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Will Regulators Make the May Deadline, and What Changes Will Make the Cut?
Federal regulators are scheduled to issue a rule this month finalizing a proposed massive overhaul of the 23-year-old HIPAA Security Rule. Will the Department of Health and Human Services make the deadline, and what should HIPAA regulated organization expect?

Economist Enterprise Research Reveals the Gap Between AI Optimism and Real Returns
Four out of five executives say their AI programs are beating expectations, but fewer than half track whether that's true. New Economist Enterprise research exposes where enterprise AI efforts stall and what separates firms generating real returns from those still in pilots.

Also, YellowKey Bypasses BitLocker, Škoda Breach, Kingdom Market Operator Jailed
This week, U.S. lawmakers urged action on AI, a BitLocker exploit. Škoda, Nvidia’s GeForce NOW partner and telehealth firm OpenLoop reported breaches. Patch Tuesday. A dark market operator sentenced and pro-Ukraine and Iranian-linked hacking. Nitrogen ransomware attack on Foxconn.

Akamai Says Startup LayerX's Browser Telemetry Will Strengthen Access Decisions
Akamai said its proposed $205 million acquisition of LayerX will add enterprise browser security and AI usage controls to its zero trust portfolio as enterprises grapple with generative AI data exposure, autonomous AI agents and growing demand for browser-level visibility.

Hackers Constantly Break 'Confirmation of Data Destruction' Promises
When a business that stores children's personal data gets hit by data-leaking extortionists, what should it do? For Instructure, which develops online learning platform Canvas, the answer was to pay a ransom, and tell victims, straight-faced, to have "digital confirmation of data destruction."

Malicious npm Package Lets Attackers Capture Refreshed Tokens
A researcher has mapped a five-step attack on Claude Code that intercepts the credentials giving AI agents access to Jira, GitHub and Confluence, and demonstrated that the standard incident response move, rotating the stolen token, hands the attacker a fresh one.

Latest Mini Shai-Hulud Worm Steals Credentials, Includes Wiper, Now Open Source
A new Shai-Hulud variant has infected multiple npm repositories and jumped to other widely used JavaScript and Python packages. Designed to rapidly propagate, the worm steals over 100 different types of credentials and can wipe systems, including if developers try to delete it.

Medical Board Urged State to Ditch Pilot, Citing Patient Safety Concerns
The state of Utah is forging ahead with a pilot program that allows patients with chronic conditions to autonomously refill medication prescriptions using an artificial intelligence-powered telehealth platform despite opposition from its state medical licensing board.

Forrester's Allie Mellen on Preparing for a Mythos-Level Surge in Vulnerabilities
AI is simultaneously the biggest threat to financial system security and the most powerful tool for defending it. The IMF is sounding the alarm on systemic risk. Forrester principal analyst Allie Mellen breaks down what that means for CISOs and security teams at financial institutions.

In the face of relentless cyberattacks that threaten patient safety, hospitals must strengthen their resilience, with clinical continuity, secure backups and coordinated recovery emerging as critical strategies, said John Riggi of the American Hospital Association and Josh Howell of Rubrik.

German Financial Regulator Warns Sector to Step Up Defenses
OpenAI is stepping up to do what arch-rival Anthropic still won't. The AI firm will give European authorities and companies access to its new vulnerability-finding AI model, so they can beef up their cybersecurity.

Josephine Wolff on Why Healthcare Must Scrutinize Cyber and AI Coverage
Healthcare organizations face growing pressure to reassess cyber insurance policies as cyberattacks disrupt patient care and AI tools introduce new liability risks. Josephine Wolff of Tufts University discusses how exclusions, compliance demands and AI-related uncertainty shape insurance decisions.

Agency Grants Routers a 18-Month Reprieve From Obsolesce
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission extended through Jan. 1, 2029, a waiver allowing foreign-made routers already approved for use in the United States to continue receiving updates. The agency earlier this year instituted a ban on foreign-made consumer routers, citing national security concerns.

Kernel Privilege Escalation Has One Linux Maintainer Contemplating a 'Kill Switch'
Back-to-back kernel vulnerabilities in Linux has defenders scrambling to apply defenses in the age of quick turnaround time for hackers to exploit nascent flaws. "Dirty Frag" and "Copy Fail" kernel privilege escalation vulnerabilities became public knowledge within two weeks of each other.

Coerced Labor in Scam Compounds Is Reshaping How Enterprises Face Fraud Risks
Fraud operations in Southeast Asia increasingly rely on trafficked workers forced into scams. This reality challenges assumptions about threat actor behavior, complicates attribution and negotiation, and demands that enterprises rethink fraud prevention and disruption strategies.

Also: Washington's AI Policy Divide, FDA's Push for AI-Driven Clinical Trials
In this week's panel, four ISMG editors discussed the battle over who gets to access powerful AI cybersecurity models, policy issues unfolding in Washington over AI-driven cyber defenses, and how the FDA is beginning to test AI-supported real-time clinical trials to speed up drug development.

State Insurance Officials Seeking Details About Service Firm's Mega Data Breach
Missouri regulators are widening their investigation into the 204 hacking incident at Conduent Business Services, alleging that the company has stonewalled the state's attempts to obtain information about the data breach, which is estimated to affect more than 25 million people nationwide.

Top Democrat Warns States Are Losing Federal Cyber Defense Support
A top U.S, Senate Democrat decried shrinking federal support for election security ahead of the November midterms, warning that cuts to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency could leave states without cyber defense or threat intelligence capabilities

AI-Developed Attack Tooling Generated 'High-Volume, Noisy Workflows'
A hacker used Claude and Chat GPT in a cyberattack against a municipal water and sewage utility's operational technology systems in Mexico in January, according to forensic analysis by OT security firm Dragos. The tools "leveraged known techniques and existing vulnerability knowledge."

AI-Driven Attacks Compress Breakout Times, Forcing Defenders to Rely on Context Now
AI has lowered the cost and speed of cyberattacks, enabling adversaries to exploit vulnerabilities within minutes. As breakout times collapse, security teams must respond faster by using context-driven intelligence and automation to detect, prioritize and stop threats in real time.