DataBreachToday.com

Black Hat's Jeff Moss: 'We're in a Political Situation, Whether You Like It or Not'
Technology doesn't exist in a vacuum, and by extension neither does cybersecurity. But in recent years, Black Hat founder Jeff Moss said he's been "struggling" with the "uncomfortable truth" that unlike the largely risk-free early days of hacking, today "all tech is political."

Defense Bill Expands Cyber Authorities, Tech Adoption and Talent Pipeline
Congress advanced a $15.1 billion military cyber budget in the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, boosting core operations, workforce recruitment and tech modernization as civilian cyber teams face sharp staffing losses and budget constraints.

Companies Are Among the Latest HIPAA Business Associates Revealing Recent Hacks
New York-based medical supply fulfillment company Fieldtex is notifying its clients and more than 274,000 people about an August hack. Meanwhile, revenue cycle software firm TriZetto is also contacting its customer and patients about its own hacking incident.

Also: Australia's AI Policy Backtrack, Legal Protections for White Hat Hackers
In this week's ISMG Editors' Panel, four editors explored Australia's shift in artificial intelligence regulatory policy, a resurgence of white hat hackers in the news and the shadow Telegram market of Russian fraudsters who are selling identities of former U.S. immigrants for $1,000 a person.

Hackers Target French Interior Ministry, Germany Summons Russian Ambassador
The French Ministry of Interior is investigating a suspected nation-state cyberattack that targeted its email server. Additionally, the German government on Friday attributed a 2024 hacking incident on air traffic control systems to Russian nation-state hackers.

Elastic Is Scaling Security Training With Modular Learning, Hands-On Skills-Building
Elastic is evolving its security training to modular, on-demand formats - at no cost - to reach more learners. It is focusing on short, feature-focused modules that provide flexible, practical skill-building without replacing premium instructor-led courses.

Trump Tees Up Federal Lawsuits Against State Rules in Executive Order
The Trump administration says it'll sue states that establish rules for artificial intelligence that go beyond a standard of "minimally burdensome" regulation - a step the U.S. president said is necessary to ensure China doesn't pull ahead in a global race for AI supremacy.

New Rules Tell Power Grid Operators to Log All OT Network Traffic
A new reliability standard for U.S. and Canadian electric grid tells major power companies to monitor and log traffic on their operational technology and industrial control systems networks. The rules will be a heavy lift for the electricity sector.

Europe Tries, Tries Again Amid Transatlantic Uncertainty
European cloud users love hyperscalers - but they’re all American. Microsoft, Google and Amazon Web Services together hold 70% of the European market, with local providers mustering a mere 15% collectively. That landscape could soon change in the face of geopolitical reality.

Boards are becoming increasingly focused on understanding the mechanics and implications of agentic artificial intelligence, but traditional governance processes aren't built for the speed and complexity of today's AI-driven innovation cycles, said JoAnn Stonier, former chief data and AI officer at Mastercard.

Ukrainian National Twice Indicted in Los Angeles for Pro-Russian Hacking
U.S. and allied agencies warned of low-skill Russian-linked hacktivists breaching critical infrastructure by exploiting weak remote access tools, as federal prosecutors charged a Ukrainian national with helping orchestrate operations targeting water and energy systems.

AI Firm Says New Models May Be 'High Risk' as Dual-Use Capabilities Grow
OpenAI said Wednesday it is preparing for artificial intelligence models to reach "high" cybersecurity risk levels, marking an escalation in the dual-use capabilities that could strengthen defenses or enable sophisticated attacks.

KKR-Led Series B Investment Propels AI Agent, Nonhuman Identity Management Push
Backed by $700 million in funding from KKR at a $3 billion valuation, Saviynt plans to accelerate innovation in identity security for humans, machines and AI agents. The Series B investment supports global expansion and continued platform development to meet evolving enterprise needs.

Password Manager Must Pay 1.2M Pounds
The British data regulator imposed a fine of 1.2 million pounds against password manager LastPass over a 2022 data breach that exposed the data of millions of its customers. Unidentified hackers stole backup data from LastPass's Amazon Web Services S3 bucket.

The Next Major Cyber Risk Could Come Through a Biological Sample
Researchers demonstrated that it is feasible to encode executable payloads into synthetic DNA that, once sequenced and processed, could trigger malware in sequencing software. When a vulnerability in a sequencer becomes a vulnerability in national health or food security, the stakes are existential.

Lessons From Lightning-Fast AI-Based Attacks and How Cyber Defenders Should Respond
AI-based attacks will come faster and the sequence of activities will be less predictable. Cyber defenders are skilled in network analysis, incident response and cloud or identity management, but in the face of AI-based attacks, they need new skills, tools and defensive tactics.

Analysis of Seized LockBit Data Suggests Victims Who Pay Enjoy More Media Coverage
Bad news for any organization that's ever paid a ransom in a bid to avoid their breach coming to light, or for a promise from attackers to delete stolen data, with a study of seized LockBit data finding that victims who paid a ransom were more likely to see the attack get detailed in the media.

Inotiv Tells SEC 'It's Still Evaluating Full Impact and Notifying Breach Victims'
Drug research firm Inotiv in a filing with federal regulators said it is still evaluating the financial and operational impact of an August cyberattack that's linked to ransomware gang Qilin. The company is also notifying nearly 10,000 people whose data was allegedly stolen in the incident.

Goldman Sachs-Led Round Supports Harness's Push Into AI Security and Automation
With $200 million in Series E funding and a new $5.5 billion valuation, Harness will scale its AI-powered platform for security, compliance and reliability in software development. The investment will support R&D into AI agents, testing, cost optimization and security for AI workloads.