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Chainguard Launches Athena, the Industry Coalition to Fix Open Source Vulnerabilities Before Attackers Can Find Them

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Founding members — including BNY, Chainguard, Cisco, Cloudflare, Corridor, DepthFirst, Docker, JPMorganChase, Kyndryl, LTIMindtree, and PwC — back a coalition for the orchestrated defense of open source software that has already processed more than 20,000 findings and shipped over 2,000 patches across 500 open source projects

KIRKLAND, Wash., June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chainguard, together with BNY, Cisco, Cloudflare, Corridor, DepthFirst, Docker, JPMorganChase, Kyndryl, LTIMindtree, and PwC, today announced Athena, an industry coalition for the orchestrated defense of open source software, built for the frontier-model era where AI systems can find serious flaws faster than anyone can patch them. Athena is operational today with more than two dozen member organizations. To date, it has processed more than 20,000 findings and generated over 2,000 patches across 500 open source projects. The first wave of disclosures begins next month.

Founding members span the full stack of the software ecosystem and include BNY, Chainguard, Cisco, Cloudflare, Corridor, DepthFirst, Docker, JPMorganChase, Kyndryl, LTIMindtree, and PwC. Many of the coalition’s submitting members surface these vulnerabilities using frontier AI programs they have access to — including Anthropic’s Project Glasswing and OpenAI’s Daybreak — and bring the resulting findings to Athena.

“The time to exploit has gone negative — exploits now land before a flaw is ever disclosed,” said Dan Lorenc, CEO and co-founder, Chainguard. “Athena’s whole job is to make the time to remediate even more negative, so the fix is already in place before the vulnerability is public. No one company can get ahead of this alone, and orchestrated defense is the only answer.”

The current system cannot keep up

Frontier AI models can now read code, reason across dependencies, and surface novel, chained zero-day vulnerabilities in open source software at machine speed — flaws that survived decades of expert review. In one recent case, a critical bug sat in media-processing code used by countless applications that automated fuzzers had run more than five million times without ever catching. The gap between a vulnerability being discovered and being exploited has collapsed from years to hours, and a growing share of exploits are weaponized before the bug is ever publicly disclosed. Coordinated disclosure was built for a world in which finding a serious flaw took weeks and the targets were few. That world is gone.

Left unaddressed, the shift pushes the industry toward fragmentation, with every cloud, vendor, and security team independently forking the same critical libraries and no shared understanding of what has actually been fixed. Athena is built as the alternative: it offers a single pipeline that pools findings, remediates them under embargo, and drives durable fixes back upstream, so a vulnerability is patched and protected before it is ever public.

Athena closes the full loop

Athena runs a shared, active platform that takes each vulnerability through its full lifecycle end to end. Within it, a clearinghouse pools and correlates findings from every member. Around that, Athena stacks independent layers of protection so that coverage exists even where a clean patch does not yet, and stays on every flaw until a durable upstream fix is in place:

Discovery. Vetted findings are pooled from across the coalition — including frontier research programs such as Anthropic’s Project Glasswing and OpenAI’s Daybreak. Athena accepts findings generated by all frontier models.Pre-embargo remediation. Private forks and rebuilt, hardened versions are made available to members through Chainguard Libraries before disclosure. Findings are addressed in batches across an entire library, hardening it against whole classes of issues rather than the single bug a model happened to surface first — so it stays quiet even when a more capable model arrives.Continuous reconciliation. Every finding is reconciled against upstream activity throughout the embargo, catching independent discovery and keeping fixes current as projects move at head.Platform, network, and infrastructure mitigations. Partners that operate infrastructure, platform, network, and security layers push non-patch mitigations ahead of disclosure: detection signatures, traffic-level rules, and platform-side blocks that neutralize a flaw without the affected software ever being touched, at machine speed and broad reach.Detections and vendor mitigations. Cybersecurity partners add their own detections, signatures, and virtual patching as a further independent layer.Upstream disclosure and hard forks. The coalition drives coordinated disclosure upstream, and Chainguard hopes to work with the Linux Foundation on a coordinated Security Incident Response Team (SIRT) for open source and a maintainer of last resort program.

No single layer is complete; together, they get as close to complete as the problem allows.

