Voting is open for the 2025 CyberScoop 50 awards SAN FRANCISCO — Threat intelligence sharing is flowing between the private sector and federal government and remains unimpeded thus far by job losses and budget cuts across federal agencies that support the cyber mission according to executives at major security firms Google and Palo Alto Networks said there’s been no change to interactions with the federal government since President Donald Trump was inaugurated earlier this year Across multiple interviews and media briefings during the RSAC 2025 Conference this week none of the leaders at these top cybersecurity companies conveyed any concern about or experience with communication breakdowns Each of them dismissed the idea that collaboration has slowed down amid significant workforce reductions and strategic changes across the federal government.  “We haven’t seen any change in that regard,” said CJ Moses Amazon’s chief information security officer “We’re monitoring the situation just like everybody else there hasn’t been any impact to our ability to share the information that’s needed.” This broad messaging asserting that threat intelligence sharing remains as robust as ever comes amid steady cuts that would seemingly bear some impact on federal agencies’ ability to keep up in an ever-growing threat landscape. Trump’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget calls for a nearly 17% cut to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency a $491 million decrease from the agency’s roughly $3 billion annual budget staffing cuts and strategic changes at the national and international level have created a dynamic environment that’s pushed cybersecurity companies to adapt how they communicate with their peers in government chief security intelligence officer at Palo Alto Networks is that intelligence sharing often occurs at the practitioner level with hands-on researchers and analysts in the private and public sectors “That information sharing I don’t think has changed and been thwarted,” Whitmore said.  While some people have left or been unceremoniously dismissed from their government jobs and personal relationships formed during previous work can keep important lines of communication intact “Hopefully people that are moving into roles are people that you’ve got relationships from working with previously and vice versa,” Whitmore said I think it’s not as negative as we might be hearing about.” The staffers that work at federal agencies day in and day out are mostly still there and haven’t changed senior vice president of counter adversary operations at CrowdStrike as some of the political appointees that are at these agencies have transferred out which is typical of any administrative change they’ve taken up acting roles,” he said.  the focus and the mission has remained the same at these agencies,” Meyers said “I have either the same or new contacts depending on if they’re political appointees or if they’re career government employees.” the mission of cyber defense continues to operate as needed at the federal level and government agencies are still responding quickly and taking action vice president at Google Threat Intelligence shared a similar perspective in a separate discussion during the RSAC 2025 Conference we have been able to continue our mission of supporting all of our customers and sharing intelligence with our partners,” she said “The way that we have planned that is through partnerships — contract work we are continuing to do that mission right now.” and everything that comes along with them — budgetarily staffing and otherwise — give cybersecurity companies and threat intelligence firms an opportunity to be more of a stabilizing factor “We’ve got to step up a little bit more and make sure that everything we’re doing is helping protect as many organizations as possible,” she said.  “We still all have a job to do,” Whitmore said “Cybersecurity is more important than ever — if it comes to kinetic warfare if it comes to just the geopolitical landscape shifting and the role cybersecurity plays in the wake of events like foreign trade policy changing.” While personnel changes and budgets for some agencies with cyber responsibilities remain in flux security executives said they’ve also seen no change to formal government-run cooperative programs such as CISA’s Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative and the National Security Agency’s Cybersecurity Collaboration Center.  “There’s been no slowdown,” Meyers said “The Cyber Collaboration Center is phenomenal and we’ve had continuous seamless and no disruption between the last administration and this administration Amazon is monitoring the situation to see what changes come to these programs — but a change between administrations is the norm “We’ll wait and see how that kind of plays out with this administration just like we have all the previous ones,” he added industry leaders are “really using this as an opportunity to work even more closely together.”  that they’re getting this information,” she said “and we have and we’ll continue to have strong partnerships.” You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience Palo Alto Networks Inc. kicked off this week’s RSA Conference in San Francisco by introducing new capabilities for its ever-expanding security portfolio The announcements were focused on its two major platforms: network security and Cortex Palo Alto Networks has introduced Prisma Access Browser 2.0 into its secure access service edge offering Palo Alto acquired Talon to jump into the secure enterprise browser market and now it has made the offering part of its SASE stack Other new Prisma SASE capabilities include endpoint data loss prevention; integration into Prisma SD-WAN to support new productivity apps and extend enhanced user-to-app performance to the branch; simplifying the information technology experience with a next-generation unified SASE agent; and the addition of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to extend the global reach of Prisma SASE and deliver cloud resiliency and greater uptime but the market has been in a bit of a renaissance Older solutions required users to install a separate browser such as Prisma Access Browser run in Chrome and Edge making it invisible to the user the browser has become the primary workspace Securing the user and data at the browser brings consistent security to the first line of defense Palo Alto unveiled the 3.0 version of Cortex XSIAM Among the new features are proactive exposure management and advanced email security which enable customers to consolidate more functions onto Cortex with better and faster results providing a proof point as to the value of platforming their security operations center Cortex Exposure Management prevent attacks by using AI to analyze the massive amounts of data to prioritize and remediate actions across the attack surface What’s interesting about the release is it changes the role of XSIAM Palo Alto Chief Executive Nikesh Arora often talks about security tools being designed for “peacetime” or “wartime,” with XSIAM being the former Exposure management adds in element of war time and playing a dual role and Advanced Email Security to be generally available in Q4 of fiscal 2025 Palo Alto also introduced Prisma AIRS (pictured) which is an AI security platform designed to protect the entire enterprise AI ecosystem It addresses both traditional and AI-specific threats enabling organizations to deploy AI more confidently Built on the Secure AI by Design portfolio that Palo Alto launched in 2024 During RSAC, Palo Alto announced the intent to acquire Protect AI the vendor focuses on security AI and machine learning systems senior vice president and general manager of network security at Palo Alto Protect AI will become part of the Prisma AIRS team accelerating our journey to comprehensively secure every app this was a strong set of announcements as it expands the definition and capabilities of its platforms Almost every security professional I talk to has bought into the concept of the platform but struggle with how to get from where they are today to the future state of a platform will be to help companies migrate from multivendor multitool environment and consolidate down to a few platforms Now the vendors need to help them get there Zeus Kerravala is a principal analyst at ZK Research Analysis: Palo Alto Networks introduces new security capabilities at RSAC Conference Apple's stock falls as Tim Cook admits it's 'difficult to predict' tariff impact From SaaS to Service as Software: Inside Marc Benioff’s plan to upend enterprise software Amazon's stock declines on light guidance and third successive cloud revenue miss FutureHouse Platform brings super-intelligent AI research tools to scientists via web and API SECURITY - BY ZEUS KERRAVALA AI - BY ROBERT HOF APPS - BY MIKE WHEATLEY AI - BY GEORGE GILBERT CLOUD - BY MIKE WHEATLEY AI - BY DUNCAN RILEY Forgot Password? This new video from our friends at BAWSCA talks about our precious water supply & how membership in this agency has helped CPAU protect our high-quality water at a fair price.  