All news with #news tag

🖥️ Microsoft has released Windows 11, version 26H1, but the distribution is limited to new ARM-based devices such as those using Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 processors and possibly other upcoming ARM chips. This build is a platform-specific release and will not be broadly delivered through Windows Update to existing PCs. Microsoft says organizations should continue to purchase, deploy, and manage devices on broadly released versions like 24H2 and 25H2. The company also reiterated its annual update cadence, with 26H2 expected later in the year.

📅 SQLCon and FabCon run March 16–20 in Atlanta, offering one registration that grants access to both events and a blended program of SQL, Fabric, Power BI, data engineering, real‑time intelligence, and AI. The week features 50 focused SQL sessions, hands‑on workshops on Monday and Tuesday, and stacked conference sessions Wednesday through Friday to help attendees build practical plans for the year. Expect roadmap updates, live engineering demos, Ask‑the‑Expert sessions, and community meetups delivering repeatable scripts, migration patterns, and modernization guidance. Look for registration discounts and use promo code SQLCMTY200 for $200 off.

🛡️ CISA coordinated a year-long, multiagency effort to secure Super Bowl LX, working with the NFL, DHS, the FBI, state and local partners, and private vendors to protect people, venues, and critical infrastructure. Region 9 authored a tailored playbook and executed physical security assessments using the Infrastructure Survey Tool and Infrastructure Visualization Platform, conducted tabletop exercises, and delivered bombing prevention workshops and cyber hygiene training. These layered measures aimed to reduce risk, strengthen communications interoperability, and ensure resilient operations throughout gameday.

📝 Bruce Schneier reports that his name appears only incidentally in the Epstein files. He recounts a 2016 email from someone identified as “Vincenzo lozzo” addressing DDoS attacks and dismissing Schneier’s commentary as dramatizing and misunderstanding. He also notes a separate incidental mention of a Rabbi Schneier. Schneier emphasizes these mentions do not indicate any connection or wrongdoing.

🔐 Infosecurity Europe has launched the Cyber Startup Programme to spotlight early-stage cybersecurity innovators and bolster long-term ecosystem resilience. Debuting at Infosecurity Europe 2026, the initiative will feature a dedicated Cyber Startups Zone on the show floor, tailored ticketing and a founder- and investor-focused content day. Delivered in collaboration with UK Cyber Flywheel and supported by DSIT-backed innovation activity, the programme culminates in a live award competition on 2 June offering a substantial prize package to the winning startup.

🔒 Substack informed users that an unauthorized third party accessed limited account data in October 2025, including email addresses, phone numbers, and other internal metadata. CEO Chris Best said the company discovered the issue on February 3 and has fixed the vulnerability, stressing that passwords, credit card numbers, and financial information were not accessed. A dataset of 697,313 alleged records was posted to BreachForums, and Substack warned of potential phishing attempts.

🛰️The US National Reconnaissance Office has declassified details about the JUMPSEAT fleet, a series of spy satellites that operated from 1971 to 2006. The release is notable because much of the material was declassified roughly two decades after these systems were retired. The disclosure provides historians, analysts, and policymakers with new primary-source material to reassess historical intelligence programs.

🏆 Check Point Software Technologies announced the 2025 EMEA Partner Award winners, celebrating partners that deliver AI‑powered, prevention-first cyber security outcomes. The winners were honored at the EMEA Sales Kickoff in Vienna, attended by more than 1,000 employees and partners. As the threat landscape accelerates with AI‑enhanced attacks and hybrid‑cloud complexity, these top-performing partners are helping organisations strengthen resilience, meet regulatory demands, and operationalise advanced prevention through collaboration and integrated solutions.

🔒Fortinet convened a cross-sector panel at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos to explore how incentives can shift the economics of cybercrime. Panelists from law enforcement, industry, and civil society highlighted the limits of voluntary intelligence sharing and the need for structured collaboration. Initiatives like the Cybercrime Bounty and the Cybercrime Atlas were presented as practical mechanisms to accelerate validated, anonymous reporting and enable faster action against transnational threats.

🏆 Check Point today announced its 2025 Americas Partner Award winners, recognizing partners for outstanding performance, growth, and technical excellence. The awards highlight partners' role in driving customer success and innovation across the region. World Wide Technology earned Partner of the Year, while NTSec Group was named Latin America Partner of the Year. These honors reflect a commitment to helping organizations stay secure.

🧑‍💻 Socura used ONS Annual Population Survey data to show the UK cybersecurity workforce nearly tripled — a 194% rise — between December 2021 and June 2025, growing from 28,500 to 83,700 professionals. Cyber is now the fifth fastest-growing occupation and the fastest among roles with at least 20,000 workers. Despite the surge, gaps remain: women make up only 21% of the workforce and regional talent shortages persist.

📱 In episode 452 Graham Cluley and guest Joe Tidy discuss a London-based YouTuber who has won a landmark UK ruling after his phone was compromised by Pegasus spyware, illustrating how a single malicious SMS can enable continuous, covert surveillance. They also investigate dark-web services, including a reported portal offering hitmen, and cover headlines such as Microsoft Patch Tuesday problems, alleged Russian wiper activity against Poland’s grid, and US charges tied to ATM malware.

🏆 Microsoft honored partners and individuals at a Redmond ceremony on January 26, 2026, presenting the 2026 Security Excellence Awards to recognize innovation and collaboration across the security ecosystem. Winners included Avertium, BlueVoyant, Tata Consultancy Services, Illumio, Invoke LLC, and individual winner Anna Bordioug (Protiviti). Finalists were chosen by a judging panel and winners selected by Microsoft and MISA member votes, with judges spotlighting AI-driven threat intelligence and Zero Trust adoption as key drivers of improved customer security outcomes.

🎧 In episode 85 of The AI Fix, hosts Graham Cluley and Mark Stockley explore a range of current AI stories and controversies. They highlight Silicon Valley efforts to market robotic pet companions as solutions for pet mental health, and discuss Yann LeCun's public assertion that the AI industry is mistaken about the role of large language models. The episode also covers OpenAI’s decision to introduce ads to ChatGPT, a public spat between Sam Altman and Elon Musk over AI harms, humanoid robots showcased at CES 2026, and the decision by cURL to end its bug bounty program in response to automated, AI-driven noise.

⚠️ Cloudflare disclosed that a policy misconfiguration on a router caused a 25-minute Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) route leak for IPv6 traffic on January 22, producing congestion, packet loss, and roughly 12 Gbps of dropped traffic. The change removed specific prefix filters and made export rules overly permissive, redistributing internal IPv6 routes externally from Miami. Engineers detected and manually reverted the change, paused automation, and restored normal operations within 25 minutes. Cloudflare says it will add stricter export safeguards, CI/CD policy checks, improved detection, and promote RPKI ASPA adoption.

🌐 In Q4 2025 Cloudflare observed over 180 Internet disruptions worldwide driven by government-directed shutdowns, submarine cable cuts, power failures, extreme weather, military action, and technical faults at operators and hyperscalers. Significant incidents included a Tanzania shutdown, multiple fiber and submarine cable outages affecting Haiti, Pakistan, Cameroon and the Dominican Republic, and catastrophic cyclone damage in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Several provider-side and hyperscaler incidents also reduced availability for many sites and applications, while two Cloudflare-specific outages impacted service for subsets of customers. Verified anomalies and outage details are tracked in Cloudflare Radar and available via the Radar API.

⚠️Microsoft is investigating reports that some Windows 11 devices fail to boot with the UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME stop error after installing the January 13, 2026 cumulative update KB5074109. Affected systems running Windows 11 25H2 and all editions of 24H2 display a black crash screen and cannot start without manual recovery. Microsoft says only physical devices are impacted so far and asks affected users to submit feedback via the Feedback Hub. The company also released emergency out‑of‑band updates to address an Outlook PST cloud storage freeze.

🎉 The Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) marks its ninth anniversary, celebrating a sustained industry shift from guarded threat data to coordinated, high-fidelity intelligence sharing. Founded in 2014 by major vendors, the CTA established governance, legal frameworks and technical platforms to enable secure exchange. The piece highlights how leadership, deliberate design and cross-company commitment transformed a bold experiment into lasting, global cybersecurity infrastructure and urges continued engagement to meet evolving threats.

🛡️ The EU-backed GCVE has launched a free, public vulnerability database at db.gcve.eu to reduce reliance on U.S.-centric CVE identifiers and strengthen European digital sovereignty. Using a decentralized GNA model and aggregating more than 25 public sources, the platform normalizes and indexes vulnerability data to allow autonomous assignment and publication of identifiers without central approval. An open API supports integration with compliance and risk tools so security teams, vendors, and researchers can track and assess reports across ecosystems.

📱 Verizon has begun sending text messages to primary account holders explaining how to redeem a $20 account credit after a nationwide wireless outage on January 14. The message apologizes and instructs customers to log in at Verizon.com, click the "Take action" indicator under Mobile, then select "Redeem Now." The credit is limited to one $20 per account and is intended to offset multiple days of disrupted service; customers still seeing connectivity problems are advised to restart their devices.