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Global Group ransomware is delivered through phishing emails and can encrypt files offline without any internet connection.
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Some Army civilian employees who were supposed to be furloughed during the recent shutdown went to work anyway, then were instructed to fill out time cards stating that they had not. Now the workers fear that this violated standard procedures and forced them to break the law.
When a shutdown looms, government agencies typically tell each employee whether they are “excepted/exempted”—that is, allowed to work during the lapse in annual appropriations—or “non-excepted,” and therefore barred from working.
In an email to staff on Monday, Feb. 2—the first weekday of the four-day shutdown—the Army’s Installation Management Command told its employees via email to proceed with “normal operations,” adding that “all command battle rhythm events will occur as scheduled.” The email said that Army headquarters had issued no formal guidance for the shutdown, and therefore employees should continue conducting their normal work.
That struck at least some staff as a violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act, the law that restricts federal spending to only what Congress appropriates.
“I don’t know how anyone in the Army can have non-excepted employees currently work with no appropriation,” said one IMCOM employee who was slated to be furloughed but who was told to work anyway. “Someone needs to be held accountable.”
Later on the evening of Feb. 2, IMCOM officials again emailed the command's civilians, instructing them to report to work on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
They did. But late on the morning of Feb. 3, workers deemed non-exempted received furlough notices, and consequently stopped working.
Later that day, command leaders sent an email instructing non-exempt workers to code their timesheets as having been on furlough all day on Feb. 2 and Feb. 3.
Government Executive and Defense One reviewed copies of the emails.
The IMCOM employee noted that federal workers must certify their timesheets are true and accurate before submitting them.
“This is neither true or accurate,” the employee said of the timesheet they were told to submit. They suggested the directive was a “CYA,” or cover your ass, move by the command’s leaders after having employees work who were not supposed to do so.
Nicole Wieman, an IMCOM spokesperson, declined to comment and directed questions to the Army.
Asked about the matter, Army spokesperson Christopher Surridge sent this statement: “The U.S. Army shutdown [sic] when directed by the Department of War.”
Spokespeople for the Defense Department declined to comment.
Something similar happened at a different Army office. An email sent on the morning of Feb. 3 advised civilian employees to “ensure their time and attendance is recorded for Feb. 3-6, 2026, with furlough time” even if they worked when they weren’t supposed to be.
An Army civilian who received that email said no shutdown guidance was provided to the office during regular work hours on Feb. 2.
“It’s very frustrating,” the civilian said. “We’re all just sitting on the edge of our seats, waiting. Are we going to get sent home? Are we not going to be sent home?”
The shutdown ended on the evening of Feb. 3, when President Trump signed a spending bill. The following day, employees were back to their normal duties.
Just before the shutdown began, Defense Department officials released guidance that around 55 percent of its 740,000-plus civilian employees would work through the funding lapses, while the rest would be placed on furlough. The guidance made clear that federal employees were not permitted to work once they completed their “orderly shutdown activities,” which, per the Office of Personnel Management, can take “up to four hours.”
“Federal agencies generally may not accept services from employees, whose salaries are set by law, without the obligation of appropriations for their compensation, except for emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property,” the guidance stated.
The furloughed employees were, by definition, not excepted for the protection of life or property and were therefore ineligible to continuing working all day on Feb. 2 and into Feb. 3.
The Anti-Deficiency Act is enforced by the Government Accountability Office, which noted violations during the first Trump administration.
On Thursday, GAO spokesperson Jessica Baxer said that the law prohibits agencies from accepting “voluntary services” from its employees.
“As such, when a shutdown occurs, the act requires agencies to generally stop their operations,” Baxter said. “While there are exceptions, we have noted that the ongoing, regular functions of government may not continue during a lapse in appropriation.”
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The European Commission reports a cyber attack on its central mobile infrastructure that may have exposed staff names and phone numbers.
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The Central Intelligence Agency is overhauling its acquisition process to get new tech faster, officials said Monday.