the SFPUC will shut down the Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant (SVWTP) and start up the Harry Tracy Water Treatment Plant (HTWTP) The SFPUC – Valley Water intertie will also be closed the Hetchy supply will increase from 200 to 245 MGD These changes are part of seasonal water supply management The following table compares water quality parameters at Irvington Portal in Fremont CA before and after the blend water change Estimates are based on the most recent sampling results Some fluctuations in water quality parameters may occur during the source water transition and rate adjustments City staff need to periodically flush water mains and hydrants with fresh water to prevent the water quality from degrading This is more frequently needed in areas where a cul-de-sac or end-of-the-line piping tend to accumulate vegetation Flushing is necessary to keep debris out of customers' service line We post signs at each site to let people know that this is being done.  We monitor our water quality every day to ensure that it meets all State and Federal guidelines for drinking water quality standards If a customer experiences discoloration or sediment in water coming from the tap they should flush the cold (not hot) water for a minute or more until the water clears Chromium is an abundant element in the Earth’s crust including source waters for drinking water typically at VERY low concentration levels Chromium 6 is not a concern in Palo Alto. The water supplies we receive from the SFPUC fully comply with the new California Chromium 6 MCL standard finalized in July 2014 City Service Feedback is moving aggressively to stake its claim in the fast-growing AI security sector the company announced its definitive agreement to acquire Protect AI a Seattle-based startup specializing in the protection of artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) systems The move underscores both the intensifying arms race among cybersecurity vendors to secure emerging AI infrastructure and the rising threats targeting AI-based tools across various industries Protect AI has quickly carved out a niche as one of the leading companies addressing the so-called “ML security” problem As organizations incorporate machine learning into business-critical workloads from healthcare diagnostics to financial fraud detection the resulting attack surface has grown rapidly Protect AI offers detection and remediation technologies aimed at this new frontier and code is exploitable,” Protect AI CEO Ian Swanson wrote in a May blog post The company’s flagship offerings include AI Radar and ModelScan platforms designed to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities across the ML lifecycle already a dominant force in cloud and network security sees Protect AI as its springboard into the AI security market we are significantly deepening our capabilities to secure AI pipelines and address threats specific to the entire machine learning lifecycle,” Palo Alto stated in its official announcement The acquisition comes amid a broader sector-wide expansion toward so-called “AI SPM” (Security Posture Management) and security monitoring for applications that utilize artificial intelligence Research firm Gartner has identified AI SPM as a burgeoning category more than 40% of enterprises deploying AI will also invest in AI-specific security controls Palo Alto Networks’ move follows on the heels of others in the space Microsoft rolled out Azure AI Security tools while startups including HiddenLayer and Robust Intelligence have attracted significant venture funding The rapid adoption of large language models and generative AI tools—like those powering OpenAI’s ChatGPT—has only intensified demand for specialized defenses Protect AI’s technology detects vulnerabilities such as “model poisoning,” supply chain attacks and the exposure of sensitive data through ML artifacts—problems that traditional security tools often miss Palo Alto Networks plans to integrate these capabilities into its Prisma Cloud platform providing end-to-end visibility and automated remediation across data The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but market watchers see the acquisition as a strategic play rather than a revenue-driven one—at least in the short term “Palo Alto has a strong track record of absorbing fast-growing innovation-focused startups in domains adjacent to their core business,” wrote CRN in its coverage of the deal noting previous acquisitions including Bridgecrew “Protect AI adds a new dimension to its existing cloud and code security portfolio.” Palo Alto Networks CFO Dipak Golechha highlighted the growing customer appetite for cloud and automation-focused offerings during a recent earnings call at the RSA Conference in San Francisco an industry event where AI security emerged as a central theme Protect AI brings to Palo Alto Networks a team rooted in both machine learning research and enterprise security as well as a footprint in the burgeoning Seattle AI startup community The company supports more than 400 open source ML projects through its “AI Radar” platform and is active in developing standards for secure ML pipelines already home to giants like Amazon and Microsoft has become a hub for cutting-edge AI security research and analysts see the deal as cementing Palo Alto’s presence in the region Palo Alto Networks expects to retain much of Protect AI’s team and will accelerate work on cross-platform integrations aimed at major cloud providers The deal highlights the convergence of two urgent trends: the proliferation of AI usage in the enterprise and the growing recognition that traditional cybersecurity is not sufficient to protect these new workloads Forrester analyst Allie Mellen noted in a recent report “AI-driven applications present a new attack surface…End-to-end protection and explainability are becoming table stakes.” Palo Alto Networks’ acquisition of Protect AI attempts to address this need as adversaries increasingly target not merely infrastructure but the models and data underpinning AI-powered business processes the purchase is both an investment in future growth and a signal to customers: As AI transforms the technology landscape the security industry will need to adapt just as quickly the message is clear—AI security is no longer optional updates and trends in enterprise-level IT security Get the free daily newsletter read by decision makers Deliver your marketing message directly to decision makers Agentic applications are programs that leverage AI agents — software designed to autonomously collect data and take actions toward specific objectives — to drive their functionality As AI agents are becoming more widely adopted in real-world applications understanding their security implications is critical This article investigates ways attackers can target agentic applications presenting nine concrete attack scenarios that result in outcomes such as information leakage tool exploitation and remote code execution To assess how widely applicable these risks are, we implemented two functionally identical applications using different open-source agent frameworks — CrewAI and AutoGen — and executed the same attacks on both Our findings show that most vulnerabilities and attack vectors are largely framework-agnostic misconfigurations and unsafe tool integrations rather than flaws in the frameworks themselves We also propose defense strategies for each attack scenario, analyzing their effectiveness and limitations. To support reproducibility and further research, we’ve open-sourced the source code and datasets on GitHub It is important to emphasize that neither CrewAI nor AutoGen are inherently vulnerable The attack scenarios in this study highlight systemic risks rooted in language models’ limitation in resisting prompt injection and misconfigurations or vulnerabilities in the integrated tool — not in