Global news
(Sebastian Sprenger-Defense News/Germany) German defense leaders will go back to the drawing board in their quest for a next-generation fighter jet following the end of the once-ambitious French-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System. As the dust was still settling in Berlin from Monday’s bombshell news, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius outlined three options on Tuesday, plus a mysterious fourth path that he alluded to but left unexplained. – After FCAS demise, Germany’s options include ordering more F-35 warplanes
(Anjana Pasricha-Defense News/India, Russia) Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered India joint production of the country’s most advanced fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, the Su-57, and said Moscow was willing to cooperate without “limitations.”. His comments were made during an interaction with journalists at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday. – Putin offers Su-57 to India as New Delhi faces stealth fighter gap
(Tim Hepher and Friederike Heine-Defense News/Germany) A group of defense companies led by Airbus has submitted a position paper on a sixth-generation fighter jet project to the German government, signaling an industry push to shape Europe’s future combat jet program amid uncertainty about its direction. The group, dubbed “Team Gen 6,” comprises Airbus Defence and Space, Autoflug, Diehl Defence, Hensoldt, Liebherr, MBDA, MTU Aero Engines and Rohde & Schwarz. – Airbus-led alliance lobbies Germany on fighter jet project
(Cristina Stassis-Defense News/US, Kuwait) The U.S. Department of State approved a possible sale of nearly $2 billion worth of counter-unmanned aerial systems to Kuwait. Kuwait requested the c-UAS platforms, built by Anduril, in an effort to improve the country’s ability to counter current and future threats, according to a Friday release. The request followed attacks last week carried out by Iran on Kuwait infrastructure. – US approves Kuwait request to buy nearly $2 billion of counter-drone platforms
(Jaroslaw Adamowski-Defense News/Poland, Ukraine) Polish-Ukrainian anti-drone radar company Molfar Defence said it is developing a new generation of tactical radar systems for drone types that have doggedly managed to penetrate Ukrainian defenses. The technology aims to find small, low-altitude drones, including those connected to operators via long command wires, a setup that makes them immune to defensive electronic warfare. – Polish-Ukrainian startup develops radar to track elusive, low-flying drones
(Reuters-Al Arabiya/UN, Middle East) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday he was “deeply alarmed” by a renewed escalation of violence in the Middle East and called on Israel to reopen crossings into Gaza. “All attacks must stop immediately. The ceasefires in Lebanon, Iran & Gaza must be fully respected,” he said in a post on X. Israel struck targets in Iran on Monday for the first time since a ceasefire in April, after Iran fired missiles at Israel in what Tehran said was retaliation for Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s capital. – UN’s Guterres calls for end to violence in Middle East
(Reuters-Al Arabiya/Russia, Baltic Sea, NATO) Russia’s navy has conducted military drills in the Baltic Sea, practicing unguided missile launches, bombing runs and missile strikes, it said, as major US-NATO exercises also took place in the region, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday. The NATO BALTOPS naval exercise, which began on June 4 and runs until June 20, are the biggest war games in the Baltic Sea this year, bringing together some 20 vessels from 15 nations with around 6,000 personnel. – Russia holds naval drills in Baltic Sea during major NATO exercises
(Reuters-Al Arabiya/Turkey, Saudi Arabia) Turkey and Saudi Arabia have signed two memorandums of understanding to boost cooperation in the railway and logistics sectors, Turkey’s transport ministry said on Tuesday. – Turkey, Saudi Arabia sign transport, logistics cooperation MoUs
(Reuters-Al Arabiya/Israel, Lebanon) Israeli troops operating in the Ramim Ridge area of northern Israel close to the Lebanese border killed one person in an incident in which they returned fire, the Israeli military said on Tuesday. – Israeli military says it killed one person after troops come under fire in northern Israel
(Reuters-Al Arabiya/Israel, Palestine) Israeli authorities are directly involved in settler attacks that have killed, injured and displaced Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, while Israeli security forces provide protection to settlers, a UN inquiry said on Tuesday. The report by the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory found that Israeli authorities have enabled settler attacks through financial and military support, in a climate of impunity fostered by judicial and law-enforcement bodies. – UN inquiry finds Israeli forces shield settlers during attacks on Palestinians
