News of the Cyber World

[kyonides]

DATA BREACH

Conduent data breach exposed 25 million Americans – including half of Texas

At least 25 million Americans — including roughly half of Texas’ population — were swept up in a massive data breach at tech firm Conduent, exposing sensitive information such as Social Security numbers and health insurance data.

Conduent, the New Jersey-based government and business technology contractor, was targeted by hackers in an attack that began in October 2024 and went undetected for nearly three months before being discovered on Jan. 13 of last year.

The ransomware attack is now coming into sharper focus as states continue to uncover how many people were affected.

Texas alone revised its number from 4 million people who may have been affected to 15.4 million — a staggering 285% increase.

In Oregon, an estimated 10.5 million people may have had their sensitive data exposed in the breach.
Hundreds of thousands of other victims in states like Delaware, Massachusetts and New Hampshire are also thought to have been affected.

The breach has also sparked a wave of litigation, with multiple class action lawsuits consolidated in federal court in New Jersey accusing Conduent of failing to adequately safeguard sensitive personal and health data and waiting months to notify victims after discovering the intrusion.

A plaintiffs’ steering committee was appointed in December to oversee the litigation, which could expose Conduent to significant damages, regulatory penalties and long-term fallout with state government clients.

Conduent operates critical backend systems for state governments nationwide, handling everything from Medicaid claims and eligibility systems to child support payments, food assistance and unemployment insurance.

The company works with agencies in 46 states and supports government healthcare programs serving about 120 million people, processing more than 500 million Medicaid claims each year and disbursing tens of billions of dollars annually in public benefits.

The attack was carried out by the SafePay ransomware group, which publicly claimed responsibility and said it siphoned roughly 8.5 terabytes of data from Conduent’s systems during the months-long intrusion.

SafePay listed Conduent on its dark web leak site in February 2025 and threatened to publish the data if a ransom was not paid, though Conduent has not said whether it engaged with the hackers.

APPLE

FTC chairman warns that political bias in Apple News app may violate consumer protection laws

The Federal Trade Commission warned Apple in a fiery letter on Wednesday that it may be violating consumer protection laws by stifling right-leaning publications on its popular news app.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson’s letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook came one day after The Post exclusively reported on a study that pointed to the Apple News app’s apparent bias against conservative media outlets. President Trump shared The Post’s report on his Truth Social account early Wednesday. 

Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group, analyzed a total of 620 stories given featured placement by Apple News’ editorial team in January — and found that none of them were published by outlets that are considered right-leaning.

“These reports raise serious questions about whether Apple News is acting in accordance with its terms of service and its representations to consumers,” Ferguson wrote in the Wednesday letter to Cook obtained by The Post.

In his Wednesday letter, Ferguson urged Cook to “conduct a comprehensive review of Apple’s terms of service and ensure that Apple News’ curation of articles is consistent with those terms and representations made to consumers and, if it is not, to take corrective action swiftly.”

The nation’s top trade cop pointed to Apple’s obligations under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which “prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices,” including “material misrepresentations and material omissions.”

“The First Amendment protects the speech of Big Tech firms,” Ferguson wrote. “But the First Amendment has never extended its protection to material misrepresentations made to consumers, nor does it immunize speakers from conduct that Congress has deemed unfair under the FTC Act, even if that conduct involves speech.”

In its analysis, MRC relied on classifications compiled by AllSides, which uses a multi-partisan panel of experts — with two members from the left, two from the center and two from the right – that are trained to spot media bias, as well as blind surveys of regular Americans, to establish bias ratings for outlets.

In February 2025, Ferguson launched an inquiry into tech censorship in an effort to “better understand how these firms may have violated the law by silencing and intimidating Americans for speaking their minds.”

“Any act or practice by Apple News to suppress or promote news articles based on the perceived ideological or political viewpoint of the article or publication, if inconsistent with Apple’s terms of service or the reasonable expectations of consumers, may violate the FTC Act,” Ferguson wrote on Wednesday.

DISCORD

Discord Launches Teen-by-Default Settings Globally

Teen-by-default settings to roll out globally for all Discord users, enhancing age-appropriate protections while maintaining privacy, community, and meaningful connection on the platform

SAN FRANCISCO, February 9, 2026 – Discord is announcing enhanced teen safety features rolling out globally that reinforce its long-standing commitment to creating a safer and more inclusive experience for users over the age of 13. As part of this update, all new and existing users worldwide will have a teen-appropriate experience by default, with updated communication settings, restricted access to age-gated spaces, and content filtering that preserves the privacy and meaningful connections that define Discord.

Beginning with a phased global rollout to new and existing users in early March, users may be required to engage in an age assurance process to change certain settings or access sensitive content. This includes age-restricted channels, servers, or commands and select message requests.

“Nowhere is our safety work more important than when it comes to teen users, which is why we are announcing these updates in time for Safer Internet Day. Rolling out teen-by-default settings globally builds on Discord’s existing safety architecture, giving teens strong protections while allowing verified adults flexibility. We design our products with teen safety principles at the core and will continue working with safety experts, policymakers, and Discord users to support meaningful, long term wellbeing for teens on the platform.” – Savannah Badalich, Head of Product Policy at Discord.
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Privacy-Forward Age Assurance

Age assurance is the foundation of this new experience and is designed to respect Discord users’ privacy and choice. Discord users can choose to use facial age estimation or submit a form of identification to its vendor partners, with more options coming in the future. Additionally, Discord will implement its age inference model, a new system that runs in the background to help determine whether an account belongs to an adult, without always requiring users to verify their age. Some users may be asked to use multiple methods if more information is needed to assign an age group.

Key privacy protections of Discord’s age-assurance approach include:

• On-device processing: Video selfies for facial age estimation never leave a user’s device.
  
