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N2K Networks

The daily cybersecurity news and analysis industry leaders depend on. Published each weekday, the program also includes interviews with a wide spectrum of experts from industry, academia, and research organizations all over the world.

CyberWire Daily

Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes. 

Principal in PricewaterhouseCoopers Cyber Risk and Regulatory Practice, Sloane Menkes, shares her story of how non-linear math helped to shape her life and career. Sloane credits a high school classmate for inspiring her mantra "What is the 2%?" that she employs when she feels like things are shutting down. She talks about her experiences in calculus class at the US AIr Force Academy that helped to enlighten her and inform the intuitive problem solving skill or way of thinking that she'd been employing in her life. She joined Office of Special Investigations and working with Howard Schmidt is where Sloane first started to get interested in cybersecurity. She shares what she loves about the consulting role is that the environment is constantly changing, and she offers some advice for women interested in cybersecurity. We thank Sloane for sharing her story with us.
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Sloane Menkes: What is the 2%? [Consultant] [Career Notes]

The DataTribe Challenge is a launchpad for elite cybersecurity and cyber-adjacent startups ready to break out. 2025 marks the 8th annual edition of the event with a change in venue and some exciting new updates. 

We take you on a journey from inception with Leo Scott, Managing Director and Chief Innovation Officer at DataTribe, and 3 past DataTribe Challenge winners at different levels on their growth tracks following their participation in the event. You'll meet Anita D'Amico, former CEO of Code DX (acquired by Synopsis in 2021) and 2019 winner; Greg Baker, Co-Founder of Balance Theory and 2022 winner; and Brian Proctor, Founder and CEO of Frenos and 2024 winner.
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2025 DataTribe Challenge: Forging the future of cyber. [Special Edition]

Assaf Dahan, Director of Threat Research, Cortex XDR, at Palo Alto Networks, discussing Phantom Taurus, a new China APT uncovered by Unit 42. Unit 42 researchers have identified Phantom Taurus, a newly designated Chinese state-aligned APT conducting long-term espionage against government and telecommunications organizations across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. 

Distinguished by its stealth, persistence, and rare tactics, the group has recently shifted from email-focused data theft to directly targeting databases and deploying a powerful new malware suite called NET-STAR, designed to compromise IIS web servers and evade detection. This suite, featuring modular, fileless backdoors and advanced evasion capabilities, marks a significant evolution in Phantom Taurus’ operations and underscores the group’s strategic intelligence-gathering objectives.

The research can be found here:

 
⁠Phantom Taurus: A New Chinese Nexus APT and the Discovery of the NET-STAR Malware Suite

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China’s stealthiest spy operation yet. [Research Saturday]

A fast-spreading malware campaign is abusing WhatsApp as both lure and launchpad. Carmaker Renault suffers a data breach. DrayTek patches a critical router flaw. CISA alerts cover a range of vulnerabilities. A new phishing kit lowers the bar for convincing lures. A Catholic hospital network pays $7.6 million to settle data breach litigation. A major breach at FEMA exposes employee data. Google expands Gmail’s end-to-end encryption (E2EE) capabilities. On our Industry Voices segment, we are joined by Brian Vecci, Field CTO at Varonis, discussing move fast but don’t break things: Innovating at light speed without putting data at risk. The UK’s digital ID is a solution in search of a mandate.

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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

On our Industry Voices segment, we are joined by Brian Vecci, Field CTO at Varonis, discussing move fast but don’t break things: Innovating at light speed without putting data at risk. You can listen to Brian’s full conversation here. 

Selected Reading

Threat Actors Leveraging WhatsApp Messages to Attack Windows Systems With SORVEPOTEL Malware (Cybersecurity News)

Major car maker confirms customer data stolen in cyber attack (The Independent)

Unauthenticated RCE Flaw Patched in DrayTek Routers (SecurityWeek)

Organizations Warned of Exploited Meteobridge Vulnerability (SecurityWeek)

CISA Releases Two Industrial Control Systems Advisories (CISA.gov)

New ‘point-and-click’ phishing kit simplifies malicious attachment creation (SC Media)

Hospital Chain to Pay $7.6M to Settle Breach Litigation (Bank Inforsecurity)

FEMA cyber breach exposes employee data (SC Media)

Gmail business users can now send encrypted emails to anyone (Bleeping Computer)

UK government says digital ID won't be compulsory – honest (The Register)

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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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The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc.
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WhatsApp worm spreads.