(AFP-Al Arabiya/War in Iran) Iranian state television on Tuesday said at least two members of the army’s air defense force were killed in Israeli strikes a day earlier in the Middle East war’s latest exchange of fire, which both sides said they have halted. “These esteemed martyrs of the Army Air Defense Force attained martyrdom while carrying out their mission of defending the country’s skies during yesterday’s (Monday) aggression by the Zionist regime,” state television said. – Iran state media says two military personnel killed in Israeli strikes on Monday
(Polina Moroziuk – The Kyiv Independent/War in Ukraine) Russian attacks killed 10 people and injured 106 others across seven Ukrainian regions over the past day, local authorities said on June 9. Civilian casualties were reported after Russia launched another mass overnight drone attack against Ukraine. According to the Air Force, Russian forces launched two Kh-59/69 cruise missiles and 168 drones, 146 of which were intercepted. Seventeen drones and two missiles evaded air defenses and struck targets at 18 locations, while debris from intercepted drones was recorded at eight sites. – At least 10 killed, over 100 injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine over past day
(AFP – Al Arabiya/Pakistan, Lebanon) The heads of the Pakistani and Lebanese armed forces agreed to boost cooperation on Tuesday as they met in Pakistan with peace talks over the Middle East war dragging on. Pakistan has been mediating between the United States and Iran to end the months-long conflict, with Tehran insisting that any deal should include Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah. Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal left on Saturday to meet his powerful Pakistani counterpart Asim Munir, with a Lebanon-based source telling AFP the visit was linked to the broader peace talks. – Pakistan, Lebanon army chiefs meet as Middle East mediation drags on
(Reuters – Al Arabiya/Israel, Lebanon) The Israeli military on Tuesday issued an evacuation order for the Lebanese city of Tyre, including its Christian quarter, ahead of possible strikes. – Israeli military issues evacuation order for Lebanon’s Tyre, including Christian quarter
(Noah Keate – Politico/UK) Keir Starmer isn’t going down without a fight. As his premiership hangs in the balance, the U.K. prime minister wants to persuade Labour MPs he’s still their best bet. The pivotal Makerfield by-election on June 18 will determine whether leadership rival Andy Burnham returns to Westminster. The current Greater Manchester mayor could then spark an internal contest aiming to remove Starmer from office. – 5 ways Keir Starmer is trying to show he’s worth sticking with – POLITICO
(Marianne Gros – Politico/Europe, Ocean Intelligence) The European Union wants to plug a gaping hole in ocean research left behind by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. The trouble is, it has a lot less cash to splash. Last week, the European Commission launched the “OceanEye” program, which aims to make the EU “a global leader in ocean intelligence” by investing in critical ocean observation technologies and data collection on how oceans evolve. – Europe pours money into ocean research as Trump guts science funding – POLITICO
(Sam Clark and Émile Marzolf – Politico/European Commission, France, Spain) The European Commission is preparing to take France and Spain to Europe’s top court over their failure to pass cybersecurity legislation. France and Spain missed an October 2024 deadline to pass national legislation bringing the bloc’s rules on how to protect critical infrastructure from cyberattacks onto their own lawbooks. The Commission has reminded the countries twice since then and is now taking the rare step to take both countries to court — an escalation that could lead to tens of millions in fines. The Commission expects to bring the cases against France and Spain to the Court of Justice of the EU in Luxembourg just before or just after the summer break, and definitely before the end of the year, according to a Commission official, who was granted anonymity to reveal confidential information. – EU to take France, Spain to court over cyber law delay – POLITICO
(Nette Nöstlinger, Laura Kayali and Chris Lunday – Politico/France and Germany) France and Germany have abandoned a plan to jointly build a next-generation fighter jet over deep industrial disagreements — a major blow to French President Emmanuel Macron’s vision of closer European defense integration. The collapse underscores the difficulty of getting European countries to cooperate on complex and expensive multinational programs, despite concerns about deterring Russia and about the reliability of the alliance with the United States. “President [Emmanuel] Macron and the Federal Chancellor [Friedrich Merz] have come to the shared conclusion that the companies involved will not be able to come together to build a joint fighter jet. They acknowledge this reality,” a German government official told POLITICO on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. – Berlin declares Franco-German fighter jet project dead in blow to Macron – POLITICO
