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James A. Lewis is the Dirctor of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. He recently penned a white paper which aligns with the concerns expressed by CISA Director Jen Easterly in her “Stark Warning” about the high probability of, lack of preparation for and severe impact…
Thank you to everyone who attended our co-sponsored social gatherings, came out to support us at various panels and competitions – and for the opportunites to reconnect and connect for the first time in Las Vegas. See you ar DEFCON32 and Black Hat USA 2024 – same time next year.
Streaming, Discord Server, Social Media and FAQs
Saturday, August 12th
Sunday, August 13th Hack-A-Sat 4 Awards CeremonyHack-A-Sat 4 Team Hacking Satellites: Houston, We Have a ProblemJacob Oakley The Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) is a big part of Hack-A-Sat 4. Further virtual resources for engaging the event virtuall can he found at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-era-space-cybersecurity-begins-hack-a-sat/ Featured Image Source: AFRL https://oodaloop.com/archive/2023/07/03/for-the-first-time-defcon-2023-hack-a-sat-includes-a-real-time-cubesat-orbiting-space/
Friday, August 11th
Friday, August 11th
Friday, August 11th through Sunday, August 13th
In 2020, the U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) established its private sector partnership program dubbed UNDER ADVISEMENT, the purpose of which is to engage industry organizations and share critical cyber threat information and intelligence that supports both CYBERCOM missions and the private sector’s cybersecurity priorities. According to CYBERCOM’s website, formal agreements are made with private sector stakeholders in…
DARPA is calling on top computer scientists, AI experts, software developers, and beyond to participate in the AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC), a 2-year competition focused on automatically finding and fixing vulnerabilities to secure the nation’s most critical software.
Join us at our totally rad 90’s party, hosted by QuintessenceLabs Hosted by QuintessenceLabs and co-sponsored by OODA LLC and co-the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA)®️️. Enabled by the incredible team at KATZCY and PlayCyber.
This talk will present the first public disclosure and security analysis of TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio): a European standard for trunked radio globally used by government agencies, police, prisons, emergency services and military operators. Additionally, TETRA is widely deployed in industrial environments such as factory campuses, harbor container terminals and airports, as well as critical…
Once again, Robert Stratton will be participating as a judge in Black Hat 2023 Startup Spotlight.
The White House recently announced “a request for information (RFI) on cybersecurity regulatory harmonization and regulatory reciprocity. The RFI builds on the commitment the Administration made in the National Cybersecurity Strategy to ‘harmonize not only regulations and rules, but also assessments and audits of regulated entities.’
We recently contextualized two “ransomware hotspots” – with geopolitical strategic implications in the U.S. and in the Pacific Islands – as battlefields in the Global Cyber War. Ransomware extortions are also at a record high in 2023, with “Big Game Hunting” and geopolitics as drivers. According to a recent report by Cloudfare, add a surge…
France has upped the ante in the quest for fusion power by maintaining a plasma reaction for over 22 minutes – a new record. The milestone was reached on February 12 at the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) WEST Tokamak reactor. Achieving the dream of commercial fusion power is the Holy…
Ant Group, the Alibaba-linked fintech giant, is venturing into the humanoid robot industry, joining a growing list of major Chinese tech companies exploring this emerging field. The company has opened positions related to humanoid robot systems and applications through its subsidiary, Shanghai Ant Lingbo Technology, which was established at the end of 2024 with registered…
Google has built an artificial intelligence laboratory assistant to help scientists accelerate biomedical research, as companies race to create specialised applications from the cutting-edge technology. The US tech group’s so-called co-scientist tool helps researchers identify gaps in their knowledge and propose new ideas that could speed up scientific discovery. “What we’re trying to do with…
On Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron of France called for a second emergency meeting of European allies. European leaders are trying to recalibrate relations with the U.S. as President Trump seeks to change American alliances. Macron had already brought together European leaders in Paris on Monday after the Trump administration suggested the U.S. would begin peace…