A significant share of Athena’s impact is invisible by design. Because a patch only protects systems that can apply it — and much of the world’s critical infrastructure cannot patch on an attacker’s timeline — Athena’s platform-level mitigations are intended to neutralize a vulnerability across the internet before public disclosure. The same open source libraries that run inside the largest technology companies also run inside facilities such as municipal water systems and regional hospitals that have little or no dedicated security staff; those organizations are protected without taking any action, and in most cases without ever knowing there was a threat.

A coalition across the software supply chain

With more than two dozen members, Athena’s coalition spans the layers the world’s software depends on, with each participant contributing a capability the others cannot. AI vulnerability-research teams and software consumers supply pre-disclosure findings; platform, network, and infrastructure providers extend protection at the layers exploits traverse; cybersecurity vendors build detections and virtual patches; and global system integrators carry fixes into client environments at scale. The coalition will coordinate disclosure upstream, and Chainguard hopes to work with the Linux Foundation on a coordinated Security Incident Response Team (SIRT) for open source and a maintainer of last resort program.

Supporting Quotes

“Trust is at the core of what we do. Our clients count on BNY to protect what matters most, including the software behind our systems. As AI speeds up the discovery of vulnerabilities, Athena may help us identify and address risks earlier.” – Dave Robinson, Chief Information Security Officer, BNY

“For decades, Cisco has helped secure the open-source ecosystem. That work now faces new urgency; frontier AI has accelerated the vulnerability discovery cycle beyond what traditional coordinated disclosure was built to handle. Chainguard’s Athena coalition represents an important evolution, the coordination of open-source vulnerability intelligence and defense at the pace these threats demand. As this space continues to evolve, Cisco is committed to protecting customers across their infrastructure and applications, including open source. Open source powers critical infrastructure worldwide. Securing it secures all of us.” – Anthony Grieco, SVP & Chief Security & Trust Officer, Cisco

“AI has fundamentally changed the speed of vulnerability discovery, and traditional, siloed patching simply can’t keep pace. Cloudflare is already using our global network to deploy automated, traffic-level mitigations before these flaws are ever made public. This collaboration allows us to better act as an industry to neutralize threats at the ecosystem scale, protecting critical infrastructure and businesses before an attacker even has the chance to exploit a bug.” – Blake Darché, Head of Cloudforce One, Cloudflare

Availability

Athena is open to vetted organizations through an application process. Members retain control of their findings — kept private, shared with a trusted subset of the coalition, or opened to everyone. Organizations that join before the first coordinated disclosure wave next month are covered under embargo ahead of it. Interested organizations can apply or start a conversation at chainguard.dev/athena.

About Chainguard

Chainguard is the trusted source for open source. Its solutions provide engineers and AI agents with the hardened, trusted, and production-ready artifacts they rely on, so organizations can build fast while staying compliant and protecting against AI supply chain attacks. Customers include Fortune 500 enterprises and global industry leaders, including Anduril, Canva, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, OpenAI, Snap Inc., and Snowflake. Chainguard is venture-backed by leading investors, including Amplify, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital. For more information, visit: https://www.chainguard.dev/

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SQAIRZ Launches SQAIRZ Medical

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New Division Introduces the First Integrated Balance & Stability Platform to Help Combat Fall Risk and Support Lifelong Movement, Vitality and Independence

WINDHAM, N.H., Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SQAIRZ, the biomechanically driven performance footwear company built on the belief that performance starts where you stand, today announced the launch of SQAIRZ Medical, extending the company’s expertise in stability and human movement into one of the most significant health challenges facing an aging population: fall risk and the loss of mobility, vitality and independence that can follow.

At the center of the new division is SENTRX™ purpose-built Balance & Stability footwear engineered from the ground up by SQAIRZ to help create a more stable foundation for everyday movement. In addition, SQAIRZ Medical has developed a holistic clinical framework designed to provide a critical continuum of support.

That framework integrates a Balance & Stability Protocol that connects objective fall-risk assessment, SQAIRZ’s biomechanically engineered footwear, individualized clinical intervention, and ongoing outcomes tracking into a single approach that optimizes support at every stage of the balance and stability journey.

The need is urgent. One in four U.S. adults over age 65 falls at least once every year. For adults over 80, the risk increases to one in two. Fall-related injuries account for more than $80 billion in annual U.S. healthcare spending, while also diminishing an individual’s ability to fully engage in the relationships and experiences that define quality of life.