any specific framework our findings and recommended mitigations are broadly applicable across agentic applications Palo Alto Networks redefines AI security with Prisma AIRS (AI Runtime Security) — delivering real-time protection for your AI applications By intelligently analyzing network traffic and application behavior Prisma AIRS proactively detects and prevents sophisticated threats like prompt injection inline enforcement at both the network and API levels AI Access Security offers deep visibility and precise control over third-party generative AI (GenAI) use data leakage and malicious content in AI outputs through policy enforcement and user activity monitoring these solutions provide a layered defense that safeguards both the operational integrity of AI systems and the secure use of external AI tools A Unit 42 AI Security Assessment can help you proactively identify the threats most likely to target your AI environment If you think you might have been compromised or have an urgent matter, contact the Unit 42 Incident Response team An AI agent is a software program designed to autonomously collect data from its environment process information and take actions to achieve specific objectives without direct human intervention These agents are typically powered by AI models — most notably large language models (LLMs) — which serve as their core reasoning engines A defining feature of AI agents is their ability to connect AI models to external functions or tools allowing them to autonomously decide which tools to use in pursuit of their objectives A function or tool is an external capability — like an API database or service — that the agent can call to perform specific tasks beyond the model's built-in knowledge This integration enables them to reason through given tasks plan solutions and execute actions effectively to achieve their goals multiple AI agents can collaborate as a team — each handling different aspects of a problem — to solve larger and more intricate challenges collectively AI agents have diverse applications across various sectors they power chatbots and virtual assistants to handle inquiries efficiently they assist with fraud detection and portfolio management Healthcare can also utilize AI agents for patient monitoring and diagnostic support Figure 1 is a typical AI Agent architecture that shows how an agent uses an LLM to plan It connects to external tools via function calling to perform tasks such as accessing code The agent could also incorporate memory — both short- and long-term — to retain context and enhance decision-making Applications interact with the agent by sending requests and receiving results through input and output interfaces As AI agents are typically built on LLMs, they inherit many of the security risks outlined in the OWASP Top 10 for LLMs sensitive data leakage and supply chain vulnerabilities AI agents go beyond traditional LLM applications by integrating external tools that are often built in various programming languages and frameworks Including these external tools exposes the LLMs to classic software threats like SQL injection remote code execution and broken access control combined with the agent’s ability to interact with external systems or even the physical world makes securing AI agents particularly critical The recently published article OWASP Agentic AI Threats and Mitigation highlights these emerging threats Below is a summary of key threats relevant to the attack scenarios demonstrated in the next section: To investigate the security risks of AI agents, we developed a multi-user and multi-agent investment advisory assistant using two popular open-source agent frameworks: CrewAI and AutoGen Both implementations are functionally identical and share the same instructions This setup highlights that the security risks are not specific to any framework or model they stem from misconfigurations or insecure design introduced during agent development It is important to note that CrewAI or AutoGen frameworks are NOT vulnerable Figure 2 illustrates the architecture of the investment advisory assistant which consists of three cooperating agents: the orchestration agent Sample questions the assistant can answer: Users interact with the assistant through a command-line interface The initial database includes synthesized datasets for users The assistant uses short-term memory that retains conversation history only within the current session This memory is cleared once the user exits the conversation All these attack scenarios assume that malicious requests are made at the beginning of a new session, with no influence from previous interactions. For detailed usage instructions, please refer to our GitHub page The remainder of this section presents nine attack scenarios Investment advisory assistant attack scenarios The attacker aims to identify all participant agents within the target application This information is typically accessible to the orchestration agent which is responsible for task delegation and must be aware of all participant agents and their functions Figure 3 shows that we aim to extract the information solely from the orchestration agent Table 2 lists the example attacker inputs to identify participant agents Example attacker inputs to identify participant agents The attacker seeks to extract the system instructions (e.g. Although users can only directly access the orchestration agent they can explicitly ask the orchestration agent to forward queries to specific agents Figure 4 shows that by taking advantage of the communication channel between agents attackers can deliver the same exploitation payload to each individual agent To extract the orchestration agent’s instructions the agent request must NOT be delegated to other agents To access instructions of a participant agent the prompt must be forwarded to the target agent Since there are no strict rules for how tasks should be delegated the orchestration agent typically forwards the task to the agent that has its name explicitly specified in the request Table 3 lists example attacker inputs used to extract agent instructions from each participant agent in the stock advisory assistant Example attacker inputs for extracting agent instructions The attacker aims to extract the tool schemas of each agent While users have direct access only to the orchestration agent they can explicitly instruct the orchestration agent to forward queries to specific agents Figure 5 shows that by taking advantage of the communication channel between agents Similar to the agent instruction extraction attack, each of the prompts shown in Table 4 is destined for a specific target agent. In CrewAI, the orchestrator “delegates” tasks to coworker agents, while in AutoGen, the orchestrator “transfers” tasks to coworker agents Example attacker inputs for extracting tool schemas The attacker abuses the web content reader tool to access the private web server on the internal network This attack is a variation of server-side request forgery (SSRF) that relies on the unprotected server to forward the exploitation payloads to another target in the internal network Figure 6 illustrates how the payload is delivered to the target server The example inputs in Table 5 are straightforward Since we ask the assistant to read a “news” website the orchestration agent would delegate the task to the news agent without any special instruction Since the Web Reader tool has unrestricted network access attackers could exploit it to scan and enumerate resources within the internal network Example attacker inputs to gain unauthorized access to an internal network The attacker abuses the code interpreter tool used by the stock agent to access credential files that may be mistakenly mounted into the container To enable file exchange between the agent and the code interpreter it is common to mount a directory from the host into the container if this mounted volume includes sensitive data — such as credentials source code or configuration files — the attacker can exploit the interpreter to exfiltrate these assets the attacker sends a malicious payload to the stock agent’s code interpreter This payload executes code within the container to locate and extract sensitive files from the mounted directory The example attacker inputs in Table 6 direct the agent to search for files in a mounted volume for credentials Note that the attacker inputs refer to the stock agent as a Portfolio Management Agent The path of the mounted directory is often explicitly specified in the