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 – SEPTEMBER 11: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson looks on as Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes speaks during a House Administration Committee hearing in the Longworth House Office Building at the U.S. Capitol on September 11, 2024 in Washington, DC. The hearing examined “American Confidence in Elections” while looking forward to the 2024 Presidential Election in just under two months. (Photo by Bonnie Cash/Getty Images)

Cybersecurity, disinformation dominates hearing on elections

Election Security

Taylor Swift performs onstage during “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at Wembley Stadium on August 15, 2024 in London, England. Swift cited the deepfake photo of her endorsing Donald Trump as a reason she released a statement on who she was voting for in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management )

Taylor Swift cites AI-generated images from Trump campaign in Harris endorsement

AI

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images)

Intel officials expect more foreign influence efforts leading up to Election Day

Election Security

Attorney General Merrick Garland announces the indictments of two employees of Russia’s RT and sanctions on top editors of the state-funded news outlet, accusing them of seeking to influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Garland chaired the meeting of the DOJ’s Election Threats Task Force in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 4, 2024. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

Justice Department accuses Russia of interfering with 2024 elections

Election Security

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly testifies before a House Homeland Security subcommittee on April 28 in Washington. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

CISA moves away from trying to influence content moderation decisions on election disinformation

Election Security

US Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks on the fourth and last day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 22, 2024. Harris was among multiple politicians denigrated by the Chinese-linked group Spamouflage. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Disinfo group Spamouflage more aggressively targeting U.S. elections, candidates

Election Security

A huge chunk of all scam revenues being tracked by Chainalysis on the blockchain (43%) were sent to wallets that only became active over the past year — something Chainalysis said suggests a surge of newly created scamming campaigns (Credit: Getty Images)

Online scam cycles are getting shorter and more effective, Chainalysis finds

Cybercrime

An Iranian hacking group has been observed using disguised social media personas to spread and share fake job recruitment websites, employment offers and other content lures to unsuspecting victims. (Credit: Manuel Augusto Moreno via Getty Images)

Iranian hackers using social media, job recruitment sites to lure Israeli spies

Cybercrime

encryption — The recent flaw in WhatsApp does not mean encryption is a gimmick. (Jeso Carneiro/Flickr)

Meta deep-sixes WhatsApp accounts tied to Iranian hacking group

Geopolitics