Cyber Round: Catwatchful’s Spying, LV's Breach, 16 Bn Passwords Leaked & More

In a digital world, it’s impossible to dodge cyberattacks.

What’s more is that with advancing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), it’s only going to become easier for cybercriminals to sophisticate their attack strategies.

As the globally renowned (and feared) cybergang Scattered Spider turns its attention to the aviation industry, others are left wondering (and dreading) when it’ll be their turn, while some are still reeling from the destruction they caused.

In the meantime, cybersecurity incidents keep rearing their ugly heads in different forms.

Catwatchful, which is a popular “child monitoring” application that also moonlights as stalkerware and spyware, was at the center of a major data leak, courtesy of a security vulnerability.

Reportedly, the application housed the email addresses and passwords of over 62,000 customers, as well as the phone data from 26,000 devices. Even Catwatchful’s administrator, Omar Soca Charcov, from Uruguay, was affected.

This leaked data consists of victims’ photos, messages, and real-time location data, going as far back as 2018. Customers from Mexico, Colombia, India, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador, and Bolivia (in order of the number of victims) are the ones who are most affected.

So much for Catwatchful’s claim of being “invisible and cannot be detected.” Interestingly, Catwatchful isn’t the first such application to be hit, becoming the fifth one to face data spillage, as per TechCrunch.


When it comes to data leaks, no one is safe.

Louis Vuitton’s Korea division witnessed a system breach from an unauthorized third-party that accessed its system, which led to customer data leaks, which included contact information, but didn’t consist of financial information.

Furthermore, the compromised data might differ from customer to customer, but could include names, genders, contact details, and other customer-provided information.

“We regret to inform that an unauthorized third party temporarily accessed our system resulting in the leak of some customer information,” said Louis Vuitton. “The accident is currently blocked, and we are further strengthening system security and working with the best experts in cyber security.”

The company notified government authorities after becoming aware of the incident on Wednesday. As such, Louis Vuitton has taken various steps to contain the breach and boost system security.

At the time of writing, Louis Vuitton’s main website is down, despite being up initially.

Prior to this, the South Korean divisions of brands such as Christian Dior Couture and Tiffany were also hit and have been under government investigations since May.


Amid all the uncontrollable cyber threats, comes an enquiry into one that was intentionally carried out.

Italian lawmakers have formally approached the country’s government and asked if it spied on journalists using spyware such as Paragon, as per a source familiar with the matter.

The move follows months of accusations from the opposition that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government illegally surveilled its critics—something the government denied.

As per the source, the COPASIR parliamentary security committee wrote to Cabinet Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano to gain clarification on the allegations.

Mantovano and Paragon didn’t respond to requests for comments.

A Meta report in January noted that around 90 WhatsApp users were targeted by Paragon, with some said to be Italian.

Perhaps the only silver lining among the dark cyber clouds is that Brazilian technology services provider C&M Software resumed operations following a cyberattack on its systems the previous day.

C&M Software, which is a provider for Brazil’s Central Bank, was caught in the middle of a cyberattack that included around $140 million being stolen. As per reports, the hackers gained access to the systems through an insider (João Nazareno Roque), who “sold credentials and built exploit tools.”

Post-attack, Brazilian authorities froze $50 million linked to the incident.

C&M Software’s resumption of operation came with clearance from the central bank.

What do you think about these developments? Do you think there will ever be any way businesses and individuals can secure themselves from cyberattacks?

Let us know in the comments below!