(Daud Khattak – RFE RL/China, Afghanistan, Pakistan) With billions of dollars invested in Pakistan and rising concern about instability in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, China has intensified diplomatic outreach to encourage Kabul and Islamabad to resolve disputes through dialogue. Beijing’s special envoy for Afghan affairs, Yue Xiaoyong, visited Kabul, Doha, and Islamabad last month to advance talks that began in Urumqi, Xinjiang, between Pakistani and Taliban representatives in early April. Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, said he welcomed Yue to Islamabad and that the sides discussed regional security and threats from Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which reportedly operate from Afghan soil. Tensions between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban nearly escalated into all-out war last year after Pakistan carried out air strikes inside Afghanistan. Analysts say instability along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border threatens China’s long-term interests, particularly investments under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and risks enabling militant groups hostile to Beijing. “Security is a paramount concern for Chinese investors, and ongoing conflict in the region severely hampers project development in Pakistan,” said Ramin Mansoori, a visiting scholar at the University of Pittsburgh. – With Billions At Stake, China Steps Up Efforts To Mediate End To Pakistan-Taliban Conflict
(Volodymyr Ivanyshyn – The Kyiv Independent/War in Ukraine) Russian drone and missile strikes in Kharkiv Oblast overnight on June 9 killed three people and left 18 others injured, authorities reported. “As of now, 11 drone strikes on (Kharkiv) have been confirmed, with two drones crashing without detonating,” Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. In the city of Kharkiv, 15 people were injured amid an onslaught of strike drones that also damaged cars, a cafe, and a utility company’s building, the State Emergency Service reported. – Russian drone, missile strikes kill 3, injure 18 in Kharkiv Oblast
(Sonya Bandouil – The Kyiv Independent/War in Ukraine) The United Nations Security Council convened on June 8 to discuss Russia’s recent large-scale attacks on Ukraine, as U.N. officials warned that civilian casualties and destruction have reached some of the highest levels seen in the war in recent months. Indrika Ratwatte, the acting U.N. humanitarian chief, said that at least 30 civilians were killed and more than 200 injured across Ukraine between June 5 and June 8 alone, warning that the scale and intensity of attacks on major cities continues to increase. He also noted that 10.8 million people require humanitarian assistance, while less than half of the necessary funding has been secured. – Security Council officials condemn attacks on civilians at emergency UN session
(Sonya Bandouil – The Kyiv Independent/War in Ukraine) President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a “very positive” phone call with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on June 8. Zelensky thanked the two officials for their willingness to intensify diplomatic efforts in the coming weeks aimed at ending Russia’s war against Ukraine. “We understand how much of the world’s attention is focused on the situation around Iran,” Zelensky said. “But our shared goal of peace in Europe remains on the agenda.” – Zelensky discusses Moscow’s intentions, peace efforts in ‘positive’ call with US envoys
(AFP/War in Iran) US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that negotiators were in the “final throes” of talks for a peace deal in the Middle East, after Iran and Israel halted fresh hostilities that threatened to reignite the months-long war. Trump has repeatedly said that a peace agreement with Tehran is imminent, but diplomacy has stalled and the two sides have traded fire despite a ceasefire in place since April 8. Iran and Israel “were going back and forth and now they both agreed through me to stop and we’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal,” the US leader told reporters on his return from an NBA Finals game. Asked whether it would be matter of days or weeks, he said it would take “two or three days.” – Trump says in ‘final throes’ of reaching Middle East peace deal
(UN News/Democratic Republic of the Congo) The top UN aid official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is in Ituri province – the epicentre of the country’s Ebola outbreak – for a three-day assessment visit, as the confirmed case count reaches 515 across three eastern provinces. Damien Mama, interim Humanitarian Coordinator in the DRC, arrived in the provincial capital Bunia on Sunday, where he will assess response efforts and strengthen coordination in support of the Government-led campaign to end the latest deadly epidemic. – ‘Rare, untreatable strain’: Ebola toll mounts in eastern DR Congo | UN News