A new framework introduces a vendor-vetting system, streamlines IT authorization, and "provides clear pathways for CIA to leverage its unique authorities to acquire essential capabilities, rapidly onboard breakthrough technology prototypes, and modernize its core systems to meet urgent mission needs,” according to a Feb. 9 statement.
The effort is led by Efstathia Fragogiannis, an alum of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency who joined the agency as its procurement chief in November, according to a CIA official who spoke with Nextgov/FCW ahead of release.
The official said the framework is a response to the government’s slower procurement timelines, which can create obstacles for innovative companies and slow the agency’s access to new technology, the CIA official said.
In recent months, the CIA has underscored its key role in U.S. national security, from rolling out Mandarin-language recruitment videos that encourage Chinese officials to secretly share information with U.S. intelligence to carrying out covert operations in Venezuela.
During his January 2025 confirmation hearing, CIA Director John Ratcliffe stressed the need for the spy agency to accelerate and modernize how it procures technology. For years, the CIA has leaned on the private sector to aid in its secret missions, relying on contractors, commercial data and private-sector technology to fill gaps in intelligence collection and operational reach as national security challenges have grown more complex.
“We’re optimizing our approach to working with the private sector,” Ratcliffe said in a statement. “CIA’s rapidly evolving mission demands a radical shift towards a culture of speed, agility and innovation. By leveraging the best technological solutions available today, the CIA will be better equipped to meet the intelligence challenges of tomorrow.”
The CIA has long been deemed a human intelligence agency at heart, but its ability to recruit sources and assess findings has become increasingly tied to technology. In 1999, it launched In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit investment arm designed to spot and fund startups building cutting-edge tools for U.S. intelligence and defense agencies.
It has notably spent the last 15 years or so aggressively shifting its technical backbone to a multi-billion-dollar commercial market of cloud and AI services. In 2019, CIA began the buildout of its vast Commercial Cloud Enterprise designed for data storage, computing and analytics. And about a decade ago, it launched its Directorate for Digital Innovation to augment its tech and cyber capabilities.
“CIA is open for business. We’re entering a range of commercial partnerships, from startups to industry leaders, in areas like AI, biotech, FinTech and microelectronics,” agency deputy director Michael Ellis said in remarks provided to Nextgov/FCW. “If you’re a company pushing the boundaries of emerging technologies, we want to partner with you to help CIA stay ahead of foreign adversaries by getting game-changing capabilities into the hands of our officers faster.”
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The Cyber Security Agency (CSA) of Singapore on Monday revealed that the China-nexus cyber espionage group known as UNC3886 targeted its telecommunications sector. “UNC3886 had launched a deliberate, targeted, and well-planned campaign against Singapore’s telecommunications sector,” CSA said. “All four of Singapore’s major telecommunications operators (‘telcos’) – M1, SIMBA Telecom, Singtel, and
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The U.S. military seized its eighth tanker allegedly linked to Venezuela, the Defense Department said on social media Monday.The interdiction occurred “without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility,” according to the post, which claimed the incident happened “overnight” though the accompanying one-minute video showed a daytime operation.
“Suezmax tanker Aquila II departed from Venezuelan waters in early January…carrying about 700,000 barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude bound for China,” Reuters reports. U.S. forces “tracked and hunted this vessel from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean,” the Defense Department said in a statement, and added, “By land, air, or sea, our Armed Forces will find you and deliver justice. You will run out of fuel long before you will outrun us.”
The U.S. military carried out its 37th deadly strike on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the waters around Latin America, U.S. Southern Command said in a statement late last week. The strike happened Thursday and killed two occupants as the vessel traveled along “known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific,” SOUTHCOM said, and specifically credited its new commander as ordering the strike.
The U.S. has killed at least 128 people in its boat-strike campaign so far, which began in early September with a series of strikes that some say may have violated the laws of war. Critics have likened the strikes to a campaign of extrajudicial killings, and the administration has yet to share evidence supporting its claims that those aboard the boats were in fact trafficking drugs when they were killed. The New York Times maintains a tracker from that lethal campaign, here.
