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  • 🎯 AI Defenders Rise as Infrastructure Faces Digital Siege

🎯 AI Defenders Rise as Infrastructure Faces Digital Siege

Fines, leaks, and hacks—key cyber updates

Author

Alison Bridge
July 22, 2025

Welcome to your essential briefing on threats at the intersection of cybersecurity and critical infrastructure, brought to you by Neeve, the edge cloud security platform for smart buildings, making built spaces secure, intelligent, and sustainable.

This Week’s Cyber Insights

🤖 Google's Big Sleep AI Prevents Live Cyberattack in Global First

Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a cybersecurity breakthrough: the company's AI agent "Big Sleep" successfully identified and prevented a cyber exploit before deployment—marking the first time artificial intelligence has proactively thwarted a real-world attack.

  • Big Sleep detected SQLite vulnerability CVE-2025-6965, a critical security flaw known only to threat actors and at imminent risk of exploitation

  • First successful use of AI to proactively prevent vulnerability exploitation in the wild, intercepting attack before deployment

  • Represents fundamental shift from reactive cybersecurity to preemptive threat interdiction

  • AI now operates continuously across Google's ecosystem and open-source projects, with expanded defense tools planned for cloud clients

🤔 The Bigger Picture:

This represents the cybersecurity industry's evolution toward autonomous threat prevention rather than response-based models. For facility managers, this signals a future where building automation systems could benefit from similar AI-powered threat detection, automatically identifying and neutralizing attacks on HVAC, lighting, and security systems before operational disruption occurs.

A new Team8 report reveals escalating AI-powered cyber threats affecting enterprise security operations, with artificial intelligence risks now surpassing traditional cybersecurity concerns on executive priority lists.

  • 25% of Chief Information Security Officers experienced AI-generated network attacks within the past year

  • AI security risks now outrank vulnerability management, data loss prevention, and third-party risk on CISO priority lists

  • Primary concerns include securing AI agents (37% of respondents) and ensuring employee AI tool compliance with security policies (36%)

  • Nearly 80% of CISOs expect Security Operations Center roles to be first positions replaced by AI, with 49% citing workforce reduction as major factor

  • Currently 69% of companies deploy AI agents with another 23% planning implementation next year

🤔 The Bigger Picture:

This dual-edged AI evolution affects building operations directly. While AI agents can enhance threat detection in smart building systems, they also create new attack vectors that facility managers must understand. The shift toward AI-powered security operations could mean faster response times to building system intrusions, but requires updated incident response plans that account for AI decision-making in critical infrastructure environments.

Cindy Segond von Banchet, Cybersecurity Lead at Yokogawa Europe, outlines the essential framework for sustainable operational technology security programs based on ISA/IEC 62443 standards that combine immediate protection with long-term operational continuity.

  • Yokogawa's six-element Industrial Security Program based on ISA/IEC 62443 standards combines short-term initiatives with long-term resilience

  • Foundation begins with 24/7 network monitoring using asset-centric approach covering PLCs, SCADA systems, RTUs, and HMIs

  • Security-by-design principles and comprehensive employee training treat staff as first line of defense rather than weakest link

  • OT security integrates within enterprise-wide risk management, reporting through CISO or CRO for organizational alignment

  • Legacy system compensating controls prioritized based on safety, availability, and regulatory compliance impacts

🤔 The Bigger Picture:

This framework directly applies to smart building environments where HVAC, lighting, and security systems increasingly connect to enterprise networks. Building operators need similar asset-centric visibility and lifecycle management approaches to secure their operational technology while maintaining system reliability and occupant safety.

Further Alerts & Insights

🤖 96% Deploy AI, Only 2% Can Scale It Securely

F5 research shows 96% of organizations deploy AI models but only 2% can scale securely. Organizations use average of three models with critical gaps in AI-specific protections—only 18% have deployed AI firewalls.

🌏 AI-Driven Attacks Surge 53% Across Asia Pacific

Aon's report reveals cyber incidents in Asia Pacific rose 29% year-over-year, with deepfake social engineering attacks increasing 53%. Companies affected by reputation-damaging incidents saw average 27% shareholder value decline.

🔐 Weak Password Destroys 158-Year-Old Company, 700 Jobs Lost

Single compromised password enabled Akira ransomware gang to destroy KNP transport company, with hackers demanding £5m ransom. The Northamptonshire firm's 500-truck operation collapsed when encrypted systems became inaccessible, highlighting how basic security failures can have catastrophic consequences for critical infrastructure operations.

🇬🇧 UK Launches Vulnerability Research Institute for Critical Infrastructure Protection

NCSC creates new Vulnerability Research Initiative (VRI) partnering with third-party cybersecurity experts to tackle growing vulnerability research demands. Internal teams cannot keep pace with rapidly evolving technology, prompting collaboration to understand flaws, patches, and research methodology across commodity and specialized critical infrastructure systems.

💰 'Big Game Hunting' Attacks Target Major Enterprises

Scattered Spider group caused over $400 million losses at Marks & Spencer through sophisticated social engineering. Average data breach costs now reach $4.88 million as attackers deliberately pursue high-value targets.