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Category: Government

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Energy CISO: Agencies can’t implement zero trust alone

Federal agencies need help from stakeholders outside of government to solve some of the harder technical barriers in setting up zero-trust architecture in their networks, the Department of Energy’s chief information security officer said Wednesday. Speaking at CyberScoop’s Zero Trust Summit in Washington D.C., Paul Selby urged technology manufacturers and experts to work with federal…

VC industry reacts to Trump nominating a16z’s Brian Quintez for regulatory role

Brian Quintenz, who leads policy for Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto team, announced on Wednesday that he’s being tapped to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), according to his X post. And many in the VC industry appear to be thrilled about it. The CFTC regulates the trading of commodity futures, options, and swaps, otherwise known…

Trump picks Sean Cairncross for national cyber director

President Donald Trump has selected Sean Cairncross — a former White House and Republican National Committee official and the former CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a federal foreign aid agency — to be his national cyber director. Cairncross hasn’t held any major cyber-related positions, but during his time in the Trump White House as…

CISA election, disinformation officials placed on administrative leave, sources say

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency placed several members of its election security group on administrative leave last week, multiple sources familiar with the situation told CyberScoop. According to one source, the moves happened Thursday and Friday of last week and were targeted at employees focused on CISA’s mis-, dis- and malinformation teams. The moves…

Shopify pushes for ‘open trade’ as Trump delays import exemption

On the same day that President Donald Trump delayed ending a trade exemption targeting certain Chinese imports, ecommerce company Shopify published a blog post making its stance on U.S. trade policy clear. In the post, Shopify endorsed “open trade,” calling for regulators to give online merchants the “freedom to expand without constraints imposed by geopolitical…

DOJ disbands foreign influence task force, limits scope of FARA prosecutions 

One of the first acts taken by Pam Bondi after being sworn in as attorney general was to disband an FBI task force  that countered the influence of adversarial foreign governments on American politics. In a memo issued Wednesday, Bondi wrote that the Department of Justice would be shifting resources in its National Security Division,…

Lawmakers fear Elon Musk, DOGE not adhering to privacy rules

Congress is getting vocal about the privacy and security implications of Elon Musk and his cohorts at the Department of Government Efficiency accessing federal systems. Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee said Wednesday DOGE must comply with security and privacy laws as they obtain access to federal systems, something the lawmakers say they don’t…

Cybersecurity, government experts are aghast at security failures in DOGE takeover

As the world’s richest man and his team from the Department of Government Efficiency continue their quest to dismantle federal agencies, cybersecurity experts, good government experts and Democrats are increasingly expressing outrage and alarm, in some cases likening the actions to an ongoing data breach. Elon Musk and employees from DOGE — which is, legally,…

DeepSeek: The countries and agencies that have banned the AI company’s tech

DeepSeek, the Chinese AI company, is raising the ire of regulators around the world. DeepSeek’s viral AI models and chatbot apps have been banned by a growing number of countries and government bodies, which have expressed concerns over DeepSeek’s ethics, privacy, and security practices. Corporations have banned DeepSeek, too — by the hundreds. The biggest…

Privacy Concerns with Digital Driver’s Licenses, The Rise of DeepSeek AI

In this episode, we explore the rollout of digital driver’s licenses in states like Illinois and the potential privacy issues that come with them. Can digital IDs truly enhance convenience without compromising your privacy? We also discuss the new Chinese AI model, DeepSeek, which is affecting U.S. tech companies’ stock prices. Join us as we…

Bill requiring federal contractors to have vulnerability disclosure policies gets House redo

Bipartisan legislation to close a loophole in federal cybersecurity standards by requiring vulnerability disclosure policies for government contractors is getting another shot at passage  in this Congress. The Federal Contractor Cybersecurity Vulnerability Reduction Act, a bicameral, bipartisan bill that stalled out last year in the Senate, was reintroduced Friday in the House by Reps. Nancy…

FBI nominee Kash Patel gets questions on cybercrime investigations, Silk Road founder, surveillance powers

