Governance/Regulation/Legislation

French data protection authority sets out 2026 GDPR and AI guidance agenda

(DigWatch) The French data protection authority, the Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL), has outlined the main guidance, consultations, and resources it plans to publish in 2026 to support compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation and certain provisions of the AI Act. According to the CNIL, the programme is intended to help public and private sector actors prepare for upcoming consultations and anticipate regulatory developments. It says the programme is indicative and may evolve in response to current events. The CNIL says it will begin work on ‘multi-property’ consent, covering the conditions for obtaining a single consent across several sites or media, particularly where they belong to the same group. It also says it will finalise work on the use of AI in the workplace and in health, including bias risks and safeguards to protect the rights of employees and patients. – https://dig.watch/updates/cnil-2026-gdpr-ai-guidance-agenda

UK government reviews regulatory options for enterprise connected devices

(DigWatch) The UK government has said it will update and streamline its proposed code of practice for enterprise connected device security and assess further policy options, including regulation, certification, and other assurance mechanisms, following its call for views on enterprise connected device security. The response, published by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, says enterprise-connected devices are often critical to business operations but can lack adequate security measures. It also states that the UK government’s call for views showed strong support for intervention to improve the cybersecurity of such devices, with 95% of respondents agreeing that the government should do more. According to the response, 76% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the risks posed by enterprise-connected devices are sufficiently distinct from those of other connected devices to warrant an independent code of practice. – https://dig.watch/updates/uk-government-enterprise-connected-devices

OpenAI launches child safety framework to address AI risks

(DigWatch) A new framework has been introduced by OpenAI to address risks of AI-enabled child abuse and strengthen protection mechanisms across digital systems. An initiative that reflects growing concern over how emerging technologies can both enable and prevent harm. The blueprint focuses on modernising legal frameworks to address AI-generated harmful content, improving reporting and coordination among service providers, and embedding safety measures directly into AI systems. – https://dig.watch/updates/openai-launches-child-safety-framework-to-address-ai-risks

EU advances AI copyright safeguards through GPAI taskforce discussions

(DigWatch) The European Commission has convened the second meeting of the Signatory Taskforce under the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice (GPAI), focusing on copyright protection in AI systems. The discussion brought together signatories to exchange early implementation practices and technical approaches. Participants examined methods to reduce copyright risks in AI-generated outputs, highlighting measures applied across the model’s lifecycle, including data selection, training, and deployment. – https://dig.watch/updates/eu-advances-ai-copyright-safeguards-through-gpai-taskforce-discussions

Geneva Cyber Week to bring diplomacy, cyber policy, and AI security debates together

(DigWatch) The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs will co-host Geneva Cyber Week from 4 to 8 May 2026, bringing policymakers, diplomats, technical experts, industry leaders, academics, and civil society representatives to venues across Geneva and online for a week of discussions on cyber stability, resilience, governance, digitalisation, and the security implications of emerging technologies, including AI. Returning after its inaugural edition, the event is being positioned as a response to a more fragile cyber and geopolitical environment. Held under the theme ‘Advancing Global Cooperation in Cyberspace’, Geneva Cyber Week 2026 comes at a moment of mounting cyber insecurity, intensifying geopolitical tension, and rapid technological change, with organisers framing the gathering as a space for more practical cooperation across diplomatic, technical, operational, and policy communities. – https://dig.watch/updates/cyber-leaders-gather-in-geneva-for-security-forum

Security and Surveillance

Middle East Hack-for-Hire Operation Traced to South Asian Cyber Espionage Group

(Kevin Poireault – Infosecurity Magazine) Several civil society figures in Middle Eastern countries, including three high-profile journalists in Egypt and Lebanon, have been targeted by a spear-phishing campaign likely tied to a known South Asian cyber espionage group. The campaign was detected by digital civil rights organization Access Now through its Digital Security Helpline in August 2025, following outreach from prominent Egyptian journalists Mostafa Al‑A’sar and Ahmed Eltantawy. Access Now, a global non-profit organization, found that both individuals, prominent critics of the Egyptian government who have previously faced political imprisonment, had been targeted by spear-phishing campaigns carried out from 2023 to 2024. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/middle-east-hack-operation-bitter/

