Palo Alto Networks (NYSE: PANW) has added Richard Ledgett, former deputy director at the National Security Agency, and Christopher Painter, former top cybersecurity official at the State Department, to its public sector advisory council to help shape the company’s cyber strategy and offer advice on security and technological needs of government clients.

Palo Alto Networks said Thursday it has brought onboard three former top federal cybersecurity officials to advise the company on security and technology trends in both the U.S. and international government sectors.

Security researchers at Palo Alto Networks Inc. have published a new report stating that there has been a massive surge in cryptomining malware, having discovered 629,126 cryptomining malware samples recently, with the vast majority mining for Monero.

A June 11 report by network and enterprise security company Palo Alto Networks has found that around 5 percent of all Monero (XMR) in circulation was mined maliciously.

These numbers are the results of in-depth research of the coin-mining malware scene by security researchers from Palo Alto Networks.

Researchers from Palo Alto Networks have analyzed around 630,000 samples of cryptocurrency mining malware captured by the company’s systems over the past few years and extracted the wallet IDs and mining pools used by attackers.

The popularity of crypto-currency malware has been skyrocketing over the past year, and the segment appears to have been highly lucrative for cybercriminals, a new Palo Alto Networks report reveals.

NEWS ANALYSIS: Cryptojacking attacks are finding success and have now gained the attention of the U.S Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Palo Alto Networks malware researcher Josh Grunzweig has identified a massive 470,000 unique malware samples that hijack computers to mine cryptocurrency.

A well-known Russian cyber-espionage group has subtly changed its modus operandi, moving to what security researchers from Palo Alto Networks are calling "parallel attacks."

"Mad Money" host Jim Cramer hears from Palo Alto Networks' incoming CEO Nikesh Arora and outgoing CEO Mark McLaughlin as he prepares to step down.

At its annual Ignite Conference today, Palo Alto Networks will demonstrate the first third-party apps able to run on its cybersecurity platform, a "proof of concept" for a model that CEO Mark McLaughlin believes is the future of the industry.

A presidential advisory committee working group plans to submit a report by year's end with “actionable steps” toward a cybersecurity “moonshot,” an ambitious goal meant to create a sustainable approach to the nation's overall cyber challenge, committee members said at a Thursday meeting.

JUST ONE-FIFTH? — A “disconcertingly low” number of states have formally requested election security funds from a $380 million pot Congress set aside for that purpose, Eric reports for Pros today.

An advisory group shared broad principles of the moonshot plan, but no details, Thursday.

SilverTerrier uses malware to drive BEC attacks

NIS has been overshadowed by GDPR. Companies need to comply, fast.

NEW REGULATION: NIS Directive Will Ensure The UK Remains ‘On’ During The Most Extreme Cyber-Attacks

Commerce chief Ross to deliver keynote at upcoming DHS cyber 'moonshot' meeting

The Security of Network Information Systems (NIS) Directive, which aims to ensure that critical infrastructure is protected from cyber-attacks and computer network failure, has come into force today with fines for non-compliance.

Nigerian Email Scammer Princes Aren’t A Joke, Stealing Over $3 Billion In 2017

Nigerian cyber attackers have modernised their approach to cyber crime, security researchers warn

Security company warns 'SilverTerrier' group poses a threat to businesses.

Researchers detect rise in attacks from Nigerian cyber criminals

Palo Alto Networks CEO Mark McLaughlin: Security "is a software fight"

Palo Alto's Ryan Olson on APT playbooks

Three out of four security pros say the more automated AI products they bring in, the harder it is to find trained staff to run the tools.

The madness known as the RSA Security Conference took place last week in San Francisco. The event featured somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 vendors and over 40,000 users, making it by far the largest security conference.

Palo Alto's Unit 42 researchers identified a new botnet malware family described as “Swiss Army Knife Malware” that was designed by a veteran threat actor and is capable of taking screenshots and draining cryptocurrency wallets.

In October 2016, as a botnet strung together by the Mirai malware launched the biggest distributed denial-of-service attack in history, I was, appropriately enough, giving a talk on the Internet of Things (IoT) security and privacy at the Grace Hopper Conference. As I learned of the attack, and as questions came in from the audience about the malware, I knew that the topic of my session could not have been more timely. In this instance, and in countless others, IoT security is a core issue. Security professionals need to be concerned about insecure devices.