Top 5 Cybersecurity Headlines to Know this Month
BARR Advisory Cybersecurity Consulting Manager Larry Kinkaid picked out five security and compliance headlines from the past month that you need to know. Take a look to find out what our consulting team has been reading this June—plus, scroll to see his CISO Pick of the Month for Larry’s top new resource for security and compliance professionals this month.
OpenAI Scores $200M DoD Contract
The Pentagon just inked a $200 million deal with OpenAI to develop cutting-edge AI prototypes for military and enterprise use. The goal: harness “frontier” AI to tackle national security challenges across warfighting and defense operations. The contract runs through mid-2026 and adds to OpenAI’s momentum—its annualized revenue hit $10 billion in June, and it’s eyeing a $300 billion valuation in its latest funding round.
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Swiss Banks Report Data Leak
A cyberattack on Swiss service provider Chain IQ exposed data from at least 20 companies, including banks UBS and Pictet. While no client data was reportedly compromised, the leak included tens of thousands of UBS employee records—possibly even the CEO’s direct line. The incident underscores the growing risk of third-party breaches, especially in industries like finance.
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Microsoft Publishes Report on Multicloud Security
Microsoft’s new State of Multicloud Security report sheds light on the growing complexity of securing today’s cloud environments. From vulnerable code repositories to bloated workload identities and fragmented data security tools, the report highlights how multicloud adoption is expanding the attack surface. Microsoft urges organizations to take a more unified, risk-based approach—before attackers take advantage.
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AI is Behind Rising Number of Cyberattacks
Fortinet’s latest Global Threat Landscape Report paints a sobering picture: cybercriminals are leveraging AI and automation to launch faster, more targeted attacks—especially against U.S. organizations. Ransomware groups like Ransomhub and LockBit 3.0 are thriving, while compromised credentials have surged 42% amid a 500% spike in stolen data. The message is clear: defenders must shift to AI-powered, proactive security strategies or risk falling behind.
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Report Reveals Common Zero Trust Mistakes
As cloud adoption accelerates, zero trust has shifted from theory to necessity. But according to new guidance from CloudOptimo, many organizations are still falling short—treating zero trust as a checkbox exercise rather than a continuous strategy. From over-permissioned identities to blind trust in cloud providers, the report outlines six common mistakes undermining cloud security. The bottom line: zero trust only works when it’s operationalized across identity, behavior, and governance—and when security teams collaborate with the business, not just IT.
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Larry Kinkaid,
Manager, Cybersecurity Consulting
CISO Pick of the Month:
Your Guide to Healthcare Vendor Risk Management
Strong vendor partnerships begin with strong risk management—especially in the healthcare space. Join BARR Advisory’s Steve Ryan this Tuesday, June 24, at noon ET, as he explores real-world strategies for mitigating risks posed by third-party vendors in a webinar hosted by HIMSS New England.
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