(UN News/Afghanistan) (UN News) As the Security Council met on Afghanistan, senior officials and civil society representatives delivered a clear warning Monday: despite relative security under the Taliban, worsening humanitarian conditions, restrictions on women and growing economic pressures are creating a fragile and uncertain future. Georgette Gagnon, UN Deputy Special Representative currently leading the UN mission, UNAMA, reflected on recent visits across the country and said communities repeatedly described mounting hardship. Ms. Gagnon noted that the country’s de facto authorities have consolidated territorial and administrative control and currently face “no meaningful armed or political challenge,” but warned that this apparent stability masks deeper risks. “What exists is increasing control by the de facto authorities without a clear end-state,” she told the Council. She pointed to demographic and economic pressures as major concerns, noting that nearly 5.9 million Afghans have returned since 2023 and up to 2.8 million more could return this year despite limited opportunities and strained communities. Afghanistan remains one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with 21.9 million people requiring assistance in 2026. – Afghanistan faces ‘lost generation of talent and potential,’ Security Council hears | UN News
(UN News/Climate and Environment) The United Nations climate chief called on Monday for countries to step up action to implement existing commitments, warning that fossil fuel dependency is deepening economic instability and exposing vulnerable communities to worsening climate impacts. Simon Stiell addressed the opening of the UN June Climate Meetings in Bonn, Germany – an important step ahead of the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Turkiye this November. “Tackling the global climate crisis is the hardest, but most important thing humanity has ever tried to do together,” he said. “It is worth doing, because we have no choice. Every economy and population depends on it.” – Countries urged to ‘go further, faster’ and deliver on climate commitments | UN News
(UN News/Cuba) Children are dying because doctors cannot access essential medicines, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said in a stark warning on Monday, calling for the immediate lifting of United States sanctions against the Caribbean nation that were causing “widespread harm”. “The fuel restrictions imposed since early 2026 and recent tightening of extraterritorial sanctions, taken together, are directly harming Cubans, especially the most vulnerable,” Mr. Türk said. “Children are dying because doctors lack access to essential medical supplies and medicines. This is unacceptable.” – Children are dying as US sanctions push Cuba to the brink, warns UN human rights chief | UN News
(UN News/Climate and Environment) Plastic pollution is choking the ocean, but sustainable alternatives – including seaweed – remain held back by tariffs, fragmented regulations and the overwhelming market advantage enjoyed by fossil fuel-based plastics. Only 10 per cent of all plastics produced are recycled, so most plastics will end up littering streets, entering waterways and reaching the ocean. Each year, some 52 million tonnes of plastic waste enter the ocean, where it stays and affects more than 4,000 marine species. A blue whale, the world’s largest mammal, can consume up to 10 million microplastic pieces daily, equivalent to about 43 kilograms. To tackle plastic pollution, material innovation, increasing alternatives to single-use plastic and reducing production are essential, according to the latest World Ocean Assessment, which was released on Monday. – Why sustainable alternatives to plastic are struggling to compete | UN News
Tech world
(Thomas Novelly-Defense One/US, AI, Defense) Lawmakers want to see if the Air Force’s venerable A-10 Thunderbolt IIs can be souped up with artificial intelligence, electronic-warfare gear, or better comms to keep it in the fight. The House Armed Service Committee’s version of the annual defense policy bill included several Warthog-related provisions as part of an en bloc package. One would require a report on potential A-10 capabilities by Jan. 15, 2027, from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, and the leaders of Air Combat Command and U.S. Central Command. – What if the A-10 had AI & electronic-warfare gear? – Defense One
(David DiMolfetta-Defense One/AI, Governance, Intelligence) President Donald Trump on Friday signed a national-security memo aimed at speeding up government use of advanced artificial intelligence across the military and intelligence community, while also trying to harden those systems against foreign theft and manipulation. The National Security Presidential Memorandum reflects a growing view inside the White House that U.S. security agencies are moving too slowly to adopt frontier AI tools, even as the evolving technology improves rapidly and rivals like China seek ways to craft their own versions. It calls for agencies such as the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Office of the National Cyber Director to build “deep, proactive” relationships with AI companies so that cutting-edge models can be made available to national security personnel faster. – Trump memo pushes national-security agencies to move faster on AI – Defense One
(Harry Clarke-Infosecurity Magazine/Security) Enterprises have spent years building the systems, teams and customer relationships that keep their businesses moving. Now they need to protect that progress without slowing growth. That means maintaining resilience across complex infrastructure, expanding digital operations safely and giving customers confidence that security and compliance are under control. But as threats become more sophisticated, that balance is getting harder to maintain. According to Vanta’s State of Trust Report, 72% of security leaders say overall risk is at an all-time high, while 56% of organizations experience threat activity at least once a week. – How Enterprises are Adapting GRC For a More Complex Risk Environment – Infosecurity Magazine
(Phil Muncaster-Infosecurity Magazine/Security) Check Point has urged customers to patch a critical zero-day vulnerability in its Remote Access VPN and Mobile Access solutions that is being actively exploited. CVE-2026-50751 is an authentication bypass flaw that affects deployments configured to use the deprecated IKEv1 key exchange protocol. The security vendor revealed on June 8 that in one case, an affiliate of the Qilin ransomware group has exploited the flaw in “post-compromise activity.” – Check Point Warns Critical Auth Bypass Bug Exploited in the Wild – Infosecurity Magazine
(Danny Palmer-Infosecurity Magazine/Security) When Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) was hit by a major cyber-attack in September 2025, one of the first things the company’s cybersecurity leader did was to call over 30,000 staff on site to reset their passwords. Speaking during Infosecurity Europe on June 3, Ashish Shrestha CEO of Zyn Global, and group CISO of JLR at the time of the cyber incident, said that the decision was made because it was vital to ensure that the identities of the staff could be trusted post-breach and while the company responded to the incident. “My first priority was that we needed to validate whether our Microsoft 365 had been compromised or not, because we need that to communicate,” he explained in a conference session titled ‘Crisis Communications – Contingency Plans to Put in Place Now.’ – Infosecurity Europe: Why JLR’s CISO Enforced In-Person Password Resets – Infosecurity Magazine
(DigWatch/AI, Frontiers) M42’s National Reference Laboratory has introduced an AI-powered tool for prostate cancer diagnostics in the UAE in partnership with digital pathology company Qritive. The platform will be integrated into the laboratory’s diagnostic workflow at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. The system analyses digital pathology slides, highlights suspicious findings and provides structured insights to help pathologists detect prostate cancer and assess disease severity. It is designed to identify cancerous tissue, assess tumour patterns, support grading according to internationally recognised standards and measure tumour burden. – M42 Introduces AI-Powered Prostate Cancer Diagnostics in the UAE with Qritive Partnership
(DigWatch/AI, Governance) The UK government has launched an advisory AI Growth Lab to support responsible AI adoption in regulated industries, starting with the legal services sector. The Ministry of Justice said the advisory sandbox is designed to accelerate the development and deployment of AI products and services by helping innovators navigate existing regulatory frameworks with greater confidence. – Advisory AI Growth Lab to support responsible AI adoption in legal services – GOV.UK
(DigWatch/Digital Transformation, Geostrategies) The European Union and Kenya are deepening their strategic partnership on trade, digital transformation, and sustainable investment. The commitments were set out in Brussels, where European Commission Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen welcomed Kenyan President William Ruto. – EU and Kenya strengthen partnership | Shaping Europe’s digital future
(DigWatch/AI, Frontiers) China has unveiled LangYa 2.0, an upgraded AI-powered ocean forecasting system designed to predict complex marine phenomena with greater precision and detail. The model was unveiled at the Fourth China Digital Earth Conference in Qingdao and represents a step forward from earlier ocean monitoring tools. Developed by the Institute of Oceanology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the system goes beyond monitoring variables such as temperature and salinity to forecast high-impact events, including typhoons, storm surges, extreme rainfall, internal waves, mesoscale eddies, and sea ice. – China Releases LangYa 2.0 AI Model for Full-blown Marine Phenomenon Forecasting—-Chinese Academy of Sciences
