The annual hacktivist assault on Israeli networks (and on other identifiably Jewish sites) is due to return tomorrow; many intended targets tighten security and raise awareness. (Coincidentally, a University of Haifa study finds that cyber attacks can prompt severe psychological and physical stress.)

Ireland appears to be facing a smaller hacktivist threat, this one prompted by discontentment over water utility management.

Observers note Russian success in information operations, and wonder at the lack of comparable American capability. Those observers think the gap arises in part from relatively low financial support for effective organizations with Cold War roots, in part from mismanagement in the better-resourced precincts of the State Department. Russian success in social media seems particularly marked, and in online Russian news outlets like the (very American-looking) RT.

Trend Micro warns of two current threats: "NewPosThings" point-of-sale malware (found infecting airport shops) and "CRYPVAULT" (an evolved ransomware attack kit).

GitHub seems to have largely recovered from the denial-of-service attacks it suffered over the last two weeks.

VMWare has patched a Java information disclosure vulnerability. Payment service Venmo upgrades to two-factor authentication. Microsoft reminds users that support for Windows Server 2003 will soon expire.

Retailers struggle to implement lessons learned from last year's data breaches. Start-ups, app developers, healthcare institutions, and universities continue to appear security laggards: enterprises in the first two categories are resource-strapped, in the second two surprisingly unaware of their risks.

Reactions to last week's US Executive Order on sanctions for cyber attacks range from celebratory to cautionary.