CyberWire Daily

The FBI disrupts a multi-million-dollar phishing ring. A North Korea-linked supply chain attack hits OpenAI. Developers face a Slack phishing campaign. A critical Python notebook flaw is exploited in hours. ShinyHunters target Rockstar Games. A Japanese shipping firm reports a breach. Tracking the cybersecurity winners and losers in Trump’s 2027 budget, plus a claimed cyberattack on UAE infrastructure. Business breakdown. Our guest is Justin Kohler, Chief Product Officer at SpecterOps, discussing Identity Attack Path Management. Crackdowns at home push scam networks abroad. 

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CyberWire Guest

On today’s Industry Voices, we are joined by Justin Kohler, Chief Product Officer at SpecterOps, discussing Identity Attack Path Management. If you enjoyed this conversation, tune into the full interview here.

Selected Reading

FBI Dismantles $20m Phishing Operation W3LL (Infosecurity Magazine)

The cyber winners and losers in Trump’s 2027 budget (CSO Online)

Handala carries out unprecedented cyberattack against critical UAE Infrastructure (PressTV)

OpenSSF Flags Malware Campaign on Slack Posing as Linux Foundation Figures (HackRead)

OpenAI Impacted by North Korea-Linked Axios Supply Chain Hack (SecurityWeek)

Critical Marimo pre-auth RCE flaw now under active exploitation (Bleeping Computer)

GTA-maker Rockstar Games hacked again but downplays impact (BBC)

NYK alerts on data breach in bunker fuel procurement system (Manifold Times)

Business Briefing for 04.08.26 (The CyberWire) 

China Is Cracking Down on Scams. Just Not the Ones Hitting Americans (WIRED)

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Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes.

Mark Logan, CEO of One Identity, sits down to share his story, explaining how he fit into different roles growing up in different companies. Mark has nearly two decades of C-Suite experience at an array of different organizations, finally landing on his current position as the CEO at One Identity. Sharing his different roles, he also gives a quote from Steve Jobs, saying "it's not what I say yes to, it's what I say no to." He believes that's a key area for his workers because when he is able to make up his mind, his team and his customers have someone they can rely on. Mark says that as a CEO he wants to share the advice of always marching towards your goals, and identifying that different people have different goals because they work in different fields, but that's what makes a company work best. He says "I've found that the more you can delegate, provided you've got the right folks in place the better." We thank Mark for sharing his story.
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What does a modern cyberattack really look like from the inside? In this CyberWire-X episode, Dave Bittner speaks with John Anthony Smith, Founder and Chief Security Officer of Fenix24. This conversation takes us step by step as an attacker breaks into a target environment – probing for weaknesses, exploiting entry points, escalating privileges, and moving laterally until they reach their objective. While the attack unfolds, listeners are privy to a behind-the-scenes commentary that reveals the tradecraft: the scripts, misconfigurations, overlooked alerts, and the moments defenders could have stopped the intrusion and, most importantly, prepared for the day through a defense that locks down data and enables a quick and full recovery. This is not a theoretical review or a highlight reel. It's a candid, technical, and eye-opening journey through the full kill chain that will reshape listeners think about detection, incident readiness, and resilience.
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Today we are joined by Selena Larson, Threat Researcher from Proofpoint research team and co-host of Only Malware in the Building, talking about their work on "(Don't) TrustConnect: It's a RAT in an RMM hat." Proofpoint uncovered TrustConnect, a malware-as-a-service platform posing as a legitimate remote monitoring and management (RMM) tool, but actually functioning as a remote access trojan (RAT) sold to cybercriminals for $300/month.

The operation used a fake business website, legitimate-looking certificates, and branded installers (like fake Microsoft Teams or Zoom apps) to trick victims, while providing attackers with full remote control, file transfer, and surveillance capabilities. Although parts of its infrastructure were disrupted, the threat actor quickly rebounded with new variants, highlighting both the resilience of the operation and its deep ties to the broader cybercriminal ecosystem abusing RMM tools.

The research and executive brief can be found here:

(Don't) TrustConnect: It's a RAT in an RMM hat

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The Treasury Secretary and Fed Chair summon bankers over AI concerns. A hacker claims more than 10 petabytes stolen from China’s National Supercomputing Center. Recalibrating the quantum timeline. Researchers demo prompt injection against Apple Intelligence. Payroll Pirates target Canadians. Gmail gets end-to-end encryption on mobile devices. A Chrome update fixes critical vulnerabilities. A Pennsylvania cop admits creating more than 3,000 AI-generated pornographic deepfakes. Our guest is Henry Comfort, Co-Founder and CEO of Geordie AI, winner of this year’s RSAC Innovation Sandbox.  FCC floats firmer filters for fraudulent phone calls.

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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

Today, Dave shares coverage of the RSAC 2026 Innovation Sandbox and his conversation with Henry Comfort, Co-Founder and CEO  from the winner of “Most Innovative Startup” Geordie AI. We tip our hats to this year’s finalists.

Selected Reading

Bessent and Powell’s A.I. Anxiety  (The New York Times)

Court Backs Pentagon Anthropic Ban - But the Fight Continues (GovInfo Security)

A hacker has allegedly breached one of China’s supercomputers and is attempting to sell a trove of stolen data (CNN)

Why is the timeline to quantum-proof everything constantly shrinking? (CyberScoop)

Microsoft: Canadian employees targeted in payroll pirate attacks (Bleeping Computer)

Google rolls out Gmail end-to-end encryption on mobile devices (Bleeping Computer)

Chrome 147 Patches 60 Vulnerabilities, Including Two Critical Flaws Worth $86,000  (SecurityWeek)

Police corporal created AI porn from driver's license pics (Ars Technica)

FCC proposes new rule to further crackdown on illegal robocalls (The Record)

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.

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N2K CyberWire helps you reach the industry’s most influential leaders and operators, while building visibility, authority, and connectivity across the cybersecurity community. Learn more at sponsor.thecyberwire.com.

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