A senator on Thursday questioned whether the president’s pick to lead the FBI might harm cybercrime investigations with his plans for the bureau. At a nomination hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., asked Kash Patel about comments he made in September. “I’d shut down the FBI Hoover building on day one and…

Tulsi Gabbard tussles with senators over Snowden, surveillance 

Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday that she would leave her own political views “at the door” and deliver “intelligence that is collected, analyzed and reported without bias, prejudice or political influence.” But she also accused the Biden administration and other national security…

House bill aims to better protect financial institutions from ransomware attacks

A bipartisan pair of House lawmakers are seeking to improve private-public coordination for financial institutions amid a surge of ransomware attacks on the sector. The Public and Private Sector Ransomware Response Coordination Act, introduced this week by Reps. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., would direct the Treasury secretary to deliver a report on…

DARPA wants to create ‘self-healing’ firmware that can respond and recover from cyberattacks 

Imagine, for a moment, that your network is hit with ransomware. One of your employees clicked on a malicious link and now your network is compromised, data is encrypted and most of the organization’s systems are locked or offline. Then imagine if instead of assembling an incident response team,  notifying the board and contacting law…

OpenAI will offer its tech to US national labs for nuclear weapons research

OpenAI says it plans to let U.S. National Laboratories, the Department of Energy’s network of R&D labs, use its AI models for nuclear weapons security and other scientific projects. Per CNBC, OpenAI will work with Microsoft, its lead investor, to deploy a model on the supercomputer at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The model will be a…

AI creations edited by humans can likely be copyrighted in US, agency says

In the U.S., AI-generated creations — books, movies, and so forth— that have been edited by a human can likely be copyrighted, but those without any human modifications or additions cannot. That’s according to a report published by the U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) on Wednesday, which outlined scenarios in which AI-generated content might be eligible…

Anthropic’s CEO says DeepSeek shows that U.S. export rules are working as intended

In an essay on Wednesday, Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, weighed in on the debate over whether Chinese AI company DeepSeek’s success implies that U.S. export controls on AI chips aren’t working. Amodei, who recently made the case for stronger export controls in an op-ed co-written with former U.S. deputy national security advisor Matt…

David Sacks claims there’s ‘substantial evidence’ that DeepSeek used OpenAI’s models to train its own

David Sacks, Trump’s AI and crypto “czar,” said in an interview on Fox on Tuesday that there’s “substantial evidence” that Chinese AI company DeepSeek “distilled” knowledge from OpenAI’s AI models, a process that Sacks compared to theft. Sacks, who didn’t cite the source of this “evidence,” suggested that DeepSeek used responses from OpenAI models to…

Trump pauses on grants, aid leaves federal cyber programs in state of confusion

A series of Trump administration maneuvers to freeze federal aid has thrown cybersecurity grant programs into doubt for recipients ranging from state governments to small businesses to foreign allies. An Office of Management and Budget memo sent Monday and that went into effect Tuesday directs federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligations…

OpenAI launches ChatGPT plan for U.S. government agencies

In a week dominated by headlines about China’s growing AI competitiveness, OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Gov. The new version of the AI-powered chatbot platform is designed to provide U.S. government agencies an additional way to access the tech. ChatGPT Gov includes many of the capabilities found in OpenAI’s corporate-focused tier, ChatGPT Enterprise. Using the platform, agencies…

AI companies upped their federal lobbying spend in 2024 amid regulatory uncertainty

Companies spent significantly more lobbying AI issues at the U.S. federal level last year compared to 2023 amid regulatory uncertainty. According to data compiled by OpenSecrets, 648 companies spent on AI lobbying in 2024 versus 458 in 2023, representing a 141% year-over-year increase. Companies like Microsoft supported legislation such as the CREATE AI Act, which…

Smashing Security podcast #401: Hacks on the high seas, and how your home can be stolen under your nose

An Italian hacker makes the grade and ends up in choppy waters, and hear true stories of title deed transfer scams. All this and more is discussed in the latest edition of the award-winning “Smashing Security” podcast by computer security veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault. Plus – don’t miss our featured interview with Avery…

