CyberWire Daily

As AI products proliferate, they continue to introduce new concerns, which have subtly eroded trust in imagery and content created by space-based infrastructure.

In this week's episode, host Maria Varmazis sits down with ⁠⁠⁠Dave Bittner and Brandon Karpf to look at Google's troubled implementation of Nano Banana 2 in Google Earth. The incident raises larger concerns regarding how AI systems are becoming deeper ingrained into everyday life despite their ability to be misused and spread misinformation.

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Today we are joined by Ian Goldin, Senior Lead Information Security Engineer, and Mike Horka, Principal Information Security Engineer, from Lumen's Black Lotus Labs, discussing their research entitled "Expanded JDY IoT and SOHO botnet enables rapid vulnerability exploitation." Black Lotus Labs has uncovered a major resurgence of the JDY botnet, a China-nexus reconnaissance network now comprising more than 1,500 compromised SOHO and IoT devices.

The botnet uses these devices to conduct targeted scanning and fingerprinting, helping threat actors rapidly identify vulnerable infrastructure—sometimes within hours of a new vulnerability disclosure—and appears to have a particular focus on U.S. military-related networks. The research highlights how compromised routers and IoT devices can be turned into distributed reconnaissance infrastructure that evades traditional IP-based defenses and supports follow-on exploitation.

The research and executive brief can be found here:

Expanded JDY IoT and SOHO botnet enables rapid vulnerability exploitation

Apple sends out threat notifications to users targeted by spyware. Trivy, not LiteLLM, was the original source of the 2,500-organization supply chain attack. French tax authority confirms data breach. Chinese hack-for-hire group conducts espionage and cybercrime simultaneously. Ukrainian police shut down 94 scam call centers. Former data analyst jailed for insider extortion plot. New macOS malware spreads via ClickFix. Today we are joined by Tom Kellermann, VP of AI Security at TrendAI, discussing the machine-speed war for financial control. And the glitch in the surveillance matrix.

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CyberWire Guest

Today we are joined by Tom Kellermann, VP of AI Security at TrendAI, discussing the machine-speed war for financial control. If you want to learn more on this topic, check out the article here. You can also check out Tom on the AI Security Brief here.

Selected Reading

If Apple sends you a push notification alerting you to a spyware attack, take it seriously (TechCrunch)

Trivy, Not LiteLLM Behind the 2,500 Org Compromise (SecurityWeek)

France investigates tax authority breach after hacker claims 600,000 victims (The Record)

Jewelbug: APT Group Runs Espionage and Crypto Fraud Operations Side by Side (Symantec)

AmnesiaStealer: a multi-stage Rust-based macOS infostealer that hijacks Chromium browsers (Jamf)

Ukraine shuts down 94 fraudulent call centers, seize millions in cash (BleepingComputer)

This 'adversarial' pattern can prevent surveillance cameras from detecting you (TechCrunch)

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President Trump deputizes private-sector companies to target cybercriminals. The LiteLLM supply-chain attack exposed credentials belonging to thousands of organizations. Data-theft campaign targets misconfigured Salesforce and ServiceNow instances. Hackers deploy AI agents to breach Taiwanese government systems. CISA mandates urgent patch for actively exploited Cisco firewall vulnerability. Nightmare Eclipse publishes yet another Windows zero-day exploit. On our Industry Voices segment, Clint Gibler, Cyber Lead at OpenAI, and Robby Winchester, Chief Global Professional Services Officer at SpecterOps, discuss frontier models and the future of cyber defense. And please do not reply. Seriously.

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CyberWire Guest

Today on our Industry Voices segment, Clint Gibler, Cyber Lead at OpenAI, and Robby Winchester, Chief Global Professional Services Officer at SpecterOps, speak with Dave Bittner at Black Hat about frontier models and the future of cyber defense, including responsible AI deployment, red teaming, reducing security noise, and the evolving role of human expertise in AI-assisted defense. If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to check out the full interview here.

Selected Reading

Trump turns to private sector in offensive hacking operations memo (CyberScoop)

Terabytes of credentials leaked in massive supply-chain attack (Ars Technica)

"City-Forum" data-theft attacks target Salesforce, ServiceNow portals (BleepingComputer)

'Near-autonomous' AI agents attack Taiwan's nuclear safety agency (The Register)

Cisco says software vulnerability could let hackers crash firewalls (Cybersecurity Dive)

Microsoft-vendetta hacker has a new zero day that gives system privileges on fully patched Windows (The Register)

Sensitive Info Goes Into ‘No Reply’ Emails Constantly. This Guy Sees It All (WIRED)

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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.

We got your Patch Tuesday notes. Attackers target Microsoft SharePoint vulnerability following PoC release. Cyberattack on CEVA Logistics causes ongoing supply chain disruptions. Wesco confirms data breach following extortion claims. Akira ransomware bypasses EDR in Safe Mode. California announces AI cybersecurity fund. N2K’s Lead Analyst Ethan Cook shares about cyber weapons for space. Dave Bittner sits down with Michael Leland, VP and Field CTO at Island, at Black Hat USA to discuss the growing risks of the AI supply chain. And fasten your seatbelts and ignore the fake Wi-Fi.

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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

On today’s Industry Voices, Dave Bittner sits down with Michael Leland, VP and Field CTO at Island, at Black Hat USA to discuss the growing risks of the AI supply chain, including AgentBaiting, where fake AI Skills and MCP servers were used to deliver malware, and hidden instructions that can influence AI agents. If you enjoyed the conversation, be sure to check out the full interview here.

Selected Reading

Microsoft and Adobe Patch Tuesday, August 2026 Security Update Review (Qualys)

Shattering the Dream - When a Job Offer Becomes a Zero-Day Attack (Check Point Research)

Patch Tuesday August 2026: A zero-day WinSock driver hole under exploit, and a maximum severity SAP vulnerability CSO Online

ICS Patch Tuesday: Vulnerabilities Fixed by Siemens, Schneider, Phoenix Contact (SecurityWeek)

Hackers leverage new Microsoft SharePoint exploit in attacks (BleepingComputer)

The CEVA Logistics data breach is having major knock-on effects across Europe - here's what we know (TechRadar)

Wesco confirms security incident after ExfilSquad claims data theft (BleepingComputer)

Akira Hits Safe Mode: Ransomware Rebooting Around EDR (Huntress)

California Building ‘AI Cyber Defense Fund’ to Protect Critical Infrastructure From Hackers (Gizmodo)

Laser weapons for space? US officials see threat, opportunity (BREAKING DEFENSE)

DEF CON dingus suspected of trying to take over Delta in-flight Wi-Fi (The Register)

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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.