First Pass

9 stories from 7 sources

AI-enabled fraud expands from investment scams to political impersonation

Day’s Recap

Supporting Articles

Losses linked to a recent security incident involving Coldcard hardware wallets have surpassed $115 million, according to Galaxy Research estimates based on data through August 13. Galaxy said it has spoken with more than 200 victims while collecting information about the attackers.

1:49 PMPYMNTS

A British political leader was reportedly deceived by someone impersonating a White House official. The FBI has warned that malicious actors are using AI to impersonate senior government figures.

12:48 PMAl Jazeera

Australia's Securities and Investments Commission is warning that criminals are using generative AI to build large networks of fake websites and celebrity investment endorsements. The campaigns aim to make fraudulent investment opportunities appear credible and attract victims at scale.

5:54 AMFinextra

Other Developments

A curated list of other prominent stories from this day.

Datavault AI plans to acquire CyberCatch for $94.5 million and integrate its AI-enabled continuous compliance and cyber risk mitigation platform into Datavault's Data Vault Artificial Intelligence Platform. The deal is also intended to add quantum-resistant cyber protection.

3:36 PMPYMNTS

Jim Cramer said CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks can continue rising despite their sharp rallies because strong earnings may support higher valuations. He argued that investors should focus on operating performance rather than the stocks' recent gains.

12:13 PMCNBC

Banks remain too reliant on siloed systems, making it difficult to apply fraud and anti-money-laundering checks consistently across payment platforms. The proposed solution is greater orchestration across services, including within emerging payment networks such as Wero.

11:00 AMFinextra

Criminals are compromising public Wi-Fi equipment in hotels, conference centers and other venues, then changing its DNS settings. The manipulation redirects users to counterfeit login pages designed to capture credentials, including Microsoft 365 accounts.

7:18 AMSchneier on Security

SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said financial institutions should treat cybersecurity as a board-level resilience issue, supported by continuous vulnerability management, tested recovery plans and risk-based patching. He also urged firms to begin preparing for post-quantum cryptography as quantum computing threatens current encryption systems.

6:57 AMEconomic Times

The article raises questions about how Washington should respond to the reported hack involving OpenAI and Hugging Face, particularly as AI systems and their training infrastructure become more exposed to cyber threats.

4:00 AMBloomberg Markets

Make it yours

Build Your First Pass.

Pick your topics, set your cadence, and receive your personalized First Pass in your inbox. It’s that simple!