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Post-quantum cryptography adoption and the national security implications

Opinion analysis argues quantum computing favors nation-state espionage, leaving lagging post-quantum adoption at critical infrastructure exposed to harvest-now-decrypt-later attacks.

A CSO Online opinion piece argues that the extreme cost and infrastructure requirements of quantum computers will concentrate cryptographically relevant quantum capability among nation-states and a few corporations, favoring espionage and economic espionage over criminal monetization. It highlights harvest-now-decrypt-later risk to long-lived secrets, expert warnings such as Filippo Valsorda's, and diverging CRQC timelines with Google suggesting possibly 2029. The piece predicts governments, banks, and targeted sectors will adopt PQC first while utilities, small hospitals, and local government lag, widening exploitable gaps in critical infrastructure reminiscent of Salt Typhoon-style access.

CSO Online · 7d agoIndustry

Governments ‘buying time’ in race between innovation, security, national cyber director says

National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross says allied governments are 'buying time' to secure systems as AI advances and exposes chronic cyber hygiene gaps.

Speaking at the Billington CyberSecurity Summit, National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross said the US and allies must balance AI innovation speed with securing systems and keeping the technology from adversaries. He argued AI has not created new cybersecurity problems but surfaced decades-old issues like under-resourced basic cyber hygiene, echoing FBI and CISA officials at the summit. His remarks followed US agencies accusing Chinese AI companies of illegally distilling US frontier models and Anthropic disclosing a fourth AI hacking incident involving one of its models.

CyberScoop · 6d agoPolicy & legal

The AI policy window is open. We need to act.

OpenAI calls for mandatory national AI safety regulation and backs four California AI safety bills as capabilities accelerate.

OpenAI argues the rapid pace of AI progress, including signs of AI-accelerated research, requires urgent policy action through mandatory, capability-based national regulation. The company endorses four California bills (SB 813, AB 1405, SB 1119, AB 1864) covering independent safety assessments, AI auditor standards, youth protections, and safeguards against AI-enabled biological threats. It also commits to industry-led frontier standards, international coordination, and strengthening internal safeguards such as universal trajectory monitoring and mandatory alignment-evaluation gates for its Astra model. The post references chief scientist Jakub Pachocki's warning about recursive self-improvement and Greg Brockman's "defenders window" concept.

OpenAI News · 7d agoAI policy

If the Markets Reject OpenAI and Anthropic, the US Should Nationalize Them

Opinion essay argues the US should nationalize OpenAI and Anthropic into public labs if markets reject their trillion-dollar IPO valuations.

Sanders and Schneier argue in The Guardian that OpenAI and Anthropic may never be sustainably profitable, citing commodity models, short depreciation windows, and free open-source competitors only months behind in capability. They propose converting the labs into US national labs or regulated public utilities if markets reject their recently filed IPOs, which buzz valued at trillions of dollars. They cite public backlash to AI datacenters, Nvidia's slumping stock, and public AI labs in Switzerland, Spain, and Singapore as context.

Schneier on Security · Aug 15, 2026AI industry

UK appoints new commander of National Cyber Force

The UK National Cyber Force has a new commander, its third since 2020, succeeding Air Vice-Marshal Tim Neal-Hopes; identity not yet avowed.

The United Kingdom's National Cyber Force has changed commanders, with the new leader's identity not yet formally avowed pending security considerations. The new commander is the third since the force was established in 2020, following James Babbage (GCHQ) and Air Vice-Marshal Tim Neal-Hopes (armed forces), both of whom have now completed their tenure. The NCF consolidates UK offensive cyber capabilities under a joint defense-intelligence partnership including GCHQ, MI6, and Dstl, with funding committed to 2030 and a permanent headquarters at Samlesbury progressing as scheduled.

The Record · 6d agoPolicy & legal

The Convergence of Space and Cyber: Evolving Threats in the Space Race 2.0

Recorded Future whitepaper warns nation-state cyber operations targeting satellites, ground stations and space supply chains will intensify during 'Space Race 2.0'.

Recorded Future's whitepaper argues that cyber operations will be decisive in the second space race, with espionage, destructive attacks, supply chain compromise and signal hijacking already affecting orbital assets and ground infrastructure. It predicts nation-states will extend cyber targeting toward deep-space ambitions such as lunar colonization and asteroid mining. The paper references the SPARTA adversarial framework and forums like Defence Space 24, and highlights US Space Command's integration of cyber and intelligence into space operations.