Governance Gaps Emerge as AI Agents Drive 76% Increase in NHIs

(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine) The SANS Institute has warned that the race to incorporate AI into enterprise workflows threatens to outpace security efforts, after revealing widespread credential hygiene failings. The security training and research organization presented the findings as part of its 2026 SANS State of Identity Threats & Defenses Survey, which is based on interviews with over 500 security professionals globally. It revealed that three-quarters (76%) of organizations report growth in non-human identities (NHIs) such as service accounts, API keys, automation bots and workload identities. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/governance-gaps-agents-76-increase/

Masjesu botnet targets IoT devices while evading high-profile networks

(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Masjesu is a stealthy botnet active since 2023, advertised as a DDoS-for-hire service. It targets IoT devices like routers and gateways, spanning multiple architectures. Designed for persistence, it executes carefully, avoiding high-profile IP ranges such as the U.S. Department of Defense to remain undetected and survive long-term, favoring low-key attacks over mass infection. “The Masjesu botnet, a sophisticated, commercially-run Internet of Things (IoT) threat, has been operational and evolving since early 2023, continuing into 2026. Its primary focus is stealth, and it is offered as a “Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)-for-hire service,” typically marketed via Telegram. It targets a wide array of IoT devices, such as routers and gateways, across multiple architectures (including i386, MIPS, ARM, and AMD64).” reads the report published by Trellix. “Built for persistence and low visibility, Masjesu favors careful, low-key execution over widespread infection, deliberately avoiding blocklisted IP ranges such as those belonging to the Department of Defense (DoD) to ensure long-term survival.”. Masjesu hides its strings, configs, and payloads with XOR encryption to bypass static detection. It scans random IPs and exploits vulnerabilities in devices from D-Link, GPON, and Netgear to spread. Its C2 setup uses multiple domains and fallback IPs and runs TCP, UDP, and HTTP flood attacks. – https://securityaffairs.com/190548/malware/masjesu-botnet-targets-iot-devices-while-evading-high-profile-networks.html

The alleged breach of China’s National Supercomputing Center can have serious geopolitical consequences

(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) A massive alleged breach has hit China’s National Supercomputing Center (NSCC) in Tianjin. A hacker claims to have exfiltrated over 10 petabytes of highly sensitive data, including military, aerospace, and missile-related information. The facility supports around 6,000 clients, including scientific and defense organizations, raising serious concerns about national security and data exposure. Cyber experts reviewing leaked samples say the attacker breached the system with relative ease and quietly exfiltrated massive volumes of data over several months without being detected. A group calling itself “FlamingChina” shared samples on Telegram, claiming the dataset includes sensitive research in aerospace, military, bioinformatics, and fusion. – https://securityaffairs.com/190536/hacking/the-alleged-breach-of-chinas-national-supercomputing-center-can-have-serious-geopolitical-consequences.html

Internet-Exposed ICS Devices Raise Alarm for Critical Sectors

(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Malware targeting industrial control systems (ICS) poses a serious risk to critical infrastructure, with threats like Stuxnet, Industroyer, Triton, Havex, and BlackEnergy already demonstrating the ability to disrupt operations, cause outages, and even inflict physical damage. Recent research shows that ICS vulnerability disclosures nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025, driven in part by increased interest from threat actors targeting sectors such as energy, manufacturing, and utilities. A key concern is the exposure of ICS devices to the internet, especially those using legacy protocols like Modbus. Widely used in industrial environments to enable communication between sensors and controllers, Modbus lacks basic security features such as encryption and authentication. This makes internet-exposed devices particularly vulnerable, as attackers can both read and modify data without needing credentials. To better understand the scale of the issue, researchers conducted a global scan for devices responding on port 502, the default port for Modbus. Out of 311 initial responses, 179 were identified as likely real ICS devices after filtering out honeypots and unreliable data. These devices were found across multiple countries, with the United States hosting the largest number (57), followed by Sweden (22) and Turkey (19). – https://securityaffairs.com/190525/ics-scada/internet-exposed-ics-devices-raise-alarm-for-critical-sectors.html

Experts warn of potential quantum disruption to blockchain security

(DigWatch) A survey by the Global Risk Institute has highlighted growing concern that quantum computing could undermine the cryptographic foundations of cryptocurrencies within the next decade. Experts estimate a 28% to 49% probability that quantum machines capable of breaking current encryption standards could emerge within 10 years, with the probability rising further over a 15-year horizon. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin rely on public-key cryptography to secure transactions and verify ownership. Advanced quantum algorithms could reverse-engineer private keys from public data, exposing wallets and weakening blockchain security. – https://dig.watch/updates/potential-quantum-disruption-blockchain-security

Singapore to update cybersecurity standards and vendor obligations amid AI-enabled threats

(DigWatch) Singapore’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information said the government will review and update cybersecurity standards and obligations as part of its response to evolving cyber threats, including AI-enabled attacks. In a written parliamentary reply, the ministry said Singapore’s position as a major financial hub and digital economy makes it an attractive target for malicious actors. It added that the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore regularly updates the public on cybersecurity threats through SingCERT advisories and the Singapore Cyber Landscape publication. – https://dig.watch/updates/singapore-cybersecurity-standards-ai-threats

Defense/Intelligence/Warfare

‘Hybrid constellations’ are making it hard for militaries to hide

(Patrick Tucker – Defense One) A planned satellite constellation will be able to image any location on Earth every 15 minutes and take more detailed images, a novel capability that could reveal even the nimblest and stealthiest military maneuvers, its developer says. On Thursday, Vantor announced plans to enlarge its current fleet of 10 satellites “five-fold” with spacecraft that will produce images with 20cm resolution—better than its current 30- and 40cm imagery. The company also plans to add two dozen high-revisit/lower-res satellites. When the constellation is complete some time after 2029, Vantor officials said it will vault the company to the forefront of the space-imagery industry. “The geo accuracy of our exquisite data combined with the revisit data—we can actually fuse that data and have highly accurate imagery that nobody else can do,” Vantor CEO Dan Smoot said in an interview. – https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2026/04/hybrid-constellations-are-making-it-hard-militaries-hide/412728/?oref=d1-featured-river-top

Pentagon’s ouster of Anthropic opens doors for small AI rivals

(Mile Stone – Reuters/Defense News) Small defense industry artificial intelligence startups are suddenly fielding calls from generals, combatant commanders and deep-pocketed investors, after the souring relationship between the Pentagon and its once-favored AI vendor, Anthropic, reinforced the need to diversify and increase the number of AI providers for the military. In the weeks since the Department of Defense’s troubled relationship with Anthropic burst into public view and led to the company being kicked out of the U.S. military, new defense-focused AI companies like Smack Technologies and EdgeRunner AI say they have experienced a shift in interest that would have been unimaginable just months ago. They have received a surge of overtures about possible contracts and meeting requests and been approached by investors who previously showed no interest. – https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2026/04/09/pentagons-ouster-of-anthropic-opens-doors-for-small-ai-rivals/

What Ukraine’s wartime tech ecosystem can teach the rest of the world

(Valeriya Ionan – Atlantic Council) Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has scaled up drone manufacturing and streamlined its process for defense and technology innovation. Ukraine has opened its defense sector to innovation from the private sector and enabled the rapid development of defense tech startups. Ukraine’s experience holds important lessons for other countries looking to streamline their defense and technology bureaucracies and foster innovation. – https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/dispatches/what-ukraines-wartime-tech-ecosystem-can-teach-the-rest-of-the-world/#bluf3

Spy agencies eye new Anthropic AI model that spots cyber flaws

(David DiMolfetta, Alexandra Kelley, Patrick Tucker – Defense One) Anthropic’s decision to keep close hold on a powerful frontier AI model, paired with a new initiative to study its effects on global networks, is prompting intelligence-community discussions about the ways such tools might help friendly and adversary forces alike. On Tuesday, Anthropic unveiled Project Glasswing, a bid to raise AI-powered defenses before AI-enabled attackers can overwhelm critical software. “The fallout — for economies, public safety, and national security — could be severe. Project Glasswing is an urgent attempt to put these capabilities to work for defensive purposes,” the AI company said in a blog post. – https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2026/04/spy-agencies-ai-anthropic-cybersecurity/412724/?oref=d1-featured-river-secondary

Army operations center is trying to solve battlefield data problems in real time

(Meghann Myers – Defense One) As the Army works to gather and organize data to support battlefield decisions, it has created a task force to help with small, short-term problems—and in the longer term, to shape the service’s overall approach to data management. The Army Data Operations Center went live on April 3, service officials told reporters on Tuesday, and so far its small team of civilian and soldier data and software engineers have received seven requests from different organizations to help deconflict. “It used to be about firepower, but it isn’t really about that anymore,” said Lt. Gen. Jeth Rey, the Army’s chief of staff for command, control, communications, cyber operations, and network architecture. “It’s really about who can get the data to make decisions faster, to dominate.” – https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2026/04/army-operations-center-trying-solve-battlefield-data-problems-real-time/412693/?oref=d1-featured-river-secondary