A morning without Cloudflare.

Cloudflare suffers a major outage. Google issues an emergency Chrome update. Logitech discloses a data breach. CISA plans a major hiring push. The House renews the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. The GAO warns military personnel are oversharing online. Tech groups urge governments worldwide to reject proposals that weaken or bypass encryption. Australian authorities blame outdated software for the death of a telecom customer. An alleged Void Blizzard hacker faces extradition to the US. Our guest is Kevin Kennedy from ManTech discussing the future battlefield and the importance of integrating non-kinetic effects. AI meets the IRS. What could possibly go wrong?

Today is Tuesday November 18th 2025. I’m Dave Bittner. And this is your CyberWire Intel Briefing.

Cloudflare suffers a major outage. 

A major outage at Cloudflare disrupted access to numerous websites on Tuesday, highlighting how much of the internet relies on a few core providers. The company said a spike in unusual traffic around 11:20am GMT caused errors across multiple services, preventing some users from reaching sites and blocking customers from viewing performance dashboards.

Cloudflare reported partial recovery by early afternoon, although elevated error rates continued during remediation. Engineers disabled the Warp encryption service in London as they worked to stabilize traffic. Maintenance had been scheduled in several datacentres, but the company said the cause of the anomaly remains unknown. Experts noted that the scale of Cloudflare’s network makes a cyber attack unlikely.

Google issues an emergency Chrome update.

Google has issued an emergency Chrome update to patch two high-severity type confusion vulnerabilities in the V8 JavaScript engine, including one zero-day already under active exploitation. CVE-2025-13223, discovered by Google’s Threat Analysis Group on November 12, is being used in real-world attacks, which Google says likely involve government-backed actors or commercial spyware operators. A second flaw, CVE-2025-13224, was reported earlier by Google’s Big Sleep AI agent, though there is no evidence of active abuse. Type confusion bugs can lead to memory corruption and let attackers escape Chrome’s security boundaries. The fixes arrive in Chrome versions 142.0.7444.175/.176 across major platforms and will roll out gradually. Users and administrators should update immediately, including those running other Chromium-based browsers.

Logitech discloses a data breach. 

Logitech has disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission that attackers exploited a zero-day vulnerability in a third-party software platform, allowing them to copy some data from the company’s internal IT systems. Logitech said the flaw was patched once the vendor released a fix and noted that the stolen data likely included limited information about employees, consumers, customers, and suppliers. The company does not believe sensitive personal data, such as national ID numbers or payment information, was involved, and said its products, operations, and financials were unaffected. The disclosure follows Clop’s claim that it breached Logitech using a zero-day in Oracle’s E-Business Suite, though Logitech has not confirmed this. The broader campaign has impacted multiple organizations, with Clop listing dozens of victims.

CISA plans a major hiring push. 

CISA plans a major hiring push through 2026 to recover from deep staffing losses under the Trump administration and to prepare for potential conflict with China, according to a Nov. 5 memo from acting director Madhu Gottumukkala. He said personnel cuts left the agency with about a 40 percent vacancy rate across key mission areas, limiting its ability to meet national security needs. CISA will prioritize hiring state cybersecurity coordinators and regional advisers, expand use of DHS’s Cyber Talent Management System to bring in specialized talent at market rates, and streamline hiring with DHS. The agency also plans more flexible workplace policies, expanded university partnerships, and renewed internship pipelines to rebuild expertise and restore strained relationships with critical infrastructure partners.

The House renews the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. 

The House has overwhelmingly passed the PILLAR Act, renewing the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program through 2033 after its September 30 expiration. The initiative has supplied $1 billion to help state and local governments bolster cybersecurity, and lawmakers pushed for a stable, long-term reauthorization rather than continued short-term extensions. Bill sponsor Rep. Andy Ogles said the measure drew strong bipartisan support because defending local networks is essential to national security. The chamber also approved the Strengthening Cyber Resilience Against State-Sponsored Threats Act in a 402–8 vote. That legislation establishes an interagency task force, led by the FBI and CISA, to focus on countering cyber operations linked to China, which House leaders say represent a growing strategic threat.