(DigWatch/Crypto, Regulation) Russia’s regulated cryptocurrency market could become the primary trading venue for domestic investors within the next two to three years, according to industry forecasts. The transition is expected to unfold gradually as regulatory frameworks mature and trading infrastructure develops. Cifra Markets Executive Director Alexey Korolenko said the transition is expected to be gradual, representing a longer-term realignment rather than a sudden shift in market activity. Current trading behaviour is still heavily linked to global platforms, but domestic regulated channels are expected to gain traction over time. – Regulated crypto sector in Russia may lead local investor activity by 2028 | Digital Watch Observatory
(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Magazine/Security & Surveillance) A likely North Korean threat actor has phished software developers at almost 100 organizations with fake job and code-review lures to steal cryptocurrency and credentials. According to new analysis from Proofpoint, which tracks the cluster as UNK_DeadDrop, the campaign sent more than 250 emails in April and May 2026. Targets were mostly US-based and worked in technology, education or finance, with a focus on cryptocurrency firms. Each email linked to a GitHub or GitLab repository dressed up as a coding assignment, with instructions to clone it and open the folder in an editor such as VS Code or Cursor. The pretexts shifted across the weeks: jobs for full-stack and “agent lead” developer roles, requests to peer-review open-source code, a task to test an ERC-4626 smart-contract vault in Foundry and a project building AI payment agents. – North Korean Hackers Use Fake Coding Tasks to Steal Crypto – Infosecurity Magazine
(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Magazine/Security & Surveillance) ChatGPT users have gained two new security controls: one aimed at preventing data theft through prompt injection and another at tracking account sign-ins. According to OpenAI, the first of these, Lockdown Mode, is an optional setting that limits how far ChatGPT can reach into the web and external services. First offered to enterprise plans in February, it began reaching personal and self-serve business accounts in early June. The risk it addresses is not hypothetical. Researchers have repeatedly shown how a single hidden instruction can pull data from a linked inbox or leak a user’s conversations. – OpenAI Unveils ChatGPT Account Security Controls – Infosecurity Magazine
(Kevin Poreault – Infosecurity Magazine/Security & Surveillance) Prompt injection remains an unsolved architectural problem that could hamper the development of AI, said Ariel Fogel, a contributor to the Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP), during Infosecurity Europe 2026. Fogel, an AI security researcher at Pillar Security’s office of the CTO, said that while AI and security practitioners have long known about prompt injection, the problem has yet to be solved at a fundamental level. This is because large language models (LLMs) process inputs as a single token sequence and there is no reliable mechanism to enforce privilege boundaries between system prompts, user queries and content retrieved by an agent. He warned that the issue has only become more dangerous as agents gain tools and the ability to act. – Prompt Injection Remains Unsolved, OWASP Researcher Warns – Infosecurity Magazine
(Ashish Devalekar – Infosecurity Magazine/Security & Surveillance) Across the UK public sector, artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming foundational to how services are delivered. Governments are using AI to combat fraud, accelerate processing, and modernise complex functions such as welfare administration, taxation, immigration, and public health. While this shift promises greater efficiency and improved decision-making, it also introduces significant cybersecurity and governance challenges at a time when threat levels are rising globally. Public sector organisations hold some of society’s most sensitive data, from citizen identities to health and financial records. As AI systems process this information at scale, the scope for attack expands. Without strong data governance, security controls, and accountability, AI risks amplifying existing vulnerabilities. In an environment susceptible to state-sponsored cyber activity and digital conflict, these risks extend beyond individual organisations, carrying wider national security implications. In practice, AI projects often rely on data that is shared across multiple departments and agencies. These entities share data to verify benefits eligibility, support safeguarding, prevent fraud, and coordinate services, using structured legal gateways and governance frameworks. As systems become more interconnected, vulnerabilities can cascade across departments, reinforcing the need to treat cybersecurity as a core, system-wide discipline rather than a standalone function. – Securing the AI-Driven Public Sector: Why Trust Must Come First – Infosecurity Magazine
(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine/Security & Surveillance) A leading open source security body has warned of “stagnating awareness and structural unreadiness” in the community ahead of a key December 2027 deadline for compliance with the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). The CRA is an EU effort to introduce minimum security standards for hardware and software products sold in the region. Manufacturers must build security into their products from planning to end of life, including handling vulnerability management and managing software supply chain risks. – Two-Thirds of Open Source Community Unaware of Cyber Resilience Act – Infosecurity Magazine
(Danny Palmer – Infosecurity Magazine/Security & Surveillance) The UK’s Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is responsible for securing over half a million domains across thousands of government organizations. This ranges from the smallest Parish Councils to the behemoth that is the National Health Service (NHS) and its various sub-organizations. That makes advising these organizations on what the latest cybersecurity vulnerabilities are and how to fix them a challenge, especially in an era when frontier AI Models are uncovering more vulnerabilities than ever before. However, that does not mean each individual organization must fully understand the technical details of what vulnerabilities could be exploited. Rather, it is more important that they are provided with the correct information on what to fix and how to fix it, explained Nick Woodcraft service owner for vulnerability monitoring at DSIT. “When you come with a problem, rather than talking about the technology, talk about the outcomes,” he said said, Woodcraft was speaking at Infosecurity Europe 2026, in a session on the Resilience and Cyber Risk stage, titled ‘From Months to Days: How DSIT Is Rethinking Remediation at Scale’. – How DSIT Protects Thousands of UK Orgs from Cyber Vulnerabilities – Infosecurity Magazine
(Ellen O’Regan – Politico/Security & Surveillance) Europe is ramping up its warnings over the surveillance risks of smart glasses, in what is seen as the next big fight over people’s physical privacy. The technology, which integrates cameras into glasses, is facing increased scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators, who are ramping up discussions on whether it goes against Europe’s privacy regulations. Privacy activists are warning the glasses violate key principles like consent, since people captured in the built-in cameras can’t really object to their data being processed. Concerns peaked when Swedish media reported earlier this year that subcontractors for Meta in Kenya were reviewing “deeply private” footage captured by the firm’s smart glasses to help annotate the content to train artificial intelligence models. It included recordings of people’s bathroom visits, banking details, or even them having sex. – New privacy frontier: Europe eyes crackdown on smart glasses – POLITICO
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs/Security & Surveillance) Last year, WhatsApp won a landmark case against NSO Group, the Israeli spyware vendor behind Pegasus, and secured a permanent court injunction barring the company from ever targeting WhatsApp or its users again. The court was unambiguous: NSO had violated US federal and state hacking laws. That should have been the end of it. It wasn’t. Meta investigated user reports and detected new targeting attempts linked to NSO, which were disrupted by the company. “We successfully disrupted NSO-linked social engineering attempts, after investigating user reports. They tried to trick people into clicking on malicious links to drive them to external websites outside of WhatsApp, similar to previously reported 1-click phishing campaigns linked to NSO.” reads the Meta’s announcement.”We also caught them creating test accounts and groups on WhatsApp, which we took down.” – Meta Accuses NSO of Violating WhatsApp Court Injunction