CISA furloughs most of its workforce due to the government shutdown. The U.S. Air Force confirms it is investigating a SharePoint related breach. Google warns of a large-scale extortion campaign targeting executives. Researchers uncover Android spyware campaigns disguised as popular messaging apps. An extortion group claims to have breached Red Hat’s private GitHub repositories. A software provider for recreational vehicle and power sport dealers suffers a ransomware breach. Patchwork APT deploys a new Powershell loader using scheduled tasks for persistence. A Tennessee Senator urges aggressive U.S. action to prepare for a post-quantum future. Cynthia Kaiser, SVP of Halcyon’s Ransomware Research Center and former Deputy Assistant Director at the FBI’s Cyber Division, joins us with insights on the government shutdown. A Malaysian man pleads guilty to supporting a massive crypto fraud. Protected health info is not a marketing tool. 

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

Cynthia Kaiser, SVP of Halcyon’s Ransomware Research Center and former Deputy Assistant Director at the FBI’s Cyber Division, joins us with insights on the government shutdown.

Selected Reading

Shutdown guts U.S. cybersecurity agency at perilous time (CISA)

Air Force admits SharePoint privacy issue; reports of breach (The Register)

Google warns executives are being targeted for extortion with leaked Oracle data (IT Pro)

Researchers uncover spyware targeting messaging app users in the UAE (The Record)

Red Hat confirms security incident after hackers claim GitHub breach (Bleeping Computer)

766,000 Impacted by Data Breach at Dealership Software Provider Motility (Security Week)

Patchwork APT: Leveraging PowerShell to Create Scheduled Tasks and Deploy Final Payload (GB Hackers)

GOP senator confirms pending White House quantum push, touts legislative alternatives (CyberScoop)

Bitcoin Fixer Convicted for Role in Money Laundering Scheme (Bank Infosecurity)

Nursing Home Fined $182K for Posting Patient Photos Online (Bank Infosecurity)

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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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You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at cyberwire@n2k.com to request more info.

The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc.
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CISA furlough sparks fears.

Major federal cybersecurity programs expire amidst the government shutdown. Global leaders and experts convene in Riyadh for the Global Cybersecurity Forum. NIST tackles removable media. ICE buys vast troves of smartphone location data. Researchers claim a newly patched VMware vulnerability has been a zero-day for nearly a year. ClickFix-style attacks surge and spread across platforms. Battering RAM defeats memory encryption and boot-time defenses. A new phishing toolkit converts ordinary PDFs into interactive lures. A trio of breaches exposes data of 3.7 million across North America. Tim Starks from CyberScoop unpacks a report from Senate Democrats on DOGE. The Lone Star State proves even the internet isn’t bulletproof. 

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

Tim Starks, Senior Reporter from CyberScoop, is back and joins Dave to discuss a report from Senate Democrats on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). You can read Tim’s article on the subject here.

Selected Reading

Cyber information-sharing law and state grants set to go dark as Congress stalls over funding (The Record)

Live - Global Cybersecurity Forum in Riyadh tackles how technology can shape future of cyberspace (Euronews)

NIST Publishes Guide for Protecting ICS Against USB-Borne Threats (SecurityWeek)

ICE to Buy Tool that Tracks Locations of Hundreds of Millions of Phones Every Day (404 Media)

Broadcom Fails to Disclose Zero-Day Exploitation of VMware Vulnerability (SecurityWeek)

Don’t Sweat the ClickFix Techniques: Variants & Detection Evolution (Huntress)

Battering RAM Attack Breaks Intel and AMD Security Tech With $50 Device (SecurityWeek)

New MatrixPDF toolkit turns PDFs into phishing and malware lures (Bleeping Computer)

3.7M breach notification letters set to flood North America's mailboxes (The Register)

A Bullet Crashed the Internet in Texas (404 Media) 

Share your feedback.

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. 

Want to hear your company in the show?

You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at cyberwire@n2k.com to request more info.

The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc.
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When politics break the firewall.

CISA issues an urgent warning about active exploitation of a critical vulnerability in the sudo utility. Broadcom patches two high-severity vulnerabilities in VMware NSX. South Korea raises its national cyber threat level after a datacenter fire. Formbricks patches a critical token validation flaw. Microsoft blocks a credential phishing campaign that made use of malicious SVG files. Landlords are accused of scraping sensitive payroll data. Cybercriminals lay the groundwork for large-scale FIFA fraud. Burnout takes a heavy toll on cybersecurity professionals. On our Threat Vector segment, host David Moulton⁠ is joined by⁠ Kyle Wilhoit⁠ talking about the evolution of hacker culture and cybersecurity. London police bag the biggest bitcoin bust.

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

On this Threat Vector segment, host David Moulton⁠ is joined by⁠ Kyle Wilhoit⁠ of Unit 42 talking about the evolution of hacker culture and cybersecurity. You can listen to the full conversation⁠ here⁠, and catch new episodes of Threat Vector each Thursday in your podcast app of choice.

