US Cyber Strategy Goes Dual-Track

Author

Taylor Hawes
September 10, 2025

✍🏻 From the Editor’s Desk

Cybersecurity leaders are entering the final quarter of 2025 with an unusual mix of pressures: escalating AI-driven threats, complex regulatory environments, and rising geopolitical risks. The challenge is no longer choosing between compliance or security investment but balancing both while preparing for adversaries who are already ahead. How prepared is your organization for 2026’s regulatory and threat landscape?

🔎 Deep Brief

Finance Sector Faces Rising Compliance Pressures

Financial organizations are facing increased scrutiny as regulators tighten expectations across cybersecurity, ESG reporting, and international trade. The U.S. is preparing to enforce new tariffs and ESG disclosure rules, and these intersect with evolving cyber mandates that require stronger reporting on risk management and vendor oversight. For global finance firms, this creates a complex web of compliance obligations where failing in one area can trigger cascading consequences.

Regulators are focusing heavily on operational resilience, cyber risk governance, and supply chain accountability, making traditional check-the-box approaches obsolete. Leaders are now shifting toward integrated compliance strategies that merge ESG and cybersecurity risk management under a single governance structure. This shift demands heavy investment in threat intelligence, vendor vetting, and auditing technology to stay ahead of potential penalties and reputational fallout. Financial institutions must view compliance not just as a regulatory exercise but as a competitive differentiator, where demonstrating resilience becomes a trust signal to both regulators and customers. 

🧠 Strategy in Action

US Cyber Strategy Goes Dual-Track

The U.S. National Security Council is advancing a cyber strategy that integrates offensive and defensive priorities rather than treating them as separate missions. Anne Neuberger, the NSC’s Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, emphasized that investments in intelligence-driven offensive operations are being paired with stronger defensive initiatives to build resilience.

👉 Takeaway: This dual-track approach is particularly aimed at countering ransomware groups, advanced persistent threats, and state-sponsored attacks. By aligning government offensive teams with private sector defensive operations, organizations are benefiting from actionable intelligence on attack methods and infrastructure.

🕵️ Threat Actor Spotlight

Southeast Asian Scam Networks

Southeast Asia has become a hub for large-scale scam networks that combine human trafficking with cybercrime, creating one of the most dangerous threats in the global fraud ecosystem. Criminal groups lure workers with false job offers, then coerce them into running phishing campaigns, crypto investment scams, and other schemes targeting victims worldwide.

These operations are highly organized, with dedicated teams for social engineering, payment routing, and laundering stolen funds through crypto exchanges. Their reach extends across borders, exploiting gaps in law enforcement and financial regulation. Victims lose billions of dollars each year, while trafficked workers face abuse and imprisonment if they fail to meet quotas. 

🛠️ Tool Check

Best Software Deployment Tools in 2025

Software deployment is a core function of IT and security operations, and selecting the right platform reduces operational risk. Comparitech’s independent review identifies top-rated software deployment tools based on functionality, flexibility, and value.

  • NinjaOne – A cloud-based platform with remote monitoring, software license management, patching, and deployment. Includes a 14-day free trial.

  • Atera – RMM platform with built-in integration for Chocolatey and Homebrew to enable automated deployments. Offers a 30-day free trial.

  • ManageEngine Endpoint Central – Comprehensive endpoint management for Windows and Linux, with robust remote deployment features. Free 30-day trial available.

  • Atlassian Bamboo – A continuous integration tool with strong deployment capabilities for software development teams.

  • Octopus Deploy – Available as a cloud service or on-premises, with compatibility checks and automation for large environments

🗣️ Community Signal

We’ve placed greater value on having the right answer rather than the ability to think, the ability to solve problems, the ability to weigh a series of pros and cons and come up with a solution.” Zach Hinkle, Social Media Manager at Malwarebytes Lab on using AI for cybersecurity.

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Until next edition!