DataBreachToday.com

Acting Director Says Furloughs And Cuts Limit Proactive Cyber Defense
A prolonged Homeland Security department shutdown has sidelined much of the U.S. cyber defense agency, halting proactive cyber operations, delaying directives and weakening visibility into threats - conditions officials warn are increasing systemic risk across critical infrastructure.

Keyrock CISO David Cass on Managing Agentic AI Risk in Financial Services
As financial institutions accelerate AI adoption, traditional governance models are falling short. David Cass, CISO at Keyrock, explains why organizations must rethink accountability, asset visibility and identity controls to manage emerging risks from LLMs and agentic AI systems.

Centrii's Rafael Narezzi on Dangers of Weak Controls in Decentralized Energy Systems
As power systems decentralize to support AI workloads and rising energy demand, cyber defenses haven't been keeping pace, says Rafael Narezzi of Centrii. In fact, in December 2025 in Poland, cyberattackers disrupted the power grid balance by targeting battery storage systems.

Google Threat Intelligence's Sandra Joyce on AI Threats and Active Defense
Sharing threat intelligence is no longer enough - the cybersecurity industry must operationalize it through coordinated takedowns and active disruption, says Sandra Joyce, vice president at Google Threat Intelligence.

Rick Orloff and Scott Taylor of Everpure on Cyber Recovery Strategy
Cyber resilience depends on clear recovery priorities and planning. Rick Orloff and Scott Taylor of Everpure explain why firms must define minimum viable business, understand dependencies, and test recovery plans to reduce downtime and limit disruption.

Learn how Unified Insights helps leaders move from reactive to predictive operations with continuous monitoring and smarter decision-making

Phil Venables of Ballistic Ventures on the Second-Order Consequences of AI
AI is not just transforming how organizations operate, it's fundamentally altering the cybersecurity landscape, said Phil Venables, partner at Ballistic Ventures. The consequences, he warned, are only beginning to emerge.

AI is compressing cyberattack timelines from months to minutes. While segmentation has been a gold standard security practice for years, many organizations are still operating with outdated, static approaches.

An OnDemand Webinar from Rubrik
As federal agencies expand their cloud footprint, managing both risk and cost becomes more complex. This session explores how to close operational gaps, strengthen resilience, and take a more strategic approach to cloud protection.

Is AI Exposing a Growing Vulnerability Risk Mitigation Gap?
AI-fueled tools can help to identify medical device vulnerabilities much faster and at a higher volume than more traditional tools. But can device manufacturers and healthcare delivery organizations keep up with prioritizing and addressing a tidal wave of newly discovered flaws?

7AI's Lior Div on Building Knowledge Graphs, Human Oversight to Drive AI Accuracy
Security teams face an AI reality check as tools require deep organizational context to deliver value. Lior Div, co-founder and CEO of 7AI, explains how knowledge graphs, human oversight and phased adoption can help teams improve accuracy, build trust and scale AI-driven security operations.

New Rule Blocks Approval of Foreign Routers Without Federal Clearance
The FCC acted on a White House security determination and announced a block on new foreign-made routers from entering U.S. markets - unless vendors meet strict national security reviews, citing their role in state-linked cyber campaigns and risks to U.S. network edge infrastructure.

Visa CISO Subra Kumaraswamy on Securing Agents, Fighting Fraud, Protecting Commerce
AI is transforming trust in global payments as attackers scale faster and agents automate decisions. CISO Subra Kumaraswamy explains how Visa uses AI to combat fraud, secure transactions and build trust across consumers, merchants and a rapidly evolving digital ecosystem.

Zscaler's Jay Chaudhry on Infrastructure, Agents and Oversight
Zscaler CEO Jay Chaudhry explains why distributed infrastructure and zero trust models will shape AI security, the agent risks mirroring human threats and why strong oversight and identity validation remain essential for mission-critical applications.

Roadmap Focuses on OT Security, Grid Hardening and Incident Response
A new Department of Energy strategy defines its role as sector risk manager for grid security, prioritizing OT defense, resilience and response - but analysts say it faces execution challenges tied to reduced funding, workforce constraints and reliance on weakened federal partners.

IT Worker Scheme, Laptop Farm Siphon Funds Back to North Korea
A U.S. federal judge sentenced a now-former Army soldier to one year in prison Friday for renting his identity to North Korean IT workers who used it to collect more than $193,000 in salaries from American companies. Also sentenced were two California men who facilitated $1.28M in fraudulent salaries.

J.P. Morgan’s Brian Essex on Why Valuations Drop as Fundamentals Hold Steady
Investor anxiety over AI's long-term impact is dragging down stock valuations despite steady growth and profitability, while companies focus on long-term valuation assumptions and secure business models, said Brian Essex, executive director of U.S. software equity research at J.P. Morgan.

Contec and Epsimed Monitors Containing 'Backdoors' Are at the Center of Order
Texas Gov. Abbott has ordered agencies to review foreign-made connected medical devices - especially those from Chinese manufacturers - used in state-owned facilities for cybersecurity issues that could pose security and privacy risks to patients and healthcare infrastructure.

Also: CISA Protocol Concerns, AI Agents Push Past Cybersecurity Controls
In this week's panel, four ISMG editors unpacked the cyber dimensions of the Stryker attack amid the escalating Iran-Israel-U.S. tensions, the growing controversy around CISA leadership and alleged protocol breaches, and a new set of concerns related to AI agents bypassing security controls.

New Handala Site Is Also Available
U.S. federal agents seized four web domains associated with Iranian hacking operations days after a threat actor going by Handala posted screenshots it said came from inside the IT systems of medical device manufacturer Stryker. The registrars used to create them are located in the United States.