“For more than a decade, SQAIRZ has studied the relationship between the ground, the foot, stability and human performance,” said Bob Winskowicz, Founder and CEO of SQAIRZ. “SQAIRZ Medical represents the next evolution of that work. We believe that better stability should not only help an athlete perform better. It can help people continue living better. Our goal is to identify risk earlier, provide meaningful intervention and help people maintain the movement, confidence and independence that make a full life possible.”

Beyond the Shoe: A Complete Solution

The SQAIRZ Medical approach begins with a simple premise: you cannot effectively address a risk you have not first measured.

Through the SQAIRZ Balance & Stability Program, healthcare providers can use Kinetisense® Risk of Fall and Gait Assessment technology to perform a rapid 3D movement assessment that evaluates walking speed, stride pattern, body sway, compensatory movement and an individual’s fall-risk percentage.

Those insights help inform an individualized stability plan. The SQAIRZ clinical pathway is designed around escalating levels of intervention based on identified risk, ranging from neuromuscular education and baseline guidance for lower-risk patients to appropriate orthopedic solutions.

That includes SENTRX, purpose-built balance and stability footwear engineered with a wider natural base of support, a toe box that allows the toes to spread naturally for better balance, and a high-traction outsole that helps maintain connection with the ground; and, where appropriate, Thrive Orthopedics lateral or anterior AFO bracing. Follow-up testing and outcomes tracking allow providers to reassess patients over time.

Integrates into Clinical Care

SQAIRZ Medical is being developed around the realities of clinical adoption, patient access and reimbursement.

For patients whose assessment indicates a greater need for stabilization, the SQAIRZ clinical pathway incorporates Thrive Orthopedics AFO solutions, including pathways identified in SQAIRZ materials under L1952 and L1933. The broader program is supported with provider education, treatment-pathway guidance, documentation tools, chart-note templates and letters of medical necessity.

SQAIRZ patient materials indicate that SENTRX footwear may be covered through Medicare, depending on patient qualification and coverage. Patients may also have HSA/FSA payment options.

The goal is to create a Balance & Stability solution that can live not only in consumer commerce, but inside real patient-provider workflows.

Built with Medical Expertise

The development of SQAIRZ Medical is supported by a multidisciplinary Medical Advisory Board spanning orthopedics, podiatry, physical therapy, biomechanics, sports medicine and movement science.

The advisory group includes physicians, surgeons, podiatrists, physical therapists, researchers and biomechanics experts with experience across leading medical institutions, professional sports and clinical practice. Their role extends beyond product endorsement, helping inform clinical protocols, research priorities, provider education and the continued development of evidence-based approaches to balance and stability.

“In podiatry and sports medicine, we see every day how much the relationship between the foot and the ground influences balance, confidence and movement,” said Dr. Paul Klutts, DPM, Director of Fellowship for Kentucky and Indiana Foot and Ankle. “What is compelling about SQAIRZ Medical is that it approaches stability as a system: measure risk, create a stronger foundation at the foot and connect that intervention to ongoing clinical care. SENTRX is designed to make that foundation part of everyday life.”

“Fall risk is not a single-variable problem, and it should not be addressed with a single-variable solution,” said Dr. Larry Benz, PT, DPT, OCS, MBA, MAPP, FAPTA, Founder and CEO of Confluent Health. “The opportunity with SQAIRZ Medical is to connect objective assessment, footwear, individualized intervention and outcomes tracking in a way that can fit within the continuum of care. That kind of integrated approach can help clinicians move from reacting to falls toward identifying and addressing risk earlier.”

From Performance Footwear to Performance throughout Life

SQAIRZ Medical represents a natural expansion of the company’s original mission.

SQAIRZ was founded on the belief that performance starts where you stand. Across golf, baseball, softball and pickleball, the company has focused on the relationship between the ground, the foot, stability and human movement. SQAIRZ Medical applies that same foundational thinking to a different stage of life.

“People don’t wake up wanting a stability shoe. They want to keep doing the things they love. They want another walk with their spouse, another vacation, another birthday, another afternoon with their grandchildren. They want to remain active, vital and independent for as long as possible,” Winskowicz said. “That is what we mean by SQAIRZ FOR LIFE. From helping an athlete perform to helping someone maintain their movement and independence as they age, we want SQAIRZ to be The Foundation of Human Movement throughout every stage of life.”

