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New Pentagon CISO Appointed as Pentagon Budget Cuts Loom
The White House appointed a Trump ally and former Department of Defense cybersecurity official as DOD CISO, an unexpected return to the Pentagon for an official previously removed under a cloud of security concerns. Arrington returns to the Pentagon just as it faces budget cuts.

Private Equity Firm Says It'll Take Several Weeks to Pinpoint Scope of Jan. 16 Hack
An unauthorized third-party accessed certain information systems last month from Insight Partners through a sophisticated social engineering attack. Insight said it'll take the next several weeks to determine the scope of the Jan. 16 incident with the support of third-party cybersecurity experts.

Demand for Cloud Security Skills Is Growing, Offering Good Pay and New Challenges
Cloud services support a wide range of applications from finance to healthcare systems and have become prime targets for cybercriminals, making cloud security a major concern for cybersecurity organizations. The need to secure the cloud is driving demand for skilled cloud security specialists.

Information-Stealing Malware Continues to Feed Markets for Stolen Credentials
Defense sector and military agency employees, and artificial intelligence service users, all show signs of having been infected by information-stealing malware, as the market for buying and selling stolen credentials continues to thrive, experts warn.

CDR, DLP Provider Will Help Safeguard Cloud-Based Applications, Collaboration Tools
Menlo Security bought a data and file security vendor led by a longtime IBM executive to secure cloud-based applications and collaboration tools. Votiro's CDR and DLP tools will neutralize threats in real time and facilitate AI-driven data protection without disrupting user workflows.

DOJ Says Contractor Falsely Claimed to Meet Critical Cyber Requirements
A military health benefits administrator has agreed to pay $11.2 million to settle allegations that the company falsely certified compliance with cybersecurity requirements - including patch management - for three years in a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense.

Regulators Cite Privacy Concerns Over DeepSeek's Data Collection Practices
The Personal Information Protection Commission, South Korea's data protection regulator, has directed Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek AI to withdraw its chatbot application from official app stores pending an inquiry into the chatbot's compliance with data protection rules.

Researcher Says Firm Failed to Secure Sensitive Health Data From Survey Forms
An unsecured database containing 2 terabytes of data allegedly exposed more than 1.6 million clinical research records to the internet, including sensitive personal and medical information of patients, said the security researcher who discovered the lapse. Why does this keep happening?

'Marstech1' Malware Targets Developers Through GitHub Respository
New North Korean malware is targeting cryptowallets with an unconventional command-and-control infrastructure and through malware embedded into a GitHub repository that's apparently the account of a Pyongyang hacker. The implant appears to have emerged late last December.

Investment Led by Bain Capital to Enhance Predictive Threat Detection Capabilities
Dream raised $100 million in Series B funding from Bain Capital on a $1.1 billion valuation to enhance its proprietary Cyber Language Model and expand globally, with a focus on U.S. market entry to address growing national security threats through AI-driven cybersecurity and predictive solutions.

Court Clears Way for Musk's DOGE Team to Continue Accessing Sensitive Federal Data
A federal judge has ruled against a lawsuit from 14 state attorneys general requesting a temporary restraining order against Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency amid controversy surrounding the billionaire's access to sensitive government systems.

Flurry of Arrests a Potential Prelude to Russia-Ukraine Peace Negotiations
Even before Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, there were signs that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered cybercriminals operating inside his country's borders to be reined in, potentially as a bargaining chip in negotiations over Russia's stalemated war of conquest against Ukraine.

States will increasingly be stepping up to fill gaps in the healthcare sector with new cyber legislation and requirements as the Trump administration promises to roll back regulations, predicts attorney Amy Magnano of the law firm Morgan Lewis' healthcare practice.

Surge in Attack Attempts Spotted After Palo Alto Networks Details and Patches Flaw
Attackers have stepped up efforts to exploit a vulnerability in the software that runs Palo Alto Networks firewall appliances that could give them direct access to the underlying software. Unauthenticated hackers could use PHP scripts to bypass the PAN-OS management web interface.

Leaderboard Race May be More Marketing than Merit
Artificial intelligence model makers routinely publish benchmark scores of their performance, but the leaderboard race may be more an exercise in marketing than an accurate reflection of the models' abilities. Understanding model failures can be more valuable than celebrating high scores.

Use Other Than for Police Purposes Can Invoke Fine Up to 20 Million Euros
The Italian privacy regulator warned against unlawful uses of Graphite spyware following reports of mass hacking campaigns using the tool. The Italian Data Protection Authority published a warning targeting commercial spyware developed by Israeli firm Paragon Solutions.

Lawsuit Alleges Insurer Used AI Tool in Denying Patients Medically Necessary Care
A proposed class action lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group, which claims the company's insurance unit UnitedHealthcare used artificial intelligence tools to deny Medicare Advantage claims for medically necessary care, has the green light to proceed from a federal judge.

Who Are 'Death Clickers,' and How Do They Weaken Company's Cyber Defense?
Employees who repeatedly click on malicious links or "death clickers" are a risk to an organization's cybersecurity. This blog explains how awareness, behavior testing and simulations can help organizations strengthen their cybersecurity culture and manage human risks.

Sluggish Sales Growth and Lower Relevance in Endpoint Could Make Trend Attractive
Endpoint security vendors are changing up their ownership or business models as Microsoft and CrowdStrike increasingly blot out the sun in this rapidly consolidating market. Reuters said that Advent International, Bain Capital, EQT AB and KKR have expressed interest in taking Trend Micro private.