Maggie Miller

DHS expanding citizenship system for voter verification, despite concerns about potential disenfranchisement Twenty-six states are in line to use a revamped DHS system to check their voter rolls for non-citizens, although the network has raised concerns about privacy and accuracy — including if it could kick...

NEW: DHS is pushing ahead in building a searchable national citizenship system it wants to use to go through voter rolls.

Over 46 million voters have been run through the checks already.

www.nextgov.com/digital-gove...

Oversight of the Congressional Budget Office | The U.S. House Committee on the Budget - House Budget Committee The Official U.S. Congressional website of The Republican Budget Committee

With the House coming back into session, the House Budget Committee has scheduled a hearing for next week — on oversight of the recently hacked Congressional Budget Office. Expect the intrusion to a top subject of conversation: budget.house.gov/hearing/over...

The top U.S. cyber agency isn't doing as much outreach during F5 cyberattack It's unclear if the lack of communication is due to the government shutdown or earlier workforce cuts.

CISA's stakeholder engagement division hasn't sent updates about the F5 intrusion in the last week, an industry source tells me.

and following RIF notices this month, the division is expected to host a town hall Thursday to discuss those cuts.

new from me: www.axios.com/2025/10/21/f...

I know this stuff isn't surprising anymore but I really can't stress enough how much everybody involved with CISA and cyber tried to keep the field nonpolitical and nonpartisan before this administration.

Thanks Eric!

POLITICO Pro: States send out the ‘bat signal’ for help responding to cyber threats amid federal cuts The collective frustration over the federal government’s cuts to key cyber programs and agencies is being turned into action.

"We’re a little bit more on our own": State and local cybersecurity officials band together as the Trump administration turns its back on them. Nice story by @maggiemiller.bsky.social: subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

Trump expected to nominate Lt. Gen. William Hartman to lead NSA, Cyber Command Hartman has the support of top officials at the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Defense Department.

EXCLUSIVE: Trump is expected to nominate Lt. Gen. William Hartman, the acting leader of both the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, to formally lead both agencies.

BREAKING: Social Security Administration chief data officer and whistle-blower Charles Borges has resigned after bombshell report that SSA put highly-sensitive data at risk. He sent out an email to colleagues moments ago.

Here is the text of his email shared with me:

POLITICO Pro: Top Pentagon cyber official to step down next week The change leaves the Pentagon’s cyber policy office without leadership in the short term.

Scoop for Pros: Laurie Buckhout, acting assistant secretary of Defense for cyber policy, is stepping down from the role next week ahead of moving to another position in the Trump administration: subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

Federal court filing system hit in sweeping hack The identities of confidential court informants are feared compromised in a series of breaches across multiple U.S. states.

My colleagues @jsaks.bsky.social and @joshgerstein.bsky.social first reported the new breach earlier this month. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

POLITICO Pro: Dem senator urges Supreme Court to spearhead investigation into judiciary data breach

First in Politico: @wyden.senate.gov is calling on the Supreme Court to commission an independent review to examine both the recent massive breach of federal court systems, and into a similar breach dating back to 2020. More here for Pros: subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

Joe Francescon picked as next NSA deputy director The former defense and national security official is set to take over after a major leadership shake-up at the agency.

With @jsaks.bsky.social: Joe Francescon, former DOD and NSC official under the first Trump administration, has been picked as the next deputy director of the NSA: www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

POLITICO Pro: At least 7 federal agencies compromised through Microsoft SharePoint vulnerability

New for Pros: Networks of at least seven federal agencies were breached stemming from the Microsoft SharePoint vulnerability disclosed last month, according to two individuals familiar with the matter. Microsoft has blamed Chinese hackers for the breach. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

Scoop: The State Department is abruptly terminating its big cyber-defense contract with Peraton, the main cyber contractor for State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security. State plans to re-award the contract to GDIT, per two people familiar with the matter.

With @jsaks.bsky.social: While the federal judiciary is adopting new security measures, sources told us relevant committees on the Hill were briefed on the breach last month. One source briefed said the new incident is tied to a data breach of the federal courts dating back to 2020.

Panel to create roadmap for establishing US Cyber Force The Commission on Cyber Force Generation will develop potential routes Congress and the White House could follow in creating a separate cyber service and aim to deliver them in time for next year’s…

A new group of former government officials is designing a hypothetical U.S. Cyber Force, @martinmatishak.bsky.social reports, even as a congressionally chartered study continues to evaluate whether one should exist. therecord.media/panel-to-cre...

Trump administration to spend $1 billion on 'offensive' hacking operations | TechCrunch A top Democrat criticized the move to spend a billion on offensive hacking operations as the budget guts a billion from U.S. cyber defense.

NEW: Trump's One Big Beautiful bill earmarked $1,000,000,000 (yep, a billion) over 4 years for "offensive cyber operations" for the Department of Defense.

It's unclear exactly what that means, but could include zero-days, spyware, implants, infrastructure, etc.

techcrunch.com/2025/07/14/t...

We’re taking @politico.com to arbitration this week for its unethical use of AI and we’re asking for your support! bit.ly/PENGuild

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), chair of the House Armed Services cyber committee, is retiring from Congress at the end of this term, he announced today. He has been vocally against cyber changes made by the Trump admin, such as the firing of Gen. Tim Haugh, and cuts to CISA.

TBD | The Other Iran-Israel War Podcast Episode · What Next | Daily News and Analysis · 06/27/2025 · 21m

And secondly, happy to discuss the same topic on Slate Podcasts’s What Next show today podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

TBD | The Other Iran-Israel War Podcast Episode · What Next | Daily News and Analysis · 06/27/2025 · 21m

And secondly, happy to discuss the same topic on Slate Podcasts’s What Next show today podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Week in Tech: The Music Industry Strikes Back Podcast Episode · TechStuff · 06/27/2025 · 36m

I was happy to appear on two podcasts out today to discuss the cyber element of the conflict between Iran and Israel, and how the U.S. could be impacted. First, for an episode of iHeartPodcasts’s TechStuff: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

NSA’s Patrick Ware takes over as top civilian at U.S. Cyber Command The new executive director of U.S. Cyber Command — the No. 3 position at the digital warfighting organization — is NSA veteran Patrick Ware.

Patrick Ware, a senior executive at the National Security Agency, has been named the new top civilian leader at U.S. Cyber Command.

therecord.media/patrick-ware...

The Senate Homeland Security Committee has scheduled a hearing June 12 to consider both the noms of Sean Cairncross for National Cyber Director and Sean Plankey to head CISA — despite Plankey not testifying at today’s hearing: www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/u...

Politico’s Newsroom Is Starting a Legal Battle With Management Over AI Politico has rules about AI in the newsroom. Staffers say those rules have been violated—and they’re gearing up for a fight.

We're proud our AI agreement has safeguards for journalists jobs-and company ethics, to allow AI use in a way that works for us, not against us. @politico.com already agreed that AI-generated content should be subject to the same standards as human-written articles. It needs to follow the contract

Hacker Conference HOPE Says U.S. Immigration Crackdown Caused Massive Crash in Ticket Sales One scheduled speaker has also pulled out of the New York-based event and specifically pointed to Trump’s mass deportation efforts.

New from 404 Media: iconic hacking con HOPE has sold 50% fewer tickets this year, with event just a few months away. Organizers say it's due to U.S. immigration crackdown. A speaker already pulled out, said friends' devices seized at border. Will impact the event www.404media.co/hacker-confe...

POLITICO Pro: Pentagon’s IT agency to lose 10 percent of workforce to cuts and resignations Cuts to the Defense Information Systems Agency are part of a larger trimming of staff at DOD.

DISA, the Pentagon agency focused on securing DOD networks, will lose 10% of its workforce as part of cuts to personnel and resignations, the agency’s top official told senators today, though the agency is seeking to rehire in some roles. For Pros: subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

POLITICO Pro: State Department cyber bureau set to be split as part of agency reshuffle About half the staff at the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy will be reassigned to other bureaus and offices, according to a person familiar with the plans.

This comes after I previously reported that personnel and politics in the State Department’s cyber bureau are set to be divided into three offices, with these plans still being finalized: subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...