The Cyberwire - Your Cyber Security News Connection.

Ivanti zero-days trigger emergency warnings around the globe. Singapore blames a China-linked spy crew for hitting all four major telcos. DHS opens a privacy probe into ICE surveillance. Researchers flag a zero-click RCE lurking in LLM workflows. Ransomware knocks local government payment systems offline in Florida and Texas. Chrome extensions get nosy with your URLs. BeyondTrust scrambles to patch a critical RCE. A Polish data breach suspect is caught eight years later. It’s the Monday Business Breakdown. Ben Yelin gives us the 101 on subpoenas. And federal prosecutors say two Connecticut men bet big on fraud, and lost. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Our guest is Ben Yelin, Program Director for Public Policy & External Affairs at the University of Maryland Center for Cyber Health and Haz

Simone Petrella, CEO of cybersecurity training workforce firm CyberVista, spent her career in the Department of Defense as a threat intelligence analyst before founding CyberVista. She says that running a company has a new set of challenges each day thrown at you. She explains that the way she finds the most success is by letting her team contribute to each matter, and having a say in the decisions made as they pertain to each department. Simone says "I would say is I am a firm firm believer in the idea of empowering people to really own and kind of run with the things that they're passionate about." She notes that people will do amazing things when they are passionate and that faking it until you make it is true, because you will get where you're going by having that passion and that inspiration. We thank Simone for sharing her story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Piotr Wojtyla, Head of Threat Intel and Platform at Abnormal AI, is discussing their work on "InboxPrime AI: New Phishing Kit Fueling Scalable, AI-Powered Cybercrime." A new AI-powered phishing kit called InboxPrime AI is rapidly gaining traction in underground forums, automating the creation and delivery of highly believable phishing emails that mimic legitimate business communications and leverage Gmail’s web interface to evade detection. First spotted in October 2025, the kit combines AI-generated content, template variation, sender identity spoofing, and built-in spam checks to maximize inbox placement and dramatically lower the barrier to running large-scale phishing campaigns. Its shift to a one-time $1,000 purchase and growing user base underscore the industrialization of phishing and highlight how quickly AI-driven attack tools are outpacing legacy email defenses. The research can be found here: ⁠⁠⁠InboxPrime AI: New Phishing Kit Fueling Scalable, AI-Powered Cybercrime Learn more about your

CISA cracks down on aging edge devices. Congress looks to sure up energy sector security. DHS facial recognition software may fall short. Romania’s national oil pipeline operator suffers a cyberattack. The European Commission may fine TikTok for being addictive. DKnife is a China-linked threat actor operating a long-running adversary-in-the-middle framework. Researchers say OpenClaw is being abused at scale. Our guest is Mike Carr, Field CTO at Xona, talking about how Italy should be thinking about protecting the 2026 Winter Olympics. A BASE jumper attempts a daring AI alibi. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Today we are joined by Mike Carr, Field CTO at Xona, talking about how Italy should be thinking about protecting the 2026 Winter Olympics. Selected Reading CISA: Remove EOL edge kit b

Cyber weapons knock out Iranian air defenses during strikes on nuclear sites. ShinyHunters dump more than a million stolen records from Harvard and Penn. Betterment confirms a breach exposing data from roughly 1.4 million accounts. Researchers uncover a sprawling scam network impersonating law firms. Italy blocks cyberattacks aimed at Olympics infrastructure. Critical bugs put n8n and Google Looker servers at risk of full takeover. A state-backed Shadow Campaign hits governments worldwide. OpenClaw shows how AI-powered attacks are becoming faster, cheaper, and harder to stop. Our guest is Tony Scott, CEO of Intrusion and former federal CIO, sharing his perspective on evolving regulation and the realities behind critical policy shifts. Your smartphone may testify against you. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn.

The White House preps a major overhaul of U.S. cybersecurity policy. A key Commerce security office loses staff as regulatory guardrails weaken. Lawmakers Press AT&T and Verizon after months of silence on Salt Typhoon. A vulnerability in the React Native Metro development server is under active exploitation. Amaranth Dragon leverages a WinRAR flaw. A coordinated reconnaissance campaign targets Citrix NetScaler infrastructure. CISA warns a SolarWinds Web Help Desk flaw is under active exploitation. Zach Edwards, Senior Threat Researcher at Silent Push, is discussing a hole in the kill chain leaving law enforcement empty-handed. Cops in Northern Ireland get an unwanted data breach encore.  Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Today we are joined by Zach Edwards, Senior Threat Researcher at Silen

