Thursday 6th March 2025

Good morning everyone and thank you for joining me for the latest instalment of Cyber Daily. If you’ve ever dreamed of an ATM spitting out free cash, some cybercriminals just lived that fantasy—until the FBI showed up. Meanwhile, Apple is taking on the UK government over encryption, and former NSA officials are warning that mass government layoffs could leave the U.S. exposed to cyber threats.

Enjoy the read!

Apple vs. UK Gov: The Encryption Showdown

Apple is taking its fight for user privacy to the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), challenging a government order that would force it to weaken iCloud encryption. The move marks the first-ever appeal of its kind to the IPT, a judicial body that handles cases involving government surveillance.

The battle escalated in January when the UK’s Home Office issued a technical capability notice (TCN) under the controversial Investigatory Powers Act—also known as the Snooper’s Charter—demanding Apple create a backdoor for law enforcement. Instead of complying, Apple disabled its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature in the UK, stripping away end-to-end encryption for iCloud backups.

Privacy advocates are calling the government's approach "draconian," warning that weakening encryption could push secure messaging tech underground. Meanwhile, US officials are eyeing the case closely, with concerns that UK surveillance demands could extend to American citizens.

The UK government previously advised professionals handling sensitive data to use Apple’s ADP. Now? That guidance has mysteriously vanished from official sources.

Ex-NSA Cyber Chief: Mass Firings Threaten National Security

The U.S. government’s cybersecurity operations could take a major hit if mass firings of probationary federal employees move forward, warned Rob Joyce, the NSA’s former cybersecurity director, in testimony before Congress.

The Trump administration attempted to fire nearly all federal probationary employees—those in their roles for less than a year—citing bureaucratic inefficiency. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the move, but Joyce and other experts argue the damage may already be done.

“These employees are vital to countering Chinese cyber threats against U.S. infrastructure,” Joyce told lawmakers, adding that eliminating probationary hires would gut the NSA’s talent pipeline. Agencies like CISA and the NSA rely on these specialists, who often wait over a year for security clearances before beginning their work.

Some cybersecurity professionals have already left for more stable private-sector jobs, while national security officials fear the firings could weaken U.S. defenses against foreign cyberattacks.

ATM Hackers Busted in Jackpotting Heist

Two Venezuelan nationals have been arrested in the U.S. for their role in an ATM jackpotting scheme—a high-tech heist that forces ATMs to spit out cash like a broken slot machine.

The suspects, David Jose Gomez-Cegarra (24) and Jesus Segundo Hernandez-Gil (19), allegedly hit multiple ATMs in New York, Massachusetts, and Illinois, stealing around $187,000. Surveillance footage caught them accessing an ATM’s internals in New York, installing a device, and returning hours later to drain $110,000. Their crime spree ended when Illinois police pulled them over for “suspicious activity.”

The DOJ recently charged six other Venezuelans in a separate jackpotting case that drained $400,000 from ATMs last December. While it's unclear if the cases are linked, both gangs are now facing justice in New York.

As ATM jackpotting schemes grow, banks may need to beef up security—or risk getting cleaned out.