Recorded Future · 8d agoResearch

Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure

Trump signed an executive order declaring an emergency to bar foreign bulk-power equipment deemed a national security cyber risk.

The executive order, 'Declaring a National Energy Emergency to Secure the United States Bulk-Power System,' prohibits acquiring, importing, transferring, or installing foreign-produced bulk-power equipment and software deemed risky, citing fears of digital backdoors in Chinese-made grid gear. China supplies roughly 85% of solar supply chain capacity and is a major transformer manufacturer. The Energy Department has 120 days to develop implementing rules; the order revives a 2020 Trump-era measure the Biden administration had suspended after utilities found compliance difficult.

CyberScoop · 21d agoPolicy & legal1

UK government seeks powers to secretly block risky tech suppliers

UK amendments to the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill would let ministers secretly ban risky tech suppliers across critical sectors.

The UK government published amendments to the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill creating 'vendor-related directions' that allow ministers to order companies in critical sectors to stop buying from a supplier, restrict its products, or remove installed equipment on national security grounds. The powers extend beyond telecoms to managed service providers, data centers, digital infrastructure and the energy, water, transport and health sectors, adapting the mechanism used to restrict Huawei in UK 5G while removing some transparency safeguards. Ministers would not have to publicly name the vendor, could withhold details on national security or commercial grounds, and could bar recipients and consultees from discussing the orders, though the government would report annually to Parliament on directions issued. The amendments will be considered at committee stage in the House of Lords in September.

The Record · 21d agoPolicy & legal

Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme

US extradited Russian national Sergei Filimonov over a bank-account takeover scheme using spoofed bank domains that defrauded two banks of $6.3 million.

US authorities extradited 36-year-old Russian national Sergei Anatolyevich Filimonov from the Republic of Georgia on charges including bank and wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. He and unnamed co-conspirators allegedly ran spoofed bank domains, bought sponsored links to lure victims, and harvested over 5,000 victim login credentials starting in November 2023, causing unauthorized transfers of about $5.58 million and $735,000 from two banks in 2024. The FBI previously identified at least 19 US victims linked to the credential-storage domain, with roughly $28 million in attempted losses including $14.6 million confirmed. Filimonov faces up to 175 years in prison, pleaded not guilty on September 4, and remains detained in the Northern District of Georgia.

CyberScoop · 8d agoPolicy & legal

National Life Group CISO expects more vulnerabilities in six months than in thirty years

National Life Group CISO Becky Palmer says agentic AI resolves four of five SOC investigations and urges AI-speed patching practices.

In a Help Net Security interview, National Life Group CISO Becky Palmer argues frontier AI will uncover more vulnerabilities in the next six months than in the last thirty years, compressing time from disclosure to weaponized exploit from weeks to hours. She reports agentic AI in her SOC resolves 4 of 5 investigations without human escalation, saving hours daily on enrichment and summarization. She also details compensating controls such as virtual patching, least-privilege restrictions, and heightened monitoring, plus procurement questions to separate working AI products from wrappers.

Help Net Security · 15d agoIndustry

Nigeria Looks to Sovereign Cloud for Cyber, National Security

Nigeria launches financing, procurement, and infrastructure policies to build a sovereign cloud for cyber and national security.

Nigeria has introduced financing, procurement, and infrastructure policies to accelerate its sovereign cloud initiative. The program aims to keep government data under national control and expand domestic technical expertise. It is framed as part of a broader effort to strengthen cyber and national security capabilities in West Africa's largest economy.

Dark Reading · 21d agoPolicy & legal

Strengthening democratic oversight in national security

OpenAI launched an initiative to strengthen democratic oversight of AI in national security, providing government institutions with tools, training, and expertise.

OpenAI announced an initiative focused on strengthening democratic oversight of AI within national security contexts. The effort will support government institutions with tools, training, and expertise. The announcement was published on August 18, 2026.

OpenAI News · 29d agoAI industry

Zelensky appoints former police chief to lead Ukraine’s cyber coordination center

Zelensky appoints former police chief Ihor Klymenko to head Ukraine's National Cybersecurity Coordination Center amid broader security leadership reshuffle.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Ihor Klymenko, former National Police head, interior minister, and NSDC secretary, to lead the National Cybersecurity Coordination Center (NCCC). The NCCC, created in 2016 under the National Security and Defense Council, coordinates government agencies' responses to major cyberthreats including Russian operations. The appointment comes amid a wider reshuffle of Ukraine's defense and security leadership.

