International
Lawmakers ask Commerce to sanction Indian firms involved in mercenary hacking
The “hack-for-hire” entities have systematically targeted newsrooms covering corporate fraud, legal teams in high-stakes litigation and NGOs.
Intelligence agencies warn of China’s large-scale AI model distillation efforts
Three agencies issued a joint statement warning that Chinese companies DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, Alibaba, MiniMax, StepFun and Z.AI have used the tactics to extract billions of tokens from U.S. models.
CIA cyber intelligence helped US forces capture Maduro, deputy director says
Michael Ellis credited the agency’s cyber intelligence officers with helping U.S. troops locate and apprehend the Venezuelan leader within minutes of landing.
Trump admin moves to block risky foreign technology from US power grid
A new executive order targets hardware, software and remote-access services and could require operators to isolate or replace equipment already in use.
FBI disables China-linked hacking tools used against US agencies
A hacking group used the tools to target networks belonging to NASA, the Federal Reserve, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Senate and the departments of Energy, Justice and Health and Human Services.
Lawmakers press Commerce to restrict Americans from aiding foreign spy agencies
A bipartisan group says unfinished export control rules leave civilian intelligence services able to obtain U.S. cyber, surveillance and AI assistance.
Treasury sanctions Iranian hackers tied to critical infrastructure breaches
Four of the five people named in the cyber action were also charged last week in the Justice Department’s expanded Mabna Institute case.
DOJ charges 17 Iranians in cybertheft campaign
Prosecutors say the Mabna Institute — which conducted intrusions for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, among other campaigns — stole 31.5 terabytes of academic data and breached email accounts at U.S. agencies and companies.
The Russian hurdle in Trump’s new offensive cyber program
The White House wants private companies to help take down cybercriminals overseas. But in Russia, the line between criminal hackers and the government is difficult to draw.
White House S&T strategy calls for new approaches to safeguard US research
The new guidance says the U.S. "will further strengthen its workforce by attracting and retaining top-tier global talent in critical national security S&T fields” — a departure from last year’s National Security Strategy that said global talent “undercuts American workers.”
CISA cautions against rigid rules for future of cyber vulnerability program
A top agency official said formal backing from Congress could strengthen the global vulnerability-tracking system but warned against measures that may limit its ability to adapt to ever-changing hacking threats.
AI advances are pushing governments to treat cyberattacks as routine, Western officials say
The remarks underscore a grim outlook for cyberdefenders showing that AI systems are able to exploit vulnerabilities faster than governments can patch them.
Top cyber official wants US open-source AI adopted worldwide
National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross’s remarks come as the White House has excluded open-weight models from voluntary security testing and as new hacking incidents underscored risks posed by autonomous AI.
Chinese telecom firms kept footholds in US networks despite federal crackdowns, House probe finds
China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom retained equipment, data center space and network ties after FCC restrictions, including a China Mobile-linked network that appeared in routes to Salt Typhoon servers.
CISA urges water utilities to take exposed systems down after Minnesota hacks
A memo distributed to water industry members and obtained by Nextgov/FCW makes mention of Iran but does not directly present evidence attributing the latest Minnesota incident to the country.
Amazon uncovers broad North Korean hacking campaign against open-source software
New findings connect the same Pyongyang-backed group to four compromises dating to 2025, revealing a larger operation than previously known.
FCC blocks approval of new foreign-made robots, power inverters
National security agencies said the devices could create supply-chain vulnerabilities, threaten critical infrastructure and enable surveillance or remote manipulation.
Russian hackers can steal government emails without victims clicking a link, cyber agencies warn
The Russia-linked Laundry Bear group has compromised more than 10 Western organizations through malicious emails that can trigger an exploit when they are viewed or previewed.
White House accuses Chinese AI developer of IP theft
Tech policy leadership in the White House say Moonshot AI illegally trained its model off of Anthropic’s Fable.
Lawmakers get taste of AI-enabled cyberattacks in China-Taiwan war game
Representatives weighed responses to simulated Chinese cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure during a tabletop exercise centered on a Taiwan crisis.
