RSA Conference 2024 [Live Updates]

Recorded Future News will be providing live coverage from the 2024 RSA Conference. You can follow along here to see updates from Jonathan Greig, Martin Matishak and others in San Francisco.

Thursday, May 9

As White House preps new cyber rules for healthcare, Neuberger says backlash is unwarranted

Efforts to get the healthcare industry to adopt multi-factor authentication, offline backups and encrypted data have fallen on deaf ears for years, the White House cyber official said, prompting the U.S. government to take further action. 

Federal agencies helping Catholic health network amid cyberattack

“We're dealing with yet another ransomware attack against a major hospital chain in the country today,” Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technologies, said at the conference. “It's sobering, because I think the lesson is that when you have critical services that cannot be disrupted, those are where we have to prioritize regulation.”

Cyberthreat landscape permanently altered by Chinese operations, US officials say

Even if the U.S. government eventually ejects a notorious Chinese hacking operation that has tunneled into critical infrastructure entities, the sweeping digital campaign has permanently altered the cyberthreat landscape, federal officials say.

Wednesday, May 8

Okta’s security chief on the company’s own cyberattack and how the ‘battleground’ has shifted

Okta Chief Security Officer David Bradbury sits down with Recorded Future News to discuss lessons from the incident in October, how nation-state threats are evolving, and how AI is already influencing identity-based attacks. 

With nation-state threats in mind, nearly 70 software firms agree to Secure by Design pledge

CISA Director Jen Easterly said the voluntary pledge by software companies is important because of widespread nation-state hacking campaigns, including the Volt Typhoon operation attributed to China.

Former NSA head Paul Nakasone to helm national security institute at Vanderbilt

The Nashville-based school on Wednesday announced Nakasone as the founding director and leader of its Institute for National Defense and Global Security, which is expected to formally launch in the fall.

Cyber director sees potential for a new era in White House office

“There's a natural anxiety from a team when there was that much leadership turnover. But we all had our marching orders and have continued to move forward,” National Cyber Director Harry Coker told reporters on Tuesday.

Tuesday, May 7

Any number given of Volt Typhoon victims ‘likely an underestimate,’ CISA says

The government of China’s objective in deploying Volt Typhoon hackers to break into U.S. critical infrastructure is to “cause disruption and sow societal panic,” a senior cybersecurity official said Tuesday. 

CISA wants ‘high-quality feedback’ for another month on CIRCIA rule

“We are actively hoping that we get good, high-quality feedback from critical infrastructure so that we can make sure that the final rule is as good as it can be, and helps us meet the intent of the program,” CISA's Brandon Wales told reporters about the extended comment period for regulations under the 2022 critical infrastructure cybersecurity law. 

Scattered Spider group a unique challenge for cyber cops, FBI leader says

The FBI must “evolve” if it hopes to successfully thwart a group of hackers who have wrought chaos on some of the largest companies in the U.S., according to a senior bureau official, who urged the public to be patient as law enforcement fights the criminal network.

Mayorkas: Implementation of AI can’t lead to 'a perpetuation of implicit bias'

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the first meeting of the the department's Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board included discussions on AI's place in defending critical infrastructure, as well as the civil rights implications of the technology's deployment in DHS tasks.

LockbitSupp suspect identified

U.S., U.K. and Australian authorities said the leader of the LockBit ransomware gang is Dmitry Khoroshev, a 31-year-old Russian national. Brett Leatherman, the FBI's deputy assistant director for cyber operations, told Recorded Future News at the RSA Conference that “no Russian hacker should feel secure that they haven't been identified by the U.S. government.”

Volt Typhoon operation came up 'directly' in US-China talks, ambassador says

Nathaniel Fick, the State Department’s ambassador-at-large for cyberspace and digital policy, told reporters that U.S. and Chinese officials "did speak about Volt Typhoon directly" during a recent meeting.

Monday, May 6

Warner: lawmakers ‘in process’ of finding Section 702 fix

"I am absolutely committed to getting that fixed," Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner said about a provision that has created uncertainty about which communications companies must comply with the recently renewed surveillance law.

Blinken unveils State Dept. strategy for ‘vibrant, open and secure technological future’

In a keynote address, Secretary of State Antony Blinken outlined how the Biden administration plans to engage the rest of the world on a range of technological security issues. 

Stay tuned for more updates ...