The Record · 1d agoPolicy & legal

25 Years of Mass Surveillance Is Enough

Bruce Schneier and Cindy Cohn argue post-9/11 mass surveillance expanded far beyond its counterterrorism justification and should be reevaluated for costs to rights.

An essay by Bruce Schneier and Cindy Cohn (originally in Lawfare) traces the post-9/11 shift from targeted surveillance to mass collection of telephone and internet metadata. It cites the Section 215 bulk phone records program, struck down in interpretation by the Second Circuit in 2015 and curtailed by the USA Freedom Act, and the NSA's Upstream program under Section 702 of the 2008 FISA Amendments Act, which ended content searches in 2017. The authors note mass surveillance now serves routine law enforcement and immigration actions, with FBI Director Kash Patel confirming purchases of Americans' data from brokers, and private systems like Flock license plate readers and venue facial recognition feeding government access.

Schneier on Security · 1d agoPolicy & legal

FBI puts its cyber strategy on paper

FBI publishes its first public cybersecurity strategy, a 17-page document with four pillars prioritizing disruption of cybercrime and nation-state hackers.

The FBI released its first-ever public cybersecurity strategy, a 17-page unclassified document outlining four pillars: imposing costs on adversaries, victim support, industry collaboration, and strengthening the bureau's digital capabilities. Cyber Division assistant director Brett Leatherman said the plan builds on the Trump administration's cybersecurity strategy, a recent executive order on countering digital criminals, and a memo enabling private-industry participation in disruptive operations, and promises a faster tempo of sequenced operations after 50 such actions since the start of 2025, including the Lumma malware takedown with Microsoft. No implementation plan or timeline exists yet; threat teams targeting China, Russia, and criminal gangs will develop classified sub-strategies.

The Record · 7d agoPolicy & legal

Trump Targets Foreign Technology in New U.S. Power Grid Security Order

Trump's Executive Order 14420 declares a national emergency to restrict foreign-made bulk-power grid equipment over cyber, sabotage and supply-chain risks.

Executive Order 14420, signed August 26, declares a national emergency regarding the foreign supply of bulk-power system electric equipment to the United States. It empowers the Energy Secretary to restrict transactions with designated Covered Foreign Entities involving equipment, software, firmware, digital services, maintenance services, and remote-access capabilities. Covered equipment includes transformers, generators, inverters, RTUs, PLCs, intelligent electronic devices, and protective relays, with transmission rated 69 kV or higher in scope while local distribution is excluded. Already-installed foreign equipment may be subject to identification, isolation, monitoring, or replacement requirements, with phased compliance and pre-qualified vendor exemptions permitted.

Security Affairs · 19d agoPolicy & legal

Who gets to define the rules for AI?

Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez attacks big-lab antitrust exemption proposals as cartel behavior that lets incumbents write AI safety rules.

Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez argues that proposals from large AI labs—particularly Anthropic's roadmap requesting antitrust exemptions for safety coordination—amount to a cartel letting incumbents define rules for everyone else. He draws parallels to the 1975 SEC NRSRO credit-rating designations and the EU's 1985 Motor Vehicle Block Exemption, where safety justifications produced incumbent-protecting market structures. Gomez supports independent review of highly capable AI systems but disputes who writes the standards, who conducts review, and who participates. He also warns AI cyber offense is getting cheaper faster than defenses are improving.

The G7 tells industry to hurry up and prep for post-quantum encryption

A G7 working group report urges governments and industry to accelerate post-quantum cryptography migration, framing quantum risk as a near-term economic threat.

A cybersecurity working group formed at the June 2026 G7 Summit in France called on organizations to stop postponing migration of critical systems to post-quantum cryptography, warning that harvest-now-decrypt-later attacks against currently encrypted data exist today. The report was signed by CISA, the UK NCSC, France's ANSSI, Germany's BSI, Canada's CSE, Japan's NCO, and Italy's ACN. It also cautions that some NIST-selected PQC algorithms have already been broken on classical computers, reinforcing support for crypto-agility. The push aligns with a recent US executive order moving federal PQC migration timelines from 2035 to 2030, while Google and others target 2029.

