The ransomware toll road.

Treasury sanctions a VPN provider tied to ransomware. The Pentagon hits pause on CMMC audits. Critical flaws surface in Google Cloud’s Dialogflow CX. Estée Lauder discloses a data breach. Mobile networks become a battlefield for tracking U.S. personnel. Australia calls out Big Tech over child safety. SAP patches critical bugs. CISA flags an actively exploited Cisco flaw. And the federal government accelerates AI investments. Our guest is Bogdan Botezatu, Senior Director, Threat Research and Reporting at Bitdefender, talking about Cyberthreats to Journalists and Influencers. AI costs savings come at a price. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you’ll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Today we are joined by Bogdan Botezatu, Senior Director, Threat Research and Reporting at Bitdefender, is talking about "Targeting the Messengers: Cyberthreats to Journalists and Influencers," their awareness campaign designed to address the escalating digital and reputational risks faced by media professionals in hostile environments. Selected Reading US sanctions VPN, malware providers for enabling ransomware attacks (Bleeping Computer) Pentagon announces 'immediate suspension' of CMMC Phase II mandates (Breaking Defense) Google Cloud Dialogflow CX vulnerability allowed AI agent hijacking | brief  (SC Media) Estée Lauder Companies Reports Data Breach Exposing Health Records and SSNs (Beyond Machines) US military targeted in Iran war phone-tracking campaign (Financial Times) Australia finds serious gaps in Big Tech response to online child sexual abuse (Reuters) SAP warns of critical flaws in NetWeaver and Commerce Cloud (Bleeping Computer) CISA adds Cisco IOS flaw to known exploited vulnerabilities catalog | brief (SC Media) Federal AI Projects Get Priority in TMF Funding Dash (GovInfo Security) Companies Are Throttling Employees’ AI Use Because It’s Too Expensive (404 Media) Share your feedback. What do you think about CyberWire Daily? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey. Thank you for helping us continue to improve our show. Want to hear your company in the show? N2K CyberWire helps you reach the industry’s most influential leaders and operators, while building visibility, authority, and connectivity across the cybersecurity community. Learn more at sponsor.thecyberwire.com. The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc.