Cyber Security Weekly Update: Major Hacks, AI-Driven Threats, and Global Policy Shifts (July 27 – August 2, 2025)

Cybersecurity doesn’t take a break, and this week is exactly why. With attacks on high-profile companies, new zero-day vulnerabilities and new AI-based phishing toolkits, the threat landscape is changing quickly.

Whether you’re a professional in the industry, a student, or just someone trying to stay secure online, this recap will help you get back up to speed.

If you’re exploring careers in this field, a Cyber Security Course in India can help you keep track of all of this, but more importantly, train you to defend against all of this.

Now, let’s look into what happened this week.

1. Chrome Zero-Day Exploited In The Wild

What happened:

Google patched a zero-day vulnerability in the V8 JavaScript engine in Chrome on July 29. The bug is tracked as CVE-2025-30501 and leads to remote code execution (RCE). There are already active exploits in the wild.

Why it matters:

This is the third Chrome zero-day zero-day being actively exploited in as many months. Attackers can use Chrome as a rapid-access vector since most enterprise environments are geared to using Chrome. This bug has seen exploits on macOS and Windows.

Actionable-tip:

Upgrade to Chrome v125.0.6425.153 or later immediately! Check all of your web applications for unexpected JavaScript behavior.

2. India’s Ministry of Defence Attempted Breach by Suspected Nation-State Actor

What happened:

Indian officials have confirmed an attempted breach of internal defense communications on July 31. The breach was mitigated thanks to privileged network segmentation but the accountable APT group was associated with a foreign country.

Why it matters:

This constitutes a growing trend of geopolitical cyber tension in South Asia. Defense grade targets continue to be probed using sophisticated backdoors as well as AI-generated decoy traffic.

Emerging tactic:

The attackers implemented polymorphic malware that repopulated itself using scrambled code.

3. AI-Powered Phishing Toolkit “PhishMorph” Found in Dark Web Forums

What’s the update:

A new phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) kit called PhishMorph is being promoted in underground communities. It leverages AI to provide context-aware, real-time email lures that change their content with user behaviour.

What makes it a threat:

Creates deepfake audio from LinkedIn profiles

Integrates with Telegram bots allowing operator control in live actions

Avoids detection by rotating the email payloads with AI-generated written content

Who’s targeted:

Major uptake of the software has been directed at Finance, HR and C-level executives as they were first targeted.

Advice:

If you work in cybersecurity or IT, it’s a good opportunity to review your email gateway rules, perform phishing simulations, and harden the DMARC/SPF settings.

4. Major Data Breach: Popular Health app “HeartSync” Exposes 12 Million Records

What’s the news:

On July 30, researchers released concerns that HeartSync- a fitness and remote health monitoring application was found with an exposed AWS S3 bucket that did not require authentication. The researchers found:

unencrypted health metrics (blood pressure, ECGs)

usernames,DOB, email ids

location data and real-time movement logs

How it will impact users:

The data can be cross-referenced with a combination of insurance, fitness and maybe even employee data for profiling or social engineering.

Security takeaway:

Cloud misconfigurations continue to be a major source of data leaks. Penetration testing and regular infrastructure audits are crucial—another skill taught in hands-on modules of a Cybersecurity Course in India.

5. Hacker Group “Red Mist” Claims Responsibility for U.S. University Ransomware Attacks

What happened:

Earlier this week, four U.S. universities (including two Ivy League universities) announced that they experienced ransomware attacks. The actor Red Mist has taken credit in a post to their darknet blog.

New tactic alert:

Red Mist is now using encrypted P2P networks to exfiltrate data instead of conventional C2 channels, making it far more difficult for organizations to trace and stop its operations.

Ransom demand:

Demand for payment of between $1M to $5M in Monero, with threats of releasing confidential student research data and academic records.

Lesson:

Educational institutions are sitting ducks for ransomware due to their large, distributed networks and weak segmentation.

6. Policy & Compliance: India’s CERT Issues Mandatory AI-Use Disclosure Guidelines

What’s New:

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issued a guideline requiring:

All organisations that developed and sold security products or threat detection using AI to disclose the following model types, data sources and limitations.

Incident reporting in the event an AI-assisted tool produces a false positive/negative causing some form of damage.

Why this matters:

India is now heading for regulation of AI usage not only from an ethical standpoint but from a cyber liability aspect.

Implications for practitioners:

Soon, knowing how to configure, monitor and audit AI-based cybersecurity tools will be part of the standard job responsibilities.

7. Industry News: Microsoft Integrates AI Threat Intelligence into Defender for Endpoint

Updates:

Microsoft has introduced an AI threat intel module in Defender for Endpoint as of August 1. The module uses pattern matching and telemetry data from 400 million devices to assess and prioritize potential breaches proactively.

Features:

– Graph mapping of attacker infrastructure

– Breach forecasting capabilities

– ChatGPT-like summaries of incidents for Security Operations Center (SOC) analysts

Significance:

This creates access to advanced detection for smaller teams. SOC and IT workers will soon start using AI-driven tools as a matter of routine.

8. Emerging Trend: Deepfake Vishing Increases 170% Q2 2025

Stat:

According to CyberCheck Labs’ latest report, vishing (voice voice phishing) incidents using deepfake voices increased by 170% Q2 2025.

How it works:

1. Attackers scrape YouTube and Instagram reels to obtain a person’s voice.

2. They then call their victim pretending to be their boss/relative/colleague.

3. They pressure the victim to make urgent payments, provide one-time passwords (OTPs), or access systems.

Scary Case:

One case highlighted by CyberCheck Labs is a Mumbai-based startup that lost ₹27 lakhs after a deepfake of their CFO’s voice authorized a payment based on a legitimate invoice.

How to defend yourself in an environment of deepfake threats:

Multi-channel verification is vital. Even if someone sounds like it, always validate if someone is calling to illicit sensitive actions.

9. Career Spotlight: Why Cyber Security Skills are in Demand Now

With all of the threats evolving, there’s a huge skills gap in:

• Incident response
• Cloud security
• AI for cyber defense
• Malware analysis

Companies are not simply hiring, they are competing for talent. A structured, hands-on Cyber Security Course in India will help you fast track your entry (or upgrade) into this growing field.

Whether you want to be a penetration tester, SOC analyst, or threat intel researcher, now is the time to build that skill stack.

10. Proactive Cyber Hygiene Tip of the Week: Do Not Use Old VPN Protocols

Old VPN protocols, like PPTP or L2TP/IPSec, are still being used by thousands of corporate set ups – often enabling a quick Man-In-The-Middle or brute force attack.

Upgrade to:

– WireGuard (lightweight, fast, and secure)

– OpenVPN with strong TLS settings

– IKEv2/IPSec with certificate-based authentication

Review your VPN configurations. One weak link is all it takes.

Conclusion

This week proved just how dynamic and dangerous the cybersecurity world is. With everything from enhanced AI threats and nation state actors, to deepfake phishing and shifting policies, you’ll need to stay informed, not just for work, but for your own course of survival.

If you’re looking to progress beyond just staying updated and eventual defending of systems, now would be the perfect opportunity to explore a Ethical Hacking Course in India which focuses on real-world situations. The future is only meant for those who can protect it.

 
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