An actress who never existed can now sell a product, star in a film and build an online following. Tilly Norwood is one of many AI-generated performers whose presence is becoming normalized in entertainment and marketing.
https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/102652-deepfake-desensitization-is-the-new-crisis
Eighty-six percent of distributed enterprises experienced a cyberattack in the past 12 months, according to research released by VikingCloud.
https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/102704-majority-of-cyberattacks-spread-beyond-the-initial-system
Recently, DataDome recently released a report on bot and AI agent security.
https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/102703-ai-agents-generated-more-than-600-million-requests-to-login-pages
The U.K. will likely face AI cyberattacks on its critical infrastructure by 2028 as criminals and states, including China and Russia, increasingly use AI in their cyber activity.
The post UK Cyber Chief Says the UK Will Face AI Cyberattacks on Critical Infrastructure by 2028 appeared first on SecurityWeek.
https://www.securityweek.com/uk-cyber-chief-says-the-uk-will-face-ai-cyberattacks-on-critical-infrastructure-by-2028/
The botnet was created and operated for financial gain by Android OEM/ODM Videostrong Technology.
The post Google Dismantles XCPE Botnet of 1.3 Million Android Devices appeared first on SecurityWeek.
https://www.securityweek.com/google-dismantles-xcpe-botnet-of-1-3-million-android-devices/
The NATO CCDCOE exercise in Estonia introduces AI agents and OpenAI Daybreak into joint cyber and kinetic operations training.
The post NATO’s Crossed Swords Exercise Brings AI Agents Into Cyber Operations Training appeared first on SecurityWeek.
https://www.securityweek.com/natos-crossed-swords-exercise-brings-ai-agents-into-cyber-operations-training/
Attackers again tampered with internet-exposed refrigeration controllers, this time at stores in Belgium, Sweden, Ireland and beyond.
The post Over 100 European Stores Hit as Supermarket Fridge Attacks Return appeared first on SecurityWeek.
https://www.securityweek.com/over-100-european-stores-hit-as-supermarket-fridge-attacks-resume/
When disruption hits, the business continuity function must be able to answer what is impacted, what happens next, what is the financial exposure, and what should be prioritized.
https://www.securitymagazine.com/blogs/14-security-blog/post/102641-when-cybersecurity-incidents-become-business-resilience-problems
SecurityWeek tracked 37 cybersecurity merger and acquisition (M&A) deals announced in October 2026.
For a look at last year’s activity, see SecurityWeek’s 2025 Cybersecurity M&A Report, which covers more than 420 deals.
Here are some of the most important cybersecurity M&A deals announced in October 2026:
Absolute Security acquires FirmGuard
Endpoint security and cyber resilience firm Absolute Security has acquired FirmGuard, the UEFI BIOS firmware security and management business of Phoenix Technologies. Absolute will integrate FirmGuard with its firmware-embedded Absolute Persistence technology, adding below-the-OS management, continuous firmware integrity monitoring and patching, and compliance enforcement.
Aikido Security acquires OutKept and Cyberly
Belgian application security unicorn Aikido Security has acquired OutKept and Cyberly and used the two startups to launch Noon, a workforce security business. OutKept is based in Belgium and provides phishing simulations and security awareness training. Poland’s Cyberly develops AI-powered attack simulations and tools for tracking employee AI usage. Both deals closed in September but weren’t made public until October.
Anthropic to acquire Opaque Systems
AI company Anthropic has agreed to acquire Opaque Systems, a confidential AI company that grew out of research at UC Berkeley. Anthropic has described the deal as licensing Opaque’s technology and hiring some of its engineers, reportedly including CEO Aaron Fulkerson and CTO Rishabh Poddar. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
Canadian AI developer Cohere has signed a letter of intent to acquire AISLE, a startup whose autonomous AI systems find and help patch vulnerabilities in critical software. AISLE’s roughly 50 employees will join Cohere, which is setting up a cybersecurity unit called Cohere Cyber. AISLE CEO Ondřej Vlček, the former CEO of Avast, will become its senior vice president.