Arab officials are now coming together to form an alternative plan for Gaza where Arab countries would oversee its reconstruction. The coordination comes after President Trump suggested Gazans be expelled from the territory, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio framing the statement as: Come up with a better plan, or do it our way. Representatives…
As the U.S. and Russia met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, talks were not limited just to ending the Ukraine war. Business ties were also on the table, and the two countries agreed to work together on ending the war, financial investment, and re-establishing normal relations. The meeting is a stark contrast from the past…
The Rapid Support Forces (R.S.F.) in Sudan has taken a step towards forming a breakaway government. On Tuesday, the group hosted a political event in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. A promised charter which was supposed to pave the path for a parallel government in areas controlled by R.S.F. was not signed. Although officials said three more…
North Korean threat actors are using trusted services to evade detection. These living-off-the-land (LotL) techniques have been observed in a recent Kimsuky campaign using PowerShell scripts and storing data in Dropbox folders. In the campaign is being referred to as “DEEP#DRIVE,” Kimsuky has used fake work logs, insurance documents, and other crypto-files to convince users…
Lee Enterprises, an American media company, has shared more details about the ransomware attack that recently impacted the newspaper giant. The company said the disruptions were caused by ransomware, and the attackers encrypted and stole files. Lee owns 350 publications across the U.S., and at least 75 of them were affected by the cyberattack. The…
A new variant of the macOS threat XCSSET is being actively used by attackers. Microsoft is warning that while this variant has only been used in a handful of attacks thus far, its use could quickly increase in the next few weeks. The malware has many capabilities, including injecting backdoors, stealing information from victim apps,…
Winnti, a China-linked threat actor, has been attributed to a new campaign called “RevivalStone.” The campaign is targeting Japanese manufacturing, materials, and energy companies. The activity has been discovered to overlap with activity by the APT41 cyber espionage group. APT41 is a highly skilled threat actor which conducts supply chain and espionage attacks. The group’s…
The Swedish biotech behind a groundbreaking Alzheimer’s treatment is in talks with partners for its new technology that allows drugs to cross the notoriously tricky blood-brain barrier. BioArctic signed the first deal for its “brain transporter” with Bristol Myers Squibb late last year. The deal is worth up to $1.4bn and allows the US drugmaker…
Last week, Anduril announced that it is taking over the US Army’s IVAS program from Microsoft. Anduril is the defence company Luckey founded after being fired from Oculus, currently valued at $28 billion. That initial announcement didn’t come with any specific details on the hardware or capabilities of Anduril’s IVAS solution. But in an interview…
The complexity of modern supply chains has reached a critical point. With global networks spanning multiple systems, data sources, and stakeholders, organizations face unprecedented challenges in making timely, informed decisions. While data availability has grown exponentially, the ability to transform this data into actionable insights hasn’t kept pace. A new solution is emerging in the…
Scientists at Google have revealed a new method of “quantum simulation” that uses computing power to mimic the behavior of a powerful quantum system. This approach, they argue, could lead to quantum computers that can overtake supercomputers within five years and lead to breakthroughs in drug discovery and battery development. Quantum simulation is a process…
For a growing number of Western tech companies, “Anything But China” is the order of the day. In recent years, many multinationals decided they had become overreliant on suppliers in China, prompting them to pursue a so-called “China Plus 1” strategy of augmenting China-based suppliers with those in other countries. Now, with U.S.-China tensions soaring…
While DOGE’s efforts to shutter federal agencies dominate news from Washington, the Trump administration is also making more global moves. Many of these center on China. Tariffs on goods from the country went into effect last week. There’s also been a minor foreign relations furor since DeepSeek’s big debut a few weeks ago. China has…
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI showed off the updated Grok-3 model, showcasing a version of the chatbot technology that the billionaire has said is the “smartest AI on Earth.” Across math, science and coding benchmarks, Grok-3 beats Alphabet Inc.’s Google Gemini, DeepSeek’s V3 model, Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s GPT-4o, the company said via a…
