THE DAILY PRAETORIAN: Cybersecurity Trends – 7/15/25

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

“We have it in our power to begin the world over again.”

— Thomas Paine

America’s Only Rare Earth Producer Gets a Boost from Apple and Pentagon Agreements
MP Materials, the only U.S.-based rare earths miner, just secured major backing from Apple and the Pentagon to scale production of high-demand magnets used in iPhones, EVs, and defense systems. The $500 million deal with Apple will support an expansion of its Texas plant to begin using recycled materials, with Apple-bound production starting in 2027. Meanwhile, a $400 million Defense Department investment makes the government MP’s largest shareholder and guarantees a minimum price for critical elements like neodymium and praseodymium. These agreements aim to reduce U.S. reliance on China, which dominates rare earths supply and recently imposed export restrictions amid ongoing trade tensions. Click here to read more.

Thinking Machines Lab Raises a Record $2 Billion, Announces Cofounders
Thinking Machines Lab, a new AI startup formed by prominent former OpenAI researchers, has raised a record-breaking $2 billion seed round at a $12 billion valuation. Led by ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, the founding team includes John Schulman, Barrett Zoph, Lilian Weng, Andrew Tulloch, and Luke Metz—each key figures in OpenAI’s past breakthroughs. Backed by heavyweights like Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, and AMD, the company is developing multimodal AI systems designed for more natural human interaction and plans to release its first product, including open-source tools, in the coming months. Click here to read more.

‘Our Hearts are Heavy, Yet Rejoicing’: Pastor and Bible Teacher John MacArthur, 86, Passes
John MacArthur, the influential pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and a stalwart in conservative evangelical teaching, passed away at age 86 after battling pneumonia. Known for his more than 50 years of preaching, his leadership of the Grace to You media ministry, and authoring numerous theological works, MacArthur remained a vocal defender of biblical authority and church freedom—most notably during the COVID-19 restrictions. Tributes from Christian leaders like Greg Laurie, Albert Mohler, and Jack Graham poured in, praising his unwavering faith, impact on generations, and a life marked by biblical conviction. Click here to read more.

This is what you should include in your password to make it uncrackable
To create a truly secure password in today’s cybersecurity landscape, you need more than a mix of letters and numbers — you need length and complexity. New research from Specops shows that 98.5% of breached passwords are weak and could be cracked in minutes, even if they’re eight characters long with numbers and symbols. The key to resisting brute-force attacks is to use at least 15 characters and include two or more types of characters (letters, numbers, and symbols). Short passwords are easy targets for modern cracking tools, and reused passwords multiply risk across platforms. To protect your data and meet security standards, use a password manager to generate and store long, unique passwords for each account. Click here to read more.

US, European allies agree on August deadline for Iran nuclear deal – report
The U.S. and its key European allies—France, Germany, and the UK—have agreed to set the end of August as the effective deadline for securing a new nuclear deal with Iran, according to an Axios report. If no agreement is reached by then, the Europeans plan to trigger the “snapback” mechanism, reinstating all UN sanctions lifted under the 2015 Iran deal. The urgency is partly driven by a desire to act before Russia assumes the presidency of the UN Security Council, potentially complicating enforcement. Tehran, however, has warned that invoking snapback sanctions could lead to its withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Western diplomats are pushing Iran to take confidence-building steps—such as renewing cooperation with the IAEA and reducing enriched uranium stockpiles—to avoid penalties. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly urged U.S. President Trump not to block snapback efforts and to pressure Iran toward a deal during their July 8 meeting. Click here to read more.