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

An undersea fiber optic cable is attached to a rope at Arrietara beach near the Spanish Basque village of Sopelana on June 13, 2017. (Photo by ANDER GILLENEA/AFP via Getty Images)

FCC tightens rules on foreign firms building undersea cables, citing security

Government

PHP — (Getty Images)

Cursor’s AI coding agent morphed ‘into local shell’ with one-line prompt attack

Research

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 17: U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) walks to the Senate Chambers U.S. Capitol on June 17, 2025 in Washington, DC. Padilla has returned to the U.S. Capitol with a bigger security detail and is set to make a speech on the Senate Floor, where he will discuss his removal from a news conference being held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after trying to ask a question. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Senate Democrats call Trump admin’s focus on state voter rolls a pretext for disenfranchisement

Government

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 18: In this photo illustration, Gemini Ai is seen on an iPad on March 18, 2024 in New York City. Apple announced that they’re exploring a partnership with Google to license the Gemini AI-powered features on iPhones with iOS updates later this year. Google already has a deal in place with Apple to be the preferred search engine provider on iPhones for the Safari browser. (Photo Illustration by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Researchers flag flaw in Google’s AI coding assistant that allowed for ‘silent’ code exfiltration

Research

DEK: In a scathing opinion, Judge David Carter called the federal government’s demands for unredacted voter data “unprecedented and illegal.” (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)

Hundreds of registered data brokers ignore user requests around personal data

Government

President Donald Trump answers questions while departing the White House on July 11, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump AI plan pushes critical infrastructure to use AI for cyber defense

Government

voting, election, polling, politics — Voting carrels in the 2019 Ohio general election. (Tim Evanson / Flickr)

House Republicans endorse stricter state and federal-led voter roll purges despite dearth of evidence on fraud

Election Security

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 28: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem delivers remarks to staff at the Department of Homeland Security headquarters on January 28, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta-Pool/Getty Images)

After website hack, Arizona election officials unload on Trump’s CISA

Government

A worker walks inside of an uranium conversion facility in Iran on March 30, 2005. Stuxnet, a piece of malware reportedly developed by Israel and the U.S. to destroy equipment in the facilities like the one pictured, will be the subject of a forthcoming Congressional hearing. (Photo by Getty Images)

House hearing will use Stuxnet to search for novel ways to confront OT cyberthreats

Government