Fighting has broken out in South Sudan between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPSF) and the “armed youth” in Nasir in Upper Nile state. The fighting began on February 14 and 15. Some civilians have been killed and a United Nations peacekeeper was wounded. The UN is now calling for calm, stating that some…
The deadline for Israeli troop withdrawal out of southern Lebanon has passed, and Israel is pulling its forces out of the area. The Israeli military continued to draw back its troops Tuesday morning, and a majority of the forces will meet the agreed upon deadline as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah.…
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer has offered to send British troops to Ukraine. Starmer made the announcement on Sunday, offering U.S. peacekeeping troops to help guarantee Ukraine’s security as part of any peace deal. He and other European leaders are attempting to coordinate responses to Trump’s discussions with Russia about ending the war in…
Top delegates from the U.S. and Russia will meet this week in Saudi Arabia to discuss the war and Ukraine. The meeting has sparked concern from European leaders who are being left out of the U.S.-led effort. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov will meet with U.S. Secretary of…
It has been confirmed that a Palo Alto Networks patched firewall vulnerability is being actively exploited. CVE-2025-0108 is an authentication bypass flaw which allows unauthenticated attacks to access a device’s management interface. Threat intelligence firm GreyNoise has detected malicious activity where threat actors are trying to exploit the vulnerability. Palo Alto Networks has stated that…
Rapid7 researchers have discovered that the Chinese state-sponsored hackers suspected of being behind the U.S. Treasury attack in December leveraged a second zero-day. It was initially believed that the attackers were able to compromise the Treasury via CVE-2024-12356, an unauthenticated command injection vulnerability. However, Rapid researchers discovered that CVE-2025-1094 must also have been used in…
Microsoft is reporting that an ongoing campaign by Russian hackers is targeting government and private organizations. The global campaign uses device code phishing to compromise accounts. Impacted companies are in the government, defense, and telecoms industry, among others. The Russia-linked threat actor is tracked as Storm-2372 and has been active since at least August 2024.…
Elastic Security Labs has discovered a new post-exploitation malware kit which targets both Windows and Linux systems. The kit abuses Microsoft Outlook as a communication channel. It is likely part of an espionage campaign, and includes a loader and a backdoor. The malware has been used in attacks on a South American nation’s foreign ministry.…
Dream, an artificial intelligence company that provides cybersecurity services to governments and critical infrastructure operators such as hospitals and utilities, has raised $100 million at a $1.1 billion valuation. Bain Capital Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Dovi Frances’ Group 11, Tru Arrow Partners, Abu Dhabi-based Tau Capital and venture firm…
China has announced that it will spurn US-led efforts to develop encryption algorithms that are resistant to quantum computers, instead choosing to develop its own standards. This may be because China doesn’t want to use algorithms developed in the US in case they contain secret “back doors” allowing access by US intelligence agencies – or…
Tesla is bracing for a potential delay in obtaining Chinese approval for its autonomous driving technology, as Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle company risks getting dragged into the escalating US-China trade war. The company has been told there is no definitive timetable for regulators to approve a licence for it to begin widespread training of its “full…
Keytruda, a cancer-immunotherapy medicine, ranks among the most lucrative drugs ever sold. Since its launch in 2014 it has raked in over $130bn in sales for Merck, its American maker, including $29.5bn last year. In September last year an experimental drug did what none had done before. In late-stage trials for non-small-cell lung cancer, it…
Something’s been bugging me about how new devs and I need to talk about it. We’re at this weird inflection point in software development. Every junior dev I talk to has Copilot or Claude or GPT running 24/7. They’re shipping code faster than ever. But when I dig deeper into their understanding of what they’re…
Figure is reportedly in talks with investors to raise $1.5 billion for its work in developing humanoid robots. The startup aims for a valuation of $39.5 billion, though the talks are ongoing and the terms could change, Bloomberg reported Friday (Feb. 14), citing unnamed sources. The company made a breakthrough in reasoning abilities and now…