French police raid X’s Paris offices. The Feds take over $400 million from a dark web cryptocurrency mixer. The NSA says zero-trust goes beyond authentication. Researchers warn of a multi-stage phishing campaign targeting Dropbox credentials. A new GlassWorn campaign targets macOS developers. Critical zero-day vulnerabilities in Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile are under active exploitation. Researchers disclose a major data exposure on Moltbook, a social network built for AI agents. States bridge the gaps in election security. Nitrogen ransomware has a fatal flaw that permanently destroys data. Supersize your passwords — you want fries with that? Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. Threat Vector Aaron Isaksen leads AI Research and Engineering at Palo Alto Networks, where he advances state-of-the-art AI in cybe

Please enjoy this encore of CISO Perspectives. In this mid-season episode, Kim takes a step back to reflect on the journey so far—revisiting key conversations, standout moments, and recurring themes that have shaped the season. During the episode, Kim sits down with N2K's own Ethan Cook to connect the dots across episodes, uncovering deeper patterns and takeaways. Whether you're catching up or tuning in weekly, this episode offers a thoughtful recap and fresh perspective on where we've been—and what's still to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Poland says weak security left parts of its power grid exposed. A Russian-linked hacker alliance threatens Denmark with a promised cyber offensive. Fancy Bear moves fast on a new Microsoft Office flaw, hitting Ukrainian and EU targets. Researchers find a sprawling supply chain attack buried in the ClawdBot AI ecosystem. A new report looks at how threats are shaping the work of journalists and security researchers. A stealthy Windows malware campaign blends Pulsar RAT with Stealerv37. A former Google engineer is convicted of stealing AI trade secrets for China. The latest cybersecurity funding and deal news. On our Afternoon Cyber Tea segment, Microsoft’s Ann Johnson chats with Dr. Lorrie Cranor from Carnegie Mellon about security design. The AI dinosaur that knew too much.  Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn.

Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes. Richard Melick, Director of Threat Reporting for Zimperium, talks about his journey, from working in the military to moving up to the big screens. He shares that he's been in the business of solving unique cybersecurity problems for so long that he has found his own path that works very well for him. He says, "if I go to a unique problem and try to solve it, I find that I'm solving it the same way that I would've solved it five years ago, because I found my pattern." Richard reflects on his time working in the industry, from moving away from the military and into different roles over the years. He notes that giving credit where credit is due, to those who deserve it, is how you keep the audience engaged as a storyteller. We thank Richard for sharing his story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A popular chatbot exposes millions of private user messages. The White House rescinds Biden-era federal software security guidance. A senior Secret Service official urges more scrutiny of domain registration. The President’s NSA pick champions section 702. France looks to reduce reliance on U.S. digital infrastructure. CISA shares guidance on insider threats. Hugging Face infrastructure was abused to distribute an Android RAT. Ivanti discloses a pair of critical zero-days. Popular dating sites suffer a data breach. Our guest is Tim Starks from CyberScoop, discussing how the US looks to push its view of AI cybersecurity standards to the rest of the world. The Nobel Committee blames hackers for a spoiler alert.  Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Our guest is Tim Starks from CyberScoop discussi

Google dismantles a huge residential proxy network. Did the FBI take down the notorious RAMP cybercrime forum? A long running North Korea backed cyber operation has splintered into three specialized threat groups. U.S. military cyber operators carried out a covert operation to disrupt Russian troll networks ahead of the 2024 elections. Phishing campaigns target journalists using the Signal app. SolarWinds patches vulnerabilities in its Web Help Desk product. Amazon found CSAM in its AI training data. Initial access brokers switch up their preferred bot. China executes scam center kingpins. Our guest is Tom Pace, CEO of NetRise, explaining how open-source vulnerabilities are opening doors for nation-states.  An unsecured webcam peers into Pyongyang.  Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Today, T

CISA’s interim director uploaded sensitive government material into the public version of ChatGPT. The cyberattack on Poland’s power grid compromised roughly 30 energy facilities. The EU and India sign a new partnership that includes expanded cyber cooperation. Meta rolls out enhanced WhatsApp security features. Researchers uncover a campaign targeting LLM service endpoints. Fortinet and OpenSSL patch multiple vulnerabilities. A high-severity WinRAR vulnerability continues to see widespread exploitation six months after it was patched. The SoundCloud data breach affected nearly 30 million users. Ben Yelin explains the California lawsuit accusing social media platforms of harming kids. A Spanish resort town gets hit with low-rent ransomware.   Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Today, Dave is