Removal of Cyber Safety Review Board members sparks alarm from cyber pros, key lawmaker

The top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee and a number of cyber professionals on Wednesday lamented the Trump administration’s decision to purge a cyber incident investigation board of its membership. But the move had some supporters, including the chairman of that same committee. Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued a…

OpenAI teams up with SoftBank and Oracle on $500B data center project

OpenAI says that it will team up with Japanese conglomerate SoftBank and with Oracle, along with others, to build multiple data centers for AI in the U.S. The joint venture, called The Stargate Project, will begin with a large data center project in Texas and eventually expand to other states. The companies expect to commit $100…

President Trump repeals Biden’s AI executive order

During his first day in office, President Donald Trump revoked a 2023 executive order signed by former President Joe Biden that sought to reduce the potential risks AI poses to consumers, workers, and national security. Biden’s executive order directed the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to author guidance that helps companies…

Noem: No anti-disinformation, misinformation action under her as DHS secretary

Department of Homeland Security secretary nominee Kristi Noem committed to senators Friday that if confirmed she would keep the department out of efforts to combat disinformation and misinformation, and pledged to make the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency “smaller, more nimble.” The South Dakota governor’s remarks signal that the incoming Trump administration will act on…

Treasury sanctions North Korea over remote IT worker schemes

The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions Thursday against two individuals and four entities allegedly involved in generating revenue for North Korea through illicit remote IT workforce operations, the latest salvo in ongoing efforts to disrupt financial streams that support Pyongyang’s weapons programs. The sanctions focus on efforts in which North Korea sent thousands of skilled…

Biden cyber executive order gets mostly plaudits, but its fate is uncertain

A sweeping executive order on cybersecurity released Thursday won largely positive reviews, with the main question being its timing — and what will come of it with the executive branch set to be handed over from president to president. Chris Inglis, the former national cyber director for Joe Biden who has served under both Democrats…

Microsoft catches Russian state-sponsored hackers shifting tactics to WhatsApp

The cat-and-mouse game between state-sponsored Russian hackers and one of the world’s biggest technology companies has continued into 2025.  Microsoft’s threat intelligence team published research Thursday examining how a state-sponsored Russian threat actor group, known as Star Blizzard, has altered its longstanding attack strategies to target WhatsApp accounts. This attack vector is a significant change…

A CISA secure-by-design guru makes the case for the future of the initiative

One of the chief architects of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency campaign to get software developers to design their products with security in mind said he believes it could be one of the best tools the Trump administration has to counter China. Jack Cable, who is departing his role as senior technical adviser Thursday,…

Bipartisan cloud study recommends speeding federal adoption, or remain vulnerable on cyber

Slow adoption of cloud technologies poses a cybersecurity hazard for federal agencies, which will require an overhaul of contracting, regulatory and budgeting procedures to fix, a bipartisan think tank report that will be released Thursday concludes. Led by veterans of both the first Trump administration and Biden administration as well as lawmakers from both parties,…

CIA nominee tells Senate he, too, wants to go on cyber offense

CIA director nominee John Ratcliffe said during testimony on Capitol Hill that if confirmed, he hopes to develop offensive cyber tools and supports the creation of a cyber-specific deterrence strategy. Ratcliffe, who served as director of national intelligence and in the House of Representatives for Texas, drew a comparison to the concerns over physical, territorial…

Law enforcement action deletes PlugX malware from thousands of machines

U.S. and international law enforcement agencies have removed the PlugX malware from thousands of computers worldwide in a coordinated campaign to blunt the effectiveness of one of the most infamous pieces of malware used by malicious cyber actors. According to recently unsealed court documents from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Department of Justice…

Second Biden cyber executive order directs agency action on fed security, AI, space

A draft cybersecurity executive order would tackle cyber defenses in locations ranging from outer space to the U.S. federal bureaucracy to its contractors, and address security risks embedded in subjects like cybercrime, artificial intelligence and quantum computers. The draft, a copy of which CyberScoop obtained, constitutes one big last stab at cybersecurity in the Biden…