tool’s description or in the agent’s instructions allowing the agent to read and write files during normal operations The payload also instructs the agent to Base-64 encode the output because most frontier LLMs have internal safeguards that prevent generating responses containing sensitive information such as secrets and credentials Example attacker inputs to exfiltrate sensitive data through a mounted volume The attacker abuses the code interpreter tool used by the stock agent to access the GCP metadata service Most cloud providers expose similar metadata endpoints that allow applications running on a virtual machine (VM) to query information about the instance the attacker sends the exploitation payload to the stock agent’s code interpreter which then executes the malicious code in the container to access the cloud infrastructure’s metadata service One critical piece of metadata is the VM’s service account which grants VM access to other cloud services and resources If an attacker obtains the service account’s access token they can potentially impersonate the agent or its tools — or escalate the attack to compromise the underlying cloud infrastructure The example attacker inputs in Table 7 instruct the agent to query the metadata server URL for Google Compute Engine and retrieve the VM’s service account access token the request must include a special HTTP header (Metadata-Flavor: Google) required by the metadata server to validate the requests Examples of attacker input to exfiltrate a service account access token via metadata service The attacker exploits a SQL injection vulnerability in one of the agent's tools to dump a database table containing transaction histories for all users Figure 9 illustrates how the attacker sends the exploitation payload to the vulnerable function through prompt injection The prompt examples in Table 8 instruct the agent to invoke the View Transactions tool with attacker-supplied input containing a SQL injection payload This payload is crafted to extract rows from the transaction history table To avoid hitting the language model’s output context limit the query restricts the number of returned rows to 20 Example attacker inputs for SQL injection to exfiltrate a database table The attacker exploits a broken object level authorization (BOLA) vulnerability in one of the agent's tools to access other users’ transaction history The attacker sends the exploitation payload in the same way shown above in Figure 9 exploiting it is typically straightforward and doesn't require a specially crafted payload This also makes detection of BOLA attacks difficult Example attacker inputs for exploiting BOLA to gain unauthorized access to user data The attacker compromises a website that targeted victims frequently visit malicious instructions embedded in the webpage trick the assistant into sending the user's conversation history to an attacker-controlled domain This attack unfolds in three stages (illustrated in Figure 10): The injected prompts shown in Table 10 direct the assistant to invoke the web reader tool and visit an attacker-controlled URL that includes a special query parameter [SUMMARY] Assuming the attacker has knowledge of the tool's name and schema the malicious instructions explicitly specify which tool to invoke and how to structure the request This structure includes embedding the user’s conversation history within the [SUMMARY] parameter Examples of attacker input for indirect prompt injection to exfiltrate conversation history Securing the expanded and complex attack surface of agentic applications requires layered No single defense can address all threats — each mitigation targets only a subset of threats under certain conditions This section outlines five key mitigation strategies relevant to the attack scenarios demonstrated in this article Poorly scoped or overly permissive prompts expand the attack surface making them a prime target for manipulation In the stock advisory assistant examples hosted on GitHub, we also provide a version of “reinforced” prompts (CrewAI, AutoGen) These prompts are designed with strict constraints and guardrails to limit agent capabilities While these measures raise the bar for successful attacks Advanced injection techniques could still bypass these defenses which is why prompt hardening must be paired with runtime content filtering Best practices for prompt hardening include: Content filters serve as inline defenses that inspect and optionally block agent inputs and outputs in real time These filters can effectively detect and prevent various attacks before they propagate GenAI applications have long relied on content filters to defend against jailbreaks and prompt injection attacks Since agentic applications inherit these risks and introduce new ones content filtering remains a critical layer of defense Advanced solutions such as Palo Alto Networks AI Runtime Security offer deeper inspection tailored to AI agents Tools must never implicitly trust their inputs even when invoked by a seemingly benign agent Attackers can manipulate agents into supplying crafted inputs that exploit vulnerabilities within tools every tool should sanitize and validate inputs before execution All tools integrated into agentic systems should undergo regular security assessments These practices help identify misconfigurations insecure logic and outdated components that can be exploited through tool misuse Code executors enable agents to dynamically solve tasks through real-time code generation and execution this capability introduces additional risks including arbitrary code execution and lateral movement Most agent frameworks rely on container-based sandboxes to isolate execution environments default configurations are often not sufficient Agentic applications inherit the vulnerabilities of both LLMs and external tools while expanding the attack surface through complex workflows autonomous decision-making and dynamic tool invocation This amplifies the potential impact of compromises which can escalate from information leakage and unauthorized access to remote code execution and full infrastructure takeover a wide variety of prompt payloads can trigger the same weakness underscoring how flexible and evasive these threats can be Securing AI agents requires more than ad hoc fixes It demands a defense-in-depth strategy that spans prompt hardening secure tool integration and robust runtime monitoring General-purpose security mechanisms alone are insufficient. Organizations must adopt purpose-built solutions — such as Palo Alto Networks Prisma AIRS — to Discover Assess and Protect threats unique to agentic applications Palo Alto Networks customers are better protected from the threats discussed above through the following products: A Unit 42 AI Security Assessment can help you proactively identify the threats most likely to target your AI environment If you think you may have been compromised or have an urgent matter, get in touch with the Unit 42 Incident Response team or call: Palo Alto Networks has shared these findings with our fellow Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) members. CTA members use this intelligence to rapidly deploy protections to their customers and to systematically disrupt malicious cyber actors. Learn more about the Cyber Threat Alliance Copyright © 2025 Palo Alto Networks. All Rights Reserved ShareAdobe Stock AT&T has partnered with Palo Alto Networks to deliver a new secure connectivity solution designed to meet the evolving cybersecurity demands of modern businesses. The new offering, called AT&T Dynamic Defense with Palo Alto Networks integrates security directly into the network infrastructure to provide real-time threat prevention and AI-optimized network protection The joint solution combines AT&T’s wireline and wireless connectivity with Palo Alto Networks' SASE platform to provide a unified security framework across all devices and locations Businesses will gain access to capabilities such as Zero Trust Network Access and cloud access security brokering—all centrally managed through Strata Cloud Manager The goal is to give organizations seamless visibility and control over security even in distributed and hybrid work environments the two companies will also roll out a co-branded secure browser solution aimed at safeguarding enterprise web activity Built on Palo Alto Networks’ browser security technology and backed by AT&T’s infrastructure the browser will extend protection to users regardless of device or location offering