CyberScoop · 13d agoPolicy & legal

‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

White House launches Watershed 250, a six-month Texas pilot using volunteer vendor cyber and AI tools to harden water utility defenses.

The Office of the National Cyber Director and Texas Cyber Command will oversee the six-month Project Watershed 250 pilot to improve water sector cybersecurity through industry-donated red teaming, system hardening and AI tooling. Twelve companies including Microsoft, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, AWS, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos participated in the rollout. Officials cited recent attacks including an Iranian-backed campaign against 30 water systems in 12 states and a 2024 incident in Muleshoe, Texas. Some water-security professionals criticized the program as lacking dedicated funding.

CyberScoop · 16d agoPolicy & legal1

US Authorizes Private Cyber Firms to Hack Transnational Criminal Networks

Trump signed a national security memorandum letting vetted private US cybersecurity firms run government-approved offensive cyber operations against transnational criminal organizations.

The August 13 memorandum creates a program managed by the National Coordination Center covering Cyber Surveillance Operations and Cyber Effects Operations against Cyber-Enabled Transnational Criminal Organizations, explicitly excluding entities that are parts of foreign governments. DOJ and DHS executive directors must co-approve every operation in writing, with extra authorization for operations raising laws-of-armed-conflict questions. Participating firms must pass vetting, annual evaluations and hold a $1 million bond or escrow. Operating procedures are due within 60 days, and the unresolved CFAA exemption question is addressed by requiring direct government control.

Security Affairs · Aug 14, 2026Policy & legal

NIST wants to overhaul its vulnerability database for the AI age

NIST issued a Federal Register RFI seeking public input on overhauling the National Vulnerability Database for AI-scale, machine-consumable security data.

NIST published a request for information arguing the National Vulnerability Database must adapt as LLMs increasingly find and exploit vulnerabilities at machine scale. The RFI seeks input on integrating automation into vulnerability reporting, faster dissemination to defenders, and transparency and auditability in AI-driven decisions. It follows the White House-backed Gold Eagle clearinghouse at Treasury and the VINCE program with Carnegie Mellon's Software Engineering Institute for AI-discovered vulnerability reports.

CyberScoop · Aug 11, 2026Policy & legal

Trump may be forced to reveal secret rules feds use for AI safety testing

Protect Democracy sued four federal agencies to force disclosure of the administration's secret framework for frontier AI safety reviews.

Nonprofit Protect Democracy sued four federal agencies, including the Office of the National Cyber Director, OSTP, Treasury and Commerce, seeking disclosure of the secret voluntary framework used for pre-release safety reviews of frontier AI models. The complaint demands the framework text, participant identities and selection criteria by September 30, alleging OpenAI negotiated a private agreement limiting distribution of its cutting-edge models to government-vetted partners. The suit follows the launch of the GOLD EAGLE clearinghouse and the completion of the review framework on August 3, with California Senator Josh Becker supporting the request while the state considers the SB 813 bill for transparent AI safety standards.

Ars Technica · AI · 14d agoAI policy

Exclusive: NSA to host a hacker reunion in bid to rebuild secretive unit

NSA will host a reunion of former Tailored Access Operations hackers as it moves to rebuild and rebrand the elite unit.

The invitation-only event at Fort Meade, spearheaded by Deputy Director Tim Kosiba, a former TAO technical director, will tour the new TAO building and pitch alumni to return. TAO, credited with contributions to Stuxnet and once grown to over 2,000 personnel, was renamed Computer Network Operations about a decade ago, and the recent reshuffle undid some of those changes after NSA lost roughly 2,100 staff (8% of its workforce) last year.

The Record · 21d agoIndustry

Early 764 member sentenced to 77 years, longest prison term to date for a nihilistic violent extremist

Kyle Spitze, an early 764 member, was sentenced to 77 years for producing CSAM, the longest sentence for a nihilistic violent extremist.

Kyle William Spitze, an original member of the 764 nihilistic violent extremist network and administrator of the Harm Nation offshoot, was sentenced to 77 years in federal prison. He pleaded guilty in December 2024 to producing child sexual abuse material, possession of CSAM, and distributing animal crush videos, victimizing dozens of girls through coercion, doxing and swatting threats. Investigators found roughly 25 photo albums of abuse imagery on his phone and evidence of animal torture. The Justice Department framed the sentence as a signal in a broader enforcement push against 764, which has seen multiple members arrested or sentenced since 2025.

CyberScoop · 27d agoPolicy & legal