The GAO warns military personnel are oversharing online. 

The Government Accountability Office warned that the Defense Department is not adequately training military personnel or civilian staff to prevent sensitive information from leaking online. In tests where auditors posed as threat actors, GAO investigators were able to use publicly available social media posts, family support groups, and even Pentagon press releases to trace service members, identify their units, uncover family details, and identify operational activities. GAO said such data can enable coercion, blackmail, or threats to active missions. Ten DoD components showed gaps in training or threat assessments, with most focusing narrowly on operational security while overlooking insider threats and force protection. GAO issued 12 recommendations. DoD agreed to most but argued it cannot fully control the personal online activity of service members and their families.

Tech groups urge governments worldwide to reject proposals that weaken or bypass encryption. 

More than 60 digital commerce and technology groups are urging governments worldwide to reject any proposals that weaken or bypass encryption, arguing that strong encryption is essential for privacy, data security, and global digital trust. In a joint letter, groups including the App Association, BSA, and the Information Technology Industry Council said backdoors, key escrow, or technical mandates would harm all users while offering limited benefits to law enforcement. The appeal comes as several countries pursue lawful-access measures, from UK disputes over Apple’s encrypted services to Ireland’s exploration of new access authorities. Europe also nearly advanced the “Chat Control” regulation, which critics warned would enable mass device scanning and end digital privacy, before opposition halted the vote.

Australian authorities blame outdated software for the death of a telecom customer. 

Australia’s TPG Telecom says a customer died after their Samsung phone, running outdated software, could not connect to Triple Zero, the country’s nationwide emergency number equivalent to 911 in the United States. The failed call occurred on November 13 on TPG’s budget Lebara service, and the relative needing help later died. TPG said its network was functioning normally and that early findings show the Samsung device’s outdated software made it incompatible with Triple Zero routing requirements, which ensure calls connect on any available mobile network. Regulators are now investigating whether emergency-access rules were breached, especially since older Samsung devices were already known to struggle with automatic network switching. Samsung urged users to keep devices updated, and TPG said it warned customers on November 7 to update older models.

An alleged Void Blizzard hacker faces extradition to the US. 

Thai authorities have arrested Russian national Denis Obrezko, whom the United States seeks to extradite on cyber-crime charges. Police say the 35-year-old is linked to Void Blizzard, a cyber-espionage group that Microsoft associates with hacking operations aligned with Russian state interests. Obrezko arrived in Phuket on October 30 and was detained on November 6 in a joint operation with the FBI. Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau says he previously breached government systems in both Europe and the U.S. Police seized electronic devices from his hotel room for forensic review, and he is being held in Bangkok pending extradition. Microsoft reports Void Blizzard typically uses stolen credentials and basic techniques like password spraying to access organizations across government, defense, transportation, media, NGOs and Ukraine-related sectors.

 

AI meets the IRS. What could possibly go wrong? 

Intuit has decided that if everyone is going to chat with an AI anyway, it might as well be the one helping them file taxes. The company signed a multi-year deal worth more than $100 million with OpenAI, giving TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks and Mailchimp a cozy new home inside ChatGPT. Users will be able to ask the usual life-or-death questions, like whether they can finally deduct their home espresso machine, and—with permission—Intuit’s tools will even dip into their financial data to estimate refunds, review credit options or nudge clients about overdue invoices.

This move puts Intuit among a growing crowd of companies building ChatGPT-accessible apps, though few others are letting AI whisper directly into customers’ financial decision-making. Intuit insists it has guardrails, validation layers and years of tax lore to keep hallucinations at bay, though it stayed politely vague about who pays if the AI makes an expensive oops. Still, the company is expanding its use of OpenAI models across products and internally through ChatGPT Enterprise, all in pursuit of a more automated financial future—hopefully with fewer surprises than tax season usually delivers.

And that’s the CyberWire.

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