While AI models continue to advance in capabilities & scope, efforts to secure them struggle to keep pace. These models must be protected against threats & attacks. This week the SL5 Task Force, incubated at IST, released an overlay for frontier AI infrastructure, charting a path to SL5. Learn more:

This week, pro-Iranian hackers leveled the first #cyber attack on U.S. critical infrastructure since the onset of the Iran War. IST Exec in Residence @joshcorman.bsky.social spoke to CNN about the increased risk to healthcare and water providers during wartime. 🛡️Read more:

Pro-Iranian hackers claim to have wiped 200k devices of a major U.S. medical manufacturer. While cyber ops have been ongoing in Iran, this is the first domestic incident. Tomorrow at 12 PM ET/9 AM PT, IST friends & adjunct advisors break down the attack & its implications. 🛡️ Register: bit.ly/40ZUORw

The case for #nuclear risk reduction has never been more urgent. IST’s nuclear policy team hosted a workshop & exercise last month with policy & technical stakeholders to address gaps in nuclear crisis comms. IST’s Catherine Murphy reflects on the discussion & what’s next for #CATALINK. ⚠️ Read more:

Today’s #Cyber Strategy for America outlined six key priorities for the administration’s “cyber vision.” We asked IST experts to weigh in on what’s there and what isn’t, where they see opportunities, and what it means for #cybersecurity going forward. 🛡️Read their takeaways:

IST Chief Strategy Officer @megans.bsky.social visited Germany in February to join cybersecurity experts from around the globe at #MCSC. From digital sovereignty to the risks and opportunities of AI, she reflected on her experience for the #NatSpecs blog. 🛡️ Read more:

IST Chief Strategy Officer @megans.bsky.social visited Germany in February to join national security strategies from around the globe at #MCSC. From digital sovereignty to the risks and opportunities of AI, she reflected on her experience for the #NatSpecs blog. 🛡️ Read more:

Ahead of the #CATALINK Initiative's Geneva workshop, CEO Philip Reiner sat down for a virtual convo with former Google VP of Security Eric Grosse to offer background on the #nuclear #cybersecurity landscape & the need for secure, resilient leader-to-leader communications. ⚠️ Watch the discussion:

#RSAC is less than a month away – is your schedule set? IST will join global #cyber leaders in San Francisco next month, as our team joins sessions tackling active defense, the congressional agenda, stopping teen hackers, and more! 🛡️ Here’s where you can find IST at RSAC:

The Andrew Carnegie AI–Nuclear Policy Accelerator aims to seed a network of nuclear policy practitioners capable of translating AI developments into concrete policy through technical literacy & applied engagement. Apps for the inaugural cohort close tomorrow, Feb. 28 at midnight PST. 🎓 Learn more:

The Trump admin's National Cyber Strategy is imminent. Will it, as rumors suggest, prioritize #cyber offense over defense to shape adversary behavior? For Claroty #Nexus, IST CSO @megans.bsky.social breaks down the history of cyber strategy & the drawbacks of an offense-first approach. 🛡️ Read more:

Moltbook, a Reddit-like forum for AI agents, gained 1.5mil users before research suggested that a multi-agent environment w/o cybersecurity guardrails could be a hotbed for fraud & influence ops. IST’s Gabrielle Tran outlines what this means for the future of cyber-enabled manipulation. 🛡️ Read more:

Around the country, Flock cameras have become a source of privacy concerns for parents and teachers alike. IST’s @michaelfklein.bsky.social joined the K-12 Tech Talk Podcast to weigh in on the recent controversy, impacts on schools, and how #securebydefault could be the solution. 🛡️ Listen now:

The Andrew Carnegie AI–Nuclear Policy Accelerator is a initiative designed to strengthen decision-making at the intersection of AI & nuclear policy. Mid-career practitioners across sectors are invited to join this program focused on tech literacy & applied engagement. 🎓 Learn more:

IST’s Michael Klein hosted a CoSn webinar earlier this month to brief district leaders on the state of AI & #cybersecurity in ed. From AI development history to how threat actors are using it to their advantage, he walked leaders through tackling AI concerns in their districts. 🛡️ Watch the webinar:

🚨 NEW from IST: Jan 2026 was, in many ways, an inflection point. From the resumption of Nvidia H200 sales to China to congressional discussion on restricting remote cloud access, a new memo from IST’s #AIChipExportControl Initiative unpacks what these developments mean for the future. 🏛️ Read more:

As AI tech enters nuclear weapons, policy debates are accelerating faster than practitioners can keep up. The new Andrew Carnegie AI–Nuclear Policy Accelerator at IST seeks to close this gap, providing mid-career professionals with hands-on technical literacy & applied engagement. 🎓 Learn more:

At @defcon.bsky.social last summer, hackers of all kinds convened to share #cyber research. The Hackers’ Almanack translates this work into plain language to give policymakers a window into the latest in offensive AI, cybercrime, critical infrastructure vulnerabilities & more. ➡️ Read the Almanack:

At the Third Annual #CyberPolicyAwards, NJ CISO Michael Geraghty was awarded the Cyber Policy Award for U.S. Domestic Policy Impact. NJOHSP director Thomas Hauck congratulated Michael, commending his “exceptional leadership & vision in advancing New Jersey’s cybersecurity capabilities.” ➡️ Read more:

The Andrew Carnegie AI–Nuclear Policy Accelerator is a new, practitioner-focused initiative designed to strengthen decision-making at the intersection of #AI & #nuclear. Are you a mid-career professional in the national security space seeking hands-on technical literacy & engagement? 🎓 Learn more:

The future with AI in it is filled with “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns.” For the #NatSpecs blog, IST’s Mariami Tkeshelashvili reflects on her co-authored report, released today, and what she sees as our #AI responsibility. ❇️ Read more:

Welcome back to The TechnologIST! This month, we’re looking at the risk of AI Loss of Control – that is, models diverging from authorized constraints, to the extent that a human operator can no longer prevent or constrain undesired outcomes. 🗞️ Read more:

🚨NEW from IST: Though tech & policymakers alike are eager to address AI Loss of Control, in which an AI system diverges from authorized constraints, gaps still exist in how stakeholders understand & perceive these risks. Today’s report proposes a new methodology to monitor AI LOC risk. ❇️ Read more:

As AI techs proliferates, so too do #cyber attacks, including those against schools, IST Senior Director @michaelfklein.bsky.social told EdWeek. AI tools greatly enhance the capabilities of the average hacker, lowering “the barrier for sophisticated cybercrime,” he explained. 🛡️ Read more:

From working with small and local communities to connecting with policymakers, #UnDisruptable27’s mantra is to innovate narrowly and scale widely. The third edition of the #U27 newsletter officially released the Call for Proposals for #CriticalEffectDC ‘26! 🛡️ Read more:

New @hacktheplant.bsky.social: @brysonbort.bsky.social is joined by Dr. Natalie Sullivan as shares her experience living through a hospital #ransomware attack & why #cyber resilience can be the difference between life or death in medicine. 🎙️ Listen now: hack-the-plant.simplecast.com/episodes/sys...

“85% of the nation's critical infrastructure operators..don't have a single qualified cybersecurity person on staff,” IST Exec @joshcorman.bsky.social spoke before the NH House Science, Tech & Energy Committee on #UnDisruptable27's work bringing #cyber resources to rural facilities. ➡️ Watch now:

Even after Google’s well publicized takedown of the IPIDEA “residential proxy” networks, these services are still not a focus of policymakers. IST recently convened a roundtable to discuss how to raise awareness about this urgent threat & begin to develop practical policy solutions. 🛡️ Read more:

As AI tech enters the nuclear weapons space, policy debates are accelerating faster than practitioners can keep pace. In response, we're excited to launch the Andrew Carnegie AI–Nuclear Policy Accelerator. 🎓Learn more and apply today! securityandtechnology.org/blog/ist-lau...

What are the costs of cyber espionage operations? CSINT's report unpacks this question for policymakers & practitioners. @melissakgriffith.bsky.social, Alexander Leslie, & IST’s @tgrossman.bsky.social present a new framework to capture the full costs borne by both targets & defenders. 🛡️ Learn more:

Yesterday, the Third Annual #CyberPolicyAwards gala honored key members of the cyber policy community before a packed house of cyber community veterans, leaders, and industry partners in Washington, D.C. 🏆 Learn more:

At the Third Annual Cyber Policy Awards™ gala last night, 7 individuals & orgs were awarded the Atlas trophy for outstanding contributions to cyber policy. These prestigious awards honor those in the community whose work defined the #cybersecurity landscape in 2025. 🏆 Read the full list of winners:

🏆 At last night’s Cyber Policy Awards Gala, Assistant Secretary of War for Cyber Policy and Principal Cyber Advisor to the Secretary of War Katie Sutton joined Microsoft Corporate VP and Deputy General Counsel Amy Hogan-Burney for a fireside chat. #CyberPolicyAwards

