Last week, CEOs from Bugcrowd and iCOUNTER shared their insights into how AI is reshaping threat and risk intelligence, powering cyberattacks, and provoking changes to security strategies while Trump administration cuts to budgets and the federal workforce threaten the CyberCorps scholarship program.
Bugcrowd CEO Dave Gerry Talks Changing CISO Role, the Need for Faster Remediation
As cybersecurity has become foundational to business, the role of the CISO has shifted to something more hybrid: technology guru and executive-level partner. But an increasingly dangerous threat landscape, slow remediation of cyber incidents, weakening collaboration with the federal government, and growing regulatory pressure—amplified by AI’s influence—are holding the CISO to a higher level of accountability. Dave Gerry, who assumed the helm as CEO at crowdsourced cybersecurity firm Bugcrowd three years ago, is a seasoned expert who was formerly the company’s COO after stints at several high-growth companies in the AppSec space like WhiteHat Security where he served as Chief Revenue Operating Officer and Head of Global Operations.
iCOUNTER CEO John Watters on AI’s and the Rise of Risk Intelligence
AI is both friend and foe of the defender—in the right hands, it has the power to improve security, cut through the alert noise, and suss out threats so they can be quickly remediated. But in the wrong hands, it can find points of vulnerability faster than human counterparts and accelerate and scale attacks. It also is having a profound affect on threat intelligence. John Watters, CEO at iCOUNTER, a security pioneer known for founding and leading cybersecurity companies like iSight Partners which was eventually sold to Fire Eye and integrated into Mandiant, came out of retirement when he saw how AI was going to revolutionize threat intelligence—and the threats themselves. Adversaries are winning on the innovation, he says, while defenders are in the midst of stagnation. He explains why it’s time to reimagine how to counter threats in modern times.
IBM Successfully Runs Quantum Algorithm on Inexpensive AMD Chips
IBM was able to run in real-time a quantum error-handling algorithm on AMD’s field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chips and the company is sharing details in a new report. IBM believes the milestone puts the company one step closer to completing its Starling quantum computer slated for 2029. Experts, however, warn that the rosy view may dim in the face of the realities of real life.
CyberCorps Student Face Uncertain Future
The Trump administration’s recent cuts to the federal workforce, hiring freezes and tightening budgets have cast doubts on the future of the CyberCorps: Scholarship for Services program, which provides scholarships for students in exchange for committing to federal service. With internships and jobs being rescinded, some students fear they will be left with mounting student debt and dwindling job prospects within the federal government. According to the terms of the successful program, which was created to fill the cyber workforce gap, if graduates do not land government jobs, their grants will be converted to loans.
AdaptixC2 Developer Is Russia-linked ‘RalfHacker’
An AdaptixC2 developer may very well be a threat actor dubbed RalfHacker who is tied to Russia, according to researchers at Silent Push. The miscreant, they say, oversees a Russian-language Telegram channel that sells the AdaptixC2 framework. Security firms Palo Alto Network Unit 42 and Kaspersky have reported widespread use of the framework, with the former maintaining it has been used in Akira and Fog ransomware attacks.
Zombie Projects Can Rise from Dead to Erode Security
Zombie projects—or long, abandoned initiatives—threaten to compromise cybersecurity at organizations and perhaps lead to cybersecurity incidents. They include Oracle obsolete servers, Amazon S3 servers and other coding, infrastructure and API projects. Because those initiatives are largely forgotten, they aren’t being properly monitored and a compromise could go undetected for quire a while. They also likely aren’t being patched and increase risk.
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