OpenAI presents its preferred version of AI regulation in a new ‘blueprint’

OpenAI on Monday published what it’s calling an “economic blueprint” for AI: a living document that lays out policies the company thinks it can build on with the U.S. government and its allies. The blueprint, which includes a forward from Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s VP of global affairs, asserts that the U.S. must act to attract…

Trump and others want to ramp up cyber offense, but there’s plenty of doubt about the idea

In recent months, incoming Trump administration national security adviser Mike Waltz and some lawmakers have suggested that in response to Chinese cyber breaches, the United States needs to prioritize taking more aggressive offensive actions in cyberspace rather than emphasizing defense. It’s been said before. And it’s easier said than done. Experts that spoke with reporters…

FCC moves to tighten industry reporting rules for robocalls

The Federal Communications Commission is tightening up reporting requirements that are meant to prove agencies are cracking down on robocalling and phone number spoofing. The commission voted Wednesday to adopt new rules that would put in place stricter filing requirements for the Robocall Mitigation Database, a system used by communications providers to report compliance with…

The U.S. has a new cybersecurity safety label for smart devices

The White House this week announced a new label for internet-connected devices, the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark, intended to help consumers make more-informed decisions about the cybersecurity of products they bring into their homes. To earn the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark, which is being administered by the Federal Communications Commission, companies have to test their…

National Cyber Director Harry Coker looks back (and ahead) on the Cyber Director office

Days after the four-year anniversary of the creation of the Office of the National Cyber Director and days before its current chief is set to depart, that man, Harry Coker Jr., looked both backward and forward at the office in a speech Tuesday and a separate interview with CyberScoop. Coker touched on software liability, regulations,…

Exit interview: FCC’s Jessica Rosenworcel discusses her legacy on cybersecurity, AI and regulation

On Jan. 20, Jessica Rosenworcel will leave the Federal Communications Commission, capping off a 12-year tenure that saw her rise from commissioner to chairwoman in 2021. Under her leadership, the agency has taken an aggressive approach to regulating cybersecurity, data privacy and emergent artificial intelligence use in the communications sector. Over the past four years,…

US sanctions Russian, Iranian groups for election interference

The U.S. State Department has sanctioned two foreign organizations and one individual who it alleges worked on behalf of Russian and Iranian intelligence agencies to interfere in the 2024 U.S. general election. “These actors sought to stoke sociopolitical tensions and undermine our election institutions during the 2024 U.S. general election,” said State Department Press Secretary…

Treasury workstations hacked by China-linked threat actors

The Department of Treasury was notified earlier this month that several of its workstations were hacked by a group believed to be linked to China, the department confirmed to CyberScoop. According to a letter sent Monday to leaders on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and obtained by CyberScoop, the compromises occurred…

White House: Salt Typhoon hacks possible because telecoms lacked basic security measures

The White House said Friday that as the U.S. government continues to assess the damage caused by the Salt Typhoon hacks, the breach occurred in large part due to telecommunications companies failing to implement rudimentary cybersecurity measures across their IT infrastructure.  Anne Neuberger, the White House’s deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology,…

State Department’s disinformation office to close after funding nixed in NDAA

The State Department’s center for fighting global disinformation received a lump of coal in its Christmas stocking this week as congressional lawmakers excluded new funding and authorization for the office beyond this year. The Global Engagement Center, which tracks foreign disinformation, will lose  its authority on Dec. 24. Despite a concerted push by State officials…

Feds lay blame while Chinese telecom attack continues

The United States’ telecommunications infrastructure has been infiltrated by actors affiliated with China. Some of our nation’s most powerful leaders have been targeted — including President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance. This is one of the most severe cybersecurity incidents against telecom the United States has ever been subject to, and — worse…

