Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Military forces are under increasing pressure to field autonomous capabilities faster than ever before. Across the U.S., UK, and NATO, new investment, evolving defense strategies, and accelerated acquisition pathways are transforming how capability is delivered, rewarding programs that can move from concept to operational deployment at commercial speed

Acquisition of MSP MacSolution Boosts Global Services and Cloud Migration ExpertiseJumpCloud has acquired MacSolution, a longtime partner and its largest MSP in the Americas, to enhance global service delivery and deepen its IT modernization capabilities. The move positions Sao Paulo, Brazil, as a strategic hub and strengthens support for partners and customers in Latin America.

A new theory from the agency that brought us ‘America hacked itself to blame Beijing’ China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) has alleged a nation-state entity, probably the USA, was behind a 2020 attack on a bitcoin mining operation and by doing so has gone into bat for entities that Beijing usually blasts.…

Also: Continued Turmoil at CISA, MSSP Level Blue's Acquisition of CybereasonIn this week's panel, four ISMG editors discussed the FBI's takedown of Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, turmoil inside CISA amid the U.S. federal government shutdown and how LevelBlue's acquisition of Cybereason signals big shifts in the XDR and MDR markets.

Passkeys to Strengthen Low-Friction Verification, Integrate With Facial RecognitionUnico has acquired San Francisco-based OwnID to enhance its identity offerings and grow its U.S. customer base. The passkey startup's low-friction login solution complements Unico's facial recognition tools and supports broader use cases with streamlined user experiences.

Also: Software Supply Chain Risks, Cato's AI Security BuyIn this week's update, four ISMG editors discussed the Pentagon's review of Microsoft's use of Chinese nationals on U.S. military cloud systems, renewed concerns over software supply chain risks and Cato Networks' first-ever acquisition to boost AI security.

How OpenAI Lost, Google Hedged and Cognition AI Bought AI Coding Start-Up WindsurfAs with any story about AI start-ups, the acquisition of Windsurf AI happened at lightning speed. In just a couple of weeks, major Silicon Valley players took a close look at the four-year-old AI-assisted coding vendor, and ultimately Google and Cognition AI ended up with parts of the company.

Security Concerns, Chinese Ownership Drive ConcernsU.S. federal agencies and corporations with ties to the government are blocking employees from using Chinese chatbot DeepSeek over security and privacy concerns. China could potentially use DeepSeek AI models to spy on American citizens, acquire proprietary secrets and conduct influence campaigns.

Iran-affiliated threat actors have been linked to a new custom malware that's geared toward IoT and operational technology (OT) environments in Israel and the United States

Buy of Washington D.C.-Area Firm Adds Reverse Engineering, Data Analytics ExpertiseSixgen will enhance its cybersecurity operations through the purchase of Washington D.C.-area Kyrus. The move introduces reverse engineering and analytics expertise to Sixgen's portfolio, aligning with its mission to protect critical infrastructure and bolster American cyber defense capabilities.

Also: Mastercard's Big Acquisition and US Election Security EffortsIn the latest weekly update, ISMG editors discussed the fallout from the CrowdStrike global IT outage on endpoint security tools, Mastercard's monumental acquisition of Recorded Future to bolster its cybersecurity portfolio, and the latest efforts by U.S. officials to secure the 2024 election.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has disclosed that threat actors are abusing the legacy Cisco Smart Install (SMI) feature with the aim of accessing sensitive data

Experts Warn Against Increasing Federal Reliance on Chinese TechnologyExperts are raising fresh concerns about the "significant risk" for Chinese espionage against U.S. federal networks after a government watchdog caught the government's main acquisition arm purchasing unauthorized, Chinese-manufactured video conference cameras.

Agencies Plan More than 1,200 AI Use CasesMajor government agencies in the United States intend to apply artificial intelligence, but the majority of planned use cases are still at the planning stage, a congressional watchdog said. Missing from those efforts is governmentwide guidance on the acquisition and use of AI technologies.

Attacks leveraging the DarkGate commodity malware targeting entities in the U.K., the U.S., and India have been linked to Vietnamese actors associated with the use of the infamous Ducktail stealer

Morphus's deep cybersecurity research expertise, cyber defense and threat intelligence services widen Accenture's cybersecurity footprint in Latin America.

US cybersecurity services firm continues expansion into Latin America.

South Korean chaebol Samsung on Friday said it experienced a cybersecurity incident that resulted in the unauthorized access of some customer information, the second time this year it has reported such a breach