From Bank Heists to Forklift Jobs: The Evolving Threat LandscapeThe nature of cyber threats has fundamentally changed. As our team noted during our KubeCon EU presentation titled "Beyond Classical Cryptography: Building Quantum-Resistant Cloud Native Infrastructure with SPIFFE," a lawyer once described it perfectly: "Cyberattacks used to be like bank heists: quick, frantic, and loud. Now, they're forklift jobs: the attacker lifts the entire vault, data, credentials, systems, and takes it somewhere quiet. No alarms. No rush. Just slow, methodical decryption and exploitation."Organizations now face "store now, decrypt later" attacks where adversaries steal encrypted data today and wait for quantum computing to help decrypt it in the future. Our security practices must evolve accordingly.

At the NATO IST-HFM-225 Research Specialists' Meeting, we presented our work on creating secure frameworks for deploying generative AI in military contexts alongside stakeholders from NAVWAR PEO C4I. This blog post outlines our approach to ensuring these powerful technologies can be integrated safely into mission-critical systems.The Command and Control ImperativeOur presentation began with a foundational principle from Vice Admiral Willard: "The root tenets of command and control are timeless—but they have been lost in the chase for new technologies. Commanders must exert exacting control over their forces to advance their plans if they are to defeat that future adversary who is multidimensional, well equipped, well trained, willing to fight, and intending to win." This perspective guided our framework development.

When it comes to modern software security, the most dangerous threat may be the belief that our defenses—built for yesterday’s adversaries—will protect us from today’s evolving attacks. At Prodacity 2025 in Nashville, I had the opportunity to share M42's perspective on this critical challenge, exploring how lessons from historical failures like the Maginot Line can guide us toward more adaptive and resilient approaches.

End of January saw thousands of defense professionals, industry experts, and academic leaders converge at the San Diego Convention Center for AFCEA West 2025, the premier naval conference and exposition on the West Coast. Co-hosted by the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association (AFCEA) and the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI), this year’s event centered on a guiding question: “The future is now—are we advancing operational capabilities at a pace that meets the threat?”M42 was honored to join Dell Technologies and NVIDIA in a joint exhibit, demonstrating how our next-generation Quantum Helix platform can help meet the Navy’s ambitious vision. Our focus: delivering data-centric security that provides a resilient framework for distributed, joint, and AI-driven operations—precisely the type of solution leaders throughout the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard are seeking as they project synchronized, lethal, and nonlethal effects across all domains.

Over the past few years, cybersecurity incidents—ranging from massive supply chain intrusions to large-scale ransomware attacks—have reshaped how both government and industry approach digital threats. The new Executive Order on Strengthening and Promoting Innovation in the Nation’s Cybersecurity, released last week, is best understood as a capstone document. It consolidates the lessons learned from these incidents and builds upon previous measures such as Executive Order 14028 (2021) and the National Cybersecurity Strategy. There is something here for everyone, be it federal agencies modernizing core infrastructure, software providers tightening their supply chains, or companies preparing for a quantum-powered future.

The Combat Air Forces Weapons and Tactics Conference (WEPTAC) took center stage at Nellis AFB on January 15 and 16, bringing together a cross-section of the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, and industry partners. Hosted by the United States Warfare Center and directed by Air Combat Command’s (ACC) Directorate of Operations, WEPTAC is a premier forum for discussing current warfighting challenges, exploring emerging threats, and shaping the future of joint force employment.Our team at M42 was honored to take part in the concurrent industry tradeshow, where we showcased our latest technology solutions and gathered invaluable feedback from the warfighters themselves. The conversations we had were just as important as the displays—a unique opportunity to hear firsthand how today’s operators view existing products and what they’re looking for in next-generation capabilities.

In 2024, the world has come to be defined by computing and the technologies which are enabled by it. We live in an age where both organisations and individuals relentlessly purchase technology to maximise the efficient realisation of their own missions, securing the greatest available force multipliers which contemporary technology can deliver and which the market is able to sell.‍For many individuals, their homes and cars are defined by a relentless advance in information processing technology. Cellphones which provide compute power unprecedented for a supercomputer just a generation ago; smart speakers harnessing advanced voice recognition and Large Language Model (LLM)-based AI technology.

The recent Yama Sakura 87 exercise marked several historic firsts in multinational military cooperation, bringing together forces from Japan, the United States, and Australia in an unprecedented trilateral command post exercise. As one of only a few companies invited to participate, alongside organizations like Palantir, Dell, and Booz Allen Hamilton, we were honored to bring our expertise to this significant engagement.

Against the backdrop of fighter jets cutting through Southern California skies, our team recently showcased next-generation defense capabilities at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu. This full-day engagement marked a significant milestone in our ongoing partnership with the Department of Defense, demonstrating how innovative networking and security technology ready for consumption can transform military operations.

At the recent AFCEA TechNet Indo-Pacific conference in Honolulu, our team showcased groundbreaking advancements in secure communications technology during the Innovation Showcase. This premier defense technology event provided an ideal platform to demonstrate how our collaboration with Dell Technologies and NVIDIA is transforming high-assurance communications in the Indo-Pacific theater and beyond.

The release of NIST's first three finalized post-quantum encryption standards marks a crucial milestone in our ongoing mission to protect national security systems against emerging quantum threats. As organizations like NSA target full post-quantum cryptography implementation by 2030, the urgency to address this challenge has never been greater.

We are excited to announce the expansion of M42 operations with the opening of our United Kingdom office, led by Chief Engineer Hugo Landau. This strategic expansion strengthens our ability to advance verifiable security solutions for defense and intelligence communities across allied nations.

The exponential growth in software complexity and the rise of AI-generated code have exposed critical gaps in traditional security approaches. We founded Messier 42 (M42) to address a fundamental challenge: the lack of verifiable security in modern software infrastructure. While inspection-based security made sense in simpler times, today's interconnected systems and accelerated development cycles demand a more stringent approach.