About SQAIRZ

SQAIRZ is a biomechanically driven performance footwear company founded on the principle that performance starts where you stand. Through footwear engineered to enhance stability, ground connection and movement, SQAIRZ serves athletes across golf, baseball, softball, pickleball and now consumers through SQAIRZ Medical. For more information, visit SQAIRZ.com or SQAIRZMedical.com.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sqairz-launches-sqairz-medical-302874411.html

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MHK and MCG Partner to Connect Evidence-Based Clinical Guidance with Standards-Based Prior Authorization

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New integration to help health plans streamline prior authorization and prepare for CMS-0057-F compliance

SEATTLE, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — MCG Health, part of the Hearst Health network and the industry’s source of truth for trusted clinical guidance, announces a newly certified integration with MHK, a leading healthcare technology provider and a sibling Hearst Health company. The new integration connects the MCG Path interoperability solution directly with the MHK CareProminence prior authorization workflow, helping health plans streamline authorization processes while supporting standards-based interoperability required by the CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule (CMS-0057-F).

The prior authorization process has historically required healthcare providers and health plans to navigate separate clinical, documentation, and administrative requirements. When required clinical information is not clearly identified at the point of request, submissions may be incomplete, resulting in requests for additional information, manual follow-up, longer review cycles, and ultimately, delayed care for members. Simultaneously, health plans seek to balance adapting their current utilization management workflows to the evolution of standards-based interoperability.

The new MHK CareProminence and MCG Path integration brings highly trusted clinical guidance and documentation requirements directly into the authorization workflow, connecting capabilities that have traditionally operated as separate steps. Using HL7® Da Vinci Project burden reduction standards – including Coverage Requirements Discovery (CRD), Documentation Templates and Rules (DTR), and Prior Authorization Support (PAS) – the integration surfaces evidence-based MCG clinical indications and structured documentation requirements at the point of a prior authorization request.

The integration is designed to help health plans:

Support evidence-based decision-making by incorporating the nationally recognized MCG care guidelines into the prior authorization workflowReduce administrative burden by helping providers identify and submit required clinical documentation earlier in the processPromote more consistent reviews by making structured clinical requirements available within existing workflowsAdvance interoperability readiness by supporting HL7 Da Vinci standards associated with CMS-0057-F API requirements that are primarily due January 1, 2027

One of the first to utilize the MHK-MCG integration will be Mountain Pacific, a multi-state nonprofit organization with a long history of innovation and healthcare quality improvement.

“We’re excited to integrate MHK CareProminence and MCG into our medical necessity review process for prior authorization as part of our continued commitment to modernizing healthcare delivery,” said Jill Alessi, Chief Executive Officer at Mountain Pacific. “By connecting trusted, nationally recognized, evidence-based clinical guidelines with clearer documentation requirements, this integration has the potential to reduce administrative burden, streamline the review process, facilitate timely care, strengthen collaboration, and support a more efficient experience for providers and their patients.”

“Prior authorization works best when clinical guidance, documentation requirements, and the authorization workflow are connected rather than operating as separate steps,” said Carol Helton, COO of MHK. “Bringing MCG’s trusted clinical guidance directly into CareProminence enables health plans to simplify that process while giving providers clearer information at the point of request. Equally important, this integration gives our customers a practical path toward the standards-based interoperability required under CMS-0057-F.”

“We’re seeing tremendous momentum for MCG Path as health plans across the country prepare for the next era of interoperable prior authorization,” said Jon Shreve, President and CEO of MCG Health. “Our partnership with MHK is a critical part of that progress, bringing the trust of MCG directly into the workflows health plans already use. Together, we’re driving more confident decisions that help patients get the right care.”

The certified MHK-MCG interoperability integration is currently available to health plans, and demonstrations can be requested via the MHK and MCG websites at mhk.com/contact/schedule-a-demo/ or mcg.com/contact-us/schedule-a-demo/.

About MCG Health

MCG, part of the Hearst Health network, is the trusted source of truth for clinical guidance in the healthcare industry. MCG combines evidence-based guidelines and analytics with artificial intelligence to guide efficient and accurate clinical decisions. MCG solutions are licensed by a vast majority of health plans, thousands of hospitals, and many state and federal government agencies to drive quality health outcomes while controlling costs. For more information, visit mcg.com.