advanced web threat defense with built-in SASE integration Customer trials for the new offering will begin this summer with general availability planned later in the year As businesses continue to navigate an increasingly complex threat landscape the partnership reflects a broader trend toward integrated network-native security solutions that prioritize both protection and performance Suparna serves as Senior Managing Editor for CyberRisk Alliance’s Channel Brands She plays a key role in content development and collaborating across teams to deliver timely and she brings a unique blend of strategic thinking and executional excellence to every project May 5 The latest offerings adds to the vendor's focus on building services that MSPs can deliver May 1 CISA Workforce Plan Delayed Amid Leadership Transition April 30 CrowdStrike and ExtraHop Team Up to Detect and Contain Shadow AI Activity This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page The City of Palo Alto receives funds annually from the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program providing funding to organizations through a competitive application process to implement activities and programs benefiting low-and moderate-income persons and community development needs Examples of activities funded through the CDBG program include case management services to secure affordable housing and employment The City undertakes several CDBG program activities throughout the year.If you have comments or questions on the CDBG program, the City's CDBG program consultant is Austin Knudsen who may be contacted via email at CDBG.Support@paloalto.gov Comments or questions may also be mailed to the City at the following address: Planning and Development Services/CDBG Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires the City to prepare a five-year Consolidated Plan (ConPlan) to guide the use of CDBG funds in addressing housing and community development needs In partnership with Santa Clara County and other participating jurisdictions the City of Palo Alto is currently developing its 2025-30 ConPlan and 2025-26 Annual Action Plan (AAP) and activities the City plans to fund each year using CDBG funds allocated by HUD consistent with the goals and priorities outlined in the ConPlan An electronic copy of the draft ConPlan and AAP is available for review and download here: Draft Palo Alto 2025-26 Annual Action Plan and 2025-2030 Consolidated Plan(PDF, 7MB) The 30-day public review and comment period on the draft 2025-30 ConPlan and 2025-26 AAP begins on May 5 During the 30-day public review and comment period, comments on the draft ConPlan and AAP may be submitted to Robert Feign via email at robert.feign@paloalto.gov or mailed to: City of Palo Alto, Planning & Development Services Department/CDBG, 250 Hamilton Avenue, 5th Floor, Palo Alto, CA 94301. For additional questions or comments, please contact Robert Feign at (650) 329-2195 or robert.feign@paloalto.gov The City anticipates formal notification of the City's Entitlement Grant funding allocation in May 2025 the City expects to receive an estimated $500,000 CDBG entitlement grant and $100,000 in program income The City is holding two Public Hearings on the draft 2025-30 ConPlan and 2025-26 AAP The City Council will hold a second Public Hearing on Monday, June 9, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. City Council will receive public comments and vote on the adoption of the draft 2025-30 ConPlan and 2025-26 AAP. The staff report and meeting details will be available on the City Council webpage. As a first step toward preparing the AAP and ConPlan the City released a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for its CDBG Program Year 2025-2026 anticipated funding allocation The application for Program Year 2025-26 funding closed on January 10 Organizations were invited to submit applications for funding in the following categories:   The City held a Pre-Proposal Conference on Wednesday All proposers intending to submit an application were encouraged to attend the virtual Pre-Proposal Conference The City submitted its FY 2023-2024 (Program Year 2023) Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) to HUD by the required September 28 2024 deadline and is awaiting confirmation of acceptance This report reviews the City’s CDBG accomplishments from July 1 2024 and the expenditures for the FY 2023-2024 (Program Year 2023) CDBG funding cycle The 15-day public review and comment period on the FY 2023-2024 Draft CAPER began on August 29 The HRC held a public hearing on the FY 2023-2024 Draft CAPER on September 12 The City of Palo Alto Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is funding the following projects and activities, as outlined in the City's FY 2024-25 CDBG Annual Action Plan (AAP).  The Annual Action Plan identifies the City’s housing and community development needs and provides a one-year action plan to demonstrate how the City will invest its CDBG funds to address those needs The funded activities are intended to meet Palo Alto’s affordable housing and community development objectives described in the 2020-2025 Consolidated Plan.   The City annually prepares a Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) The CAPER provides an overview of the major CDBG program initiatives undertaken and accomplished in the previous Program Year After a public review and comment period on the draft CAPER and a public hearing before the Human Relations Commission the City submits the final CAPER to the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in September of each year.  The City of Palo Alto is an entitlement City that receives CDBG funding from HUD HUD requires the City to create a five-year Consolidated Plan to direct and allocate CDBG funds The 2020-2025 Consolidated Plan (ConPlan) is built on a community-oriented participatory process and will function as an application for federal funds under HUD’s CDBG program The ConPlan will also outline specific goals and priority needs where CDBG funds will be allocated during the five fiscal years of the plan.   The Citizen Participation Plan (CPP) outlines the public's participation in the City’s CDBG Program Adopted Citizen Participation Plan 2022(PDF, 726KB) For general program questions, please contact Austin Knudsen, CDBG Consultant, at CDBG.Support@paloalto.gov May is blooming with opportunities to gather Parade down University Avenue at the May Fete Parade and end at the May Fete Fair explore youth creativity at the Art Center From family-friendly performances to community-wide celebrations May is the perfect time to connect with neighbors and enjoy the best of what our city has to offer Mitchell Park Library, 3700 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto Cubberley Community Center, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto Mitchell Park, 600 E Meadow Dr, Palo Alto Memorial Grove (at Cogswell Plaza), 264 Lytton Avenue, Palo Alto Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Rd El Palo Alto Room, 3700 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto The acquisition will enable secure pursuit of AI innovation with confidence by helping customers discover and protect against AI-specific security risks—securing AI end to end from development to runtime SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Palo Alto Networks® (NASDAQ: PANW) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Protect AI an innovative leader in securing the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) applications and models This strategic acquisition reflects Palo Alto Networks' commitment to remaining at the forefront of next-generation cybersecurity innovation and expanding its capabilities to protect the dynamic new attack surface created by the explosion of AI Large enterprises and government organizations are building a complex ecosystem of AI models This creates new and often overlooked risks with threat actors exploiting vulnerabilities in different layers through techniques like model manipulation data poisoning and prompt injection attacks This threat landscape requires purpose-built solutions to reduce risk and provide best-in-class security Palo Alto Networks was an early mover in building out solutions for securing AI and Protect AI has already established itself as an important player in this increasingly critical new area of security After the close of the transaction, Protect AI's solutions and team of experts will enable Palo Alto Networks to more quickly and