Selected Reading

CISA Issues Alert on Active Exploitation of Linux and Unix Sudo Flaw (GB Hackers)

Broadcom fixes high-severity VMware NSX bugs reported by NSA (Bleeping Computer)

South Korea raises cyber threat level after huge data centre fire sparks hacking fears (The Guardian)

JWT signature verification bypass enables account takeover in Formbricks (Beyond Machines)

Microsoft Flags AI Phishing Attack Hiding in SVG Files (Hackread)

Landlords Demand Tenants’ Workplace Logins to Scrape Their Paystubs (404 Media)

Playing Offside: How Threat Actors Are Warming Up for FIFA 2026 (Check Point Blog)

Why burnout is a growing problem in cybersecurity (BBC)

Chinese woman convicted after 'world's biggest' bitcoin seizure (BBC)

Share your feedback.

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.

Want to hear your company in the show?

You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at cyberwire@n2k.com to request more info.

The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc.
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One flaw to rule the root.

A Chinese state-sponsored group exploited enterprise devices in a global espionage effort. The UK Government guarantees £1.5 billion financing to help Jaguar Land Rover’s recovery efforts. A maximum-severity flaw in Fortra’s GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer product is under active exploitation. The AI boom faces sustainability questions. Akira ransomware bypasses MFA on SonicWall devices. Dutch teens are arrested for allegedly spying for Russia. Luxury retailer Harrods confirms a data breach. An Interpol crackdown targets African cybercrime rings. We’ve got our Monday business briefing. Brandon Karpf joins us to discuss the cybersecurity ecosystem in Japan. Cyber crooks offer a BBC journalist an early retirement package.

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 our guest is Brandon Karpf, friend of the show, and he joins to discuss the Cybersecurity ecosystem in Japan.

Selected Reading

Chinese hackers breached critical infrastructure globally using enterprise network gear (CSO Online)

UK government bails out Jaguar Land Rover with $2 billion loan (Metacurity)

Maximum severity GoAnywhere MFT flaw exploited as zero day (Bleeping Computer)

The AI boom is unsustainable unless tech spending goes ‘parabolic,’ Deutsche Bank warns: ‘This is highly unlikely’ (Fortune)

Akira ransomware breaching MFA-protected SonicWall VPN accounts (Bleeping Computer)

Dutch teens arrested for trying to spy on Europol for Russia (Bleeping Computer)

Harrods: Hackers contact firm after 430,000 customer records stolen (BBC)

Africa cybercrime crackdown includes hundreds of arrests, Interpol says (The Record)

Cyberbit acquires RangeForce. Terra Security raises $30 million. (N2K Pro) 

'You'll never need to work again': Criminals offer reporter money to hack BBC (BBC)

Share your feedback.

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.

Want to hear your company in the show?

You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here’s our media kit. Contact us at cyberwire@n2k.com to request more info.

The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc.
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The November that never ended.

Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes. 

Senior security engineer with the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute and the Institute for Assured Autonomy, Joe Carrigan, shares what he calls his life mistake and what spurred him to finally choose a career in technology. Throughout his life, Joe had interest in technology, he even worked at the computer lab in college, but never set his sights on that for a career. A conversation with a stranger guided him in that direction and he's been there ever since. As co-host of the CyberWire's Hacking Humans, Joe sees some heartbreaking results of scams and feels education of the public will help to prevent these. Joe reminds us to build our networks as they include people we can always go back to either when searching for a position or looking to fill one on our teams. We thank Joe for sharing his story with us.
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Joe Carrigan: Build your network. [Security engineer] [Career Notes]

This week, we are joined by Martin Zugec, Technical Solutions Director from Bitdefender, sharing their work and findings on "EggStreme Malware: Unpacking a New APT Framework Targeting a Philippine Military Company. A newly identified Chinese APT group has been observed deploying a sophisticated, fileless malware framework called EggStreme against a Philippine military company. 

The multi-stage toolkit uses DLL sideloading and in-memory execution to evade detection, with its core backdoor, EggStremeAgent, enabling reconnaissance, lateral movement, keylogging, and data theft. Researchers note the campaign’s persistence and stealth highlight professional, geopolitically motivated espionage activity linked to Chinese national interests.

The research can be found here:

 EggStreme Malware: Unpacking a New APT Framework Targeting a Philippine Military Company

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Sunny-side spyware. [Research Saturday]

Shawn Kanady, Global Director of Trustwave SpiderLabs, to discuss their work on "Pronsis Loader: A JPHP-Driven Malware Diverging from D3F@ck Loader." Trustwave SpiderLabs has uncovered Pronsis Loader, a new malware variant using the rare programming language JPHP and stealthy installation tactics to evade detection. 
The malware is capable of delivering high-risk payloads like Lumma Stealer and Latrodectus, posing a significant threat. Researchers highlight its unique capabilities and infrastructure, offering insights for bolstering cybersecurity defenses.
The research can be found here: 
Pronsis Loader: A JPHP-Driven Malware Diverging from D3F@ck Loader

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The JPHP loader breaking away from the pack. [Research Saturday]

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