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NEW YORK: Dozens of reporters turned in access badges and exited the Pentagon on Wednesday rather than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work, pushing journalists who cover the American military further from the seat of its power. The nation’s leadership called the new rules “common sense” to help regulate a “very disruptive” press.
News outlets were nearly unanimous in rejecting new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information — classified or otherwise — that had not been approved by Hegseth for release.
Many of the reporters waited to leave together at a 4 p.m. deadline set by the Defense Department to get out of the building. As the hour approached, boxes of documents lined a Pentagon corridor and reporters carried chairs, a copying machine, books and old photos to the parking lot from suddenly abandoned workspaces. Shortly after 4, about 40 to 50 journalists left together after handing in badges.
“It’s sad, but I’m also really proud of the press corps that we stuck together,” said Nancy Youssef, a reporter for The Atlantic who has had a desk at the Pentagon since 2007. She took a map of the Middle East out to her car.
It is unclear what practical impact the new rules will have, though news organizations vowed they’d continue robust coverage of the military no matter the vantage point.
Images of reporters effectively demonstrating against barriers to their work are unlikely to move supporters of President Donald Trump, many of whom resent journalists and cheer his efforts to make their jobs harder. Trump has been involved in court fights against The New York Times, CBS News, ABC News, the Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press in the past year.

Trump supports the new rules
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump backed his defense secretary’s new rules. “I think he finds the press to be very disruptive in terms of world peace,” Trump said. “The press is very dishonest.”
Even before issuing his new press policy, Hegseth, a former Fox News Channel host, has systematically choked off the flow of information. He’s held only two formal press briefings, banned reporters from accessing many parts of the sprawling Pentagon without an escort and launched investigations into leaks to the media.
He has called his new rules “common sense” and said the requirement that journalists sign a document outlining the rules means they acknowledge the new rules, not necessarily agree to them. Journalists see that as a distinction without a difference.
“What they’re really doing, they want to spoon-feed information to the journalist, and that would be their story. That’s not journalism,” said Jack Keane, a retired US Army general and Fox News analyst, said on Hegseth’s former network.
When he served, Keane said he required new brigadier generals to take a class on the role of the media in a democracy so they wouldn’t be intimidated and also see reporters as a conduit to the American public. “There were times when stories were done that made me flinch a little bit,” he said. “But that’s usually because we had done something that wasn’t as good as we should have done it.”
Youssef said it made no sense to sign on to rules that said reporters should not solicit military officials for information. “To agree to not solicit information is to agree to not be a journalist,” she said. “Our whole goal is soliciting information.”
 

Reporting on US military affairs will continue — from a greater distance
Several reporters posted on social media when they turned in their press badges.
“It’s such a tiny thing, but I was really proud to see my picture up on the wall of Pentagon correspondents,” wrote Heather Mongilio, a reporter for USNINews, which covers the Navy. “Today, I’ll hand in my badge. The reporting will continue.”
Mongilio, Youssef and others emphasized that they’ll continue to do their jobs no matter where their desks are. Some sources will continue to speak with them, although they say some in the military have been chilled by threats from Pentagon leadership.
In an essay, NPR reporter Tom Bowman noted the many times he’d been tipped off by people he knew from the Pentagon and while embedded in the military about what was happening, even if it contradicted official lines put out by leadership. Many understand the media’s role.
“They knew the American public deserved to know what’s going on,” Bowman wrote. “With no reporters able to ask questions, it seems the Pentagon leadership will continue to rely on slick social media posts, carefully orchestrated short videos and interviews with partisan commentators and podcasters. No one should think that’s good enough.”
The Pentagon Press Association, whose 101 members represent 56 news outlets, has spoken out against the rules. Organizations from across the media spectrum, from legacy organizations like The Associated Press and The New York Times to outlets like Fox and the conservative Newsmax, told their reporters to leave instead of signing the new rules.
Only the conservative One America News Network signed on. Its management likely believes it will have greater access to Trump administration officials by showing its support, Gabrielle Cuccia, a former Pentagon reporter who was fired by OANN earlier this year for writing an online column criticizing Hegseth’s media policies, told the AP in an interview.

DUBAI: Experts at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils and Cybersecurity on Tuesday discussed how global cyber defenders are attempting to outsmart cyber criminals by using financial and psychological strategies to anticipate and disrupt attacks before they occur.

The session, titled “Inside the Cyber Criminal Mind,” examined how breakthroughs in 2025 have been achieved through innovative cross sector cooperation, and how these lessons could shape stronger cyber defenses in 2026.

Max Smeets, co-director of Virtual Routes, noted that the line between digital vulnerability and reputational damage is increasingly blurred as cyberattacks evolve.

“Attackers can accelerate access and get into one’s files — what can one do? Do you pay them a ransom to make them go away or refuse to pay and try to get a back up of your files?” he asked the audience. 

He described how victims often face a cascade of scenarios following an attack.

“You have leaks and exposure on social media and news,” he said. “Do you start to focus your efforts on IT security or put your resources into your own reputation with a crisis communications team and own the narrative about your leaked incident?”

Smeets said that while cybercrime remains severely underreported, shame and uncertainty are major barriers to disclosure.

“One of the elements is shame, but secondly, one doesn’t immediately know where to go,” he said.

A leading expert in cyber conflict and security, Smeets added that scammers have become increasingly skilled at manipulating human psychology.

“Scammers have to be very good in getting your trust and have the ability to position themselves and they’re learning from each other.”

Global cybercrime has surged in 2025, with damages projected to reach $10.5 trillion annually — making cybercrime the world’s third-largest economy behind the US and China, according to market research company Cybersecurity Ventures.

Ransomware, phishing, financial fraud, and distributed denial-of-service attacks remain prevalent, with government, energy, healthcare, and telecom sectors being prime targets.

The Middle East and North Africa region has also been hit particularly hard.

According to the MENA Cyber Summit 2025 report, the region saw a 183 percent year-on-year increase in DDoS attacks in Q1 2024, triggered by escalating geopolitical conflicts and hacktivism.

The average cost per breach reached $8.05 million — nearly double the global average.

Neal Jetton, who leads the INTERPOL Global Cybercrime Programme, emphasized the critical role of early reporting and international cooperation to prevent attacks.

“I’ve had individuals and businesses reach out to me as victims of data breach and ransom, and the first question I always ask is: which law enforcement agency have you reached out to?” he said. “There’s so much importance in reporting.”

Jetton noted that cybercrime investigations are often hampered by limited resources.

“Cybercrime is tough to investigate, it requires a lot of tools and resources which a lot of countries cannot afford, so INTERPOL steps in to help at times,” he said.

He described a recent multinational operation that brought together experts from across the world to focus on victims, both individuals and businesses.

“We’re bringing countries together, and we went after a whole suite of cybercrime and had over 1,200 arrests of people involved in malicious malware,” he said.

Jetton said the effort succeeded because it prioritized empowerment, strategy, investigation, and prevention.

“Now we will be looking at how to combat phishing and image based sexual abuse and how to stop the industrialization of cybercrime,” he added.

Despite the scale of the threat, both experts agreed there are reasons for optimism.

“It isn’t all doom and gloom,” Smeets said, highlighting how ongoing collaborations are starting to yield real solutions.

“We are getting concrete answers on how to solve such problems effectively. We are cooperating, spreading awareness, there is hope.”

The discussion took place on the second day of the AMGFCC being held in Dubai, where cybersecurity and resilience are among the key themes shaping the global agenda.