The South Korean government said on Monday that it had temporarily suspended new downloads of an artificial intelligence chatbot made by DeepSeek, the Chinese company that has sent shock waves through the tech world. On Monday night, the app was not available in the Apple or Google app stores in South Korea, although DeepSeek was…
Chinese leaders meet corporate leaders amid economic challenges. Since coming to power more than a decade ago, Xi has warned against the “disorderly” expansion of the private sector. But reports last week said he was preparing to meet business luminaries. The meeting took place on Monday but state broadcaster CCTV did not immediately give details…
Top U.S. officials are leaving for Saudi Arabia for talks with Russian envoys on how to end the war in Ukraine, signaling that the Trump administration is eager to push for an agreement. The rapid push to convene U.S.-Russian talks followed a Wednesday call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said the conversation…
Taiwan has detected 24 Chinese military aircraft near the island as a Canadian warship passed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence says. The Chinese aircraft included fighter jets and drones. China’s military radioed the Canadian frigate transiting through the Taiwan Strait and warned it to change course. The US and its…
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has fully endorsed Israel’s war aims in the Gaza Strip, saying Hamas “must be eradicated,” casting doubt on the Gaza ceasefire deal. The second phase of the ceasefire deal, where Hamas is to release dozens of remaining captives in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting truce, and the…
DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, has temporarily paused downloads of its chatbot apps in South Korea because of privacy concerns. DeepSeek’s apps were removed from the local versions of app stores and the company agreed to work with the agency to strengthen privacy protections before relaunching the apps. The South Korean privacy commission found…
Suspected Russian threat actors have been taking advantage of Microsoft Device Code Authentication to trick targets into granting them access to their Microsoft 365 (M365) accounts. The attackers usually impersonate US, Ukrainian, and EU government officials or researchers at prominent institutions, and reach out to the targets via social media or messaging apps such as…
The Trump administration has nominated Sean Cairncross for National Cyber Director. He will replace former CIA/NSA official Harry Coker, who resigned. The National Cyber Director position was created to help ensure a more streamlined strategy and coordinated response to cyberattacks that invariably pull in officials from multiple agencies. Cairncross’ previous experience includes a stint as…
New data from Gartner reveals the productivity gains generative AI is creating among supply chain employees. More than seven-in-10 (72%) of 265 global supply chain executives surveyed by Gartner in August 2024 said their organizations have deployed generative AI. However, survey results indicate that most respondents are experiencing middling results for productivity and ROI. The…
Apple Inc. is working to bring its AI features to China by the middle of this year, accelerating a complex undertaking that has required software changes and deep reliance on local partners. The iPhone maker has several teams in China and the US working to adapt its Apple Intelligence platform for the region, aiming for…
Proteins are the workhorses that keep our cells running, and there are many thousands of types of proteins in our cells, each performing a specialized function. Researchers have long known that the structure of a protein determines what it can do. More recently, researchers are coming to appreciate that a protein’s localization is also critical…
Mattermost, the leading collaborative workflow platform for defense, intelligence, security and critical infrastructure, and Qrypt, a pioneer in cryptographic quantum security solutions, today announced at the 2025 DoD Cybersecurity & SAP IT Summit a partnership to deliver quantum-secure communication capabilities. This collaboration addresses the rising cyber threats from nation-state adversaries, the impending risks posed by…
Newleos Therapeutics has closed an oversubscribed Series A financing round, raising $93.5m to revolutionise neuropsychiatric disorder treatments with new medicines. Goldman Sachs Alternatives spearheaded the funding round which also saw contributions from Longwood Fund, Novo Holdings, Arkin Bio Ventures and DCVC Bio. Newleos in-licensed its clinical-stage pipeline from Roche, which comprises several oral small molecules…
China’s biggest EV maker BYD this week unveiled a leap into driverless systems with its “God’s Eye” system for no extra cost on cars as it continues to rack up market share with less expensive electric vehicle options. BYD unveiled a new car automation system, stepping up from its existing advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) —…
