The Awareness Angle: Cyber Security Awareness and Human Risk

Chrome Malware, 8 Million Tips Exposed & Japan Legalises Hacking Back


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This week's human cybersecurity news . A US general leaves classified military documents on a train, over 8 million anonymous crime tips are exposed in a major data breach, and a Chrome extension with a million users and Google's Featured badge was silently hijacking shopping commissions for months. This week's cyber news explained in plain English.

Also covered this week: the FBI seizes websites belonging to Handala, the Iran-linked hacker group behind the devastating Stryker wiper attack that wiped 200,000 devices and shut down hospitals. Companies House exposes UK company directors' home addresses, email addresses and dates of birth for five months, through a bug that required nothing more than pressing the browser back button. A new Android malware called Perseus hides inside IPTV streaming apps and targets your notes app to steal passwords, financial details and account recovery phrases. And Japan officially legalises offensive cyber operations, or "proactive cyber defence", from October 2026, a major shift away from its post-war defensive-only stance.

This week's phishing example: a convincing Emirates loyalty reward scam sent through legitimate Eventbrite infrastructure to bypass email security filters, and how to spot it.

We're The Awareness Angle, a weekly cybersecurity podcast and newsletter that explains the biggest cyber threats, data breaches and online scams in plain English, with a focus on the human side of security. No jargon. No technical background needed.

New episode every week. Get the newsletter at riskycreative.com

Full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9n-ewD0zZuU

Chapters

0:00 Intro
1:47 Breach of the Week: US General leaves classified maps on a train
7:23 Crime Stoppers data breach: 8 million anonymous tips exposed
12:22 Android malware Perseus: hiding in streaming apps, targeting your notes
17:29 Handala update: FBI seizes hacker websites after Stryker attack
20:58 Marquis ransomware: 672,000 bank customers' data stolen
26:37 Companies House: five months of exposed director data, fixed with a back button
31:34 Chrome extension malware: Save Image as Type removed after stealing commissions
38:18 Phish of the Week: Emirates loyalty scam via Eventbrite
43:05 SANS Security Awareness Summit 2026: call for presentations
45:18 Topics: Idris Elba's wax model unlocks his iPhone
46:30 Pete Tong reads out a URL like it's 1995
48:40 Tinder wants to scan your camera roll with AI
50:07 Japan legalises hacking back

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Music

Intro/outro music: "16" by Falling Forever, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
Track: https://fallingforever.bandcamp.com/track/16
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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The Awareness Angle: Cyber Security Awareness and Human RiskBy Risky Creative - Cyber Security for Humans