Tim Starks

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has lapsed, but another decision on its future nears, and the classified opinion could be decisive. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/wyden-schiff...

CISA published a strategy Monday that focuses on taking a leading role in cyber defense, prioritizing protection of critical infrastructure and building the ability to withstand attacks. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/cisa-2030-cy...

Two senators say that revelations about online targeted advertising being used as a vector for spyware infections underscore the need for better security practices in the industry. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/targeted-ads...

NEW from @timstarks.bsky.social: CISA published a strategy Monday that focuses on taking a leading role in cyber defense, prioritizing protection of critical infrastructure and building the ability to withstand attacks. cyberscoop.com/cisa-2030-cy...

A follow-up to last week's fascinating AdFection report. cyberscoop.com/targeted-ads...

Exclusive from @derekbjohnson.bsky.social : bipartisan bill would develop federal guidance for distillation attacks, convene industry on defensive cyber cyberscoop.com/bipartisan-b...

Russian government-connected hackers compromised two defense firms and a law enforcement agency in North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries as part of an espionage campaign, Symantec researchers said in a blog post Tuesday. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/russian-hack...

At risk, the Oregon Democrat warned, are online crime tipsters, whistleblowers and others. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/wyden-urges-...

So, uh, interesting, this story got banned from r/serbia

Exclusive: Sen. Wyden is urging the Trump administration to close an encryption gap that could let foreign adversaries track visits to sensitive government websites, including the FBI’s tip portal and a veterans crisis line. www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...

Book on the shelf at the place I’m at

New: Hackers heat French supermarket fridges, sparking fires and food losses Note: We've seen similar refrigerator outages recent ... at U.S. military bases. www.reuters.com/business/ret...

The seizures of the tools, allegedly operated by the Chinese firm Integrity Tech, accompanied a warning from the FBI, CISA and NSA. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/doj-fbi-seiz...

🚨NEW🚨 In 2024, Apple launched a feature that rebooted an iPhone locked for 72 hours, making them much harder for cops to search. Now, court/contract records and data obtained via FOIA show cops across America using a tool to break that protection. ICE is now a user. www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...

Someone apparently hacked the North Korean's Mission to the UN's voicemail and rerecorded "the greeting message as a satirical monologue about mass starvation and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un." www.cnn.com/2026/10/06/a...

“we call this flavor ‘the shoggoth.’ it opens the mind to non-euclidian geometry. it drove three of our top technicians to madness.”

Whether it's coincidence or just bad timing, the two recent data breaches of U.S. government personnel records comes after extensive cuts and layoffs at CISA, NSA, and the broader federal workforce. The White House can't now argue that less cybersecurity talent is better at protecting federal data.

So it was the US State Department all along! Maybe Shellenberger should be emailing them about censorship instead of conference participants. #disinfo26 www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

An under-the-radar one. cyberscoop.com/federal-cont...

Good read here from Lindsey!

Uh-oh, China just announced Super DUPER Intelligence!

Government auditors say federal agencies haven’t met mandated security steps for operational technology, which hackers targeted in water sector attacks this summer. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/cisa-ot-cybe...

That's one way to get a hacked company's attention. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Internet-exposed tech, PLCs, outside integrators and inside protections are all factors the water sector’s information sharing and analysis center is watching. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/water-utilit...

Collaboration with industry is key to balancing AI security risks and benefits, as well as staying ahead of China and other adversarial nations, National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross said Thursday. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/sean-cairncr...

ENDORSE.

@cyberscoop.bsky.social released an article on the water sector’s biggest ongoing weaknesses after a summer of cyberattacks. Read more below: cyberscoop.com/water-utilit... #cybersecurity @andyjabbour.bsky.social @timstarks.bsky.social

Microsoft says the cyberespionage campaign has hit U.S. and U.K. targets, relying on sheer volume and requiring only a single victim interaction. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/microsoft-st...

The U.S. government is working with critical infrastructure operators to integrate artificial intelligence into the nation’s most vital systems and strengthen cyber defenses, National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross said Tuesday. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/national-cyb...

Nearly two of every 10 U.S. water and wastewater organizations have identity data actively exposed from infostealers harvesting their credentials, according to research published Tuesday. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/spycloud-stu...

A key House Democrat and his bipartisan sponsors want to see a $100 million DHS pilot to help critical infrastructure owners and operators — separate from another administration-proposed pilot program. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/gottheimer-a...

Nearly nine out of 10 federal civilian executive branch agencies failed to meet last summer’s deadline to implement cloud security directives from CISA, a watchdog report published Wednesday found. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/dhs-ig-repor...

The white paper outlines the components of a “Quality Era” for the program, widely used as the definitive clearinghouse for data on vulnerabilities in software and other products, even as the number of CVEs surges. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/cisa-cve-dat...

Biotechnology doesn’t have its own critical infrastructure designation, so the bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to make sure it’s protected like it. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/biotech-crit...

The Justice Department said two leaders of the company have been arrested and face conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/oxygen-foren...

The legislation from Senate Intelligence Vice-Chairman. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Tex., would create a government-industry group to write voluntary best practices. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/senate-telec...

First in CyberScoop: Bipartisan Senate leaders introduce bill to bolster telecom cybersecurity in response to Salt Typhoon hacks cyberscoop.com/senate-telec...

After the exit of around 1,000 CISA workers, legislation from three top House Democrats orders a force structure assessment like that more common to military branches. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/house-democr...

Nice one from @ksophiewill.bsky.social fedscoop.com/veterans-aff... @fedscoop.bsky.social

While large language models present real risks to society, experts say they can be tested and largely controlled using well-worn cybersecurity and policy choices. Read more by @derekbjohnson.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/ai-agent-hac...

It’s the first guidance from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on deploying decoys, like honeypots, to detect and distract adversaries. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/cisa-guidanc...

We built some new cyber weapons Ones that, like many cyber weapons, we can’t really control once deployed, though even more so Then we deployed them The cyber weapons did some things we didn’t totally intend This means you’re all going to die and we’re prophets, give us all the money and power

🚨 NEW REPORT: We @citizenlab.ca analyze the covert influence ops run by the Israeli firm BlackCore on behalf of the Angolan government. We obtained access to their training documentation. Their claims are shocking - or are they? citizenlab.ca/research/bla... 🧵

The Coast Guard and FBI boarded two foreign vessels coming to the United States last month to investigate potential cyberattacks on the ships, according to a joint statement from the agencies Wednesday. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW0n... More by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/coast-guard-...

On Sunday, the Trump administration missed a statutory deadline to declassify a FISA Court opinion from March that reportedly finds more Section 702 compliance issues affecting Americans’ rights. The administration is now in violation of the law. 1/18

Three feds spoke about future plans for the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program, and lessons they’ve learned. Read more by @timstarks.bsky.social: cyberscoop.com/whats-next-f...