CyberWire Daily

French police raid X’s Paris offices. The Feds take over $400 million from a dark web cryptocurrency mixer. The NSA says zero-trust goes beyond authentication. Researchers warn of a multi-stage phishing campaign targeting Dropbox credentials. A new GlassWorn campaign targets macOS developers. Critical zero-day vulnerabilities in Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile are under active exploitation. Researchers disclose a major data exposure on Moltbook, a social network built for AI agents. States bridge the gaps in election security. Nitrogen ransomware has a fatal flaw that permanently destroys data. Supersize your passwords — you want fries with that? Remember to leave us a...

Please enjoy this encore of CISO Perspectives. In this mid-season episode, Kim takes a step back to reflect on the journey so far—revisiting key conversations, standout moments, and recurring themes that have shaped the season. During the episode, Kim sits down with N2K's own Ethan Cook to connect the dots across episodes, uncovering deeper patterns and takeaways. Whether you're catching up or tuning in weekly, this episode offers a thoughtful recap and fresh perspective on where we've been—and what's still to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...

Poland says weak security left parts of its power grid exposed. A Russian-linked hacker alliance threatens Denmark with a promised cyber offensive. Fancy Bear moves fast on a new Microsoft Office flaw, hitting Ukrainian and EU targets. Researchers find a sprawling supply chain attack buried in the ClawdBot AI ecosystem. A new report looks at how threats are shaping the work of journalists and security researchers. A stealthy Windows malware campaign blends Pulsar RAT with Stealerv37. A former Google engineer is convicted of stealing AI trade secrets for China. The latest cybersecurity funding and deal news. On our Afternoon...

Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes. Richard Melick, Director of Threat Reporting for Zimperium, talks about his journey, from working in the military to moving up to the big screens. He shares that he's been in the business of solving unique cybersecurity problems for so long that he has found his own path that works very well for him. He says, "if I go to a unique problem and try to solve it, I find that I'm solving it the same way that I would've solved it five years ago, because I found my pattern." Richard...

A popular chatbot exposes millions of private user messages. The White House rescinds Biden-era federal software security guidance. A senior Secret Service official urges more scrutiny of domain registration. The President’s NSA pick champions section 702. France looks to reduce reliance on U.S. digital infrastructure. CISA shares guidance on insider threats. Hugging Face infrastructure was abused to distribute an Android RAT. Ivanti discloses a pair of critical zero-days. Popular dating sites suffer a data breach. Our guest is Tim Starks from CyberScoop, discussing how the US looks to push its view of AI cybersecurity standards to the rest of...

Google dismantles a huge residential proxy network. Did the FBI take down the notorious RAMP cybercrime forum? A long running North Korea backed cyber operation has splintered into three specialized threat groups. U.S. military cyber operators carried out a covert operation to disrupt Russian troll networks ahead of the 2024 elections. Phishing campaigns target journalists using the Signal app. SolarWinds patches vulnerabilities in its Web Help Desk product. Amazon found CSAM in its AI training data. Initial access brokers switch up their preferred bot. China executes scam center kingpins. Our guest is Tom Pace, CEO of NetRise, explaining how...

CISA’s interim director uploaded sensitive government material into the public version of ChatGPT. The cyberattack on Poland’s power grid compromised roughly 30 energy facilities. The EU and India sign a new partnership that includes expanded cyber cooperation. Meta rolls out enhanced WhatsApp security features. Researchers uncover a campaign targeting LLM service endpoints. Fortinet and OpenSSL patch multiple vulnerabilities. A high-severity WinRAR vulnerability continues to see widespread exploitation six months after it was patched. The SoundCloud data breach affected nearly 30 million users. Ben Yelin explains the California lawsuit accusing social media platforms of harming kids. A Spanish resort town gets...

Microsoft rushes an emergency fix for an actively exploited Office zero-day. A suspected cyberattack halts rail service in Spain. The FBI probes Signal chats in Minnesota. The UK moves to overhaul policing for the cyber age. Romania investigates a hitman-for-hire site. A UK court awards $4.1 million in a Saudi spyware case. Google agrees to a voice assistant settlement. CISA maps post-quantum crypto readiness. Prosecutors charge an Illinois man over a Snapchat hacking scheme targeting hundreds of women. Our guest today is Cynthia Kaiser, SVP of the Ransomware Research Center at Halcyon, sharing some insight into the AI and quantum...

Microsoft granted the FBI access to laptops encrypted with BitLocker. The EU opens an investigation into Grok’s creation of sexually explicit images. Glimmers of access pierce Iran’s internet blackout. Koi Security warns npm fixes fall short against PackageGate exploits. Some Windows 11 devices fail to boot after installing the January Patch Tuesday updates. CISA warns of active exploitation of  multiple vulnerabilities across widely used enterprise and developer software. ESET researchers have attributed the cyberattack on Poland’s energy sector to Russia’s Sandworm. This week's business breakdown. Brandon Karpf joins us to talk space and cyber. CISA sits out RSAC...

Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes. Lauren Van Wazer, Vice President, Global Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs for Akamai Technologies, shares her story as she followed her own North Star and landed where she is today. She describes her career path, highlighting how she went from working at AT&T to being able to work in the White House. She shares how she is a coach and a leader to the team she works with now, saying "my view is I've got their back, if they make a mistake, it's my mistake, and if they do...

