07.25.25 Security News Bites

AI is Great – But Is It Secure?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers are the backbone of agentic AI. But researchers say that authentication is optional and nearly all of the nearly 2,000 MCP servers exposed to the Internet today do not require authentication or have access controls. What could possibly go wrong? To test the security levels typical to these servers, the researchers examined a sample of 119. To each one they sent a “tools/list” request, querying the server to list all of its executable functions (tools). Not a single one of the 119 demanded any sort of authentication for such a request. Credit: Dark Reading

Multiple Medical Practices Permanently Shut Down After Cyberattack

While larger companies have the resources to weather cyber attacks, smaller ones often don’t and close permanently. Such is the case of Georgia based Ascension Health, doing business as Alpha Wellness and Alpha Medical Center. In addition, Pinehurst Radiology also shut down after a cyberattack. St. Margaret’s Health and Wood Ranch Medical also closed. While your best protection is to spend the time and money not to get hacked, cyber insurance can soften the blow. If you need help, contact us. Credit: Data Breach Today

Google Took a Month To Shutter Phone Malware Using its Servers

The good news is that they did, eventually, shut down the hacker’s operations that were running on its infrastructure. The bad news is they would not say why it took them a month to shut down the hackers after they were told about them. They were using Google’s servers to control the malware and store the stolen data from thousands of phones. I guess they were paying their bill. Credit: Tech Crunch

Google AI Overviews Make Users Half as Likely to Click But Google Still Charges Websites

Pew says users used to click on Google Search links 15% of the time, but only click on links 8% of the time when there is an AI summary, cutting the odds in half that someone will even see your website at all. Even if there is a link in the AI summary, users only click on that link 1% of the time. BUT, Google charges you, apparently, if their AI bot visits your site to steal your data to create its summary, so this is actually improving Google’s revenue. Makes you want to cancel your Google ad dollars. Credit: Computing

DHS Puts 22 Year Old Gardener in Charge of Fighting Domestic Terror

When Kristi Noem put 22-year-old Thomas Fugate in charge of a unit fighting domestic terror in June, her department rushed to praise the MAGA loyalist for his “leadership.” They said he was overseeing the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships. His qualifying experience, besides being a MAGA fanboy, was as a gardener and grocery clerk. As the news got out, the spin doctors in DHS tried to spin the story and, in reality, the department is not exactly a critical part of DHS, but it does point out the apparent lack of leadership that would allow this to happen. Details at MSN

by