CyberWire Daily

Former NSA chief says the U.S. can beat China in cyberspace. Canvas cuts a deal with hackers. The FCC proposes KYC rules for phone users. SAP patches critical flaws. A poisoned TanStack npm supply chain attack spreads malware. Humanitarian aid lures deliver spyware. Japan launches an AI-driven cyber review. Texas sues Netflix over data practices. And Harvard experts debate the future of agentic AI security. On our Threat Vector segment David Moulton welcomes, Assaf Keren, CSO at Qualtrics and author of Lessons from the Frontlines. Our guest is Tim Starks from CyberScoop discussing changes to the CyberCorps Scholarship program. The Gentleman’s guide to awful OPSEC. 

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Threat Vector

AI is the most powerful tool defenders have ever had. It's also the most dangerous weapon attackers have ever had. Assaf Keren, CSO at Qualtrics and author of Lessons from the Frontlines, has seen AI reshape both sides of the threat equation. In this conversation, he gets specific about what happens when powerful tools fall into the wrong hands, and what leaders need to do before they get caught off-guard. You can listen to the full conversation here, and catch new episodes of Threat Vector with host David Moulton every Thursday on your favorite podcast app.

CyberWire Guest

Today we are joined by Tim Starks from CyberScoop discussing changes to the CyberCorps Scholarship program. You can read more in Tim’s article “Trump officials are steering a cybersecurity scholarship program toward AI.”

Selected Reading

I Ran the N.S.A. This Is How to Defeat China’s Hacker Army. (The New York Times)

Canvas hack: company pays criminals to delete students' stolen data (BBC News)

FCC Attempts to Solve Robocall Problem by Potentially Creating Even Bigger Privacy Problem (Gizmodo)

SAP Patches Critical S/4HANA, Commerce Vulnerabilities (SecurityWeek)

Cache-poisoning caper turns TanStack npm packages toxic (The Register)

Operation HumanitarianBait Uses Fake Aid Documents to Deploy Python Spyware (Hackread)

Japan’s PM orders cybersecurity review to stop Mythos going full CyberZilla (The Register)

Texas sues Netflix over alleged data practices that create ‘surveillance machinery’ without user consent (The Record)

Time for government, business leaders to figure out AI cybersecurity regulation (Harvard Gazette)

Tables Turned: Gentlemen Ransomware Group Suffers Data Leak (BankInfo Security)

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The FCC eases restrictions on foreign-made routers. Shiny Hunters hit Canvas and Zara. SailPoint discloses unauthorized access to its GitHub repositories. TrickMo Android banking malware has more tricks up its sleeve. Polish officials warn of increased targeting of ICS and public infrastructure. A federal judge orders $10 million in restitution for stolen zero days. German authorities takedown the Crimenetwork marketplace, again. Monday business breakdown. Dan Lorenc, Chainguard CEO and co-founder, is talking about a recent wave of supply chain attacks. Malware gets signed, sealed and delivered. 

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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

Dan Lorenc, Chainguard CEO and co-founder, is talking about how the recent wave of supply chain attacks is fundamentally different – and more dangerous –than previous incidents, as well as immediate steps organizations should take as this continues to unfold.

Selected Reading

US: FCC Relaxes Foreign-Made Router Ban to Allow for Security Updates (Infosecurity Magazine)

ShinyHunters Escalates Canvas Extortion (Infosecurity Magazine)

Zara Data Breach Impacts Nearly 200,000 Customers (Infosecurity Magazine)

SailPoint Discloses GitHub Repository Hack (SecurityWeek)

TrickMo Android banker adopts TON blockchain for covert comms (Bleeping Computer)

Polish ABW warns cyberattacks shifting from espionage and data theft toward physical disruption of critical infrastructure (Industrial Cyber)

Trenchant Exec Who Sold Zero Days to Russian Buyer Ordered to Pay $10 Million in Restitution to Former Employers (Zero Day)

Resurrected 'Crimenetwork' Marketplace Taken Down, Administrator Arrested (SecurityWeek)

XBOW secures an additional $35 million in Series C funding. (N2K Pro Business Briefing)

Hackers Trick DigiCert Into Issuing Certificates Used to Sign Malware (Hackread)

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What do you think about CyberWire Daily? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey. Thank you for helping us continue to improve our show.

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N2K CyberWire helps you reach the industry’s most influential leaders and operators, while building visibility, authority, and connectivity across the cybersecurity community. Learn more at sponsor.thecyberwire.com.

The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc.
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Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes.

Payal Chakravarty, Head of Product for Security and Risk from Coalition, sits down to share her story of working at several different organizations, including interning for IBM and Microsoft. After obtaining her master's degree, she worked with IBM a bit more closely and fell in love with one of the projects she was working on. Payal had a very interesting career path going from physical to virtual, virtual to cloud now, cloud to containers. She says that there is still some bias she has dealt with as a woman in her field, she says, "I think the way you handle it is you negotiate or you kind of calmly handle the situation, there's no ego involved." Payal shares that in working in this field you need to be in love with it, giving the advice that don't just choose a job because of the money or because it's cool, but because you feel connected to it as a profession. We thank Payal for sharing her story.
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In this special edition of CyberWire Daily’s 10th anniversary series, N2K CyberWire's Maria Varmazis and Dave Bittner discuss cybersecurity geopolitics and warfare that have been in the news over the past 10 years.

We begin our conversation around the supply chain malware from the destructive NotPetya campaign out of Russia, then Maria and Dave highlight: Olympic Destroyer disrupting the Pyeongchang Games, CozyBear's SolarWinds espionage campaign, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware disruption, Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine paired with Viasat hack, Iranian hackers attacking ICS devices at water treatment plants in Israel, and China's VoltTyphoon and SaltTyphoon intrusions in critical sectors.

Join us as we reflect on the escalation from election interference and disruption, to espionage and ransomware as national security crises, to integration in kinetic war,and now expansion into space, with AI-driven defenses and NATO codifying cyber as a collective defense domain.
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Mark Kelly, Staff Threat Researcher at Proofpoint, is discussing their work on "I’d come running back to EU again: TA416 resumes European government espionage campaigns." China-linked threat group TA416 has resumed large-scale phishing and malware campaigns targeting European governments, diplomatic missions tied to the EU and NATO, and more recently Middle Eastern entities following the outbreak of conflict in Iran.

The group has continually evolved its tactics between mid-2025 and early 2026, using techniques like fake Cloudflare verification pages, Microsoft OAuth redirect abuse, and malicious C# project files to deliver customized PlugX malware through spearphishing campaigns. Researchers say the renewed activity reflects shifting geopolitical priorities tied to EU-China tensions, the Russia-Ukraine war, and instability in the Middle East, while highlighting TA416’s ongoing focus on intelligence gathering against diplomatic networks.

The research and executive brief can be found here:


I’d come running back to EU again: TA416 resumes European government espionage campaigns

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