Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

Swati KhandelwalAug 26, 2026Red Teaming / Security Operations The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has published the results of two red team assessments it conducted simultaneously against two critical infrastructure organizations, using what it described as similar tradecraft while recording sharply different defensive outcomes. Both organizations were fully compromised at the domain level, and in both, the red team also reached sensitive business systems (SBSs) and cloud resources. The advisory, tracked as AA26-237A and titled “A Tale of Two SOCs,” was released on August 25, 2026. CISA identified the first target only as a Government Services and Facilities…

Banks defend themselves against stablecoins by saying they are building tokenized deposits to modernize payments, with programmable money and around-the-clock settlement.Falcon Finance chief RWA officer Artem Tolkachev told CryptoSlate that the explanation covers only half the reason:“It is the balance sheet, not the technology.”A tokenized deposit keeps the money a stablecoin would move off a bank’s balance sheet, leaving it as a deposit the bank can still lend against. Tolkachev said:“A stablecoin competes with the deposit. A tokenized deposit is the deposit, just programmable.”Underneath stablecoins and tokenized depositsTolkachev said that, to whoever is holding them, a tokenized deposit, a reserve-backed…

At 17, Jeret Howard raised his right hand to serve his country as a United States Army combat medic in Iraq. This past summer, he raised his right hand again at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Hired as a civil servant under the agency’s workforce directive to restore core competencies by converting contractors to civil service, Howard’s transition from long-time contractor to logistics management specialist represents a continuation of a life dedicated to national service. He has worked for more than 15 years at America’s largest rocket propulsion test site as a mechanical technician, turning wrenches…

Mexican offshore services company Cotemar has launched an enforcement action in New York, seeking $59.4 million from ABSG Consulting, a U.S. government contractor and subsidiary of American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), after two court victories in Mexico, ordering ABSG to pay for work completed more than eight years ago. Illustration; Source: Cotemar Cotemar has filed an action in the Supreme Court of the State of New York to recognize a Mexican judgment ordering ABSG to pay $34.8 million, plus interest, for unpaid work. ABSG has refused to pay for more than eight years despite Mexican court orders to pay the…

In February 2025, then-U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer traveled to Washington to meet U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time since the latter reentered office. They talked tariffs, Ukraine, and an invitation to visit King Charles. That was routine: The prime minister’s next stop was more unusual. Starmer headed to the showroom of software giant Palantir Technologies for a meeting arranged by Peter Mandelson, then the U.K. ambassador to the United States, whose now-shuttered lobbying firm Global Counsel counted Palantir as a client worth more than 30,000 pounds (about $40,900) a month. Footage shows Starmer flanked by American military…

Claim: Actor Steve Buscemi was attacked on the streets of New York City and hospitalized, as social media users claimed in August 2026. Rating: Context Reports that Buscemi was assaulted and briefly hospitalized in New York City were true, but the incident occurred in May 2024 — not August 2026 when the story recirculated on social media. A rumor that actor Steve Buscemi, best known for his roles in “Boardwalk Empire” and “Fargo,” was attacked and hospitalized in New York City circulated online in August 2026.  People on social media posted images of the actor along with alleged details of the…

  When Nicolas Conquer, a French Donald Trump supporter, took to X on August 20 to decry the migration crisis in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, he did it à la Trump. “In Ceuta, they’re eating the cats,” Conquer posted.  Back in 2024, US President Donald Trump claimed that Haitian immigrants in the United States were eating people’s cats and dogs. Conquer’s accusations, however, are directed at the 2,000 to 5,000 migrants who stayed in Ceuta after a record number of 70,000 people crossed the border from Morocco in late July. The rumours have been gaining traction and, in recent…

When President Trump stormed into American politics, he sought to tear down the hawkish Republican establishment represented by the likes of Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. His project was a smashing success.Ten years later, in a quick effort that culminated last night, he pulled out all the stops to help the late senator’s sister, Darline Graham, claim her party’s nomination for Senate — all but ensuring that the Graham family remains a political fixture for at least the next six years.What changed, of course, was not Trump but Lindsey Graham, who recalibrated his politics and wove himself into the…

It’s turning out to be one of the longer sulks in Nigel Farage’s already sulk-filled career. Few politicians are better at having a strop and holding a grudge than Nige. At least on this side of the Atlantic. Donald Trump could give Farage a run for his money, but skin doesn’t come much thinner than Nige’s. He’s the soul of the Reform party as long as he’s the centre of attention and the yes-men and women – that’s everyone – around him are saying yes. But the moment reality challenges his narcissism, the mirror cracks.There was a time when you…

Well, that was quick. Not even a quarter of the way into an expected 19-day federal trial over Meta’s alleged failure to protect young users, the social media giant agreed to settle the case. The company has agreed to pay up to $16.7 billion to 51 US states and territories and make substantive product changes for how teens engage with its platforms.Attorneys general representing some of the 29 US states that had taken Meta to trial announced the deal on Wednesday, shortly before Instagram head Adam Mosseri was set to return to the witness stand. In a separate announcement detailing…