Cybersecurity Roundup: Partnerships, Funding, and Emerging Threats – May 27, 2025 Featuring NSA AISC, Pixee, Trend Micro, CompTIA, GCC

Welcome to Cybersecurity Roundup, your daily op-ed–style briefing on the latest collaborations, investment milestones, and threat intelligence shaping the cybersecurity landscape. Today’s edition covers:

1. NSA AISC issues joint AI data‐security guidance

2. Pixee closes $15 million seed for AI‐driven app-sec automation

3. Trend Micro warns of AI‐generated TikTok malware

4. CompTIA fuels talent pipeline at SS25HACK and ITWeb Summit

5. GCC–ASEAN partnership frontiers in AI, cybersecurity, and clean energy

Read on for concise yet detailed analyses, expert commentary, and implications for practitioners, investors, and policymakers alike.

1. NSA AISC Issues Joint AI Data-Security Guidance

Key takeaway: A multi-agency cybersecurity information sheet outlines best practices and risk mitigations for data used to train and operate AI systems.

On May 22, 2025, the NSA’s Artificial Intelligence Security Center (AISC) released a joint Cybersecurity Information Sheet titled “AI Data Security: Best Practices for Securing Data Used to Train & Operate AI Systems.” Co-authored and co-sealed by NSA, CISA, FBI, Australia’s ASD/ACSC, New Zealand’s NCSC-NZ, and the U.K.’s NCSC-UK, the guidance addresses three core data-security domains:

• Data supply-chain integrity: Employ digital signatures and provenance tracking to authenticate datasets.

• Malicious modification: Detect and remediate poisoned or adversarial inputs in training pipelines.

• Data drift: Monitor distributional shifts and enforce re-validation to preserve model fidelity.

“Protecting AI data is critical for accuracy, reliability, and integrity,” the CSI emphasizes, urging system owners—particularly in defense and critical infrastructure—to adopt layered controls throughout the AI lifecycle .

Opinion & Implications:
This is the first unified, multinational framework explicitly targeting AI-specific data risks. As enterprises and governments race to deploy AI, they must internalize these prescriptive controls or risk catastrophic model failures—and attendant reputational and regulatory fallout. Security teams should view this CSI not as optional reading, but as a blueprint for “secure-by-design” AI initiatives.

Source: nsa.gov

2. Pixee Secures $15 Million Seed to Automate App-Sec Remediation

Key takeaway: Maryland’s TEDCO joins Palo Alto VCs to back Pixee’s AI agents that remediate application vulnerabilities end-to-end.

On May 27, 2025, Baltimore-based Pixee announced a $15 million seed round led by Decibel and Wing VC, with participation from the Maryland technology development agency TEDCO, Brazil’s PrimeSet, and strategic angels including GitHub engineer Zach Holman.

• Founders: CEO Surag Patel and CTO Arshan Dabirsiaghi (both ex-Contrast Security).

• Product: Agentic AI combined with deterministic rules to detect, triage, and patch vulnerabilities—integrated directly into GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps.

• Early results: Customers report a 91 % recapture of remediation time and a 76 % automated fix merge rate.

“Developers can now ship secure code at unprecedented velocity,” Patel asserts, highlighting Pixee’s vision to lift the “security burden off developers”.

Opinion & Implications:
Investors and enterprise CISOs should note the trend: AI-powered remediation is rapidly moving from proof-of-concept to production. As regulatory pressure mounts around software supply-chain security (e.g., U.S. Executive Order 14028), solutions like Pixee’s that embed into dev workflows will be mission-critical.

Source: citybiz

3. Trend Micro Flags AI-Generated TikTok Malware Campaign

Key takeaway: Cybercriminals are using AI to create fake tutorial videos on TikTok that trick users into running PowerShell commands, deploying Vidar and StealC infostealers.

On May 26, 2025, TechRadar Pro reported that researchers at Trend Micro have observed a surge in AI-generated TikTok videos promising “premium features” (e.g., Windows activation, Spotify upgrades), but actually instructing victims to execute PowerShell scripts that silently install data-stealing malware.

• Mechanism: AI tools automate video creation—including synthesized voiceovers—and URL rotations to evade signature-based detection.

• Impact: One video garnered 500,000+ views and 20,000+ likes before removal; the infostealer families can exfiltrate credentials, cookies, 2FA codes, and crypto-wallet data.

“Delivering the bait in video format bypasses almost all security measures,” Trend Micro warns, calling this a “significant departure” from earlier malware-spread tactics.

Opinion & Implications:
This campaign underscores the weaponization of generative AI by threat actors. Security teams must augment endpoint controls with behavior-based detection of suspicious PowerShell use, and organizations should incorporate AI-specific threat intelligence feeds into SOC workflows.

Source: TechRadar

4. CompTIA Champions Skills at SS25HACK & ITWeb Security Summit

Key takeaway: The global IT certification body partners with hackathon and conference events in South Africa to nurture the next generation of cybersecurity talent.

On May 26, 2025, CompTIA participated in South Africa’s #SS25HACK 24-hour hackathon—running alongside the ITWeb Security Summit—mentoring students and techpreneurs to develop AI-driven threat detection and mitigation solutions.

• Focus areas: Real-time AI threat prediction, anomaly detection algorithms, and adaptive incident-response frameworks.

• Collaboration: Events in Kimberley and Johannesburg with Geekulcha, Snode Technologies, UNISA, NMU, and Sol Plaatje University.

• Outcome: Top teams earn one-year IITPSA memberships to sustain skill development.

“The need for robust cybersecurity talent has never been greater,” says Loraine Vorster, CompTIA VP, underscoring the urgency of hands-on AI security training.

Opinion & Implications:
With global workforce shortages projected at 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity roles by 2025, events like SS25HACK are vital. CISOs should forge similar partnerships to build localized talent pipelines and integrate AI competencies into certification curricula.

Source: GlobeNewswire

5. GCC Eyes New Frontiers with ASEAN in AI, Cybersecurity & Clean Energy

Key takeaway: At the inaugural ASEAN–GCC summit, Gulf states pledged collaboration on AI standards, joint cyber-defense initiatives, and renewable-energy projects.

During the ASEAN–GCC–China trilateral summit in Kuala Lumpur—to which the GCC is ASEAN’s 7th-largest trading partner ($130.7 billion bilateral trade in 2023)—GCC leaders announced plans to:

1. Harmonize AI governance frameworks with ASEAN, exploring joint ethical standards and data-sharing protocols.

2. Establish a cybersecurity task force for maritime, energy-sector, and critical-infrastructure defenses.

3. Invest in clean-energy tech, notably green hydrogen research, cross-border solar farms, and regional power-grid interconnection studies.

Opinion & Implications:
This opens a strategic corridor linking Gulf capital with Southeast Asia’s tech and talent ecosystems. Cybersecurity vendors should posture for large-scale RFPs in cloud-security and OT-security domains, while energy firms must integrate robust cyber-resilience into renewable deployments.

Source: AP News

Conclusion:

Today’s developments—from NSA’s AI-data guidance to Pixee’s funding, from AI-driven TikTok malware to talent-building hackathons, and landmark GCC–ASEAN pledges—illustrate a maturing cybersecurity ecosystem where AI is both enabler and attack vector. Organizations must:

• Embed AI-centric controls and threat intelligence.

• Invest in workforce upskilling through industry-academic collaboration.

• Adopt cross-border partnerships to tackle hybrid threats in energy, maritime, and infrastructure sectors.

Stay vigilant, stay informed, and join us tomorrow for another in-depth dispatch on the trends reshaping cybersecurity.