Hex-Rays, the Belgian company behind the IDA Pro reverse engineering tool, has agreed to acquire HexAI, an Israeli startup founded in 2025. HexAI’s AI agents analyze source code and binaries to uncover vulnerabilities, malware and backdoors. The deal is reportedly worth $30 million to $35 million. Hex-Rays plans to grow HexAI’s Israeli operations and build new AI-powered research tools.
Quantum computing company IonQ has agreed to acquire zero trust security firm Elisity in an all-stock deal worth up to $1.3 billion, including up to $150 million in performance-based earnouts. IonQ will combine its post-quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution technology with Elisity’s IdentityGraph platform, which enforces least-privilege access for users, devices, workloads and AI agents. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Thoma Bravo-owned Proofpoint has agreed to acquire data security company Varonis for roughly $6.3 billion in cash. Together, the companies want to offer a single platform for discovering and protecting sensitive data, controlling access to it, and preventing data loss as organizations adopt AI.
Other cybersecurity M&A deals announced in October 2026:
Acture Solutions acquires Digital BackOffice
Bregal Milestone acquires Majority Stake in Nethive
Bytes Technology Group to acquire CyberOne
EC-Council acquires Cyber Insurance Academy
Forte Technologies acquires Business Cyber Security Solutions
GCubed acquires RightDirection Technology Solutions
Macnica to acquire Majority Stake in CyberSec IT Consulting
Maximus to acquire Agile Defense
Protectt.ai acquires Majority Stake in AIShield
SAIC acquires Information Security Corporation
Sequrio acquires Althammer & Kill, DATATREE and Nextwork
SGS acquires Majority Stake in Prescient Security
V-Key acquires Majority Stake in CloudsineAI
Vista Equity Partners to acquire HID’s PKI Business
Xopero Software acquires Vigil Guard
Related: Cybersecurity M&A Roundup: 39 Deals Announced in September 2026
https://www.securityweek.com/cybersecurity-ma-roundup-37-deals-announced-in-october-2026/
The Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) says hackers breached its student financial aid website, potentially exposing the personal information of roughly 4.9 million people.
The department discovered the intrusion on October 19. It says it launched its incident response procedures after detecting the threat and has since contained the breach.
“At this time, we believe the incident was limited to the Florida Student Financial Aid website (FloridaStudentFinancialAidSG.org) and may have impacted approximately 4.9 million individuals,” the department said.
The website is the online hub for Florida’s state-funded scholarship and grant programs. FLDOE warns that anyone who has applied for financial aid in the state in the past could be among those affected.
Names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and gender codes are among the data types the attackers may have accessed.
“Not all individuals were necessarily affected, and the specific information involved may vary by person,” FLDOE noted.
The department has not disclosed how the attackers got in or who is responsible, and no threat group appears to have publicly claimed the attack. The Florida Digital Service and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are assisting with the response.
The department has cautioned that some of its websites and online services may be disrupted for a time as remediation continues.
According to FLDOE, students’ existing aid is safe. The breach will not delay the disbursements and tuition payments it handles, nor will it change eligibility for its scholarships, grants, and student loans.
The breach follows a September incident at the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV). That agency confirmed hackers had accessed its driver database after the ShinyHunters extortion group claimed to have stolen more than 200,000 driver records.
FLHSMV traced the intrusion to compromised credentials belonging to a local police department user but did not name ShinyHunters.
Related: Revolve Data Breach Impacts at Least 180,000 People
Related: Chainalysis Discloses Data Breach Following AI-Driven Cyberattack
Related: Polymarket Returns $3.9 Million to Traders as DebugBear Cites DNS Hijack
https://www.securityweek.com/florida-student-aid-website-hack-puts-data-of-4-9-million-people-at-risk/