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs/Security & Surveillance) Google Mandiant and the Google Threat Intelligence Group published a detailed report documenting an active extortion campaign carried out by the cybercrime group UNC3753 (aka Luna Moth, Chatty Spider, and Silent Ransom Group). The campaign targets US law firms, financial services companies, and professional services organizations. The group behind it, tracked as UNC3753 and also known as Luna Moth, Chatty Spider, and Silent Ransom Group, has been running this specific operation from January through May 2026, hitting dozens of firms. No ransomware. No malware in the traditional sense. Just phone calls. “UNC3753 leverages voice phishing (vishing) and social engineering deception techniques to achieve remote access into corporate environments.” reads the report published by Google. “Using pretexts such as data migration or invoice-related emails, the threat actors initiate phone conversations posing as IT support and convince targets to host screen-sharing sessions and download remote monitoring and management (RMM) utilities.”. The entry mechanism is entirely human. No vulnerability required, no zero-day, no brute-forced credentials. Just a convincing caller with a plausible story. – UNC3753 Escalates: From Vishing Calls to Physical Office Intrusions at US Legal and Financial Firms
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs/Security & Surveillance) Meta’s High Touch Support tool, known as HTS, was designed to help Instagram users recover locked accounts: you provide an email address, you get a password reset link. The flaw was equally simple: the tool never checked whether that email actually belonged to the account being recovered. Anyone could request a reset link for any account, have it land in their own inbox, and walk straight in, provided the target hadn’t enabled two-factor authentication. The breach occurred from approximately April 17, 2026 until Meta pulled the tool in early June. That’s roughly seven weeks of an open door, and Meta only discovered the problem on May 31. The operation ran undetected for about six weeks before anyone inside the company noticed, which is a detail that tends to get buried under the headline number. Meta disclosed that 20225 Instagram accounts were compromised after attackers exploited the flaw. – Meta AI Recovery Tool Flaw Exposed 20,000+ Instagram Accounts – Security Affairs
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs/Security & Surveillance) In March 2026, FortiGuard Labs discovered a new variant of the Gafgyt botnet, dubbed C0XMO, which is noticeably more capable than its predecessors. The malware spreads through CVE-2021-27137, a stack buffer overflow in the UPnP service of DD-WRT router firmware that’s been sitting unpatched on countless devices since 2021. The entry point is a crafted UDP packet sent to port 1900, exploiting how the SSDP parser handles oversized values in M-SEARCH requests. The attack doesn’t require authentication. – IoT Botnet C0XMO Adds Competitor-Killing Capability
(DigWatch/Legislation) New York State has approved legislation aimed at strengthening protections for minors interacting with AI chatbots, marking one of the first targeted regulatory efforts focused on AI companion technologies. The bill, known as S9051B, introduces restrictions on chatbot features that may encourage harmful emotional dependence or unsafe behaviour among young users. The law prohibits AI systems from presenting themselves as real or fictional human beings in ways that could mislead minors and restricts outputs that encourage self-harm, disordered eating or other harmful behaviour. The legislation specifically targets design features that may foster emotional dependency between children and AI systems, reflecting growing concerns over their potential psychological effects. – Senator Kristen Gonzalez Prioritizes Safety for Young People Using AI, Passes Regulations on Unsafe AI Chatbot Features for Minors Through the State Legislature | NYSenate.gov
(DigWatch/Governance) The Trump administration has issued a new National Security Presidential Memorandum aimed at accelerating the adoption of AI across the US national security apparatus. According to the White House, the framework is intended to ensure that military personnel, intelligence professionals and national security agencies have access to advanced AI systems while maintaining accountability and operational control. The memorandum directs federal agencies to expand the use of commercial and open-source AI technologies in support of national security missions. It also calls for investment in next-generation secure computing infrastructure capable of supporting increasingly advanced AI models and computational workloads. – US unveils new strategy to accelerate AI adoption in national security | Digital Watch Observatory
(DigWatch/Governance) Spain has proposed the creation of a permanent multilateral working group within the UN to strengthen the regulation of digital environments and improve protections for children online. The proposal was presented by Minister of Youth and Childhood, Sira Rego, during a ministerial roundtable at the Global Alliance of Pioneer Countries to End Violence Against Children in Turin. According to Rego, stronger international cooperation is needed to regulate digital environments and protect children’s rights in response to abuses by major technology platforms. She said protecting children online requires regulations, rules, and control mechanisms that safeguard their rights and freedoms. – Spain calls for United Nations Action on children’s digital rights | Digital Watch Observatory
