Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

PHP2Shell (CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619) arrived with predictions of a Log4Shell-scale mass exploitation event. Panic was visible, many rushed to update or even disconnect systems from the Internet until a patch was applied. PHP runs a large share of the web and the vulnerable ranges were reported to cover every branch from 5.4 to 8.5, which are essentially the majority of versions we can see deployed in the internet installed base.

AI is changing how attackers find and exploit weaknesses, and how security teams respond. As teams bring AI into more of their work, the data and context behind it becomes just as important as the model itself. Today, Bitsight is expanding how customers can use our industry-leading intelligence through three experiences: AI Mode, Bitsight MCP, and Bitsight Skills.

The PHP security team has announced an emergency security release for Wednesday, October 21, 2026 at 14:00 UTC. It addresses two critical vulnerabilities, both rated CVSS v4.0 9.2. The vulnerabilities are tracked as CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619. Both bugs are described as remote code execution issues, meaning an attacker could get their own commands running on a vulnerable server. The route to disclosure was messy.

Public discussion of AI-enabled cybercrime tends to lean heavily on vendor marketing and speculation about future capabilities. We wanted to measure what criminal practitioners are actually discussing, what tools they prefer, and where their attention is shifting.

When people discuss DragonForce, two distinct names usually come up: DragonForce Ransomware and DragonForce Malaysia. To set the record straight, the ransomware operation isn't necessarily the same entity as DragonForce Malaysia. DragonForce Malaysia operates as a politically driven hacktivist collective known for pro-Palestinian campaigns, defacing websites, launching DDoS attacks, and leaking data.

In late July 2026, 36 municipal waste and water systems across Minnesota were targeted in a cyber attack. The attackers targeted Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) that were in control of pressure, pumps, and chemical dosing. When the news broke, it felt like it was everywhere. This was an attack on critical systems, systems that we require and use daily. But cyberattacks on U.S. critical infrastructure systems like water, hospitals, sewage, gas, and electricity aren’t new.

Imagine waking up Monday morning to discover you’ve been breached. The attacker has stolen sensitive financial data, set up persistent access, and then greets you with a lovely ransom note at 8:00 a.m. demanding money in exchange for the encryption key. Immediately, you reach out to your security operations team, and they quickly begin assessing the damage and reviewing the breadcrumbs left behind.

A vendor can pass every questionnaire you send it and still be the reason you end up in a breach report. That's the gap most third-party risk programs live in today. According to the 2026 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, 48% of breaches now involve a third party, up from 30% the year before and 15% the year before that. But most organizations still manage that risk with periodic assessments and separate threat feeds. Those methods can tell you whether a supplier passed a review last quarter.

Citrix disclosed two critical vulnerabilities in NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway that are already being exploited in the wild. CVE-2026-88771 allows unauthenticated attackers to run commands on an affected appliance, while CVE-2026-88772 can lead to remote code execution or denial of service when DTLS is turned on. Both received a CVSS v4.0 score of 9.5, and CISA added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

It’s not a secret that phishing, stolen credentials, and human error remain some of the easiest ways for attackers to get into an environment. Identity has become one of the biggest attack surfaces for organizations today because sometimes, all an attacker needs to do is log in. That access can come from valid credentials, stolen sessions, exposed tokens, compromised service accounts, or abused application permissions.