Cybersecurity

US, international partners disrupt LockBit ransomware operations

Officials have also developed a tool for victims targeted by LockBit to potentially decrypt their compromised data.

Cybersecurity

The imitation game

The emergence of low-cost deepfakes has led to a high-stakes race to develop technologies that can detect and label synthetic media.

Cybersecurity

FBI disrupts botnet controlled by Russian security services

The news comes just weeks after the U.S. announced it went on the offensive against a China-linked botnet operation.

Cybersecurity

Microsoft and OpenAI swept AI chat logs to find hackers. Expect that to become the norm.

Big tech firms and their affiliated cybersecurity or AI offerings will likely roll out similar security research, though some say it raises privacy concerns.

Cybersecurity

The Pentagon is notifying individuals affected by 2023 email data breach

The exposed contents were not secured with a password at the time of their compromise.

Cybersecurity

Atlassian vulnerability linked to GAO data breach, CGI Federal says

CISA issued an alert on the vulnerability impacting the Atlassian tool in October of last year.

Cybersecurity

Some 6,600 current, former employees impacted in January GAO data breach

The breach, which also included some companies doing business with GAO, may further galvanize concerns about the federal government’s ability to defend itself from cyber intrusions.

Cybersecurity

IARPA makes awards in 4-year effort studying hacker psychology

The program greenlit research contracts for technologies that would use psychology to thwart hackers.

Cybersecurity

DHS inventory of AI systems for cybersecurity is ‘not accurate’, oversight report says

The report calls on the DHS to better verify its AI inventory submissions and for CISA to develop AI cybersecurity progress metrics.

Cybersecurity

FCC gives telecom companies 7 days to alert authorities of discovered data breaches

The FCC has been taking sweeping steps to harden data breach rules to protect telecom customers’ data.

Cybersecurity

Senators want NIST to create cyber guidelines for agencies’ use of civilian drones

The new bipartisan bill would also require that every agency using civilian drones “implement policies and principles based on the NIST guidelines.”

Cybersecurity

AI escalates election cyber threats with the US as prime target, reports find

Election workers face increased concerns due to the potential for AI systems to help enable disinformation. Outside cyber threats aren’t helping, either.

Cybersecurity

White House to release memory-safe code guidance in coming weeks

The U.S. and other intelligence partners have previously advised developers to adopt memory-safe programming languages.

Cybersecurity

CISA unveils election resource page for officials and workers

Election officials have several fears on their mind this year, including possible foreign interference in elections and physical threats linked to conspiracy theories.

Cybersecurity

US must ratchet up its response in pursuing hackers, MITRE CTO argues

The technical and innovation strategy leader sat down with Nextgov/FCW to discuss recent events in cyberspace and the government’s response to bad actors.

Cybersecurity

Recent US operations rendered Chinese-backed hackers’ support system inert, research finds

The support network, called KV-botnet, has helped enable the activities of Volt Typhoon and other Chinese state-backed hackers.

Cybersecurity

Contracts featuring automation, built-in security can boost agencies’ cyber defenses, VA officials say

As the federal government looks to harden its cyber resilience, officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs said agencies should work to modernize outdated technologies and ensure that vendor contracts include more rigorous security standards.

Cybersecurity

Proposed contractor cyber reporting rule sets a ‘significantly problematic’ bar, industry groups say

The groups, which represent tech and cybersecurity companies sometimes contracted by the government, say the proposals are too rigorous and inconsistent.

Cybersecurity

State Department to levy visa restrictions on spyware abusers

The move builds on several actions taken by the Biden administration in the past year to counter abusive commercial spyware practices.