Microsoft rushes an emergency fix for an actively exploited Office zero-day. A suspected cyberattack halts rail service in Spain. The FBI probes Signal chats in Minnesota. The UK moves to overhaul policing for the cyber age. Romania investigates a hitman-for-hire site. A UK court awards $4.1 million in a Saudi spyware case. Google agrees to a voice assistant settlement. CISA maps post-quantum crypto readiness. Prosecutors charge an Illinois man over a Snapchat hacking scheme targeting hundreds of women. Our guest today is Cynthia Kaiser, SVP of the Ransomware Research Center at Halcyon, sharing some insight into the AI and quantum threats to cybersecurity and the national cyber strategy. A Best Buy guy tries a creative alibi.  Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Our guest today is Cynthia Kais

Please enjoy this encore of CISO Perspectives. We're sharing a episode from another N2K show we thought you might like. It's the third episode of the new season of the show CISO Perspectives with Kim Jones. Enjoy! Show Notes: While the cybersecurity industry has expanded and grown in recent years, newcomers still struggle to gain relevant "experience" before officially beginning their cyber careers. In this episode of CISO Perspectives, host Kim Jones sits down with Kathleen Smith, the Chief Outreach Officer at clearedjobs.net and the co-host of Security Cleared Jobs: Who’s Hiring & How, to discuss this dilemma and what new entrants can do to account for these difficulties. Throughout the conversation, Kathleen and Kim will discuss the challenges associated with entry-level cyber positions, how to gain meaningful experience, and how the industry as a whole contributes to this problem. Want more CISO Perspectives?: Check out a companion ⁠blog post⁠ by our very own Ethan Cook, where he breaks down key i

Microsoft granted the FBI access to laptops encrypted with BitLocker. The EU opens an investigation into Grok’s creation of sexually explicit images. Glimmers of access pierce Iran’s internet blackout. Koi Security warns npm fixes fall short against PackageGate exploits. Some Windows 11 devices fail to boot after installing the January Patch Tuesday updates. CISA warns of active exploitation of  multiple vulnerabilities across widely used enterprise and developer software. ESET researchers have attributed the cyberattack on Poland’s energy sector to Russia’s Sandworm. This week's business breakdown. Brandon Karpf joins us to talk space and cyber. CISA sits out RSAC.  Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Our guest today is cybersecurity executive and friend of the show Brandon Karpf with Dave

Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes. Lauren Van Wazer, Vice President, Global Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs for Akamai Technologies, shares her story as she followed her own North Star and landed where she is today. She describes her career path, highlighting how she went from working at AT&T to being able to work in the White House. She shares how she is a coach and a leader to the team she works with now, saying "my view is I've got their back, if they make a mistake, it's my mistake, and if they do well, they've done well." Lauren hopes she's made an impact in the world by making it a little bit better than before, and discusses how she doesn't let anyone stop her from her goals. Lauren shares her outlook on her experiences, calling attention to different roles in her life that made her journey all the better. We thank Lauren for sharing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have Andrew Northern, Principal Security Researcher at Censys, discussing "From Evasion to Evidence: Exploiting the Funneling Behavior of Injects". This research explains how modern web malware campaigns use multi-stage JavaScript injections, redirects, and fake CAPTCHAs to selectively deliver payloads and evade detection. It shows that these attack chains rely on stable redirect and traffic-distribution chokepoints that can be monitored at scale. Using the SmartApe campaign as a case study, the report demonstrates how defenders can turn those chokepoints into high-confidence detection and tracking opportunities. The research can be found here: From Evasion to Evidence: Exploiting the Funneling Behavior of Injects Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At long last, a TikTok deal. Officials urge lawmakers to keep an eye on the quantum ball. Fortinet confirms active exploitation of a critical authentication bypass flaw. Ireland plans to authorize spyware for law enforcement. Okta warns customers of sophisticated vishing kits. Under Armour investigates data breach claims. CISA adds a Zimbra Collaboration Suite flaw to the known exploited vulnerabilities list. Poor OpSec enables recovery of data stolen by the INC ransomware gang. The DOJ deports a pair of Venezuelans convicted of ATM jackpotting. Our guest is Chris Nyhuis, Founder and CEO of Vigilant, sharing practical steps to protect money, identity, and devices.  Curl pulls the plug on bug bounties after drowning in AI slop. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Today we are joined by Chris Ny

CISA’s acting director assures Congress the agency has “stabilized”. Google and Cisco patch critical vulnerabilities. Fortinet firewalls are being hit by automated attacks that create rogue accounts. A global spam campaign leverages unsecured Zendesk support systems. LastPass warns of attempted account takeovers. Greek authorities make arrests in a sophisticated fake cell tower scam. Executives at Davos express concerns over AI. Pwn2Own Automotive proves profitable. Our guest is Kaushik Devireddy, AI data scientist at Fable Security, with insights on a fake ChatGPT installer. New password, same as the old password.  Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Today we are joined by Kaushik Devireddy, AI data scientist at Fable Security, discussing their work on "How a fake ChatGPT installer tried to s