comprehensively accelerate its vision for Prisma AIRS™ the industry's most complete AI security platform Prisma AIRS will offer customers unparalleled protection for one of the most transformative technologies of our time As organizations explore embedding AI in their processes Prisma AIRS will enable them to deploy AI bravely by protecting the entire AI development lifecycle to meet enterprise requirements for model scanning Palo Alto Networks"As AI-powered applications become core to businesses they bring risks traditional security tools can't adequately handle By extending our AI security capabilities to include Protect AI's innovative solutions for Securing for AI businesses will be able to build AI applications with comprehensive security With the addition of Protect AI's existing portfolio of solutions and team of experts Palo Alto Networks will be well-positioned to offer a wide range of solutions for customers' current needs and also be able to continue innovating on delivering new solutions that are needed for this dynamic threat landscape." Protect AI"Joining forces with Palo Alto Networks will enable us to scale our mission of making the AI landscape more secure for users and organizations of all sizes We are excited for the opportunity to unite with a company that shares our vision and brings the operational scale and cybersecurity prowess to amplify our impact globally." and employees are expected to join Palo Alto Networks once the deal closes The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by Palo Alto Networks' first quarter of fiscal 2026 Follow Palo Alto Networks on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram and the Palo Alto Networks logo are trademarks of Palo Alto Networks in the United States or in jurisdictions throughout the world or service marks used or mentioned herein belong to their respective owners Any unreleased services or features (and any services or features not generally available to customers) referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available (or are not yet generally available to customers) and may not be delivered when expected or at all Customers who purchase Palo Alto Networks applications should make their purchase decisions based on services and features currently generally available Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks statements regarding the anticipated benefits and impact of the proposed acquisition on Palo Alto Networks and its customers There are a significant number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from statements made in this press release but not limited to: the effect of the announcement of the proposed acquisition on the parties' commercial relationships and workforce; the ability to satisfy the conditions to the closing of the acquisition; the ability to consummate the proposed acquisition on a timely basis or at all; the ability of Palo Alto Networks to integrate Protect AI's technology operations and business; developments and changes in general market and business conditions; failure of our product offerings; failure to achieve the expected benefits of our acquisitions; risks associated with managing our growth; risks associated with new product including our efforts to leverage AI; shifts in priorities or delays in the development or release of new offerings or the failure to timely develop and achieve market acceptance of new products and subscriptions as well as existing products subscriptions and support offerings; failure of our business strategies; rapidly evolving technological developments in the market for security products subscriptions and support offerings; defects subscriptions or support offerings; our customers' purchasing decisions and the length of sales cycles; our competition; our ability to attract and retain new customers; our ability to acquire and integrate other companies or technologies in a successful manner; our debt repayment obligations; and our share repurchase program which may not be fully consummated or enhance shareholder value and any share repurchases which could affect the price of our common stock Additional risks and uncertainties that could affect our financial results are included under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on February 14, 2025, which is available on our website at investors.paloaltonetworks.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov Additional information will also be set forth in other filings that we make with the SEC from time to time All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof and we do not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements provided to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made announced today that it will release the financial results for its fiscal third.. the next evolution of its industry-leading.. High Tech Security Computer & Electronics Artificial Intelligence Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers Do not sell or share my personal information: recognized as a gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community it’s the perfect time to celebrate all the ways biking connects us every ride counts toward reducing emissions and creating a more connected community Our latest update shares ways to celebrate Bike Month in Palo Alto Read the blog Protect AI is already an ‘important player’ in AI security Palo Alto Networks announced Monday that it plans to acquire Protect AI as the company looks to accelerate its protection of technologies including GenAI and agents which had previously been reported as under consideration for up to $700 million [Related: 5 Big Palo Alto Networks Launches On XSIAM, SASE, AI Security] Protect AI brings a focus on AI-SPM (AI security posture management) that aims to provide greater visibility management and security for AI/ML environments as well as providing remediation and governance capabilities the startup announced the acquisition of SydeLabs which brought capabilities for automation simulation of attacks against GenAI systems Protect AI closed $60 million in Series B funding led by Evolution Equity Partners bringing the company to $108.5 million in total funding raised to date Palo Alto Networks said that its efforts in AI security will receive a major boost from the acquisition Protect AI has “already established itself as an important player in this increasingly critical new area of security,” the company said in the release The announcement came at the same time as Palo Alto Networks’ debut of a new AI security platform Capabilities on the platform include AI model scanning AI red teaming and runtime security — along with security for AI agents the planned acquisition of Protect AI will enable the company to “more quickly and comprehensively accelerate its vision for Prisma AIRS,” the company said in the news release The acquisition was announced as the RSA Conference 2025 got underway Monday. Palo Alto Networks also unveiled major enhancements Monday to two of its other key product areas with updates to Cortex XSIAM and Prisma SASE BREAKING: Berkshire Shares Slide On News Of Buffett Exit Palo Alto Networks (PANW) on Monday said it has acquired an artificial intelligence startup Protect AI just as the RSA conference kicked off in San Francisco Cybersecurity stocks have generally outperformed amid recent market volatility Financial terms of the Protect AI deal were not disclosed Palo Alto would acquire Seattle-based Protect AI for around $650 million to $700 million "We view this acquisition positively as Palo Alto broadens its platform with leading products and talents," said TD Cowen analyst Shaul Eyal in a report The annual RSA conference focuses on technology and industry trends company vulnerabilities and emerging technologies analysts expect "agentic" AI to be a big theme which are basically conversational chatbot interfaces aim to improve worker productivity but rely on human prompts AI agents execute multistep tasks on behalf of users by solving problems and taking action Palo Alto also announced its Prisma "AIRS" security platform "By extending our AI security capabilities to include Protect AI's innovative solutions AI businesses will be able to build AI applications with comprehensive security," said Anand Oswal On the stock market today Palo Alto stock gained nearly 1% to 180.72 Palo Alto Networks competes in the network firewall market Firewall appliances protect computer networks by blocking online intrusions and monitoring Web-based apps Palo Alto has expanded