SparTech Software

The Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) has joined a growing consensus among cybersecurity experts and organizations urging businesses to begin transitioning to quantum-resistant cryptography immediately. Their recent report, Approaching Quantum Dawn: Closing the Cybersecurity Readiness Gap Before It’s Too Late, emphasizes that quantum risk is not a distant threat but a present one, as attackers are already employing tactics like “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later.” In these attacks, adversaries steal encrypted data now with the intent to decrypt it once quantum computers become powerful enough to break current encryption methods.

Authorities say that in April 2025, Norway’s Lake Risevatnet dam, located near the city of Svelgen in Southwest Norway, was the target of a cyberattack. Unidentified hackers gained unauthorized access to a remote control panel managing a valve at the dam. They opened the valve to full capacity, which led to an extra 497 liters per second flowing beyond the mandated minimum water discharge for nearly four hours before the breach was detected.

Since June 9, 2025, Russian internet service providers (ISPs) have been aggressively throttling access to websites and services protected by Cloudflare, significantly degrading or outright blocking connectivity for Russian users to a large portion of the global web. This action is widely understood to be a state-level initiative, with major ISPs such as Rostelecom, Megafon, Vimpelcom, MTS, and MGTS implementing the restrictions.

Cyber operations are now foundational to national security, playing a central role in both defense and offense for major powers. However, recent assessments indicate that while the United States remains a leading force in cyber defense and intelligence, it has fallen behind China in a key area: exploit production—the development and acquisition of software vulnerabilities that can be weaponized for attacks.

In early 2025, Kaspersky, a leading Russian cybersecurity company, released research highlighting a sharp rise in cyberattacks targeting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) using fake productivity and AI tools as lures. The most notable finding was a 115% increase in cyberthreats that mimic ChatGPT compared to the same period in 2024, with 177 unique malicious and unwanted files detected in the first four months of 2025.

Germany has declared that the Chinese AI app DeepSeek contains illegal content due to significant security and data protection issues. German data protection authorities, led by Commissioner Meike Kamp, have determined that DeepSeek fails to meet the country’s and the European Union’s stringent data protection standards. Specifically, DeepSeek has not provided sufficient evidence that German users’ data is safeguarded in China to a level equivalent to that required under EU law.

Android 16 introduces a new security feature designed to alert users if their device connects to a fake or insecure mobile network, commonly known as a “stingray” or “IMSI catcher.” These devices mimic legitimate cell towers to trick phones into connecting, allowing attackers to intercept communications, collect unique device identifiers (like IMEI), and even downgrade connections to less secure protocols for easier surveillance.

The Tech Transparency Project (TTP) has issued repeated warnings about the continued presence of numerous free VPN apps with hidden ties to Chinese companies—including Turbo VPN and X-VPN—on both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store. These apps, which promise to protect user privacy by encrypting internet traffic, are raising serious concerns about data security and U.S. national security.