propublica.org - Microsoft announced that Chinese state-sponsored hackers had exploited vulnerabilities in its popular SharePoint software but didn’t mention that it has long used China-based engineers to maintain the product.
ast month, Microsoft announced that Chinese state-sponsored hackers had exploited vulnerabilities in SharePoint, the company’s widely used collaboration software, to access the computer systems of hundreds of companies and government agencies, including the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
The company did not include in its announcement, however, that support for SharePoint is handled by a China-based engineering team that has been responsible for maintaining the software for years.
ProPublica viewed screenshots of Microsoft’s internal work-tracking system that showed China-based employees recently fixing bugs for SharePoint “OnPrem,” the version of the software involved in last month’s attacks. The term, short for “on premises,” refers to software installed and run on customers’ own computers and servers.
Microsoft said the China-based team “is supervised by a US-based engineer and subject to all security requirements and manager code review. Work is already underway to shift this work to another location.”
It’s unclear if Microsoft’s China-based staff had any role in the SharePoint hack. But experts have said allowing China-based personnel to perform technical support and maintenance on U.S. government systems can pose major security risks. Laws in China grant the country’s officials broad authority to collect data, and experts say it is difficult for any Chinese citizen or company to meaningfully resist a direct request from security forces or law enforcement. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has deemed China the “most active and persistent cyber threat to U.S. Government, private-sector, and critical infrastructure networks.”
ProPublica revealed in a story published last month that Microsoft has for a decade relied on foreign workers — including those based in China — to maintain the Defense Department’s cloud systems, with oversight coming from U.S.-based personnel known as digital escorts. But those escorts often don’t have the advanced technical expertise to police foreign counterparts with far more advanced skills, leaving highly sensitive information vulnerable, the investigation showed.
ProPublica found that Microsoft developed the escort arrangement to satisfy Defense Department officials who were concerned about the company’s foreign employees, and to meet the department’s requirement that people handling sensitive data be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Microsoft went on to win federal cloud computing business and has said in earnings reports that it receives “substantial revenue from government contracts.” ProPublica also found that Microsoft uses its China-based engineers to maintain the cloud systems of other federal departments, including parts of Justice, Treasury and Commerce.
In response to the reporting, Microsoft said that it had halted its use of China-based engineers to support Defense Department cloud computing systems, and that it was considering the same change for other government cloud customers. Additionally, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched a review of tech companies’ reliance on foreign-based engineers to support the department. Sens. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, have written letters to Hegseth, citing ProPublica’s investigation, to demand more information about Microsoft’s China-based support.
Microsoft said its analysis showed that Chinese hackers were exploiting SharePoint weaknesses as early as July 7. The company released a patch on July 8, but hackers were able to bypass it. Microsoft subsequently issued a new patch with “more robust protections.”
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said that the vulnerabilities enable hackers “to fully access SharePoint content, including file systems and internal configurations, and execute code over the network.” Hackers have also leveraged their access to spread ransomware, which encrypts victims’ files and demands a payment for their release, CISA said.
bangkokpost.com - A major private hospital in Thailand has been fined 1.2 million baht after paper patient records were found being used as snack bags, according to the country’s data protection watchdog.
The incident was among five major cases reported on Friday by the government’s Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC), along with penalties imposed against entities for violating data laws.
The hospital, which was not named, came under scrutiny after paper files from its patient registry were found being used as pouches for crispy crepes, known locally as khanom Tokyo.
The committee’s investigation revealed that over 1,000 protected files had been misplaced after being sent for destruction.
The hospital said it had entrusted document disposal to a small business but failed to follow up. The business owner admitted fault, explaining the documents were leaked after being stored at their home.
The PDPC fined the hospital 1.21 million baht. The disposal business owner was fined 16,940 baht.
In another case, the committee revealed that a state agency leaked the personal information of over 200,000 citizens after a cyber-attack on its web application. The data was later posted for sale on the dark web.
An investigation found inadequate security measures, such as weak passwords and no risk assessment, as well as the absence of a data processing agreement with the web app developer.
A combined fine of 153,120 baht was imposed on both the agency and its private contractor.
The other three cases involved leaks from online retailers and distributors, with fines ranging from 500,000 to 7 million baht.
Since 2024, the PDPC has concluded six cases of personal data violations, totalling 21.5 million baht in fines.
databreaches.net - Chatox and Brosix are communications platforms that advertise for personal use and team use. They are owned by Stefan Chekanov.
The only statement Chatox makes about its data security is “Chatox employs encryption across all communications, making it an extremely secure communication and collaboration platform.”
Brosix Enterprise advertises its security:
Brosix provides you with an efficient and secure communication environment, and Text Chat is a central element of this. With this feature you can instantly send, and receive, text messages to your network contacts. Better yet, all messages sent with Brosix are fully encrypted using end-to-end encryption technology, guaranteeing that your communication remains secure.