into a broad cybersecurity platform via cloud computing services the IBD Computer Software Security group ranks No Wall Street analysts expect corporate spending on cybersecurity to remain a priority over most other software products and services Follow Reinhardt Krause on X, formerly Twitter, @reinhardtk_tech for updates on artificial intelligence Want To Trade Options? Try Out These Strategies Monitor IBD's "Breaking Out Today" List For Companies Hitting New Buy Points IBD Digital: Unlock IBD's Premium Stock Lists, Tools And Analysis Today Build Custom Stock Screens With MarketSurge Join IBD Live For Stock Ideas Each Morning Before The Open Trade war perils are swirling around ocean shippers and the ports that serve them Get instant access to exclusive stock lists expert market analysis and powerful tools with 2 months of IBD Digital for only $20 Learn how you can make more money with IBD's investing tools Real-time quote and/or trade prices are not sourced from all markets Ownership data provided by LSEG and Estimate data provided by FactSet MarketSurge and other marks are trademarks owned by Investor's Business Daily The biggest merger and acquisition (M&A) news to emerge from April was Palo Alto Networks announcement that it had reached a definitive agreement to acquire ProtectAI a leader in securing the use of AI and machine learning (ML) applications and models This field has become one of the most important areas of cybersecurity as organizations across the world rush to deploy the operational benefits that AI and ML offer The planned acquisition aims to complement Palo Alto’s recently announced AI security platform Prisma AIRS Other highlights from April included the completion of acquisitions by Forcepoint and Jamf Here is Infosecurity’s M&A roundup for the month: telecoms intelligence firm XConnect announced the acquisition of Sekura.id authentication and fraud prevention specialist The move is designed to boost XConnect’s fraud prevention capabilities for their global customers Sekura.id covers 2.5 billion people globally through 75 connected operators Jamf revealed on April 1 that it had completed the acquisition of identity and access management platform Identity Automation. A definitive agreement for the purchase was reached in March 2025 with Jamf paying approximately $215m in cash consideration Almost 90 employees from Identity Automation will join Jamf helping integrate its platform into the firm’s product offerings joined Hornetsecurity for an undisclosed amount Forcepoint announced it had completed the acquisition of Getvisibility on April 7 The transaction aims to strengthen Forcepoint’s ability to deliver full-lifecycle data security by leveraging Getvisibility’s patented AI Mesh technology Getvisibility’s CEO and co-founder have both joined Forcepoint A definitive agreement for the acquisition was announced in March 2025 software supply chain security specialist Socket acquired Coana Coana’s capabilities will be added to Socket’s platform allowing customers to prioritize software vulnerabilities based on whether they are actually exploitable in a given codebase The news came as San Francisco-based Socket reported a 300% year-over-year revenue over the past year announced the acquisition of appNovi on April 24 Felix24 will leverage appNovi’s cybersecurity mesh architecture software which provides visibility into application dependency mapping to help organizations better understand their dependencies thereby enabling faster recovery from cyber-attacks Cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks announced on April 28 that it had reached a definitive agreement to acquire ProtectAI ProtectAI’s solutions and experts will enable Palo Alto to accelerate its vision for its Prisma AIRS product This comprehensive platform is designed to enable customers to deploy AI tools safely by protecting the entire AI development lifecycle The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close by Palo Alto Network’s first quarter of fiscal 2026 The financial terms have not been disclosed Image credit: Michael Vi / Shutterstock.com ShareSaveCommentInnovationCloudPlatform Vs. Point Solution: Palo Alto Networks Addresses AI SecurityBySteve McDowell Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights 07:16pm EDTShareSaveCommentPhoto Illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Nearly every enterprise is either deploying AI-powered applications or is preparing to deploy Each of these efforts face the same challenge: every new AI application arrives with a new offers a enterprises a comprehensive approach to protecting AI applications The company also announced its intent to acquire Protect AI an established provider of AI security solutions Palo Alto will leverage Protect AI to enhance its Prisma AIRS offering and accelerate its capabilities in securing enterprise AI ecosystems The rapid integration of AI across business functions creates a near-perfect storm of vulnerability Enterprises are deploying AI applications and are using LLMs in virtually every department but it also introduces new security blind spots These new security gaps create opportunities for sophisticated attacks and prompt injection attacks that traditional security tools are ill-equipped to handle The statistics tell a sobering story: while 90% of organizations are actively implementing or planning to explore large language model use cases a mere 5% express high confidence in their AI security preparedness This gap between adoption and protection represents a technical vulnerability and a strategic business risk that demands immediate attention from executive leadership short for "AI Runtime Security,” is a comprehensive platform designed to address these challenges by protecting the entire enterprise AI ecosystem Its protection spans development to deployment Prisma AIRS delivers five critical capabilities: Prisma AIRS is a continuation of Palo Alto Networks' “platformization” strategy Platformization emphasizes unifying diverse security capabilities into cohesive platform instead of more legacy approaches of offering disconnected point solutions Prisma AIRS brings this philosophy into the AI security domain where fragmentation would be particularly detrimental Palo Alto’s platform-centric architecture gives the company several significant advantages: reduced complexity By integrating AI security into their broader platformization framework allowing organizations to address the full spectrum of AI vulnerabilities while maintaining consistency with existing security operations Its integration into Palo Alto Networks' ecosystem creates a formidable market advantage that reinforces the company's platformization strategy are extending their security portfolios to address AI-specific threats though often with less comprehensive approaches than dedicated platforms The market has also attracted specialized AI security startups like Lakera and HiddenLayer which develop focused solutions for specific AI security challenges but may lack the integration capabilities of larger players Palo Alto Networks' advantage emerges from its early market entry combined with the comprehensive nature of Prisma AIRS alongside reactive runtime protection capabilities There’s little question that the gap between AI adoption and security preparedness is a significant business risk that demands attention aptly noted when announcing the new offering: " As organizations integrate AI into every aspect of their operations securing it requires a runtime security platform that provides continuous visibility and real-time insight security teams are left in the dark about how AI is being used which puts critical data and decisions at risk." The reality is that we’re in a world where AI adoption is no longer optional making security solutions like Prisma AIRS essential Making AI safe and secure allows businesses to harness AI's transformative potential while avoiding its most significant risks The enterprises that address these challenges comprehensively and strategically will be best positioned to thrive in the age of AI Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSIAM 3.0 brings new email protection capabilities and exposure management capabilities to its integrated solution The two announcements show an aggressive and comprehensive approach to enterprise-class cybersecurity The early winners in the AI protection market will be the companies that help enterprises achieve this level of protection coupled with the rapid evolution of its Cortex Cloud show a deep understanding of current enterprise needs It’s precisely this that makes Palo Alto Networks one of the fastest moving and most dominant players in the industry Disclosure: Steve McDowell is an industry analyst and NAND Research is an industry analyst firm analysis and advisory services with many technology companies – this does not include Palo Alto Networks McDowell does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned The Palo Alto Police Department is committed to providing exceptional public safety services and taking a leadership role in building community partnerships.  