Quote for the day:
“Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.” -- Robert T. Kiyosaki
Western Cybersecurity Experts Brace for Iranian Reprisal
Analysts at the threat intelligence firm Flashpoint on Sunday reported that
the Iran-linked Handala Group was already targeting Israeli industrial control
systems and claimed disruption of manufacturing and energy distribution in the
country. Handala, which earlier in the week claimed on social media to have
stolen data held by Israel's Clalit healthcare network, also claimed
responsibility for a cyberattack on Jordanian fuel station infrastructure. ...
"The inclusion of Gulf states such as the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain in the
potential crossfire underscores that this is not a localized exchange, but a
high-risk regional security environment," said Austin Warnick, Flashpoint's
director of national security intelligence, in an emailed statement. "Beyond
the kinetic strikes themselves, the broader risk lies in the second-order
effects - retaliatory cyber operations, attacks on critical infrastructure,
and prolonged disruption to air and maritime corridors that underpin global
commerce," Warnick added. The cybersecurity firm SentinelOne on Saturday
observed that Iran has "historically incorporated cyber operations into
periods of regional escalation." ... Concerns about retaliation in cyberspace
come after what may have been the "largest cyberattack in history," which is
how the Jerusalem Post characterized a plunge into digital darkness that
accompanied missile strikes. Internet observatory NetBlocks observed a sudden
decline in Iranian internet connectivity in a timeline coinciding with the
onset of missile attacks.Security debt is becoming a governance issue for CISOs
Security debt is a time problem as much as a volume problem. Older items tend
to live in code that teams hesitate to change, such as legacy services, shared
libraries, or apps tied to revenue workflows. That slows remediation, and it
can make risk conversations feel repetitive for engineering leaders. Programs
that track debt end up debating ownership, change windows, and acceptable
exposure for systems with high business dependency. Governance often comes
down to who owns remediation, what gets funded, and which teams can accept
risk exceptions. ... Prioritization becomes an operational discipline when
remediation capacity stays constrained. Programs need a repeatable way to tie
issues to business criticality, reachable attack paths, and runtime exposure,
so teams can focus effort on the highest impact weaknesses in the systems that
matter most. Wysopal said organizations need to recalibrate how they rank and
measure vulnerability reduction. “Success in reducing security debt is about
focus. Direct teams to the small subset of vulnerabilities that are both
highly exploitable and capable of causing catastrophic damage to the
organisation if left unaddressed. By layering exploitability potential on top
of the CVSS, organisations add critical business context and establish a
‘high-risk’ fast lane for vulnerabilities that demand immediate attention.”Biometrics, big data and the new counterintelligence battlefield
Modern immigration enforcement relies on vast interconnected databases that
contain fingerprints, facial images, travel histories, employment records,
family relationships, and immigration status determinations. Much of this
information is immutable. A compromised password can be reset. A compromised
fingerprint cannot. That permanence gives biometric repositories enduring
intelligence value. If accessed, such data could enable long term targeting,
profiling, and exploitation of individuals both inside and outside the U.S. The
risk is magnified by scale and distribution. Immigration data flows across
multiple components within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and into
partner agencies. Mobile devices capture biometrics in the field. Cloud
environments host case management systems. Contractors provide infrastructure,
analytics, and support services. ... The counterintelligence risk does not stop
at static records. Immigration enforcement increasingly relies on advanced
analytics, large scale data aggregation, and biometric matching systems that
connect government holdings with commercial data streams. Location data derived
from advertising technology ecosystems, social media analysis, and facial
recognition tools can all be integrated into investigative workflows. As these
ecosystems grow more interconnected, the intelligence payoff from breaching,
de-anonymization, or manipulation increases.
Can you trust your AI to manage its own security
A pressing concern within many organizations is the disconnect between security teams and R&D departments. Managing NHIs effectively can bridge this gap. By fostering collaboration and communication between these teams, organizations can create a more secure and unified cloud environment. This integration ensures that security protocols align seamlessly with innovation efforts, mitigating risks at every turn. ... Have you ever contemplated the extent to which AI can autonomously manage its security infrastructure? Where organizations increasingly transition to cloud-based operations, the intersection of Non-Human Identities (NHIs) and AI-driven security becomes critically important. By understanding these key components, cybersecurity professionals can develop robust strategies that mitigate risks while bolstering AI’s role in maintaining a secure environment. ... How can organizations cultivate trust in AI systems? By implementing stringent protocols and maintaining transparency throughout the process, businesses can illustrate AI’s capacity for reliable and secure operations. Collaborative efforts that involve transparency between AI developers and end-users can also enhance understanding and trust. Incorporating AI-driven security measures requires careful consideration and ongoing evaluation to maintain efficacy. This commitment to excellence fortifies AI strategies and ensures organizations maintain a proactive stance on security challenges.What if the real risk of AI isn’t deepfakes — but daily whispers?
AI is transitioning from tools we use to prosthetics we wear. This will create
significant new threats we’re just not prepared for. No, I’m not talking about
creepy brain implants. These AI-powered prosthetics will be mainstream products
we buy from Amazon or the Apple Store ... They will provide real value in our
lives — so much so that we will feel disadvantaged if others are wearing them
and we are not. This will create rapid pressure for mass adoption. ... First and
foremost, policymakers need to realize that conversational AI enables an
entirely new form of media that is interactive, adaptive, individualized and
increasingly context-aware. This new form of media will function as “active
influence,” because it can adjust its tactics in real time to overcome user
resistance. When deployed in wearable devices, these AI systems could be
designed to manipulate our actions, sway our opinions and influence our beliefs
— and do it all through seemingly casual dialog. Worse, these agents will learn
over time what conversational tactics work best on each of us on a personal
level. The fact is, conversational agents should not be allowed to form control
loops around users. If this is not regulated, AI will be able to influence us
with superhuman persuasiveness. In addition, AI agents should be required to
inform users whenever they transition to expressing promotional content on
behalf of a third party.
