UNODC's 2026 threat assessment details how transnational scammers in SE Asia use Starlink terminals to bypass government internet shutdowns, keeping massive scam operations alive. With 300,000 workers and $88‑$114 billion in annual losses, disrupting them is far harder because satellite internet decouples them from terrestrial infrastructure.
Hunt.io discovered open directories on a Hong Kong server showing Hermes AI running in unattended YOLO mode, automating privilege escalation, enumeration, and deployment of a custom Go implant called Hades, compromising multiple systems in Thailand's Ministry of Finance. This marks the first known use of an autonomous AI agent for espionage‑scale post‑exploitation, highlighting new threat vectors as AI tools become weaponized.
Law enforcement and a consortium of security firms dismantled the Tycoon2FA phishing‑as‑a‑service platform, cutting its phishing volume by 92% and disabling its adversary‑in‑the‑middle MFA‑bypass kit. The operation seized more than 300 domains and forces attackers to rebuild costly infrastructure, reshaping the phishing threat landscape.