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

WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 15: Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson testifies before the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government in the Rayburn House Office Building on May 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Subcommittee held an oversight hearing on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

FTC warns tech companies not to weaken encryption, free speech practices for foreign governments

Government

DOYLESTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 29: Election equipment and supplies that will be distributed to polling locations in Bucks County are seen at a warehouse on October 29, 2024 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. According to Deputy Director of Communications for Bucks County Jim O’Malley, county employees work with a shipping vendor over several days to move supplies and equipment in place at Bucks County’s 304 voting precincts where the supplies remain locked until accessed by poll workers on Election Day. (Photo by Hannah Beier/Getty Images)

Trump threatens executive order on elections, claims states must obey

Government

T-Mobile — A T-Mobile retail store at the Pentagon Row shopping district in August 2021 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Court rebuffs request by telecoms to review $92 million privacy fine

Government

A view of the commission’s hearing room before a hearing at the Federal Communications Commission in 2017. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Court upholds FCC data breach reporting rules on telecom sector

Government

In this photo illustration, a person holds a smartphone showing the Introducing GPT-5 interface in the ChatGPT app, with text describing the model’s capabilities, in front of a blurred OpenAI logo on August 9, 2025 in Chongqing, China. (Photo illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images)

Guess what else GPT-5 is bad at? Security

Cybersecurity

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