Several major Wall Street firms have been hit with a wave of sophisticated cyberattacks using voice phishing, or 'vishing' to trick employees into revealing sensitive information or granting access, Bloomberg reports.
Crash Override gets his ass handed to him by Acid Burn (Hackers)The attacks targeted some of the world's largest hedge funds - including Citadel, Point72, and Two Sigma Investments, along with several private equity firms.
Two Sigma, which manages $75 billion, says they were able to thwart the attacks.
"Our security team responded quickly to an attempted vishing campaign targeting Two Sigma and other investment managers, and we have no indication of any impact to our data or our systems," a spokesperson told BBG. "We continue to monitor the situation closely."
While we don't know if the hackers used AI, cybersecurity attacks targeting Wall Street firms have surged over the past year, as artificial intelligence tools allow for cheap, fast, and efficient attacks according to Align Managed Services president, Vinod Paul.
"Before they could attack 50 entities in a targeted attack, now they can do 1,000," said Paul. "Hackers can also listen into a phone call and mimic the voice, tone and phrasings of the speakers to create fake calls."
In June, Google noted a wave of attacks this year against law firms and other professional service organizations - which also involved vishing, and people posing as IT workers to sneak into corporate offices.
Finra is now involved...
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which oversees broker dealers and securities professionals, has been in touch with member firms about recent attempted breaches, according to a separate person with knowledge of the matter.
Finra started the Financial Intelligence Fusion Center in March - a secure portal for Finra and its member firms to share intelligence about fraud threats and to help coordinate responses. That was in response to the increasingly sophisticated cyber and fraud threats that were being directed at financial services firms. -Bloomberg
"The terrifying thing about modern day AI systems is that they have commoditized this and made it possible to execute attacks at scale," said Will Wilson, the chief executive officer of Antithesis. "Everybody will have to seriously level up. Otherwise they are going to be in big trouble."
Tyler Durden Wed, 08/05/2026 - 15:25Authored by Brian Danga via TheBlock.co,
Former LAPD officer Eric Halem was sentenced to life plus 15 years in state prison on Tuesday for his role in the December 2024 armed robbery of a 17-year-old in Koreatown, who was robbed of a hard drive containing $350,000 worth of bitcoin.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo imposed the concurrent life terms for kidnapping and robbery after rejecting a last-ditch request by defense attorneys seeking a new trial, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Halem had sought a new trial on grounds that his initial attorneys failed to call witnesses or examine key evidence.
However, Judge Escobedo denied that motion, noting that the evidence presented at trial showed Halem had acted out of "sheer and utter greed," adding that "there could've been no other conclusion."
During Tuesday’s sentencing, Escobedo noted Halem had preyed on individuals who “perhaps shouldn’t be seen as victims, because they were criminals themselves,” but that that didn’t excuse his actions.
To abuse his power, by masquerading as a police officer, “is heinous and egregious,” she said.
According to a district attorney's spokesperson, Halem must complete most of his 15-year sentence before serving the concurrent life terms and will be eligible for parole after seven years.
Halem was convicted in March following a two-week trial in which a jury found him guilty of kidnapping and robbery.
Prosecutors said Halem and three co-conspirators entered a high-rise apartment and forced the victim, identified in court as Daniel, to hand over the hard drive under threat of death.
Halem had left the LAPD nearly two years before the robbery but was still serving as a reserve officer at the time, according to the LA Times.
He still faces pending charges in separate cases involving insurance fraud and another alleged crypto-related robbery, while his co-defendants have yet to stand trial, per the report.
Tyler Durden Wed, 08/05/2026 - 15:05Speculation about a delay to Grand Theft Auto VI is spreading online after a former Rockstar Games developer said that, based on his experience working on previous installments, he "would not be shocked" if the game slips again. Another postponement would add to the previous delays and spark frustration among gamers who have waited more than 13 years for a fresh, updated version of the series.
Jake Brigstock of Indy100, a British digital news website, spoke with former Rockstar Games animator Mike York, via covers.com, about his confidence that Rockstar Games will be able to release GTA 6 by November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
York said he "would not be shocked at all" if there does end up being another GTA 6 release date delay.
"Personally after being there and working on GTA 5, I don't currently work there so I can't give a confidence based off that, but based on my previous experience, they could delay it again," said York.
"Straight up, they could delay it again. They can.
"They can do whatever they want and people will wait right now, it doesn't matter. If they need to do what they need to do, they'll do it.
"So if November comes around and they're thinking 'this final mission we have is still not looking very good, and there are still a few bugs in this final mission', they'll push it six more months if they have to.
"I would not be shocked at all. I don't think it would hurt them or anything."
Another delay would abosutely crush confidence in gamers whp've waited 13 year for another re-freshing of GTA.
Rockstar began taking GTA preorders on June 25. Take-Two Interactive Software, the owner of the gaming studio, has seen its stock meet heavy resistance at the $250 level since mid-2025.
Polymarket odds for "GTA 6 launch postponed again?" have yet to really move on Indy100's report that was posted on Tuesday.
//--> //--> GTA 6 launch postponed again?Odds stand around 11%.
Tyler Durden Wed, 08/05/2026 - 14:45