THE DAILY PRAETORIAN: Cybersecurity Trends – 1/20/26

Securing Tomorrow: Your Daily Dose of Cyber Safety, Tech Trends, National Security News, and Inspiration.

“The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”

-Thomas Jefferson

Pentagon funding deal includes $8B hike and support for NATO
Lawmakers passed a $839 billion defense spending bill that adds roughly $8 billion beyond the Trump administration’s request, funding a 3.8 % pay raise for troops, a 1 % civilian salary increase, and a total force of 1.3 million active‑duty personnel plus 765 000 reservists; the measure also earmarks $6 billion for Navy shipbuilding, $2 billion for munitions, $1 billion for health programs, $130 million for Marine Corps barracks upgrades, $400 million for Ukraine security assistance, and $200 million for the Baltic Security Initiative, while reaffirming strong congressional support for NATO and its 5 % GDP defense‑spending goal. click here to read more.

10 things I learned from burning myself out with AI coding agents
Benj Edwards spent two months using Claude Code, Claude Opus 4.5, and other AI coding agents to build more than 50 hobby projects, discovering that these tools amplify human ideas but still require skilled developers to guide, debug, and maintain code; he found AI excels at generating quick prototypes yet falters on novel or low‑level tasks, suffers from brittleness outside its training data, and often triggers feature creep that overwhelms users; the first 90 percent of a project progresses rapidly, while the final 10 percent demands tedious, human‑led refinement, and the speed of AI‑generated software can both excite and intimidate creators; Edwards concludes that AI agents will not replace programmers but will make them busier, serving as powerful assistants that need clear prompts, solid architecture, and continual human oversight. click here to read more.

Postgame Prayer Between Patriots, Texans Goes Viral and Draws Praise: ‘More of This, Please!’
NFL quarterbacks C.J. Stroud and Drake Maye led their teammates in a post‑game prayer after the Patriots defeated the Texans 28‑16 in a divisional‑round playoff, and the clip went viral on ESPN’s social channels, drawing millions of views and enthusiastic comments praising the display of faith; both players regularly reference Jesus on their social media, and Stroud thanked Christ during his press conference despite throwing four interceptions, while fans called for more moments like this. click here to read more.

Tech hero releases tool that disables AI, ads, and other junk in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox
Developer Corbin Davenport releases “Just the Browser,” a script that edits hidden group‑policy settings to strip Chrome, Edge, and Firefox of AI features, telemetry, sponsored content, and other unwanted integrations; the tool works on Windows, Linux, and macOS without adding extensions, letting users keep mainstream browsers while disabling coupon pop‑ups, AI‑generated suggestions, and clickbait feeds, though it currently lacks support for mobile devices. click here to read more.

Fate of Iran’s protest revolution rests on Trump and US military aid – analysis
Iran’s massive protests peaked in early January, but a brutal crackdown that killed thousands and jailed tens of thousands has likely stalled any chance of toppling Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei unless President Donald Trump orders a military intervention; after briefly hinting at help, Trump aborted a strike amid doubts about targets, limited U.S. resources, and opposition from Arab states and Israel, while the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier moves toward the region and Tehran eases its repression to avoid provoking a U.S. attack. Analysts outline five U.S. options—symbolic strikes, assaults on the IRGC and Basij, attacks on missile and nuclear sites, cyber operations, or supporting provincial autonomy—each with distinct risks and limited prospects for quickly overturning the regime. click here to read more.