This Week in Cybersecurity: Verizon Outage, Cyberattacks in Space, and AI Risks

Cybersecurity remained front and center over the past seven days as high-profile organizations disclosed breaches, software vendors rushed critical patches, and regulators and enterprises alike grappled with emerging risks. From attacks targeting space-sector infrastructure to renewed focus on AI security and healthcare data privacy, this week’s news highlights how broad and complex today’s threat landscape has become.

Below is a summary of the most important cybersecurity developments from the past week, along with links to deeper reporting on each story.

🚀 European Space Agency Hit by Major Cyberattacks

The European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed that attackers breached its systems and exfiltrated hundreds of gigabytes of sensitive data, including proprietary software, credentials, and internal documentation. Portions of the data have reportedly surfaced on underground forums, raising concerns about cyber resilience across space, defense, and research organizations.

Read more: Inside the European Space Agency’s Massive Cyberattack — Security Boulevard

🛠️ SAP Releases January 2026 Security Updates

SAP issued its January 2026 security updates, addressing 17 vulnerabilities across its enterprise platforms. Several of the flaws were rated critical, including issues that could allow remote code execution or unauthorized database access if exploited. Customers are urged to apply patches promptly to reduce exposure.

Read more: SAP’s January 2026 Security Updates Patch Critical Vulnerabilities — SecurityWeek

🧪 Microsoft Patches Over 110 Vulnerabilities in January

Microsoft’s January Patch Tuesday fixed 112 security vulnerabilities across Windows, Office, and server products. While none were publicly exploited zero-days at the time of release, several high-severity issues could enable privilege escalation or remote code execution if left unpatched.

Read more: Microsoft shares 112 vulnerabilities it addressed in January — PC Gamer

📉 Verizon Outage Raises Infrastructure Resilience Questions

A widespread Verizon outage disrupted voice, text, and data services across the United States. While the company has not attributed the disruption to a cyberattack, the incident has renewed discussion around telecom resilience, redundancy, and transparency — all closely linked to cybersecurity preparedness.

Read more: 2026 Verizon outage — USA Today

🤖 Organizations Move to Address AI Security Risks

New industry reporting shows organizations are increasingly prioritizing AI security and risk management, assessing potential vulnerabilities earlier in deployment cycles. This shift reflects growing awareness that AI systems introduce new attack surfaces and governance challenges.

Read more: Businesses are finally taking action to crack down on AI security risks — TechRadar

Final Thoughts

This week’s cybersecurity developments reinforce a familiar message: attackers continue to target critical infrastructure, trusted software platforms, and sensitive data at scale. At the same time, the steady flow of patches and the growing focus on AI risk show that defenders are adapting — even as the threat landscape expands.

For organizations and individuals alike, staying informed, patching promptly, and investing in strong security fundamentals like encryption, authentication, and secure remote access remain essential. We’ll continue tracking the most important cybersecurity stories and sharing insights here on OpenVPN.net. Check back next week for another roundup of the news shaping online security and privacy.