Anubis Ransomware’s Puzzling New Tactic

In this week’s update, four editors with ISMG discussed Anubis ransomware’s puzzling shift to data wiping malware, the leadership vacuum and budget uncertainty at CISA and growing concerns about how artificial intelligence tools are making confident mistakes that demand human oversight.

See Also: On Demand | Global Incident Response Report 2025

The panelists – Anna Delaney, director, productions; Tony Morbin, executive news editor, EU; Chris Riotta, managing editor, GovInfoSecurity; Mathew Schwartz, executive editor, DataBreachToday and Europe – discussed:

• Potential motivations behind the Anubis ransomware group’s unusual addition of a wiper capability that can destroy data, undermining the traditional ransom model and suggesting possible use by nation-state actors for disruptive, deniable attacks;
• The growing leadership vacuum at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, with delayed confirmations including agency director nominee Sean Plankey, along with severe budget cuts and high-level staff departures – fueling internal confusion and casting doubt about the agency’s ability to safeguard U.S. interests;
• The overlooked risk of AI tools making confidently incorrect decisions – not due to hallucinations but flawed reasoning – and the urgent need for regulation and human oversight, especially as AI is deployed in high-stakes scenarios in which errors can be compounded.

The ISMG Editors’ Panel runs weekly. Don’t miss our previous installments, including the June 6 on InfoSecurity Europe Conference 2025 and the June 13 edition on why supply chain attacks are spiking.