Top Cybersecurity News Stories From July 2025

If July taught us anything, it’s that cybercriminals aren’t taking a summer vacation.

Whether you’re trying to catch up after time off or just want to stay one step ahead, we’ve rounded up the top stories that mattered most — and what they mean for your security strategy.

This month’s news features insights from top security experts on:

• Why security graphs are the cutting edge of the cybersecurity industry
• A new Salt Typhoon breach targeting the U.S. Army National Guard
• Our recognition as a Best Channel Team award finalist in CRN Best of the Channel Awards 2025

Why security graphs are the future of cyber defense

If you’re still trying to piece together your network security posture from logs, alerts, and spreadsheets, it’s time for an upgrade.  

In a standout July article for Forbes, Security Graphs Explained: An Innovative Approach to Network Security, Illumio CTO Ben Verghese makes a compelling case that security graphs are the key to modern, resilient cybersecurity.  

“Security graphs are reshaping the way we defend networks, much like how digital maps changed navigation,” Ben writes. And just like real-time GPS helps you avoid traffic before you hit it, security graphs help you spot and stop threats before they spread.

So, what exactly is a security graph? It’s a dynamic, always-updating map of your network showing every user, device, workload, and the relationships between them.  

Instead of drowning in telemetry data, security teams can visualize how things connect and interact. That means faster detection, smarter response, and better decisions when every second counts.  

“When something looks wrong, the graph doesn’t just tell you — it shows you,” Ben explains. That kind of visibility paired with context is a game changer.

This is the core idea behind Illumio Insights, which takes the power of security graphs and makes them actionable. Insights ingests real-time data from your hybrid, multi-cloud environment to automatically build a contextual map of your entire ecosystem.  

Security graphs are reshaping the way we defend networks, much like how digital maps changed navigation.

Insights highlights high-risk behavior, maps lateral movement paths, and gives teams the ability to contain threats with a single click — all with a clear understanding of what’s affected and what’s not.

The real beauty of a security graph isn’t just detection. It’s also prioritization.  

Most security teams are stretched thin and overloaded with alerts. Insights helps cut through the noise by identifying which issues actually matter based on real network relationships and risk exposure.  

This clarity is how you shift from reactive firefighting to proactive cyber resilience.

In today's complex threat landscape, security graphs are becoming an essential framework for understanding how your network is communicating and what you need to do about it.  

If your security strategy isn’t grounded in understanding how your environment connects, you’re already behind. Tools like Illumio Insights are making that understanding possible and putting control back in the hands of defenders.

Salt Typhoon breaches National Guard

This month, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo announced that state-linked Chinese hacker group Salt Typhoon quietly infiltrated a U.S. state’s Army National Guard network. The intrusion remained undetected for nearly nine months.  

In his Defense One article, Salt Typhoon hacks into National Guard systems a ‘serious escalation,’ experts warn, David DiMolfetta spoke with Gary Barlet, public sector CTO at Illumio and a former Air National Guard servicemember and former chief information officer at the U.S. Postal Service.

They discussed the hack, its consequences, and what federal agencies and private enterprises alike can be doing to proactively protect against these kinds of threats.

From March through December 2024, the Chinese attackers stole administrative credentials, detailed network diagrams, and even geographic topology data. This effectively gives them a blueprint of sensitive U.S. military operations at the state level.

But it didn’t stop there. DiMolfetta reported that federal investigators believe the breach gave Salt Typhoon access to lateral environments, including other Guard units, fusion centers, and state cyber agencies.  

A DHS memo warned the compromise “could hamper state-level cybersecurity partners’ ability to defend U.S. critical infrastructure in a time of crisis.” In other words, this wasn’t just espionage. It was preparation for potential disruption.

Barlet put it bluntly in his comments to Defense One: “All U.S. forces must now assume their networks are compromised and will be degraded.”  

All U.S. forces must now assume their networks are compromised and will be degraded.

That shift in mindset is critical. The breach proves that assuming a trusted internal network is a liability. The time to plan for containment isn’t after detection. It’s before the first compromise.

For Illumio customers, this story reinforces a core Zero Trust truth: trust nothing, verify everything, and segment proactively. Salt Typhoon moved laterally, escalated privileges, and exfiltrated data because there were no strong controls in place to stop them once they got into the network.  

Traditional security tools didn’t raise the alarm. By the time anyone noticed, the damage was done.

This is exactly why organizations, especially those supporting national defense or critical infrastructure, need a Zero Trust solution such as the Illumio Platform.

Illumio Segmentation and Illumio Insights are part of the Illumio platform: 

• Segmentation limits an attacker’s blast radius.
• Insights gives you a real-time map of your environment, showing which systems are talking to each other and where risk is hiding.

Together, they help you contain intrusions before they spread, even if the attacker is already inside.

Salt Typhoon’s breach is a reminder that sophisticated threats aren’t just targeting federal agencies. They’re living inside our state-level infrastructure.  

To defend against today’s state-sponsored attackers, organizations need more than traditional perimeter firewalls and threat detection. They need visibility, context, and instant control.  

This means Zero Trust and breach containment are no longer optional. They’re cybersecurity’s new baseline.

Illumio named in CRN’s Best of the Channel Awards 2025

In a sign of channel excellence, Illumio has been spotlighted in CRN’s Best of the Channel Awards 2025 as a finalist for Best Channel Team.  

The recognition positions Illumio as a leader in delivering Zero Trust solutions that empower partners and customers to contain breaches across hybrid and cloud environments.

Being named a finalist in such a competitive award validates our mission in the channel space. The CRN awards highlight vendors who not only bring cutting-edge security tech but also foster deep, collaborative channel partnerships.  

That’s a testament to how our breach containment platform resonates beyond direct enterprise customers to the MSPs and solution providers building on it.

Partners benefit from streamlined integrations, intuitive policy controls, and robust support, allowing them to deliver tangible security value to distributed, hybrid customer environments.

According to CRN, channel partners deploying Illumio have reported not just improved breach containment but accelerated deals thanks to measurable risk reduction and ease-of-deployment.  

As the awards season approaches (winners will be announced October 14), Illumio stands as proof that breach containment resonates across vendors, partners, and customers alike.

Start your Illumio Insights free trial today.