Interview: Secret Service origin and dual mission

Patch Tuesday. Preliminary findings from the European Commission come down on TikTok. Switzerland’s military cancels its contract with Palantir. Social engineering leads to payroll fraud. Google hands over extensive personal data on a British student activist. Researchers unearth a global espionage operation called “The Shadow Campaigns.” Notepad’s newest features could lead to remote code execution. Our guest is Hazel Cerra, Resident Agent in Charge of the Atlantic City Office for the United States Secret Service. Ring says it’s all about dogs, but critics hear the whistle.

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CyberWire Guest

Today, we’re joined by Hazel Cerra, Resident Agent in Charge of the Atlantic City Office for the United States Secret Service, as she discusses the evolution of the Secret Service’s investigative mission—from its early focus on financial crimes such as counterfeit currency and credit card fraud to the growing challenges posed by cryptocurrency-related crime.

Selected Reading

Microsoft February 2026 Patch Tuesday Fixes 58 Vulnerabilities, Six actively Exploited Flaws (Beyond Machines)

Adobe Releases February 2026 Patches for Multiple Products (Beyond Machines)

ICS Patch Tuesday: Vulnerabilities Addressed by Siemens, Schneider, Aveva, Phoenix Contact (SecurityWeek)

Chipmaker Patch Tuesday: Over 80 Vulnerabilities Addressed by Intel and AMD (SecurityWeek)

Commission preliminarily finds TikTok's addictive design in breach of the Digital Services Act (European Commission)

Palantir's Swiss Exit Highlights Global Data Sovereignty Challenge (NewsCase)

Payroll pirates conned the help desk, stole employee’s pay (The Register)

Google Fulfilled ICE Subpoena Demanding Student Journalist’s Bank and Credit Card Numbers (The Intercept)

The Shadow Campaigns: Uncovering Global Espionage (Palo Alto Networks Unit 42)

Notepad's new Markdown powers served with a side of RCE (The Register)

With Ring, American Consumers Built a Surveillance Dragnet (404 Media)

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