Brosix uses AES (Advanced Encryption Standard, used by US government) with 256 bit keys. Which means the encryption can’t be broken in a reasonable time.
All communication channels are direct, peer-to-peer, between the users and are not routed through Brosix servers. In some cases, if user firewalls do not allow direct connection, data is routed through Brosix servers. In these rare cases, the channels through the servers are built in a way that Brosix cannot decrypt and see the user data that flows.
So why did a researcher find a lot sensitive chats in plain text with individuals’ first and last names, username, password, IP address, chat message, and attached files — all unencrypted?
What to Know
A researcher contacted DataBreaches after finding an unsecured backup with 155.3 GB of unique compressed files.
There was a total of 980,972 entries in the users’ tables, with entries going back to 2006.
The researcher first logged the backup as exposed in late April. From the logs, the researcher stated that the files in question were exposed from at least May 11th 2024 – July 4th 2025 . Because logging only began in late April, the server could have been exposed before then.
The top email domains for each of the two platforms are listed below:
Brosix Enterprise Database Chatox Database
14826 gmail.com
5472 yahoo.com
2086 hotmail.com
1805 mail.ru
1111 allstate.com
679 rankinteractive.com
633 yandex.ru
582 issta.co.il
376 outlook.com
353 gp-servicedirect.com 63291 mail.ru
48075 gmail.com
20099 yandex.ru
13789 yahoo.com
7868 hotmail.com
6734 bk.ru
4541 allstate.com
3316 rambler.ru
3297 inbox.ru
3204 list.ru
san.com - Data stolen by a ransomware gang has exposed highly sensitive information from a Louisiana sheriff’s office, including the names, telephone numbers and Social Security numbers of confidential informants in criminal investigations. Straight Arrow News obtained a copy of the data from DDoSecrets, a non-profit that archives hacked and leaked documents in the public interest.
Medusa, a suspected Russian cybercrime group, said on its Dark Web blog in April 2024 that it had pilfered more than 90 gigabytes of data from the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office initially claimed the intrusion had been quickly detected and stopped, allowing the hackers to obtain only a limited amount of data, such as “screenshots of file folders and still images from video files, WBRZ-TV reported.
65,000 files
A sample of the stolen files shared at the time by Medusa included payroll information, showing that the breach was more substantial than first claimed by the sheriff’s office. Medusa threatened to release all of the data, which contains over 65,000 files, unless the sheriff’s office paid $300,000. There’s no indication the ransom was ever paid.
The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment from SAN.
SAN’s analysis of the full data cache provides an insight into just how damaging the breach was. Given the sensitivity of the data, DDoSecrets is only sharing it with approved journalists, researchers and defense attorneys practicing in Baton Rouge.
The data covers both the banal day-to-day operations of a law enforcement agency and the potentially life-and-death details of drug cases and other criminal investigations.
“The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office data is an extraordinary example of the inner workings of a police department, down to Internal Affairs investigations and details about the use of confidential informants,” DDoSecrets co-founder Emma Best told SAN. “While the police are obviously of public interest and deserve no privacy, their targets and victims do. With that in mind, we’re refraining from republishing the full data to the public while encouraging journalists and civil rights advocates to engage with it.”
Best said the data cache was posted by Medusa to the messaging app Telegram, but that their channels were repeatedly shut down. The contents of the breach have not been extensively reported on until now.
Law enforcement entities are common targets for ransomware gangs. In 2021, the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., was hacked by a Russian-speaking ransomware group known as Babuk, resulting in the leak of 250 gigabytes of data after the department refused to pay a ransom. The data also included sensitive information on informants and police officers.
Confidential informants
Contracts signed by 34 confidential informants in 2023 are among the exposed data from Louisiana.
A document titled “CI Information” lists the names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of 200 confidential informants involved in narcotics investigations. Names of deputies overseeing informants and case numbers are included, as well as whether the informants are still active. Deactivation dates, indicating when an informant’s work ended, range from 2020 to 2023.
A folder titled “C.I. G.P.S. routes” contains numerous images of maps detailing the movements of informants across Baton Rouge.
Seized devices
A document last edited in August 2023 lists devices seized by the sheriff’s office, primarily mobile phones. The document notes whether a warrant had been requested or obtained, as well as additional steps that may have been needed to access a device’s contents.
Several phones were turned over to the FBI, the data indicates. Some files mention that cellphone hacking tools were needed to pull data from the devices. Files refer to both Cellebrite, an Israeli company that produces tools for extracting data from mobile devices, and GrayKey, a mobile forensics tool developed by the US-based company Grayshift that similarly unlocks and extracts data from phones.
The data also shows that the Drug Enforcement Agency sought access to historical location data and other information from a target’s cell phone.
Cell phone surveillance
Pen trap and trace search warrants — court orders that allow law enforcement to collect cell phone metadata such as numbers dialed — were issued to cellular service providers T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon.