By the way: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed Thursday that “Some top cartel drug-traffickers in the @SOUTHCOM [region] have decided to cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY due to recent (highly effective) kinetic strikes in the Caribbean,” the Pentagon chief wrote on his personal social media account—without providing evidence to support his claim. “This is deterrence through strength.”
While the White House continues to threaten Cuba by cutting off oil shipments to the island nation, U.S. Navy warships are in the waters near Haiti, which is dealing with growing gang violence and instability, the Haitian Times reported Wednesday.
“The ships—the USS Stockdale, USCGC Stone and USCGC Diligence—arrived under Operation Southern Spear, according to an embassy statement issued after images of the vessels circulated widely on social media on Feb. 3, prompting widespread reaction of Haitians across the world,” the local newspaper reported last week. “The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard reaffirm their partnership and support to ensure a safer and more prosperous Haiti,” embassy officials said in their statement.
“As Haitians debate sovereignty, security and foreign involvement, reactions to the U.S. naval presence remain mixed,” the Haitian Times reports. “Some see it as a potential lifeline amid worsening insecurity, while others fear it signals renewed external influence at a time when Haiti’s political future hangs in the balance.” More, here.
Related reading:
- “Cuba Warns Airlines They Can’t Refuel After Trump Tariff Threat,” Bloomberg reported Monday; Reuters has similar coverage here;
- “Argentina requests extradition of Maduro from the US on crimes against humanity charges,” but the White House is not expected to comply, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Army moves to link a full division with its next-gen C2 prototype. The 4th Infantry Division is working to scale testing of the Army’s next-generation command-and-control system from a battalion to division level by this summer, the division’s commander told reporters on Thursday.
The Colorado-based unit is coming off of more than two weeks in the field for its latest Ivy Sting exercise, Maj. Gen. Pat Ellis said, the fifth since the series began in September. This time, they increased from the ability to shoot from one networked artillery system to six, among other incremental advancements. Defense One’s Meghann Myers has more.
See also: “The US Army’s quiet rotation in the Philippines,” via Military Times, reporting Saturday.
New: Defense One launches Fictional Intelligence, a new monthly column by authors Peter W. Singer and August Cole; it explores the future of technology and warfare through the lens of short speculative fiction. Read the first one—about China, space, ground networks, and special operations—here.
Welcome to this Monday edition of The D Brief, a newsletter focused on developments affecting the future of U.S. national security, brought to you by Ben Watson with Bradley Peniston. It’s more important than ever to stay informed, so we’d like to take a moment to thank you for reading. Share your tips and feedback here. And if you’re not already subscribed, you can do that here. On this day in 2001, and during a public-relations mission with eight CEOs and their spouses, U.S. Navy submarine USS Greeneville surfaced and collided with the Japanese fishery training ship Ehime Maru, killing four of the 35 people on board and sinking the ship just 10 minutes later off the coast of Hawaii.
Trump 2.0
The Trump administration is under fire after the NSA detected a “foreign intelligence phone call about a person close to Trump,” the Guardian reported Saturday in a follow-up to Wall Street Journal reporting last week regarding unusual actions taken by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard last May—just weeks before the U.S. military carried out unprecedented attacks inside Iran in conjunction with the Israeli military.
“But rather than allowing NSA officials to distribute the information further, Gabbard took a paper copy of the intelligence directly to the president’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, according to the whistleblower’s attorney,” Cate Brown of the Guardian reports. “One day after meeting Wiles, Gabbard told the NSA not to publish the intelligence report. Instead, she instructed NSA officials to transmit the highly classified details directly to her office.”
Lawmakers were briefed on the matter last week. And after that briefing, the New York Times reported that “It is not clear what country the two foreign nationals were from, but the discussion involved Iran.”
Relatedly, the White House has changed its story four times while trying to explain DNI Gabbard’s presence during a recent FBI raid at an election center in Georgia, the New York Times reported Thursday. Why it matters: “Gabbard’s involvement in the Georgia raid has drawn scrutiny given that her role overseeing the nation’s intelligence agencies does not include on-site involvement in criminal investigative work, and because the results of Georgia’s 2020 election have been the cornerstone of Mr. Trump’s claims that the election was rigged against him.”
