David DiMolfetta

I'm so used to telling people "you're not interesting enough to be targeted by spies", but ever since DPRK went all in on state-sponsored cybercrime, now it's more like "no, actually it's entirely plausible the dude who stole your Roblox works for a foreign intelligence agency".

Cyber takes back seat to immigration in global threats hearing Witnesses briefly touched on concerns about encrypted messaging and the threat China poses in cyberspace, as well as efforts to protect infrastructure that supports the worldwide internet.

Despite an overwhelming focus on DHS handling of immigration enforcement, a Thursday hearing on worldwide threats targeting the U.S. did feature some insights into the biggest cybersecurity challenges facing the nation:
www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...

Announced pick for No. 2 at NSA won’t get the job as another candidate surfaces Joe Francescon, announced in August as the NSA's new deputy director, will not be filling the role, sources told Recorded Future News, and the Trump administration has another pick in mind.

Announced pick for No. 2 at NSA won’t get the job as another candidate surfaces
therecord.media/announced-ns...

81 alleged victims join suit against Army doctor accused of sexual misconduct | CNN Politics 81 additional alleged victims who say they were “subjected to invasive, unnecessary, and degrading touching, voyeurism, and covert filming” are joining a lawsuit originally filed in November against A...

NEW: 81 more women have joined a lawsuit against Army gynecologist Maj. Blaine McGraw.

“McGraw did not thrive because he was clever; he thrived because he operated within an Army culture that has repeatedly failed to protect women from sexual violence," the lawsuit says.
www.cnn.com/2025/12/10/p...

me dressed up and exercising at the airport before my 8 hour flight

Trump’s national security strategy wants spy agencies to watch world supply chains The paper puts much of its emphasis on the Western Hemisphere, while pushing for closer cyber collaboration with both regional partners and the private sector.

President Trump’s national security strategy tasks the U.S. intelligence community with monitoring global supply chains as part of a sweeping goal to decouple the nation’s economy from foreign adversaries and advance American economic interests:
www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...

DHS’s Immigrant-Hunting App Removed from Google Play Store The app, called Mobile Identify, was launched in November, and lets local cops use facial recognition to hunt immigrants on behalf of ICE. It is unclear if the removal is temporary or not.

New from 404 Media: DHS’s immigrant-hunting app just got removed from the Google Play Store. Let’s local cops do facial recognition on people, app says to contact ICE or not. I’m told Google workers took issue with app in an internal report. We revealed app in Nov

www.404media.co/dhss-immigra...

DHS, cyber industry mobilize to get CISA director nominee confirmed “It’s a national security risk to not have him,” said a current U.S. official.

NEW: After Sen. Rick Scott placed a hold on Sean Plankey’s nomination to lead CISA, DHS officials and cyber policy execs have mobilized to get him confirmed before year’s end.

“It’s a national security risk to not have him,” said a current U.S. official:
www.nextgov.com/people/2025/...

5 pages! Maybe the font will be very tiny? Nice scoop from @timstarks.bsky.social at @cyberscoop.bsky.social

CISA tells staff to not speak with reporters, internal email shows “CISA does not comment on leaked internal emails, especially when they’re about leaking internal emails,” CISA Director of Public Affairs Marci McCarthy told Nextgov/FCW when asked for comment.

Confirming Politico: CISA tells staff to not speak with reporters, internal email shows

“CISA does not comment on leaked internal emails, especially when they’re about leaking internal emails,” CISA's director of public affairs told Nextgov/FCW.

www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...

NSA has met 2,000-person workforce reduction goal, people familiar say A broader Pentagon goal to shrink the nation’s defense budget over the coming five years could potentially subject the agency to further downsizing.

The figure marks a historic staffing reduction for the spy agency, one of the largest in the U.S. intelligence enterprise, and reflects monthslong pressures from the second Trump admin clean out alleged bloat and politicization in its spy offices.
www.nextgov.com/people/2025/...

NSA has met 2,000-person workforce reduction goal, people familiar say A broader Pentagon goal to shrink the nation’s defense budget over the coming five years could potentially subject the agency to further downsizing.

New from me: The NSA recently achieved its goals to shed around 2,000 people from its workforce this year. The reductions include a mix of civilian employees who were terminated, voluntarily left or took deferred resignation offers.
www.nextgov.com/people/2025/...

Exclusive: Anthropic CEO called to testify before Congress about Chinese AI cyberattack The request comes weeks after Anthropic said China used Claude Code in an espionage campaign.

New from me: House lawmakers have called on Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to testify next month on how Chinese hackers used Claude Code to automate most of a wide-reaching cyberespionage campaign.

More on @axios.com: www.axios.com/2025/11/26/a...