Meta Platforms Inc., after pushing into augmented reality and artificial intelligence, has identified its next big bet: AI-powered humanoid robots. The company is making a significant investment into the category — futuristic robots that can act like humans and assist with physical tasks — and is forming a new team within its Reality Labs hardware…
A US aircraft carrier collided with a merchant ship near Egypt. The USS Harry S. Truman collided with a civilian merchant ship near Egypt. No major injuries or damage was reported. The carrier is part way through a deployment to the Middle East and Medditerian. Read more: https://apnews.com/article/truman-aircraft-carrier-collision-merchant-vessel-50e039f339c4658d246a08ca496a21d9
Syrian officials have begun the process of drafting a new consitution. The HTS backed government in Damascus has begun the process of drafting a new constitution. An initial committee is working to begin collecting ideas from key groups and leaders and will propose next steps to the interim government. The HTS backed government has indicated…
Hamas has announced they will free additional hostages. Hamas has announced that they will release 3 hostages this weekend as agreed to in the ceasefire talks. This comes after the group previously announced they would suspend releases due to US statements on the future of Gaza. Tensions with Israel remain high and several Israeli government…
European NATO members insist the US doesn’t leave them out of peace talks. At a meeting of defense officials at NATO Headquarters, European defense officials insisted that the United States not leave them out of talks over the future of Ukraine. The US insisted it would not leave Europe out of major decisions. The US…
PsiQuantum says it will have a commercially useful quantum computer available as soon as 2027. But whether businesses are ready to take advantage of that accelerated timeline is another story, according to a poll of tech executives at a Wall Street Journal event here. The Palo Alto, Calif., startup is working to build quantum computers…
Microsoft is proposing to hand over industry leadership of the Army’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System program to Anduril, the companies announced Tuesday. IVAS has been one of the service’s highest-priority modernization initiatives, with Microsoft as the prime contractor. The system — which includes ruggedized headgear and software with night-vision, thermal-sensing and augmented reality capabilities, among…
The rise of DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence (AI) models is seen providing some Chinese chipmakers such as Huawei a better chance to compete in the domestic market against more powerful U.S. processors. Huawei and its Chinese peers have for years struggled to match Nvidia in building top-end chips that could compete with the U.S. firm’s products…
OpenAI’s upcoming GPT-5 release will integrate its o3 reasoning model and be available to free users, CEO Sam Altman revealed in a roadmap he shared on X. He said the company is also working to simplify how users interact with ChatGPT. “We want AI to ‘just work’ for you; we realize how complicated our model…
The Atlantic, Politico, Vox and other major publishers are suing AI startup Cohere for copyright and trademark infringement, escalating the news industry’s legal battle over the technology. The publishers are accusing the Canadian company, which they say is valued at over $5 billion, of improperly using at least 4,000 copyrighted works to train its large…
Apple is exploring both humanoid and non-humanoid robotic form factors, according to a new scoop from longtime Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The intel comes on the heels of a research paper from the iPhone maker that explores human interactions with “non-anthropomorphic” robots — specifically a Pixar-style lamp. While Apple’s research paper highlights elements that could…
Chinese search engine leader Baidu said on Thursday it would make its artificial intelligence chatbot Ernie Bot free starting April 1, citing improved technology and reduced costs. The AI service will be accessible at no cost to all users on both desktop and mobile platforms, Baidu said in a WeChat post. Baidu faces growing competition…
Germany has notified the EU that it will extend its border controls for six months. Germany’s out going government has notified the EU that it will extend border controls for six months. The decision comes as the German elections are about to begin later this month. Germany’s main opposition party has called for border controls…
South Sudan’s cabinet reshuffle threatens a long standing peace deal. The firing of several senior government officials including cabinet ministers has threatened a long standing peace deal. The firing have reignited tensions between various factions in the government and society that had until 2018 been engaged in a civil war. The 2018 peace deal has…
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