🏆 The Cyber Policy Award™ for Ecosystem Champion goes to @philr.bsky.social for championing the cybersecurity nonprofits ecosystem. Congratulations Philip! #CyberPolicyAwards

🏆 The Cyber Policy Award™ for Lifetime Achievement goes to David Koh for for championing honest & productive dialogue in the international cybersecurity community & fundamentally advancing the global conversation on cyber policy over the course of his career. Congratulations! #CyberPolicyAwards

🏆 The Cyber Policy Award™ for Excellence in Journalism goes to Brian Krebs (Krebs on Security) for significant contributions to the strategic and tactical understanding of cyber criminality. Congratulations Brian! #CyberPolicyAwards

🏆 The Cyber Policy Award™ for Research Impact goes to Cheri Caddy, Ginger Wright, Benjamin R. Lampe, Andrew Ginter, and Andrew Ohrt, PE, CISSP for advancing cybersecurity for physical systems through Cyber-Informed Engineering. Congratulations all! #CyberPolicyAwards

🏆 The Cyber Policy Award™ for International Partnership goes to the Cyber Defense Assistance Collaborative (CDAC) for creative scaling of private sector assistance to Ukraine. Congratulations! #CyberPolicyAwards

🏆 Sen. Gary Peters of the Senate Homeland Security & Gov. Affairs Committee joined the Third Annual #CyberPolicyAwards gala to deliver a keynote address. Sen. Peters was also presented with the Congressional Cyber Leadership Award for service to the nation & cyber leadership. Congratulations!

🏆 The Cyber Policy Award™ for International Policy Impact goes to Rear Admiral (Ret) Mark Montgomery for cyber leadership in practice, from Ukraine’s frontlines to the Indo-Pacific. Congratulations Mark! #CyberPolicyAwards

🏆 The Cyber Policy Award™ for U.S. Domestic Policy Impact goes to Michael Geraghty for transformation of New Jersey’s cybersecurity posture, delivering measurable economic and security impact. Congratulations Michael! #CyberPolicyAwards

🏆 The #CyberPolicyAwards™, now in its third year, has kicked off in Washington, DC! Org. committee members & co-hosts Steve Kelly & Megan Stifel opened the night by welcoming the gathered #cyber community. 🌟 Follow along on our socials for the latest updates from the ceremony and tonight’s winners!

AI companions are making headlines around the world, but how do AI stakeholders see the future of these chatbots @alltechishuman.bsky.social's report interviewed 25+ AI experts, including IST's Gabrielle Tran, to present community recommendations for securing against risks. 🛡️ Learn more:

IST, along with the Cyber Policy Awards organizing committee, is pleased to spotlight the sponsors of the Third Annual Cyber Policy Awards™. We are especially honored to recognize our platinum level sponsors, Microsoft and Craig Newmark Philanthropies! 🏆 Learn more:

IST will once again convene with global cyber experts at RSAC in San Francisco this March. The IST team joins sessions tackling active defense, the congressional agenda, stopping teen hackers, and more! 🛡️ Here’s where you can find IST at RSAC:

This morning, @thebulletin.org reset the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds to midnight. Now more than ever it is vital that our nuclear comms systems are both secure & resilient. Enter #CATALINK, IST’s blueprint for a dedicated, last-resort comms system. ➡️ Former NATO DSG Rose Gottemoeller explains:

How is AI transforming the #cybersecurity landscape for K–12 for school districts and their vendors? At 2PM ET tomorrow, IST Sr. Dir. Michael Klein hosts a CoSN discussion on risks, opportunities, and practical safeguards with school district tech directors from WA and OR. 🛡️ Register to join:

“Every time that we stop caring about cybersecurity, it leaves our own systems more vulnerable,” IST Sr. Dir. Elizabeth Vish spoke to Inside Cybersecurity about the Trump Admin’s Executive Order withdrawing the U.S. from 66 international organizations, including #cyber partners. 🛡️ Read more:

Global affairs have already been deeply unsettled in 2026, making #UnDisruptable27’s mission more urgent than ever. In the latest edition of the newsletter, listen to the new #HackthePlant, mark your calendars for Critical Effect 2026, and find out where to find the U27 team this year. 🛡️ Read more:

On 2/5, the #cyber community will gather in Washington, DC to honor of the winners of the Third Annual Cyber Policy Awards™. Registration closes at midnight tonight! Don’t miss your chance – request your invitation today and join us in celebrating #cyber progress in 2025! 🏆 Request an invite: