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HHS Secretary Testifies to Congress on Trump Administration's FY 2026 Budget Plans
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services aims to bolster cybersecurity and health IT through the aid of artificial intelligence that will be used at federal health agencies, said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of HHS during House and Senate committee budget hearings on Wednesday.

It's Me, Not You: CISA Withdraws Leidos Cyber Offer Last Second
A multi-billion dollar vision by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency for its government-wide network intrusion detection and prevention system went kaput on Friday, court documents show. It withdrew an offer to contractor Leidos to support the National Cybersecurity Protection System.

CISO Joe Carson on How NATO's Locked Shields Sharpens Defenders for the Next Attack
Each year, the tiny northern Atlantic Ocean island country of Berylia comes under a massive cyberattack. It's all part of one of the world's largest red team-blue team exercises called Locked Shields, which has attracted thousands of cyber professionals including Joe Carson, advisory CISO, Segura.

Fewer Applications Carry OWASP Top 10 Flaws
Here's secure code development news to celebrate. After five years of steady improvement, slightly more than half of software applications don't have an OWASP Top 10 security flaw, find researchers Chris Wysopal and Jason Healey. "That makes life harder for attackers," Wysopal said.

US House Republicans Back Decade Pause of State AI Statutes
Republicans in the executive and legislative branches made moves Tuesday to loosen regulations on artificial intelligence by championing a decade-long ban on state AI regulation and undoing a rule that would have limited exports of advanced chip and model weights.

Microsoft Researchers Link Turkish Spy Group to Output Messenger Zero-Day Hack
A Turkish-linked cyberespionage group known as Marbled Dust exploited a zero-day in the Output Messenger Server Manager application to spy on Kurdish military operations in Iraq. Microsoft reported the hack and called for immediate mitigation to block credential theft and malware delivery.

Prosecutors Say Liridon Masurica Ran BlackDB.cc
A Kosovar man is being held in a Tampa jail after being extradited on charges that he was the main administrator of an online illicit marketplace in operation since 2018. Prosecutors accused Liridon Masurica, 33, of being the force behind BlackDB.cc.

CEO Howard Ting's Resignation Comes as Data Protection Company Hits $1B Valuation
Cyberhaven appointed product chief Nishant Doshi as interim CEO as longtime leader Howard Ting transitions to the board. With a sevenfold valuation increase and deep investment in Gen AI security and DSPM, the company is preparing to unify data controls across enterprises.

CISA Said Its Cyber Alerts Were Moving to X on Monday. By Tuesday, the Plan Changed.
The U.S. cyber defense agency reversed plans to move cybersecurity alerts off its .gov site Tuesday and acknowledged the "confusion" the decision caused within the cybersecurity community, amid concerns that relying on platforms like X would reduce visibility and public access to critical warnings.

Real-Time, Deep Cryptographic Discovery Added to Certificate Automation Portfolio
Keyfactor is acquiring CipherInsights and InfoSec Global in a move designed to shift cryptographic security earlier in the lifecycle. The acquisitions offer real-time and deep discovery capabilities to help customers identify and remediate cryptographic weaknesses ahead of quantum disruption.

Noodlophile Steals Credentials and Wallets Under AI Video Guise
Hackers are targeting users into downloading infostealers by tricking them into clicking on links that claim to produce AI-generated videos. The attackers build websites and promoted them on high-visibility Facebook groups, some exceeding 60,000 views.

Alabama Ophthalmology Practice, California Dental Clinic Report Breaches
Cybercriminal gang BianLian claims to have stolen patient information in two recent hacks of an Alabama-based ophthalmology practice and a California dental clinic. The two incidents affected nearly 150,000 people and are among the extortion group's latest attacks on the healthcare sector.

Machine Learning, Generative AI Bolster Continuous User Authentication
Financial institutions can use AI-fueled behavioral biometrics for real-time identity assurance. By continuously profiling how users interact with devices, firms can shift from one-time authentication to real-time identity assurance, turning every click, pause and keystroke into a frontline defense.

Analysts Warn White House IT Plan Could Conflict With Deregulation Directives
Experts warn a new strategy that aims to centralize federal IT procurement under the General Services Administration with standardized terms and deep vendor discounts may actually undermine deregulation goals while excluding small vendors and clashing with agency-specific cybersecurity mandates.

State Accused Tech Giant of Geolocation, Incognito Search, Biometric Violations
Texas has reached a nearly $1.4 billion settlement agreement with technology giant Alphabet after accusing its Google subsidiary of violating state privacy laws via its geolocation, incognito search and biometric data capture and retention practices.

Malware Targets Western Officials, NGOs and Journalists
Russian cyber espionage hackers are using a new malware strain dubbed "Lostkeys" in a targeted espionage campaign aimed at Western officials, NGOs and journalists. Google researchers attribute Lostkeys to the threat group Coldriver, an operational unit within the Federal Security Service.

Strategic Plan Includes Human Risk Management Platform Expansion, IPO Preparation
Bryan Palma outlines his vision to grow KnowBe4 beyond security awareness training by investing in agentic AI, expanding email and behavioral tools and positioning the company for IPO readiness. He highlights Vista Equity's support and platform depth as key assets.

Also: Cyber IPOs and the Investment Climate, the Urgency of AI Explainability
In this week's update, ISMG editors unpacked Trump's teased "grand cyber plan" amid budget cuts to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, key business takeaways from RSAC Conference 2025 and why explainability in artificial intelligence is becoming critical to trust and security.