Commentary: “Tulsi Gabbard is showing why her job shouldn’t exist,” veteran national security columnist David Ignatius argued Thursday in the Washington Post.
In Eastern Europe, Trump’s ambassador to Poland floated withdrawing American troops after a Polish lawmaker said the president doesn't deserve a Nobel Peace prize, Politico reported Friday. Those remarks from Ambassador Tom Rose were just one in a flurry of posts on social media after criticism Monday from Polish Parliament Speaker Włodzimierz Czarzasty. Rose announced “no further dealings, contacts, or communications” with Czarzasty, and later threatened, “Should we take all our soldiers and equipment with us?” (He eventually deleted that post after calls for decorum from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.)
Meanwhile, the White House has reportedly given Ukraine and Russia a new deadline to find some way to end Russia’s Ukraine invasion. AP has a bit more, reporting Saturday from Kyiv, here.
And speaking of Russia, disgraced financier Jeffrey “Epstein’s network included Russian tech investors with past Kremlin ties,” the Washington Post reported Friday. That includes “Masha Drokova, a former teen leader of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s youth organization, Nashi.”
Trump’s Navy secretary John Phelan is listed on Jeffrey Epstein’s flight logs twice in 2006, CNN reported Friday after the manifests were shared on Reddit. The first was a flight from New York to London while Phelan worked on Feb. 27, 2006, while Phelan worked as an advisor with Dell Technologies. The second was from London back to New York on March 3. “There is no evidence Phelan knew of any wrongdoing by Epstein or his associates when he took the flight,” CNN reports. Four months later, Epstein was indicted in Florida for felony solicitation of prostitution.
“The flight manifests list Epstein, Phelan and a handful of other men, including Jean-Luc Brunel, a French model scout who was accused of rape during the 1990s and later of providing girls to Epstein. Brunel was found dead in his jail cell in France in 2022 after being charged in a related case; authorities ruled it death by suicide,” Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post reported Friday as well.
Related reading:
- “Norwegian diplomat steps down over Epstein ties, in widening scandal,” Reuters reported Sunday from Oslo;
- “Slovakia PM's national security adviser resigns over Epstein links,” the BBC reported last week;
- “The New York Times found more than 5,300 files with references to [President] Trump,” reporting Feb. 1, here;
- And “The Epstein scandal is taking down Europe’s political class. In the US, they’re getting a pass,” Politico reported Friday; ABC News has similar reporting on the U.S.-European contrast, here.
U.S. official hints at building new nukes. “February 5, 2026, indeed marks the end of an era: the end of US unilateral restraint,” Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno told the U.N.’s Disarmament Conference in Vienna on Friday, alluding to the end of the New START Treaty. CNN: “Although he did not explicitly say the US would upload additional nuclear weapons now that it was no longer bound by the agreement, he indicated it was likely.”
DiNanno also accused China of testing a nuke, saying that the country had “conducted one such yield-producing nuclear test on June 22 of 2020.” DiNanno provided no details about the test, though he further alleged that China had sought to conceal the test by conducting it in a purpose-built underground cavern. A former U.S. official told CNN that U.S. information about the test has been declassified.
China is a signatory to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty of 1996, but has not ratified it, which is part of the reason the treaty is not yet in force.
DiNanno also repeated calls for new arms-control talks between Russia, China, and the United States, echoing the approach of the first Trump administration. Arms-control experts have noted that China has little interest in such talks.
Amid Trump’s talk of one day acquiring Greenland as America’s “52nd state,” Canada just opened a consulate there in a “show of support” for the Arctic island, the Financial Times reported late last week.
The Greenland consulate is part of “our new foreign policy and Arctic strategy,” and is “focused on security, sovereignty, and partnership in the North,” Foreign Minister Anita Anand announced on social media Thursday.
“France also opened a consulate in Nuuk on Friday, making it the first EU member to have a diplomatic mission in Greenland,” FT adds.