Justice Department unveils charges against alleged LockBit developer

The U.S. Department of Justice revealed charges Friday against Rostislav Panev, a dual Russian and Israeli national, for his alleged role as a developer in the notorious LockBit ransomware group. Panev was arrested in Israel following a U.S. provisional arrest request and is currently awaiting extradition. Authorities allege that Panev has been an instrumental figure…

Study finds ‘significant uptick’ in cybersecurity disclosures to SEC

The introduction of new cybersecurity disclosure rules by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has led to a significant uptick in the number of reported cybersecurity incidents from public companies, according to a leading U.S. law firm that specializes in finance and M&A activity. Analysis by Paul Hastings LLP found that since the disclosure law…

Israeli court to hear U.S. extradition request for alleged LockBit developer

An Israeli Court is set to deliberate a significant extradition case involving Rostislav Panev, an Israeli citizen alleged to be involved with the notorious LockBit ransomware gang. According to Israeli news outlet Ynet, a U.S. extradition request was made public Thursday claiming that between 2019 and 2024, Panev served as a software developer for LockBit.…

Chinese cyber center points finger at U.S. over alleged cyberattacks to steal trade secrets

China’s national cyber incident response center accused the U.S. government of launching cyberattacks against two Chinese tech companies in a bid to steal trade secrets. In a notice Wednesday, the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China (CNCERT) said a suspected U.S. intelligence agency was behind the attacks, and that CNCERT had…

CISA pushes guide for high-value targets to secure mobile devices

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency unveiled a detailed set of guidelines Wednesday to safeguard the mobile communications of high-value government targets in the wake of the ongoing Salt Typhoon telecom breach. The guide aims to help both political and federal leadership harden their communications and avoid any data interception by the Chinese-linked espionage group.…

Playbook advises federal grant managers how to build cybersecurity into their programs

Two U.S. cyber agencies released guidance Tuesday on how federal grant managers should incorporate cybersecurity in their programs for critical infrastructure projects, as well as how potential recipients can take it into account. The Office of the National Cyber Director and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency publication — the “Playbook for Strengthening Cybersecurity in…

PHP backdoor looks to be work of Chinese-linked APT group

Cybersecurity researchers at a China-based cybersecurity company have uncovered an advanced PHP backdoor that suggests a new asset in the arsenal of Chinese-linked Advanced Persistent Threat group Winnti. Researchers at QiAnXin’s XLab discovered the backdoor, which they titled Glutton, targeting China, the United States, Cambodia, Pakistan, and South Africa. After initially discovering the malware in…

Cybercriminal marketplace Rydox seized in international law enforcement operation

The Justice Department announced Thursday that it had participated in a coordinated effort to seize and dismantle Rydox, an online marketplace for stolen personal information and cybercrime tools. The operation led to the arrest of three individuals alleged to be the site’s administrators. Rydox has been linked to over 7,600 illicit sales and generated substantial…

International crackdown disrupts DDoS-for-hire operations

In a sweeping international crackdown, law enforcement agencies from 15 countries, including the United States and multiple European nations, have dismantled 27 of the most popular platforms used for carrying out distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, Europol announced Wednesday. The operation, known as PowerOFF, has led to the arrest of three administrators in France and Germany…

Senators, witnesses: $3B for ‘rip and replace’ a good start to preventing Salt Typhoon-style breaches

The $3 billion that Congress folded into the annual defense policy bill to remove Chinese-made telecommunications technology from U.S. networks would be a huge start to defending against breaches like the Salt Typhoon espionage campaign, senators and hearing witnesses said Wednesday. Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel recently told Hill leaders that the $1.9 billion…

Why Americans must be prepared for cybersecurity’s worst

The interconnected world we live in has brought incredible opportunities for growth in America. It’s made life better in ways we don’t think about — from the phone in your pocket to the groceries at your local store, networks touch and affect almost all aspects of our daily lives. But there is an old adage…

Why Americans must be prepared for cybersecurity’s worst

The interconnected world we live in has brought incredible opportunities for growth in America. It’s made life better in ways we don’t think about — from the phone in your pocket to the groceries at your local store, networks touch and affect almost all aspects of our daily lives. But there is an old adage…

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