About MHK

MHK, formerly MedHOK, is a leading provider of healthcare SaaS solutions for health plans, pharmacy benefit managers, and provider-sponsored organizations. MHK’s platforms support utilization management, case management, population health, pharmacy management, enrollment, and compliance. Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., MHK partners with payers nationwide to optimize operations, improve outcomes, and deliver superior member experiences. For more information, visit mhk.com.

About Mountain Pacific

Established in 1973, Mountain Pacific has decades of experience collaborating with healthcare professionals, consumers and communities across multiple states to deliver innovative solutions. Through federal, state and commercial funding and partnerships, Mountain Pacific brings national public health priorities to the local level to achieve better health outcomes, lower costs, greater access to high-quality care and improved patient experiences. Learn more at mountainpacific.org.

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NuxGame Heads to SBC Summit Lisbon 2026 With Its Full Ecosystem and a Seat on the Compliance Stage

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LIMASSOL, Cyprus, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NuxGame, a B2B iGaming software provider, will take part in SBC Summit Lisbon 2026, held from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 at the Feira Internacional de Lisboa. The team will be based at Stand A326 in Hall 1, the event’s Networking Lounge sponsored by NuxGame, where operators can sit down with senior staff from the product and commercial teams.

From Software Provider to Open Ecosystem

The timing suits where the business now stands. NuxGame began in 2018 as a software provider for operators launching their first projects, and today it runs an open ecosystem built around operator growth. Lisbon is one of the few occasions in the year when all of it can be seen in one place, by the people who would use it day to day.

What Operators Will See at Stand A326

Across the three days, the team will walk operators through the NuxGame Ecosystem in full:

An award-winning turnkey casino and sportsbook platform.

A game aggregator with 18,500+ titles from 140+ providers.

Sweepstakes-ready infrastructure.

A vetted network of partners covering CRM, payments, orchestration, and traffic.

That last part saves time. Instead of assessing vendors market by market, operators plug into partners already working in the regions they are entering, with the software underneath coming from a single provider. It is all backed by a service team whose client satisfaction has averaged 4.8 out of 5 over the past six months.

Denis Kosinsky on the Compliance Tech Stage

On Thursday, Oct. 1, NuxGame Chief Product Officer Denis Kosinsky will join the panel “Closing the Loopholes: How to Combat Bonus Abuse” on the Regulation & Compliance stage, part of the summit’s new Compliance Tech track. The session looks at how operators can recognize evolving patterns of bonus exploitation and keep promotional spend flowing to the players it was designed for.

“A bonus budget is one of the most powerful growth tools an operator has, and it works best when the money reaches genuine players. The instinct is to tighten the rules for everyone, but that’s like locking the whole building because one window doesn’t shut. Better to find the window. When you can see clearly how a promotion is actually being used, you close that one gap and leave the offer generous for everybody else.”

— Denis Kosinsky, Chief Product Officer at NuxGame

Book a Meeting in Lisbon

“Lisbon is where a lot of operators decide what their next year looks like. We wanted a space where those conversations can happen properly, with the platform, the content, and the partner network all in the room at once. Twenty minutes with the right people will tell you more than three months of comparing suppliers on paper.”

— Daniel Heywood, Chief Executive Officer at NuxGame

Operators, affiliates, and partners attending the summit can book a meeting with the NuxGame team in advance, or stop by Stand A326 in Hall 1 on any of the three days.

About NuxGame

NuxGame is a B2B iGaming company founded in 2018 that has grown from a software provider into an open ecosystem for operator growth. It combines an award-winning casino and sportsbook platform, a game aggregator with 18,500+ titles from 140+ providers, sweepstakes-ready infrastructure, and a vetted network of partners covering CRM, payments, orchestration, and traffic, supporting 100+ operators worldwide as they launch, scale, and enter new markets. In 2026, NuxGame was named Casino Platform of the Year at the iGaming News Awards. Visit https://nuxgame.com/ for more information and inquiries.

Media Contact: Yanina Kaplya, CMO at NuxGame, info@nuxgame.com

Original Source: https://nuxgame.com/blog/nuxgame-sbc-summit-lisbon-2026

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