People
Intelligence agency employee arrested for trying to share classified info with foreign government
Nathan Vilas Laatsch was allegedly disgruntled by the Trump administration and willing to share sensitive data with the foreign country. The FBI set up a dead drop operation to intercept the classified materials.
Cybersecurity
Senators urge DHS to reinstate disbanded cyber review board
The board — which was dismissed at the start of the Trump administration — has been viewed as a well-intentioned but imperfect tool for reviewing significant cybersecurity events.
People
Here's where the State Department is planning its layoffs and changes
Various national security offices, as well as units that cover Asia and the Middle East, will be consolidated or slashed. Thousands of employees across divisions are targeted for cuts.
People
Fired GSA 18F employees appeal to have jobs reinstated
The Trump administration has endeavored to streamline the agency’s contracting and procurement processes while putting in mechanisms to shed its workforce.
People
Trump cyber nominees expected to testify next week, people familiar say
An unreleased telecom vulnerabilities report is being used as leverage to block one of the nominees from full confirmation in the Senate.
People
Top CISA division chiefs depart amid broader agency reduction plans
The staffing shake-up comes as former officials argue that diminishing staff at the government’s primary cybersecurity agency is ill-advised given today’s escalating threat landscape.
Cybersecurity
China-linked ‘Silk Typhoon’ hackers accessed Commvault cloud environments, person familiar says
The hacking unit previously infiltrated Treasury Department networks and compromised some of the agency’s most sensitive systems.
Cybersecurity
An 18th-century war power resurfaces in cyber policy talks
An old-world legal concept is seeing renewed interest in the cybersecurity community as a tool to give the private sector more runway to combat hackers, though many agree it’s more metaphor than mandate.
People
Judge overturns firing of Democrats on intelligence and privacy oversight body
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has played a major role as a watchdog of controversial intelligence collection programs.
Cybersecurity
US, international and industry partners topple infrastructure of popular info-stealer malware
The collaborative effort worked to seize the takedown of some 2,300 domains that backed the web infrastructure of Lumma Stealer, sold to help hackers steal passwords and deploy ransomware around the world.
People
CISA’s deputy cyber chief plans to depart
Matt Hartman’s final day is not known but his departure was announced Tuesday.
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People
Dragos policy executive to be CISA’s chief of legislative affairs
In a recent interview, Kate Diemidio said she wanted government-industry information-sharing mechanisms to improve and for CISA to deliver more actionable data back to the private sector.
Cybersecurity
US should rethink current views of Russia’s cyber might, new report says
A think tank paper argues that Moscow’s network of hackers is more fragmented than U.S. officials once believed — a dynamic that may have led to exaggerated expectations of Russia’s cyber capabilities during its 2022 Ukraine invasion.
Digital Government
Legislative watchdog rebuffs DOGE efforts to install on-site team
“DOGE’s attempted intrusion into an independent, nonpartisan legislative branch agency is a direct assault on our nation’s sacred separation of powers,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee.
Cybersecurity
Industry reps urge Congress to renew backbone cyber information-sharing law
The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, a keystone ordinance that lets the private sector share cyber threat information with legal safeguards, expires in September unless renewed by Congress.
People
NSA cyber chief to retire at end of month, people familiar say
Dave Luber’s planned retirement comes as the intelligence community has already undergone several workforce changes under the Trump administration.
Cybersecurity
US spy chief fires heads of intelligence body that disputed Trump’s Venezuela gang claims
The National Intelligence Council assessment undercuts claims from President Donald Trump that Tren de Aragua is carrying out an “invasion” overseen by Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
Cybersecurity
Intel agencies doubled use of US person-tied search terms under disputed spying power last year
The number of U.S. person-linked search terms used by spy agencies under Section 702 of FISA skyrocketed last year. But direct FBI queries of U.S. persons decreased as reforms came into place.
Cybersecurity
US and Netherlands seize network providers that helped hackers mask activities
The Justice Department and Dutch law enforcement shuttered 5socks and Anyproxy, services with Russian ties that sold proxies to cybercriminals. Lumen provided internet backbone data to the agencies.
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People