a letter through the mail about the creation of a Medicare.gov account. However, these callers hadn’t created the accounts or asked anyone else to do it for them.

Noticing the similarities in the reports, we investigated further and discovered more cases of accounts created between 2023 and 2025 that matched this pattern. We quickly deactivated those accounts, while also launching a larger effort to find the bad actors who created them.”

The CMS is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tasked with overseeing the country’s healthcare programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Health Insurance Marketplace.

The CMS is encouraging affected individuals to get a free credit report from each of the three major nationwide credit reporting companies. The agency also says that it hasn’t received any reports of identity fraud or improper use of personal information as a result of the incident.

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Crypto fundraising is on pace to break records in 2025, with $16.5 billion raised in the first half alone, according to a report from CEX.IO.

According to the report, this has already surpassed the $12.2 billion recorded across all of 2024 and also exceeds the $10.9 billion raised during the 2021 bull run, the industry’s most active fundraising year to date.

Moreover, the substantial fundraising made up 5.3% of global venture capital activity in Q2 2025, the highest share in three years.

CEX.IO noted that this rising number showcases renewed interest following growing adoption trends and a post-election regulatory shift. It also suggests a rebound in investor confidence despite global venture markets remaining cautious.

Tokenless projects gain traction

One of the clearest trends in 2025 is the shift toward quality over quantity. Investors are putting larger sums into fewer projects, with the average deal size reaching nearly $20 million.

This signals growing confidence in experienced teams with sound business models, rather than speculative bets on early-stage ventures.

Meanwhile, another striking development this year is the rise of tokenless fundraising. So far this year, 82% of funded projects raised capital without launching a token.

According to CEX.IO, this shift suggests investors are prioritizing real products, sustainable revenue, and long-term fundamentals.

In contrast, 85% of token-funded projects in 2025 are underperforming on key metrics, a trend that has reinforced caution among investors.

CEX.IO concluded that the move away from token launches and toward operational businesses illustrates a maturing market. According to the firm, investors are now backing ventures that aim to build sustainable products before exploring token models.

Where the money went

finance-related projects, including CeFi and DeFi, received the lion’s share of funding. The projects raised $4.9 billion across 171 deals, or 51.4% of total investments during the period.

Other sectors like infrastructure-focused ventures, including hardware, security, oracles, and bridges, secured 17.9% of the funding.

Meanwhile, consumer-facing applications, artificial intelligence, and DePin projects followed, attracting 14.7%, 5.0%, and 3.1% of funding, respectively.

Another interesting point was that M&A activity has quietly surged, crossing the $6 billion mark, more than triple last year’s figure. CEX.IO pointed out that these deals now account for 36.7% of all crypto transactions.

According to the report, this growth emphasizes the industry’s shift toward consolidation, with companies acquiring existing platforms and technologies to accelerate user growth and strategic positioning.

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Crypto theft has hit a record in the first half of 2025. Over $2.1 billion vanished in at least 75 hacks and exploits. That total tops the previous H1 high set in 2022 by about 10% and almost matches every dollar stolen in all of 2024.

Major Theft Figures Revealed

According to a TRM Labs report, hackers walked off with roughly $2.1 billion between January and June. They struck 75 separate times. That breaches the H1 2022 mark by about 10% and nearly equals the full‑year haul from 2024. Losses hit over $100 million in January, April, May and June. Those months show this threat isn’t limited to a one‑off event.

Bybit Breach Overshadows All

The largest single loss was the $1.5 billion February breach at Dubai‑based Bybit exchange. That attack alone accounted for nearly 70% of losses this year. It set the average size of hacks to nearly $30 million, twice the $15 million H1 2024 average. Even excluding Bybit, heists in excess of $100 million continue to occur.

Crypto thieves have ramped up their illicit activity in 2025. Source: TRM Labs.

State Actors Driving Theft

According to analyses, North Korea‑linked groups are behind about $1.6 billion of all stolen funds so far. That’s roughly 70% of the total. Experts say these thefts feed into the country’s sanction‑evasion schemes and weapons programs.

At the same time, June 18 saw a roughly $90 million hack of Iran’s largest exchange, Nobitex. Security firms link that attack to Predatory Sparrow, a group said to work for Israel. They moved money into addresses with no private keys, hinting at a symbolic motive.

Attack Methods And Security Steps

Reports show infrastructure hacks—like private‑key thefts, insider jobs and front‑end hits—accounted for over 80% of stolen funds in H1. Those breaches tend to be about 10 times larger than attacks on smart contracts.