• Quick deletion: Identity documents submitted to our vendor partners are deleted quickly— in most cases, immediately after age confirmation.
  
• Straightforward age assurance: In most cases, users complete the process once and their Discord experience adapts to their verified age group. Users may be asked to use multiple methods only when more information is needed to assign an age group.
  
• Private status: A user’s age group status cannot be seen by other users.
  

After completing a chosen method, users will receive confirmation via a direct message from Discord’s official account. A user’s assigned age group can also be viewed at any time in “My Account” settings. Users can always go to “My Account” settings to appeal their assigned age group by retrying the process. Discord prompts users to age-assure only within Discord and currently does not send emails or text messages about its age assurance process or results.

OPENAI

OpenAI axes exec for alleged sexual discrimination after she objected to ChatGPT erotica plan: report

OpenAI has fired a female executive for alleged sexual discrimination against a male colleague — after she objected to the company’s plan to roll out an “adult mode” allowing erotic conversations on ChatGPT.

Ryan Beiermeister, who served as vice president of product policy, strongly denied the allegation of sex-based discrimination, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“The allegation that I discriminated against anyone is absolutely false,” she told the paper.

Beiermeister is departing after having “made valuable contributions during her time at OpenAI,” the company told the Journal, adding that her exit “was not related to any issue she raised while working at the company.”

Beiermeister, whose tech career has included stints at Palantir and Meta, joined OpenAI in June 2024.

She led the product policy team that crafts rules for how people can use OpenAI’s products and helps design enforcement mechanisms for those policies.

Before she was fired, Beiermeister reportedly told colleagues she was against “adult mode” and worried about its potential harmful effects.

She also said OpenAI’s approach to blocking child-exploitation content was inadequate and efforts to keep teens from accessing adult content were insufficient, according to the Journal.

She reportedly took a leave of absence before returning to work last month, with OpenAI firing her in early January, according to people familiar with the matter. Details of the alleged discrimination were not known.

The Post has sought comment from OpenAI and Beiermeister.

During her time at OpenAI, Beiermeister launched a peer mentorship program for women at the business, according to the Journal.

Her ouster came ahead of OpenAI’s planned launch early this year of an “adult mode” that would allow adult-themed conversation, including sexual topics, for age-verified users.

Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive, wrote on X in October that the company planned to expand what was permitted on ChatGPT as it rolled out stronger age barriers.

WHATSAPP

Russia has tried to fully block WhatsApp and ‘drive users to state-owned surveillance app’

Russia has attempted to fully block WhatsApp in the country, the company said, the latest move in an ongoing government effort to tighten control over the internet.

A WhatsApp spokesperson said late Wednesday that the Russian authorities’ action was intended to “drive users to a state-owned surveillance app,” a reference to Russia’s own state-supported MAX messaging app that’s seen by critics as a surveillance tool.

“Trying to isolate over 100 million people from private and secure communication is a backwards step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia,” the WhatsApp spokesperson said. “We continue to do everything we can to keep people connected.”

Russia’s government has already blocked major social media like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and ramped up other online restrictions since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said WhatsApp owner Meta Platforms should comply with Russian law to see it unblocked, according to the state Tass news agency.

Earlier this week, Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said it will introduce new restrictions on the Telegram messaging app after accusing it of refusing to abide by the law.

The move triggered widespread criticism from military bloggers, who warned that Telegram was widely used by Russian troops fighting in Ukraine and its throttling would derail military communications.

Despite the announcement, Telegram has largely been working normally. Some experts say it’s a more difficult target compared with WhatsApp.

Some Russian experts said that blocking WhatsApp would free up technological resources and allow authorities to fully focus on Telegram, their priority target.

Authorities had previously restricted access to WhatsApp before moving to finally banning it on Wednesday.

Under President Vladimir Putin, authorities have engaged in deliberate and multipronged efforts to rein in the internet.

They have adopted restrictive laws and banned websites and platforms that don’t comply, and focused on improving technology to monitor and manipulate online traffic.

META

Ex-Meta exec says Instagram exposed teen daughter to ‘predators’ in bombshell testimony

The underage daughter of a former Meta safety researcher was bombarded with sexually explicit pictures and propositions within just days of creating her first Instagram account, according to bombshell testimony at a landmark New Mexico trial.

Arturo Béjar, who led a safety-focused team at Mark Zuckerberg’s company from 2009 to 2015, told jurors he decided to return as a consultant in 2019 after becoming alarmed at the sick messages his then-14-year-old daughter had received on Instagram, including “unsolicited penis pictures.”

“I was with her when she created the account,” said Béjar, who appeared to choke up several times. “I didn’t know that was going to bring predators to her door, people who attacked her to her door, people who would ask her to sell nude photos of herself when she was a teenager to her door.”

Béjar, who has become an outspoken Meta critic since leaving the company for good in 2021, is a key witness for New Mexico state attorneys, who say the tech giant turned a blind eye as predators and sex creeps targeted kids in order to protect Meta’s profits.

His testimony was set to continue Wednesday, with another round of questions from state attorneys followed by cross-examination by Meta’s defense team.

The online safety expert said Meta changed significantly during his second stint at the company as it scrambled to keep pace with budding rivals like Snap and TikTok. Béjar testified that safety researchers were often stonewalled by top brass, including Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, when trying to implement new features meant to protect kids.

Béjar said, for example, that Instagram lacked a feature allowing users to report why they were blocking a particular individual — which meant that he and his daughter had little recourse when trying to alert the company about predators.

“When my daughter got a message saying, ‘Do you want to have sex tonight?’ — first message she gets from a stranger — there was no option [to report],” Béjar said.

He also alleged that Meta was woefully understaffed to address the volume of safety violations it faced. He laid the blame on its use of algorithms, which, he said, helped creeps find potential victims more easily.