Risky Bulletin Risky Bulletin: Belarus deploys spyware on journalists' phones
Dec 19, 2025
Belarus has been caught deploying spyware on journalists' phones, raising serious concerns for press freedom. France arrested a hacker linked to a major data breach affecting millions. In a curious case, a crew member installed malware on an Italian ferry, while Dutch authorities detained someone for bank fraud using facial ID tricks. North Korea continues to steal cryptocurrency on a massive scale, and cybersecurity issues are highlighted with new zero-day vulnerabilities in Cisco and SonicWall products. The podcast covers these alarming trends in cybersecurity and privacy.
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State Deployed Spyware During Interrogations
- Belarus installed Resident Bat spyware on journalists' phones during police interrogations, using infrastructure built in 2021 during anti-government protests.
- Reporters Without Borders and resident.ngo identified the malware and its deployment against local press.
Multiple Arrests For High-Profile Hacks
- A 22-year-old man was arrested over a cyber attack on France's Interior Ministry email service that stole data on millions of citizens.
- Separately, a Latvian crew member was arrested for installing a remote-access Trojan on an Italian-owned ferry while docked in Set.
Face-Swap Fraud Bypassing Bank KYC
- Dutch authorities arrested a 34-year-old for bank fraud who used altered ID images to fool facial-recognition checks when opening accounts.
- He modified his face images to include victims' facial features to bypass verification systems.