Today we have Andrew Northern, Principal Security Researcher at Censys, discussing "From Evasion to Evidence: Exploiting the Funneling Behavior of Injects". This research explains how modern web malware campaigns use multi-stage JavaScript injections, redirects, and fake CAPTCHAs to selectively deliver payloads and evade detection. It shows that these attack chains rely on stable redirect and traffic-distribution chokepoints that can be monitored at scale. Using the SmartApe campaign as a case study, the report demonstrates how defenders can turn those chokepoints into high-confidence detection and tracking opportunities. The research can be found here: From Evasion...

At long last, a TikTok deal. Officials urge lawmakers to keep an eye on the quantum ball. Fortinet confirms active exploitation of a critical authentication bypass flaw. Ireland plans to authorize spyware for law enforcement. Okta warns customers of sophisticated vishing kits. Under Armour investigates data breach claims. CISA adds a Zimbra Collaboration Suite flaw to the known exploited vulnerabilities list. Poor OpSec enables recovery of data stolen by the INC ransomware gang. The DOJ deports a pair of Venezuelans convicted of ATM jackpotting. Our guest is Chris Nyhuis [nye-heis], Founder and CEO of Vigilant, sharing practical steps to...

CISA’s acting director assures Congress the agency has “stabilized”. Google and Cisco patch critical vulnerabilities. Fortinet firewalls are being hit by automated attacks that create rogue accounts. A global spam campaign leverages unsecured Zendesk support systems. LastPass warns of attempted account takeovers. Greek authorities make arrests in a sophisticated fake cell tower scam. Executives at Davos express concerns over AI. Pwn2Own Automotive proves profitable. Our guest is Kaushik Devireddy, AI data scientist at Fable Security, with insights on a fake ChatGPT installer. New password, same as the old password.  Remember to leave us a 5-star rating...

DOGE staff face scrutiny over possible Hatch Act violations. GitLab fixes a serious 2FA bypass. North Korean hackers target macOS developers through Visual Studio Code. Researchers say the VoidLink malware may be largely AI-built. MITRE rolls out a new embedded systems threat matrix. Oracle drops a massive patch update. Minnesota DHS reports a breach affecting 300,000 people. Germany looks to Israel for cyber defense lessons. A major illicit marketplace goes dark. Our guest is Ashley Jess, Senior Intelligence Analyst from Intel 471, with a “crash course” on underground cyber markets. And auditors emerge as an unlikely line of cyber defense. Re...

Authorities pursue Black Basta. British authorities launch a new national service to fight fraud and cybercrime. LinkedIn private messages get infected with RATs. Researchers uncover a new malicious extension that intentionally crashes the browser. Ingram Micro discloses a ransomware-related data breach. A Jordanian man pleads guilty to selling stolen access to corporate networks. Business Breakdown. Tim Starks from CyberScoop discusses Sean Plankey's renomination to lead CISA.  Grave oversight in the funeral biz.  Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Da...

While our team is away from the mic observing the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday in the United States, we share this thoughtful discussion from our T-Minus Space Daily team. Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) is the practice of intercepting and analyzing electronic signals, like phone calls, emails, radar, and telemetry, to gather actionable intelligence for national security, defense, and military operations. It’s primarily conducted by agencies like NSA, but over the last decade many companies in the commercial sector have grown in this vital area of national defense, especially in space. Our guest is Da...

While our team is observing the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday in the United States, please enjoy this CyberWire-X episode featuring the team from Horizon3.ai. In this CyberWire-X episode, Dave Bittner speaks with Horizon3.ai co-founder and CEO Snehal Antani about how continuous autonomous penetration testing is reshaping security resilience. Antani reflects on his journey from CIO to DoD operator, where he learned that the hardest part of security isn’t patching — it’s prioritizing what matters and proving defenses work before attackers do. He explains why vulnerability scans fall short, how “AI hackers”...

Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes. Deepen Desai, Global Chief Information Security Officer at Zscaler, shares his story as a doctor that treats computer viruses. He describes how he got into the security field and his work with Zscaler. He says what it's like learning and growing in this field and shares great advice for people who are up and coming in the field. Deepen describes working with an incredible team and how much joy it brings him to see his team learning and growing beyond their roles working with him. He says he want's to...

Today we are joined by Ben Folland, Security Operations Analyst from Huntress, discussing their work on "ClickFix Gets Creative: Malware Buried in Images." This analysis covers a ClickFix campaign that uses fake human verification checks and a realistic Windows Update screen to trick users into manually running malicious commands. The multi-stage attack chain leverages mshta.exe, PowerShell, and .NET loaders, ultimately delivering infostealers like LummaC2 and Rhadamanthys, with payloads hidden inside PNG images using steganography. While technically sophisticated, the campaign hinges on simple user interaction, underscoring the importance of user awareness and controls around command execution. <...

Who turned out the lights in Venezuela? The European Space Agency confirms a series of cyberattacks. Dutch police nab the alleged operator of a notorious malware testing service. The U.S. and allies issue new guidance on OT security. Researchers warn of automated exploitation of a critical Hewlett-Packard Enterprise OneView flaw. TamperedChef cooks up trojanized PDF documents to deliver backdoor malware. A bluetooth vulnerability puts devices at risk. Cisco patches a maximum-severity zero-day exploited since November. Jen Easterly heads up RSAC. Our guest is Zak Kassas from Ohio State University, discussing GPS alternatives. Vintage phones face modern problems. <...