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Also: AI Pilot Project Purgatory, Agentic AI Commerce Fraud Concerns
In this week's update, four ISMG editors discussed cybersecurity risks for small and medium-sized businesses, why so many enterprise artificial intelligence projects stall in pilot mode and concerns over fraud with the rise of agentic commerce in payments.

Tech Tools Are Powerful 'Easy Buttons' But You Still Need to Know the Fundamentals
In their careers, cyber professionals are expected to move beyond clicking through alerts and develop more depth in the field. The "easy button" may feel efficient, but it could be your downfall if you don't push yourself to truly learn the ins and outs of cyber defense.

Department of Defense Releases Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Rule
The Department of War has published the final version of its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Rule - dubbed CMMC 2.0 - following years of collaboration with defense vendors on a tiered-approach to developing standardized cybersecurity requirements across the Defense Industrial Base.

Merck's Luis Contasti Aguirre on Building Resilient OT Security Programs
Luis Contasti Aguirre from Merck shares how visibility into OT assets, clear processes and a strong risk-aware culture help secure critical systems. He explains how aligning people, process and technology strengthens compliance, reduces false positives and ensures operational resilience.

GitLab's Joern Schneeweisz on Prompt Injections and Old AppSec Issues
Large language models pose systemic risks, and the rush to release AI products revives old security flaws. Prompt injections and familiar application vulnerabilities expose gaps created when speed outweighs safety, said Joern Schneeweisz, principal security engineer at GitLab.

Also: Hackers Use Ethereum Smart Contracts to Hide Malicious npm Code
SwissBorg $41M hack, hidden malicious npm code, sanctions on Southeast Asian networks, California launderer's sentencing, Kinto's shuttering, Venus Protocol pays back victim, Nemo Protocol hack, DOJ's $5M recovery effort, Lagarde's proposed rules and the SEC-CFTC plan for market clarity.

Security Researchers Reveal Methods to Reverse Engineer MediaTek Firmware
Reverse engineering Wi-Fi chips opens new opportunities for security research. Security researchers Daniel Wegemer and Edoardo Mantovani describe tools, methods and motivations for unlocking hidden functions and enabling deeper hardware analysis.

Former CSO Joe Sullivan on Vibe Coding Impact on Software Development
AI is reshaping how software is created, allowing more people to participate in the process through "vibe coding." But as development accelerates, security challenges multiply as code is often deployed without thorough review, said Joe Sullivan, former CSO at Cloudflare, Facebook and Uber.

BioCatch Says Crime Groups Have Industrialized Operations With Stablecoin Transfers
Organized crime groups have industrialized digital banking fraud operations in the United States, with money mule networks surging 168% in the first half of 2025. Money mules are being recruited at unprecedented scale, and they're using stablecoins to transfer funds to crypto exchanges.

Operations Likely to Be Disrupted for Weeks
British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover on Wednesday said hackers stole "some data" in the cyberattack detected earlier this month. The Tata Motors-owned luxury carmaker shut down assembly lines in the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Brazil and India after a Sept. 1 cyberattack.

Why CISOs Must Rethink Access, Behavioral Analytics and AI Governance at Scale
Zero trust is evolving beyond static controls and network segmentation. CISOs must prepare for dynamic, behavior-driven security models that incorporate real-time intelligence, enforce identity and data safeguards, and manage AI as both a threat vector and a security tool.

GhostRedirector Compromising Windows Servers in Brazil, Thailand and Vietnam
A suspected Chinese cybercrime group is deploying custom malware to compromise Windows servers in Brazil, Thailand, Portugal and Vietnam as part of search engine optimization fraud to promote gambling websites.

Nonprofit Is Among Several Blood Suppliers Hit by Cybercriminals Over the Past Year
New York Blood Center Enterprises said an undisclosed number of patients, employees and other individuals are potentially affected by a January cyberattack that compromised personal and health related information. The hack was among several attacks on blood suppliers over the past year.

Salesloft Says Hackers Broke Into Its GitHub Repository
Cybersecurity firms Tenable and Qualys fell to attacks stemming from hacker theft of authentication tokens from a third-party tool often integrated into Salesforce. The firms disclosed their exposure to the attack that lifted access tokens from marketing-as-a-service software provider Salesloft.

Observo Buy Gives Customers Real-Time SIEM Ingestion and Vendor-Agnostic Options
SentinelOne’s Observo AI buy gives customers a flexible, AI-powered data pipeline for faster detection and SIEM freedom. The acquisition bolsters its AI-native SIEM vision and offers a lower-cost, real-time alternative to traditional solutions such as Splunk.

From MechaHitler to Islamic Chatbots, AI Engines Are Writing the Script for Reality
AI sovereignty is the new data sovereignty, except now we’re arguing not just about who owns your data, but who gets to define reality. From MechaHitler to Islamic chatbots, AI is less about objective truth and more about who gets to write the script.

Suits Filed After Researcher Found 1 Million Patient Records With No Password Setup
An Ohio firm that assists individuals in obtaining physician-certified medical marijuana cards is facing at least six proposed federal class action lawsuits so far involving the recent discovery by a security researcher of a database exposing nearly one million sensitive patient records on the web.

White House Kick Off School Year With AI Education Efforts, Public-Private Collabs
The Trump administration is rolling out its Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge with a series of high-profile White House events and public-private sector commitments - just as the Federal Trade Commission reportedly prepares to investigate AI systems' impact on child mental health.

Also: Software Supply Chain Risks, Cato's AI Security Buy
In this week's update, four ISMG editors discussed the Pentagon's review of Microsoft's use of Chinese nationals on U.S. military cloud systems, renewed concerns over software supply chain risks and Cato Networks' first-ever acquisition to boost AI security.

Series E Funding at $2B Valuation Fuels Fraud Defense, Identity Tech Buildout
Washington D.C.-area identity verification provider ID.me has raised $340 million to develop fraud-fighting technology and prepare for long-term expansion. The investment supports product innovation to stop AI threats such as deepfakes and fake businesses.