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UK’s state investments agency hit by data breach

Security lapse leaves sensitive information and contact details of 51 government officials exposed for 40 hours

The public body in charge of the UK’s state investments has been pushed to improve its internal security after a data breach left “high-level management information” publicly accessible for nearly two days.

UK Government Investments (UKGI), the agency that manages the taxpayers’ interest in a swathe of companies including Channel 4 and the Post Office, said the security failure also left more than 50 government officials’ personal details exposed for nearly 40 hours.

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© Photograph: Marina Demidiuk/Alamy

© Photograph: Marina Demidiuk/Alamy

© Photograph: Marina Demidiuk/Alamy

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Personal and banking details among customer data stolen in Origin Energy hack

Hackers access Australian customers’ names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers and some bank account details, company says

Origin Energy customers’ addresses, phone numbers and partial bank account data have been accessed in a hack, the company has confirmed.

The firm has 4.8m customer accounts in Australia, providing electricity, fossil gas, LPG and internet services to homes and businesses.

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© Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

© Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

© Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

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‘Keys to the kingdom’: hackers who gained access to heart of London transport network jailed

Thalha Jubair, 20, and Owen Flowers, 19, sentenced to five and a half years each for cyber-attack that cost Transport for London £39m

The data of millions of commuters was stolen, Londoners were left out of pocket and 27,000 Transport for London staff were forced to reset their passwords.

Over four days in 2024 a pair of teenage hackers had London’s transport network at their mercy. Thalha Jubair and Owen Flowers had burrowed into the heart of Transport for London’s IT systems and held the “keys to the kingdom”.

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© Photograph: William Barton/Alamy

© Photograph: William Barton/Alamy

© Photograph: William Barton/Alamy

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AI models capable of devastating attacks on governments and business months away, rare Five Eyes statement warns

Signal agencies in Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada sound alarm after Trump blocks foreign nationals from Anthropic’s Fable AI model

Powerful AI models capable of devastating new cyber attacks on governments and businesses are mere months away, intelligence agencies for the Five Eyes have warned in a rare joint statement, urging leaders to “act now”.

The surprising public intervention by signals agencies for Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada comes after the Trump administration earlier this month decided to block “foreign nationals” from using a much-hyped AI model built by tech company Anthropic, called Fable.

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© Photograph: Andre M Chang/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Andre M Chang/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Andre M Chang/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

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