A peak at the future of AI and connectivity
2026 will mark the point where AI shifts from experimentation to fully
commercialized, autonomous decision-making at scale. The acceleration in
inference traffic alone will expose the limits of network architectures designed
for linear data flows and predictable consumption. AI-driven workloads will
generate volatile east-west traffic patterns, machine-to-machine exchanges, and
microburst dynamics that current networks were never built to accommodate.
Ultra-low latency, deterministic performance, and the ability to dynamically
allocate bandwidth in milliseconds will move from “nice to have” to critical
requirements. The drive to generate ROI from AI will also put a bigger
spotlight on the network. ... The industry has long viewed non-terrestrial
networks (NTNs) as a means to fill coverage gaps where terrestrial connectivity
is too impractical or costly. However, conversations from recent industry
meetings and events tell me that NTNs are set to play a far more important, and
potentially disruptive role than originally expected. Tens of thousands of new
satellites are set to launch in the coming years, with Musk alone securing
licenses for 10,000 additional units. This rapidly expanding mesh of networks is
evolving at pace and will soon reach a point where direct-to-cell services can
offer performance competing with terrestrial coverage. It is important to note,
however, that NTNs will never be able to compete on peak data throughput. They
will be part of the broader connectivity ‘coverage package’.How CISOs can build a resilient workforce
Ford has developed strategies to not only recruit talent but maintain their
interests and get them through the ebbs and flows of daily life in
cybersecurity. “I put a focus around monitoring the workforce and trying to get
a good sense of the workloads that are coming in.” Having a team that’s properly
staffed is important and this is where data is helpful to gauge the workload and
make the argument to support resourcing. ... Burnout is an ongoing concern
for many CISOs and their teams, especially when unpredictable events can trigger
workload spikes, burnout can escalate fast. “It’s something that can overwhelm
pretty quickly,” Ford says. Industry surveys continue to flash red on persistent
burnout that leads to job dissatisfaction. ... Ford agrees it’s difficult to
find top-tier talent across all the different cybersecurity disciplines,
especially for a large organization like Rockwell. His strategy entails bringing
in a key expert or two in different disciplines with years of experience and
adding more junior, early career people. “Pairing them with seasoned experts
allows you to build an effective, sustainable team over time, and I’ve seen that
work extremely well for organizations with early career programs.” He also looks
for experts from adjacent disciplines such as infrastructure, the data center
space or application development keen to break into cyber. “I’m not recruiting
for everyone. I’m recruiting for a few top experts and then building a pipeline
either through early career or other similar activities from a technology space
to get an effective cyber team,” he says.Why Retries Are More Dangerous Than Failures
The system enters a state where retries eat all available capacity, starving even the requests that might've succeeded. It's a trap — the harder you struggle, the tighter it clamps down. AWS engineers lived this during an October 2025 database outage. Client apps did exactly what they were supposed to: aggressively retry failed database calls. The database was already wobbly — some internal resource thing, normally the kind of issue that resolves itself in minutes. But those minutes never came. The retry storm kept the system pinned in a failure state for hours. The outage dragged on not because the original problem was catastrophic, but because every well-meaning client was enthusiastically making it worse. ... But backoff alone won't save you. You need circuit breakers — the pattern where after N consecutive failures, you stop trying entirely for some cooldown window. Give the service room to recover. Requests fail fast instead of queuing up. This feels wrong the first time you implement it. You're programming the system to give up. But the alternative — letting it spin uselessly pretending the next retry will work — is worse. ... SRE teams talk about error budgets — how much failure you can tolerate before breaking SLOs. Same logic applies to retries. You need a retry budget: a system-wide cap on in-flight retries. Harder to implement than it sounds. Requires coordination. Maybe you emit metrics on retry rates and alert when they cross thresholds.The Real Cost of Cutting Costs in Digital Banking
Digital banking platforms must maintain robust security protocols, stay current
with evolving regulatory requirements, and respond quickly to emerging threats.
This is especially true for community FIs, since fraudsters often target smaller
FIs based on smaller security teams and budgets. Budget vendors often lack the
resources to invest adequately in security infrastructure, maintain
comprehensive compliance programs, or dedicate teams to proactive threat
monitoring. ... Budget platforms frequently lack robust integration
capabilities, forcing your team to manage endless workarounds, manual processes,
and custom development projects. These integration gaps create multiple cost
centers. Your IT team spends hours troubleshooting connection issues instead of
driving strategic initiatives. ... One of the most overlooked costs of budget
digital banking platforms emerges precisely when your institution is succeeding.
Growth-minded credit unions and community banks need partners whose platforms
can scale seamlessly as account holder numbers increase, transaction volumes
surge, and service offerings expand. Budget vendors often hit performance
ceilings that turn your growth trajectory into an operational crisis. The
problem manifests in multiple ways. ... The direct costs of migration such as
consulting fees, vendor implementation charges, and internal labor costs easily
run into six figures for even small institutions. The indirect costs are equally
significant. During migration, your team’s attention diverts from strategic
initiatives to tactical execution.
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