Keeping up with the cybersecurity news cycle feels less like reading these days and more like watching the blur of a speeding train.
Did you blink? You just missed three new vulnerabilities, two patch management announcements, and a new existential threat. Following the latest developments is a full-time job, and it’s easy for important stories to slip by.
So ICYMI—remember when we had enough time to actually type out “in case you missed it?”—we’ve gathered three top stories on controversial topics published in the last year here in Focal Point. They’re packed with pro tips and action items, and we’ve included late-breaking news updates on each that will have consequences for enterprises in the coming year.
For business executives, security leaders, and anyone eager to make sense of the latest tech trends, this is your chance to get caught up over the holiday break.
We’re looking back at our exclusive interview with SolarWinds CISO Tim Brown and the fallout from his SEC saga, our deep dive into the unnervingly rapid approach of quantum tech, and some major new developments that broke just this week on “vibe coding”—a topic we explored just last month.
So lean back, relax, and get reading. And rest assured, we’ll have more essential cyber news, with the expert analysis you need to make sense of it all, in 2026.
A rare sit-down with SolarWinds CISO Tim Brown
THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: When award-winning writer and longtime Focal Point contributor David Rand interviewed Brown this summer, the ink was still drying on his preliminary settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Last month, more than two years after the SEC charged the chief information security officer with fraud related to the notorious SolarWinds hack, the federal regulator dropped its case against the software development company and the beleaguered CISO.
“I ended up having a heart attack the week that I was informed I was being charged. So, I guess I was not doing as well as I thought.”Tim Brown, SolarWinds CISO, in our interview about his landmark SEC case
Not that CISOs can now breathe easy, as industry observers have noted.
The landmark case marked the agency’s first cybersecurity enforcement action to include fraud claims—and to charge an executive officer in the process. The joint stipulation submitted on November 20 by the SEC, SolarWinds, and Brown to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York may mean the case is dismissed, but the pressures on CISOs remain.
In this exclusive sit-down, Brown discusses with candor the physical and emotional toll of being held publicly accountable for a cyber breach while having little to no control over budgets, boards, and enterprise-wide decisions.
As for the SEC? Just a year ago, it looked like the SEC was gunning for CISOs and prepping a slew of regulations for the finserv sector. A report released last month from Cornerstone Research and NYU’s Pollack Center for Law and Business finds the number of SEC enforcement actions initiated against public companies and their subsidiaries declined over the last two fiscal years, from 80 in 2024 to 56 in 2025—a 30% drop. Of those FY25 actions, only four were initiated by the Trump administration. That low figure makes it difficult to anticipate what their future approach to enforcement will be, leaving those high burnout rates for CISOs unabated.
[Read also: SolarWinds CISO Tim Brown and his remarkable takeaway—being a CISO is still a great job]
The quantum question—just when will (enough) leaders take this threat seriously?
THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Our first deep dive into the complicated world of quantum threats was back in 2023, when experts were saying this tech—which can upend the current system of cryptography that our current computers rely on—would be perfected in perhaps 10 years or so. When we came up with our pocket guide to quantum last spring, the predictions were more dire—the infamous “Q” day, when hackers can gain access to bank accounts and government records and personal data everywhere, may be upon us sooner than the next season of Ted Lasso (or thereabouts).
And still, few enterprise leaders are taking the threat seriously. Since our story ran, an IBM report found that 73% of organizations report their business and tech leaders are working closely on their quantum-safe strategy. But only 19% of orgs have near-term maturity goals in place for these initiatives.
Another grim stat: Only 30% of organizations have inventoried applications, data, and services to understand how cryptography is implemented across their systems—and visibility is a critical starting point, say experts.
We are at “an inflection point,” notes Col. Ed Debish (Ret.), a 27-year U.S. Marine Corps veteran and now a thought leader and executive client advisor for Tanium, a leading autonomous IT solutions provider (and publisher of this magazine). “We are no longer discussing if quantum computers will impact national security but when,” he wrote in a recent call-to-action for federal leaders.
In recent weeks, we’ve seen some steps in the right direction. The Australian Cyber Security Centre last week released a technology primer that explains in simple language how quantum tech will impact cybersecurity, encryption, and long-term risk planning. Singapore’s Cyber Security Agency released drafts of a Quantum Safe Handbook and Quantum Readiness Index to guide infrastructure owners and government agencies through the complex transition to quantum-safe cryptography. These resources are up for public consultation through the end of the year—government and industry stakeholders are encouraged to provide feedback (here) to guide the CSA as they prepare final versions.
And for the record, in the U.S., quantum readiness remains a bipartisan priority, and early signals from the Trump Administration indicate their commitment to the issue, Debish notes. The U.S. National Security Agency has a page of post-quantum resources. You can check that out after you get the scoop here.
[Read also: Quantum computing is advancing fast—a cybersecurity pocket guide]
Feeling or fearing the vibes—the smart money is on both
THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: You wouldn’t expect the creator of a mega-popular AI coding tool to say that the gizmos are limited and “not that great at coding.” But that’s what Boris Cherny, creator of Anthropic’s Claude Code, said last week on an episode of The Peterman Podcast.
“Everyone can be a developer of software.”Anton Osika, co-founder and CEO, Lovable AI
The current tools work fine enough for “throwaway code and prototypes, code that’s not in the critical path,” he said, but for tough technical code, he still writes that by hand. Vibe coding, he added, is “definitely not the thing you want to do all the time.”
Really, Boris? Tell that to the founders of Lovable AI, who announced last week that the venture capital arms of Alphabet and Nvidia have invested in the Swedish startup’s $330 million Series B funding round, vaulting it to a $6.6 billion valuation, which makes it one of the fastest-growing companies in tech history.
Fueling this fundraising is the meteoric surge in vibe coding, a new anybody-can-do-it approach to writing applications that has coders fretting about job security—and CISOs seriously worried their organizations could be inundated with software containing exploitable vulnerabilities. If you haven't reviewed the best ways to defend the software supply chain, it's time.
“Everyone can be a developer of software,” proclaimed Lovable co-founder and CEO Anton Osika in an interview with CNBC this summer. “I think we’re going to see more ability to innovate for software engineers and everyone else,” he said, predicting that this will lead to better products getting into the hands of consumers more quickly.
Also—as we’ve seen this year—more glitch-riddled software applications with wide-open back doors getting into the hands of hackers.
In our October analysis, we break down the heady history of the trend, the tools, and the biggest risk-takers, and follow up with some smart decisions that CEOs and security leaders can take now to get a handle on this growing new activity. Step one? Ensuring visibility across your network.
[Read also: Vibe coding—these AI tools offer speed, savings, and astounding risk]