This Week's Top Five Stories in Cyber
Why did CrowdStrike Buy Identity Startup SGNL for US$740m?
Cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike has signed a deal to acquire the continuous identity security startup SGNL for US$740m.
This move by CrowdStrike, when read under the backdrop IDC data, which predicts the identity security market to grow from US$29bn in 2025 to US$56bn by 2029 makes greater financial sense.
With the acquisition of SGNL, CrowdStrike will extend dynamic authorisation across SaaS and hyperscaler cloud access layers, setting a new industry standard for identity security in the age of AI.
“AI agents operate with superhuman speed and access, making every agent a privileged identity that must be protected,” says George Kurtz, CEO and founder of CrowdStrike.
“With SGNL, CrowdStrike will deliver continuous, real-time access control that eliminates the known and unknown gaps from legacy standing privileges."
How iOS 26.2 Fixes Cyber Flaws and Thwarts iPhone Spyware
When Apple released iOS 26.2 update, it was with a warning: “update your iPhone now” – not because of all the fuzz about liquid glass, but for two big, buggy reasons.
The Apple iOS 26.2 patches 26 flaws – two of which the company says are currently being exploited by attackers.
iPhone security update iOS 26.2 includes patches for vulnerabilities in WebKit, which powers the Safari browser and iOS applications, making this update critical.
“These flaws allowed malicious web content to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable devices,” says Moshe Levi, Global Manager of the Checkpoint PT Team. “Since WebKit powers Safari and many iOS applications, the potential impact is significant.
“Apple confirmed that the vulnerabilities were exploited in the wild, making this update a high-priority patch for all users."
UK Council Cyber Attack Reveals Global Public Sector Risks
Recent news shows that cybercriminals have taken a fancy to public sector institutions which are being relentlessly attacked for the data they hold.
Be it the City Government Ransomware attack in Minnesota, the Municipality IT supplier attacks in Sweden or the very recent breach of the ManageMyHealth patient portal in New Zealand or the Salt-typhoon hack of US congressional member’s emails, they all tell the same story: cyberspace is at war.
The UK is no different, with suspected Chinese attackers hacking the government's foreign office and several councils being attacked. The latest to be targeted is Kensington and Chelsea Council, which has admitted the personal details of hundreds of thousands of citizens may have been stolen.
“The right technology can support public sector organisations to continuously monitor identity behaviour, detecting subtle anomalies that appear legitimate on the surface,” comments Gregg Hardie, Public Sector Regional Vice President at SailPoint.
“This can help them to act early before low-level compromise escalates into a major incident. Prevention, not just reaction, is what ultimately determines cyber resilience.”
CyberArk: 99% of Enterprises Lack Zero Trust JIT Access
As cyber attackers gain new AI muscle, the need for organisations to amp up their identity security defences is on the rise.
Now, fresh research from CyberArk has highlighted a clear disconnect between companies' confidence in their privileged access programmes and the reality of how they operate day to day, as AI continues to expand the identity-centric attack surface.
At least three-quarters (76%) of firms believe their privileged access management (PAM) strategies are ready for today’s hybrid environments – despite relying on dated, always-on, access mechanisms, which were made for an older era.
“Dynamic, evolving environments mean the nature of privileged access and how to secure it has fundamentally changed,” says Matt Cohen, CEO of CyberArk. “With only 1% of organisations having fully implemented a just-in-time access model, it’s clear that industry-wide modernisation is overdue.
“As AI agents and non-human identities take on increasingly sensitive tasks, applying the right privilege controls to each identity and governing every privileged action is now essential.”
Will ServiceNow’s Armis Deal Reshape AI Security?
When ServiceNow set out plans to acquire Armis for US$7.75bn – in cash – it marked one of the most significant cybersecurity consolidations in recent years, anchored by the shared goal of automating cyber risk management at scale.
Armis, a leader in cyber exposure and cyber-physical system protection, will become part of ServiceNow’s growing Security and Risk portfolio in an acquisition expected to close in the second half of 2026.
The deal, described as a “strategic step forward” by Armis Co-Founder and CEO Yevgeny Dibrov, expands ServiceNow’s security footprint across IT, OT, IoT, and medical environments.
“From the beginning," says Yevgeny, "Armis has been built to help organisations see, protect and manage every asset they depend on across IT, OT, IoT, medical devices, cloud and code in an environment where the attack surface continues to expand.
“Joining ServiceNow strengthens our ability to deliver on that mission at even greater scale.”