By the way: Trump again posted about making Greenland and Canada a U.S. territory, sharing an AI-generated map on social media just before midnight Sunday.
Additional reading/listening:
- “Immigration Raids in South Texas Are Starting to Hit the Economy,” the Wall Street Journal reported Monday;
- “A Raid in a Small Town Brings Trump’s Deportations to Deep-Red Idaho,” the New York Times reported Monday as well;
- “The Kids Trump Sent to ICE’s Dilley Detention Center,” ProPublica reports after speaking by video with several children at the holding center in Texas;
- “Religious freedom group says US military members were 'pressured' by commanders to see ‘Melania,’” Business Insider reported Thursday;
- And ICYMI, journalist Sarah Posner picked the brain of Florida religious studies professor Julie Ingersoll to discuss “Pete Hegseth, Doug Wilson, and the God of War,” in Posner’s Reign of Error podcast last week.
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Torrance, United States / California, February 9th, 2026, CyberNewswire Criminal IP (criminalip.io), the AI-powered threat intelligence and attack surface intelligence platform, is now integrated with IBM QRadar SIEM and QRadar SOAR. The integration brings external, IP-based threat intelligence directly into IBM QRadar’s detection, investigation, and response workflows, enabling security teams to identify malicious activity faster […]
The post Criminal IP Integrates with IBM QRadar to Deliver Real-Time Threat Intelligence Across SIEM and SOAR appeared first on GBHackers Security | #1 Globally Trusted Cyber Security News Platform.
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Microsoft has revealed that it observed a multi‑stage intrusion that involved the threat actors exploiting internet‑exposed SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD) instances to obtain initial access and move laterally across the organization’s network to other high-value assets. That said, the Microsoft Defender Security Research Team said it’s not clear whether the activity weaponized recently
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Torrance, United States / California, 9th February 2026, CyberNewswire
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This week in cybersecurity from the editors at Cybercrime Magazine
Sausalito, Calif. – Feb. 9, 2026“Scam Interceptors is kind of a unique show in that we basically blend ethical hacking with investigative journalism, and we use those two separate skill sets to try and stop scams before they happen,” Nick Stapleton tells Cybercrime Magazine.
Stapleton is the author of How to Beat Scammers, a self-help guide and deep dive into the world of scams and fraud. He also appears on BBC Morning Live as an expert on scams and fraud. His podcast, Scam Clinic, was described by The Guardian as “a staggering listen” on its release in 2024.
In the TV series Scam Interceptors, Stapleton, Rav Wilding, Jim Browning and a team of ethical hackers use the same remote-access technology used by cybercriminals to hack the hackers, identifying and contacting their victims to try and stop crime before it happens.
Stapleton explains the who, what, where, when and why around Scam Interceptors on the award-winning Cybercrime Magazine YouTube Channel.
Cybercrime Magazine is Page ONE for Cybersecurity. Go to any of our sections to read the latest:
- SCAM. The latest schemes, frauds, and social engineering attacks being launched on consumers globally.
- NEWS. Breaking coverage on cyberattacks and data breaches, and the most recent privacy and security stories.
- HACK. Another organization gets hacked every day. We tell you who, what, where, when, and why.
- VC. Cybersecurity venture capital deal flow with the latest investment activity from various sources around the world.
- M&A. Cybersecurity mergers and acquisitions including big tech, pure cyber, product vendors and professional services.
- BLOG. What’s happening at Cybercrime Magazine. Plus the stories that don’t make headlines (but maybe they should).
- PRESS. Cybersecurity industry news and press releases in real time from the editors at Business Wire.
- PODCAST. New episodes daily on the Cybercrime Magazine Podcast feature victims, law enforcement, vendors, and cybersecurity experts.
- RADIO. Tune into WCYB Digital Radio at Cybercrime.Radio, the first and only round-the-clock internet radio station devoted to cybersecurity.
Contact us to send story tips, feedback and suggestions, and for sponsorship opportunities and custom media productions.
The post TV Show “Scam Interceptors”: The Intersection Of Ethical Hacking And Investigative Journalism appeared first on Cybercrime Magazine.
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