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FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2026
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If the government wants CyberCorps to be AI-focused, it's going to need the budget to back up the effort. A Russian national was in court this week over his alleged role in Russian-directed cyber espionage. And a conversation about the future of the agentic SOC. This is CyberScoop for Friday, June 12.
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A aide holds a binder as Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin testified during the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing titled "A Review of the President's FY2027 Budget Request for the Department of Homeland Security," in Dirksen building on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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AI-ready CyberCorps needs sustained funding
As AI reshapes the cyber battlefield, the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service is overhauling its program to produce defenders who can both use AI for defense and secure AI systems. Schools in the program can now direct funds to AI coursework and internships so graduates arrive ready for faster, AI-driven threats that can find and weaponize vulnerabilities in months. But the effort risks being undercut by repeated administration budget cuts—Congress has stepped in with more funding, and two members of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies say only sustained investment will let CyberCorps scale to meet the nation’s urgent workforce needs. Read the op-ed here. |
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DefenseTalks | Sep 22, 2026
Secure your spot now!
Emerging technologies are fundamentally transforming global defense operations. This event brings together top military decision-makers and industry visionaries to discuss AI-enabled operations, next-generation drones, and cyber defense under evolving global threats. We will dive deep into data modernization and defense policy to explore what it takes to maintain an edge. Join the pioneers where national security meets innovation.
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Russian with ties to Void Blizzard arrested
Federal prosecutors charged Russian national Denis Nikolayevich Obrezko with conspiracy to commit unauthorized computer access for allegedly buying virtual servers and registering domains used in a broad cyber‑espionage campaign tied to the Russia‑aligned group Void Blizzard (aka Laundry Bear). The FBI affidavit says the group relied on stolen session tokens, VPNs and U.S. proxy services, plus typosquatted domains, to bypass defenses and harvest emails, files, Teams conversations and Entra ID data — investigators verified intrusions at at least 11 U.S. companies. Microsoft and foreign intelligence have linked Void Blizzard to state‑aligned activity, and Obrezko has been taken into custody pending trial. Greg Otto has more. |
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Why the SOC will never be fully autonomous
On this week’s Safe Mode, we’re joined by Mike Nichols, General Manager of Security at Elastic, fresh off the Gartner Security and Risk Summit in the D.C. area, where AI dominated every conversation on the conference floor. Mike walks us through what CISOs are actually asking about, what a real agentic SOC looks like in practice, and why keeping humans on the loop is the key philosophical distinction that separates a thoughtful AI implementation from a reckless one. The conversation covers “tribal knowledge,” shadow AI, prompt injection, model sovereignty, and the exploding attack surface that AI agents themselves create, with Mike making the case that AI adoption is a dial and not a switch, and that transparency, explainability, and a healthy dose of skepticism are the foundation of building trust that actually sticks. Listen here. |
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FedTalks | Nov 17, 2026
Secure your spot today!
Connect with over 1,000 federal and tech trailblazers at FedTalks 2026 in Washington, D.C. As the largest annual gathering of its kind, this 16th annual FedScoop event is the epicenter for C-suite executive collaboration. Join the discussion on the future of innovation and discover how modern tech and leadership are driving mission-critical transformation across government.
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