SDNY Judge: AI-Generated Documents Not Protected by Privilege

SDNY Rules AI-Generated Documents Are Not Protected by Privilege

On February 10, 2026, Judge Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled from the bench that documents a client created using a commercial generative AI tool and sent to his lawyer were not protected by privilege. Defendant Bradley Heppner was arrested on charges of securities and wire fraud on November 4, 2025. During the search of his mansion, federal agents seized electronic devices containing approximately thirty-one documents generated using Anthropic’s AI tool Claude. After he received a grand jury subpoena and had engaged legal counsel, Heppner used Claude to prepare reports outlining his defense strategy and potential legal arguments.

While Judge Rakoff has not yet issued a written opinion, the decision has significant implications for protecting client communications that involve the use of AI tools.

Nearly 17,000 Volvo staff dinged in supplier breach

Nearly 17,000 Volvo employees had their personal data exposed after cybercriminals breached Conduent, an outsourcing giant that handles workforce benefits and back-office services.

A filing with the Maine Attorney General shows Volvo Group North America learned in late January that employee data had been exposed through systems run by Conduent. The disclosure confirms 16,991 people across the US were affected, including three in Maine.

A letter sent to those affected states that intruders had access to Conduent's systems between October 21, 2024, and January 13, 2025, a months-long period during which they hoovered up files linked to employees' current or former health plans.

Conduent says it discovered the intrusion in January 2025, locked systems down, and hauled in forensic investigators. Volvo lists January 21, 2026, as the date it confirmed its workforce was caught in the fallout – a full year after Conduent first spotted the intrusion – highlighting how breaches involving vendors can take months to untangle as companies work out who was affected and who needs to notify customers.

Hacktivists, State Actors, Cybercriminals Target Global Defense Industry, Google Warns

Hacktivists, state-sponsored threat actors, and profit-driven cybercrime groups have been targeting the defense industrial base (DIB) sector, according to an analysis published on Wednesday by Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG).

Google warns of escalating, multifaceted cyber threats targeting the global DIB, including contractors, suppliers, and personnel supporting military capabilities.

The analysis highlights a “relentless barrage” of cyber operations from state-sponsored actors linked to China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea; pro-Russia and pro-Iran hacktivists; and cybercriminals, particularly groups launching ransomware attacks on manufacturing.

China-nexus cyberespionage dominates in volume, often exploiting edge devices and zero-days for long-dwell intrusions into aerospace and defense entities. Groups conducting such operations include UNC4841, UNC3886 (blamed for the recent Singapore telecom attacks), and UNC5221.

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Google has described attacks conducted by APT45 against defense, automotive manufacturing, and semiconductor companies in South Korea; APT43 attacks impersonating defense entities in the US and Germany; and UNC2970 campaigns leveraging the Gemini chatbot for OSINT and campaign planning.

Kimwolf Botnet Swamps Anonymity Network I2P

For the past week, the massive “Internet of Things” (IoT) botnet known as Kimwolf has been disrupting The Invisible Internet Project (I2P), a decentralized, encrypted communications network designed to anonymize and secure online communications. I2P users started reporting disruptions in the network around the same time the Kimwolf botmasters began relying on it to evade takedown attempts against the botnet’s control servers.

Kimwolf is a botnet that surfaced in late 2025 and quickly infected millions of systems, turning poorly secured IoT devices like TV streaming boxes, digital picture frames and routers into relays for malicious traffic and abnormally large distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

I2P is a decentralized, privacy-focused network that allows people to communicate and share information anonymously.

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On February 3, I2P users began complaining on the organization’s GitHub page about tens of thousands of routers suddenly overwhelming the network, preventing existing users from communicating with legitimate nodes.

0APT ransomware group rises swiftly with bluster, along with genuine threat of attack

Ransomware groups crop up like weeds, angling for striking positions in a crowded field rife with turnover, infighting and unbridled competition. Yet, they rarely emerge, as 0APT did late last month, claiming roughly 200 victims out of the gate.

Researchers have thus far seen no evidence confirming 0APT attacked any of its alleged victims, which includes high-profile organizations. Alleged victim data samples and the structure and size of placeholder file trees published by 0APT place further doubt on the group’s supposed criminal escapades.

Most signs suggest the group is running a massive hoax, but at least some of the threat 0APT poses is grounded in truth. The group’s inflated pretense may be a ruse to create a sense of momentum, gain recognition and attract affiliates.

“While 0APT is probably bluffing about the victims it has already compromised, it is not bluffing on the technical capabilities of its actual ransomware,” Cynthia Kaiser, senior vice president at Halcyon’s ransomware research center, told CyberScoop.

Anthropic Puts $20 Million Into a Super PAC to Counter OpenAI

Silicon Valley’s dueling artificial intelligence start-ups now have dueling super PACs.

Anthropic, the safety-focused A.I. company formed by former OpenAI executives, said on Thursday that it was putting $20 million into a new super PAC operation that will be in opposition to super PACs backed by OpenAI’s leaders and investors.

The donation effectively kicks off a new conflict between the rivals, with this year’s midterm elections as the battleground. At the heart of the disagreement between the companies is whether to regulate the artificial intelligence industry with more safety guardrails around the powerful technology. Anthropic generally favors politicians who are more pro-regulation than OpenAI does.

The New York Times reported in November that the group Anthropic donated to, Public First Action, was in talks with the company to fund its effort to help ensure that OpenAI did not amass too much political power. The regulation-skeptical super PACs backed by OpenAI’s leaders and investors are called Leading the Future.