Reporter

Derek B. Johnson

CyberScoop

Derek B. Johnson is a reporter at CyberScoop, where his beat includes cybersecurity, elections and the federal government. Prior to that, he has provided award-winning coverage of cybersecurity news across the public and private sectors for various publications since 2017. Derek has a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from Hofstra University in New York and a master’s degree in public policy from George Mason University in Virginia.

Articles by Author

A satellite over the U.S. East Coast. (Pixabay)

Researchers find a startlingly cheap way to steal your secrets from space

Cybersecurity

The Chinese hacking group gained persistent access to a popular mapping tool by turning one of its features into a webshell and hardcoding access, according to ReliaQuest. (Image Via Getty)

Flax Typhoon can turn your own software against you

Cybersecurity

The bill likely won’t get far in a GOP-controlled Congress, but proponents described it as part of a broader effort to push back through constitutional institutions. (Image Via Getty)

Dems introduce bill to halt mass voter roll purges

Election Security

An attendee holds a “Register to Vote” sign at Fashion For Our Future March on September 06, 2024 in Herald Square, New York City. In a court filing, the groups argued court action was needed to prevent permanent privacy harm from the government’s “illegal and secretive consolidation of millions of Americans’ sensitive personal data.” (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

Voting groups ask court for immediate halt to Trump admin’s SAVE database overhaul

Government

Despite fears from privacy advocates, officials from the ruling party said mass-scanning proposals like Chat Control should be “taboo in a constitutional state.” (Image via Getty)

German government says it will oppose EU mass-scanning proposal

Government

A new report from the leader in the generative AI boom says AI is being used in existing workflows, instead of to create new ones dedicated to malicious hacking. (Image Via Getty)

OpenAI: Threat actors use us to be efficient, not make new tools

AI

A woman passes by flags of the European Union outside the European commission headquarters in Brussels, on May 23, 2024, ahead of the upcoming European Parliament elections. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP / Getty Images)

Potential EU law sparks global concerns over end-to-end encryption for messaging apps

Technology

Debris of the main entrance of the Evin prison, which is destroyed in Israeli strikes, is pictured in northern Tehran, Iran, on July 1, 2025. A group leveraged dozens of social media accounts and “routinely used” AI-generated imagery and video to stoke unrest among Iran’s population, according to Citizen Lab. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Researchers say Israeli government likely behind AI-generated disinfo campaign in Iran

Government

(Gage Skidmore)

GOP senator confirms pending White House quantum push, touts legislative alternatives

Cybersecurity