Cybersecurity
CISA contemplates whether to hire security software buying help
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a sources sought notice that describes its desire to bring in a company that can help manage enterprise license and materials purchases.
As warfare becomes engineering, the era of the digital mercenary dawns
The White House revives “privateering for the digital age” by authorizing cyber firms to strike foreign targets.
Trump admin empowers private US firms to go after transnational cybercriminals
“By partnering with vetted United States companies subject to the direction and oversight of the Federal Government, we will enhance our ability to counter [transnational criminal organizations’] threats and combat transnational cybercrime, fraud, and other predatory schemes against American citizens,” the memo said.
NIST wants to outfit the National Vulnerability Database with AI
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is angling to modernize how it reports and responds to cyber vulnerabilities with the help of artificial intelligence.
Federal systems increasingly likely to face accidental AI breach after Hugging Face, experts say
Former officials and security experts say aged systems, contractors and agency AI adoption could open similar paths into government networks.
Voting machine researchers say federal work abruptly ended after Trump ally pushed back on their findings
Mojave Research executives said at DEF CON that the government had been preparing to expand the company’s election security work, and linked Trump adviser Kurt Olsen to pressure they faced after finding election system vulnerabilities but no evidence votes were altered.
New ‘Water Watch Center’ launched to help small utilities stop cyberattacks
The initiative comes as multiple states grapple with intrusions into their water systems that some officials suspect could be tied to Iran.
CISA cautions against rigid rules for future of cyber vulnerability program
A top agency official said formal backing from Congress could strengthen the global vulnerability-tracking system but warned against measures that may limit its ability to adapt to ever-changing hacking threats.
Exclusive
CISA still finds water system controls exposed online amid multistate hacks
The agency is working with the FBI to help victims but is not attributing the cyber intrusions to any group, acting director Nick Andersen told Nextgov/FCW.
AI advances are pushing governments to treat cyberattacks as routine, Western officials say
The remarks underscore a grim outlook for cyberdefenders showing that AI systems are able to exploit vulnerabilities faster than governments can patch them.
Hugging Face AI breach is ‘most consequential hack’ since Morris Worm, former NSA cyber chief says
AI may let hackers exploit newly disclosed software flaws so quickly that organizations should weigh whether to immediately patch internet-connected devices, even at the risk of causing outages, Rob Joyce said.
Chinese telecom firms kept footholds in US networks despite federal crackdowns, House probe finds
China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom retained equipment, data center space and network ties after FCC restrictions, including a China Mobile-linked network that appeared in routes to Salt Typhoon servers.
Featured eBooks
Exclusive
Lawmakers propose giving 2015 OPM breach victims identity protection for life
The federal government’s coverage for 22.1 million people hoovered up in the China-linked breaches is scheduled to end Sept. 30.
Cyber industry coalition urges federal action after suspected Iran-linked water hacks
The group called on CISA to impose baseline security standards across federal operational technology systems and pressed Congress to revive several stalled cyber initiatives.
CISA urges water utilities to take exposed systems down after Minnesota hacks
A memo distributed to water industry members and obtained by Nextgov/FCW makes mention of Iran but does not directly present evidence attributing the latest Minnesota incident to the country.
Anthropic confirms its AI breached 3 organizations during testing
Three Claude models were inadvertently given access to the internet during security evaluations, and each model took a different approach to hacking external systems.
Amazon uncovers broad North Korean hacking campaign against open-source software
New findings connect the same Pyongyang-backed group to four compromises dating to 2025, revealing a larger operation than previously known.
After Hugging Face breach, FedRAMP chief tells slow-to-patch vendors to stay out of government
Pete Waterman cited an incident in which OpenAI models escaped a test environment and broke into AI company Hugging Face as evidence that providers must prepare for attacks moving at AI speed.
Russian hackers can steal government emails without victims clicking a link, cyber agencies warn
The Russia-linked Laundry Bear group has compromised more than 10 Western organizations through malicious emails that can trigger an exploit when they are viewed or previewed.
Lawmakers get taste of AI-enabled cyberattacks in China-Taiwan war game
Representatives weighed responses to simulated Chinese cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure during a tabletop exercise centered on a Taiwan crisis.