Many of the warrants mention the use of a “cell site simulator,” also known as an IMSI catcher, to reveal a suspect’s whereabouts. Cell site simulators, commonly referred to as Stingrays, are devices that mimic cell phone towers and can be used to pinpoint the location of specific phones.
Sock puppet accounts
A presentation about online investigations advises officers to create “sock puppet accounts,” a term used to describe a false online identity created to conceal an individual’s real one.
For instance, deputies were told to use a free VPN browser add-on for Google Chrome to hide their IP addresses. The website thisxdoesnotexist.com is also listed as a resource for deputies to create AI-generated images of everything from fake people to resumes.
Hidden cameras and drones
A folder titled “Tech” includes brochures listing an array of surveillance technology, such as GPS trackers and hidden cameras that can be placed inside items such as clothing, vape pens and Newport menthol cigarette packs.
A list of hidden cameras contains IP addresses, login credentials for remote access and identifying information for both the devices and SIM cards used.
One list shows 19 drones operated by the sheriff’s office, the majority of which are made by the Chinese manufacturer DJI. The drones are used by several divisions of the sheriff’s office, including SWAT and narcotics, for suspect apprehension and search and rescue missions.
A PowerPoint presentation in the data cache shows the default password used to access the internal system for logging drone usage. A folder titled “Operation Photos & Videos” shows both surveillance of criminal suspects as well as overhead images of sheriff’s deputies at a shooting range.
Internal affairs
Internal affairs data, including complaints made against the sheriff’s office, accuse deputies of racial profiling, unwarranted searches and excessive force.
Incidents range from a deputy being reprimanded for letting his 10- and 12-year-old children drive his patrol vehicle to another being arrested for battery and suspended for 30 days after being involved in a “road rage-type” episode.
Polygraph results
Other files detail the results of polygraph tests given to both deputies and suspects.
One file graphically details an alleged sexual assault and concludes that the person being tested had been deceitful. A deputy was also accused of being deceitful after being asked whether he’d referred to homosexuals as “disgusting” when discussing a fellow deputy believed to be gay.
Bern, 29.07.2025 — The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has been conducting criminal proceedings since 2022 in the matter of a large-scale phishing series. Fake e-banking login pages had been used to defraud numerous Swiss bank customers, resulting in losses of around CHF 2.4 million. In this context, the OAG took over about thirty cases from the cantons. The investigations conducted by the OAG and fedpol led to the identification and location of the developer and distributor of phishing kit in the UK. The case was taken over by the British authorities, who were already conducting similar proceedings against the individual involved. He was sentenced by a court in the UK on 23 July 2025 to seven years imprisonment. This success demonstrates the importance of international cooperation in the fight against cybercrime.
In July 2022, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) initiated criminal proceedings against persons unknown on suspicion of computer fraud (Art. 147 para. 1 in conjunction with para. 2 Swiss Criminal Code (SCC)) in connection with an extensive phishing series. Prior to this, several cantonal public prosecutor's offices had already initiated proceedings in around 30 cases in connection with the same matter, which the OAG subsequently took over and joined in its proceedings. In August 2023, following the identification of the developer and distributor of the phishing kit, criminal proceedings were extended to this person.
Real-time phishing on a grand scale
Between May 2022 and September 2022, unknown perpetrators created and used several fake login websites (phishing pages) for various Swiss banks, using what is known as a phishing kit. Bank customers who used Google Search to access their account ended up on the phishing pages posted as adverts and fell victim to the scam when they attempted to log into their supposed e-banking accounts. As a result, their e-banking access data were intercepted unbeknown to them, enabling the perpetrators to use the stolen access data to log into the victim's e-banking accounts and enable the two-factor authentication. The victims still believed that they were on the bank's real website and authenticated the login by entering the authentication code they received by text message on the phishing page. As a result, the perpetrators gained access to their authentication codes. This enabled them to successfully log into the victims' e-banking accounts and register an additional device with the bank to confirm two-factor authentication. The perpetrators were then able to log into the victims’ e-banking accounts without any further action by the victims and initiate payments without their knowledge or consent. The damage caused to the injured parties in the Swiss criminal proceedings amounts to CHF 2.4 million.
Successful cooperation with the UK, Europol and Eurojust
The intensive investigations conducted by the OAG and fedpol resulted in the identification and localisation of a British national who had developed and distributed the phishing kit. The OAG and fedpol's subsequent close cooperation with Europol, Eurojust and UK law enforcement authorities led to the arrest and prosecution in the UK of the developer and seller of the phishing kit. As the UK authorities were already conducting similar proceedings against this person, they took over the Swiss proceedings at the OAG’s request, continuing them in the UK. The OAG subsequently discontinued its criminal proceedings. On 23 July 2025, the perpetrator was sentenced in the UK to seven years imprisonment for his offences (press release from the Crown Prosecution Service). This success demonstrates the importance and effectiveness of international cooperation in tackling the fight against the ever-increasing cybercrime.