Suspected Chinese operation aims to recruit former feds with job postings, research shows Researchers at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies uncovered a network of likely fraudulent China-linked websites operating as far back as 2021. One has very recently tried to recruit former fed...

It also comes as the Trump admin has worked to shrink the government through various means. A suspected Chinese operation has tried to recruit former feds via fake websites + job postings, we reported in September:
www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...

The information, which was voluntarily publicized, underscores that foreign rivals are continuing covert online efforts to access national intelligence and defense information from people connected to the U.S. government, including military members.

Foreign spies are targeting Army soldiers, civilians and families, official warns Current and former federal workers, especially those with security clearances, should be aware of the attempts, an Army intelligence chief said in a November memo.

NEW: A top military intel official issued a memo this month warning Army servicemembers of foreign adversaries’ continued attempts to gather intelligence by targeting personnel - including civilians and their families - via fake companies and recruiters:
www.nextgov.com/defense/2025...

House Democrats want answers on CISA reassignments to border security, immigration roles A letter led by Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., argues DHS violated the Antideficiency Act when it conducted a reduction in force during the government shutdown.

Recall - Employees across DHS units have been marked for reassignment to agencies focused on Trump-era border security and deportation work. The shifts have drawn concerns from House Democrats, Nextgov/FCW first reported last month:
www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...

ICE — overwhelmed with applicants — leans on cyber talent program to speed tech hiring ICE’s acting CIO, Dustin Goetz, said the agency will need more personnel as it seeks to meet sweeping deportation and detainment demands set by the White House.

“...we have also a large number of arrests and deportations that we have to meet ... Well, if you do the simple back-of-the-napkin math, it’s not going to be possible with the number of officers and agents that we have, even when we hire them,” he said.
www.nextgov.com/people/2025/...

ICE — overwhelmed with applicants — leans on cyber talent program to speed tech hiring ICE’s acting CIO, Dustin Goetz, said the agency will need more personnel as it seeks to meet sweeping deportation and detainment demands set by the White House.

The agency’s tech shop intends to further “exploit” the Cyber Talent Management System, a special hiring program launched by DHS in 2021 to target skilled cyber professionals for hiring, he said.
www.nextgov.com/people/2025/...

NEW: ICE is tapping into a recruitment pipeline run by DHS to swiftly boost the intake of cyber and tech talent, a top agency official said Friday. Acting CIO Dustin Goetz also said the agency will need more personnel as it seeks to meet sweeping demands set by the White House.⬇️

SEC to drop high-profile SolarWinds hack lawsuit The landmark lawsuit garnered pushback from dozens of cybersecurity leaders last year.

Live: SEC to drop high-profile SolarWinds hack lawsuit
www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...

Breaking: SEC says it is dropping high-profile lawsuit against SolarWinds: www.sec.gov/enforcement-...

Story coming soon.

U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols The military service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has drafted a new policy that classifies such items “potentially divisive.”

Shocking WaPo exclusive: "U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols"

New policy will classify them as “potentially divisive.”
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.

NEW AP INVESTIGATION: With license plate readers and local law enforcement partnerships, Border Patrol is monitoring American drivers and detaining those exhibiting ‘suspicious’ travel patterns in the U.S. interior. w/
@garanceburke.bsky.social. apnews.com/article/immi...

FCC votes to reverse telecom security rulemaking issued under Biden The vote has drawn significant concern from congressional Democrats, who say it will weaken the security posture of telecom systems. The initial measure was enacted in response to Chinese hacks of U.S...

FCC votes to reverse telecom security rulemaking issued under Biden:
www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...

Congress weighed measure to curtail scope of DHS intelligence office A provision, ultimately left out of the Intelligence Authorization Act, would have removed commonplace collection and analysis authorities granted to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of In...

The measure would have also capped the office at 250 employees. But one source familiar says I&A is sitting at around 500 employees now, down from around 1,000 earlier this year. Law enforcement groups also had misgivings about the proposed measure.
www.nextgov.com/policy/2025/...

Congress weighed measure to curtail scope of DHS intelligence office A provision, ultimately left out of the Intelligence Authorization Act, would have removed commonplace collection and analysis authorities granted to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of In...

The statute — ultimately yanked from the final House draft of the Intelligence Authorization Act — would have prohibited I&A from both collecting and analyzing intelligence, turning it into a clearinghouse for intelligence gathered by other spy agencies.
www.nextgov.com/policy/2025/...

Scoop: The House Intelligence Committee privately considered a measure for the annual intelligence community authorization bill that would have stripped core authorities from DHS Office of Intelligence & Analysis, rendering much of the agency’s functions inert ⬇️

Senators expect 10-year extension of cyber data-sharing law in future budget package The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 got a temporary reprieve after the government reopened this month, but it risks lapsing again at the end of January.

Senators expect 10-year extension of cyber data-sharing law in future budget package:
www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...