Protocol exploits, such as flash‑loan and re‑entrancy bugs, made up another 12%. Smart contracts still carry risk, but they get patched faster than hidden back‑door or insider schemes.

Industry experts say the rise in state‑backed thefts calls for stronger measures. Cold storage should be the norm. Multi‑factor authentication must cover all critical accounts. Frequent audits are a must. Beyond those basics, teams need insider‑threat programs and social‑engineering training.

Global law enforcement, financial intelligence units and blockchain‑forensics firms like TRM Labs need to work closer than ever. Sharing alerts fast and tracing funds across borders can clamp down on these giant thefts. It’s a tall order, but as crypto grows more tied to national security, so does the need for a united defense.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

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Hackers say they just posted a massive new trove of T-Mobile customer data online – but the details of the data dump are in question.

Cyber thieves uploaded the data to a popular dark web forum, according to Cybernews.

The outlet’s researchers say a sample of the data appears to contain some emails linked to prior T-Mobile breaches, along with “some new data points not seen in previous T-Mobile attacks.”

But the mobile giant says the malicious actors are flat-out lying.

“Any reports of a T-Mobile data breach are inaccurate. We have reviewed the sample data provided and can confirm the data does not relate to T-Mobile or our customers.”

Researchers say the data contains full names, dates of birth, tax IDs, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, device IDs, cookie IDs and IP addresses.

“If this data is legitimate, exposing 64M lines of highly sensitive information poses a serious threat of identity theft/fraud, surveillance, and further, better-targeted attacks on customers.”

The alleged data dump comes as 76 million T-Mobile customers begin to receive their share of a $350 million payout following a 2021 data breach and class action settlement.

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A cybersecurity incident may have exposed sensitive personal, health and financial records of tens of thousands of Americans.

The latest numbers from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights show that 36,659 Americans are affected by a hacking/IT incident at Cumberland County Hospital (CCH).

CCH says that an unknown attacker breached its systems and stole patient and employee data, which may include names, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, ethnicities, Social Security numbers, medications, diagnoses, treatment notes, dates of service, medical record numbers, health plan numbers, claims and billing records.

The hospital also says that the thief may have siphoned the employment data of current and former employees, including driver’s licenses, birth certificates, background check records, W-4 and W-2 tax forms and bank account numbers.

“On April 3, 2025, CCH discovered unauthorized access by a third party to our computer system. We immediately shut down all computers, disabled data sharing connections, contacted law enforcement, and began investigating…

Cybersecurity experts determined that the unauthorized access to our computer system began on February 21, 2025, and ended on April 3, 2025.

The electronic medical records system that CCH and its partners use to record and bill for patient care was not involved or accessed in this incident. “

CCH is a Kentucky-based hospital offering outpatient and inpatient healthcare services.

The hospital says it immediately sent letters of notification to affected individuals to shed more light on the data breach, while offering free identity monitoring services for 12 months.

For now, CCH says that its IT team has revamped the hospital’s security protocols to prevent a similar incident from happening again.

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A major cybersecurity incident affecting the sensitive personal and financial information of hundreds of thousands of Americans has been revealed.

In a new filing with the Office of the Maine Attorney General, Georgia-based healthcare firm Harbin Clinic says it discovered a serious breach affecting 210,140 people.

The firm says an unknown attacker gained unauthorized access to the database of its third-party vendor, Nationwide Recovery Services (NRS), stealing customer records, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth and financial account records.

The Harbin Clinic says it uses NRS for a debt collection service to recover funds from customers with delinquent accounts.

“It is our understanding that, in July 2024, NRS discovered suspicious activity related to its information technology systems, which resulted in a network outage. NRS indicated that it determined through an investigation that there was unauthorized access to the NRS network between July 5th, 2024 and July 11th, 2024, during which time certain files and folders were illegally copied from NRS’s systems by someone without authorization. NRS reported it [and] began a lengthy review to determine what information was contained on the impacted NRS systems and which NRS clients were impacted.

As a result of this review, NRS notified Harbin Clinic in February 2025 that information from Harbin Clinic’s patients may have been present on the impacted systems, but it was not yet able to identify which individuals had been impacted.” 

Harbin Clinic is a multi-specialty medical group offering a wide array of services, such as family medicine, internal medicine, oncology and cardiology.

The firm says it immediately sent letters of notification to affected customers to inform them about the data breach, while offering free identity monitoring services to affected individuals.

Harbin Clinic says it has not yet detected any instance involving the misuse of customer data. The firm is also urging customers to stay vigilant and report any suspicious activity related to their financial accounts.

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