Cyber

Peraton has achieved CMMC Final Level 2 certification, strengthening its ability to handle controlled unclassified information across US defence and national security programmes.

Germany is holding off Palantir defence software contracts for now. The decision highlights procurement tension between battlefield AI tools, national military databases, contractor access, and sovereign control of sensitive defence data.

CISA and the NCSC have warned about Firestarter malware. The backdoor targets Cisco ASA, Firepower, and Secure Firewall infrastructure, creating persistence concerns for government, defence, and critical national infrastructure networks.

Japan is weighing deeper electronic warfare cooperation with Northrop Grumman. The discussions cover electromagnetic-spectrum detection, disruption, simulation, and training systems as Tokyo strengthens its ability to counter software-defined, wideband, distributed, and multispectral threats.

Testing around large language models used in U.S. defence workflows has sharpened focus on source integrity, foreign influence, and assurance controls for generative AI.

The UK has opened a new call to AI companies to help strengthen national cyber defence, while adding funding and supply-chain expectations to its resilience agenda.

Counter-drone spending is moving beyond militaries and toward infrastructure owners. Recent incidents are widening the addressable market for protection, sensing, and site-resilience systems.

Keith Hardiman has been approved as chief information officer for the Department of the Air Force, putting a permanent leader over enterprise IT, cybersecurity, data, and AI at a point when digital resilience is feeding directly into force design and programme execution.