We subscribe to core values that include integrity impartial treatment of all.  Our key responsibilities include: Thank you for taking the time to visit our website and learn more about the Palo Alto Police Department Our Department is committed to providing exceptional public safety service and taking a leadership role in building community partnerships  We subscribe to core values that include integrity The many challenges of the last few years have reinforced how important it is to stay connected to our community.  We’ve made enhancing community safety and making community connections two of the Department’s operational priorities.  We want to ensure our community is informed of what the Police Department is doing and how you can partner with us to make Palo Alto as safe as possible For more information about the Palo Alto Police Department and our various units Reserve Officer Lester ColeEnd of Watch: Friday Reserve Officer Lester Cole was laying flares at an accident scene when he was struck and killed by the driver of an automobile The driver reported he never saw the officer.  Officer Cole had been a reserve officer for the city of Palo Alto since 1955 He was survived by his wife and several children.  Read more about Reserve Officer Lester Cole Reserve Officer Theodore Brassinga was accidentally shot and killed during a multi-agency training exercise aboard an Amtrak train for the 1994 World Cup Soccer tournament The officers in the exercise were supposed to have unloaded weapons To proudly serve and protect the public with respect and integrity Through the leadership and commitment of our employees the Palo Alto Police Department will build trust and respect with the public and the law enforcement profession The Police Department has 150 employees organized into the following divisions and units: an Administrative Assistant and the Personnel and Training unit To provide professional public safety services through comprehensive hiring hire and retain qualified applicants who reflect the diversity of the community and provide the highest level of professional public safety services a Program Assistant and an Administrative Associate.  To provide the public with initial police response to emergency and non-emergency requests for service in a coordinated and timely manner To apprehend and prosecute offenders and/or resolve investigations in a timely and thorough manner process and store evidence to aid in the identification and prosecution of offenders and to appropriately return/dispose of property upon completion of an investigation To minimize injury and property damage by promoting a safe and orderly flow of pedestrian enforce and resolve vehicle parking regulations and issues in an effort to facilitate the timely movement of vehicles and provide for public safety within the City of Palo Alto To bring men and women of the community together to assist and supplement Department personnel in law enforcement efforts To provide police services to assure a safe environment for community special events while minimizing disruption to the public through appropriate planning and staffing To ensure the protection and well-being of animals and people by providing responsive and proactive animal services.  This division is responsible for all support services in the Police Department responsive and reliable 9-1-1 dispatch services accurate and timely police information to support all levels of public service To manage all public safety automated systems as well as production of all statistical and management reports for both the Police Department and the Fire Department Hours and Information Read Chief Binder's most recently quarterly blog, published on January 30, 2025, here agents and related tools from security risks Palo Alto Networks said Monday it expects the transaction to close by the first quarter of its fiscal 2026 subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions Protect AI CEO Ian Swanson the founders and employees are expected to join Palo Alto Networks upon the deal’s closing “As AI-powered applications become core to businesses, they bring risks traditional security tools can’t adequately handle. By extending our AI security capabilities to include Protect AI’s innovative solutions for Securing for AI, businesses will be able to build AI applications with comprehensive security,” said Anand Oswal senior vice president and general manager of network security at Palo Alto Networks “With the addition of Protect AI’s existing portfolio of solutions and team of experts, Palo Alto Networks will be well-positioned to offer a wide range of solutions for customers’ current needs, and also be able to continue innovating on delivering new solutions that are needed for this dynamic threat landscape,” added Oswal Palo Alto Networks expects the acquisition to further advance its vision for an AI security platform, called Prisma AIRS The new platform will help organizations develop and deploy AI tools by protecting the AI development lifecycle to meet requirements for risk assessment Protect AI provides platforms to help secure the use of AI and machine learning models and applications The Seattle-based company recently partnered with Leidos to provide end-to-end and full-lifecycle security for AI systems used by U.S The premier source of breaking business news for the government contracting industry to-the-point stories of the most significant contract awards M&A activities and financial results of the sector’s most notable players GovCon Wire is always on top of the most recent contracting sector activity and is updated in real time as the news breaks Important URLs: About us – Government Contracting FAQ – Guest Contributions – 2024 Events Unit 42 researchers have identified new information-stealing malware written in C# This stealer’s authors have actively advertised it on a Telegram group since mid-March 2025 This information-stealing malware exfiltrates data from its victims and uploads this information to its web server for publication the clipboard and the local disk to steal sensitive data such as credit card details File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and virtual private network (VPN) credentials Gremlin Stealer’s authors predominantly distribute it through a Telegram channel named CoderSharp and the malware is undergoing active development The description of Gremlin Stealer asserts that the malware can steal data from a wide range of software Figure 1 shows a Telegram post advertising Gremlin Stealer The group behind Gremlin Stealer claims to have uploaded vast amounts of data from its victims' machines to its server at 207.244.199[.]46 We assess this server is a configurable portal that comes with the sale of the malware Figure 2 shows a screenshot of Gremlin Stealer’s website login page The Gremlin Stealer website currently displays 14 files The authors of the website describe these files as ZIP archives of stolen data from victims' machines with options to delete or download the archives As indicated by the timestamps in Figure 3 Gremlin Stealer has been active since March 2025 The web interface shown in Figure 3 also demonstrates the user interface of the backend infrastructure that comes with the purchase of this malware We have monitored Gremlin Stealer since we initially discovered it in March 2025 The functions of this stealer from Figure 1 are listed below The first feature advertised for Gremlin Stealer is that it bypasses Chrome’s cookie v20 protection. Figure 4 shows code snippets from a Gremlin Stealer sample viewed in dnSpy Figure 5 shows the writteCookieToFile function that writes stolen information into a text file under the LOCAL_APP_DATA folder for uploading to Gremlin's server The text file contains the associated domain path and expiration date for each of the cookies Gremlin Stealer checks for cookies and saved passwords from an extensive list of Chromium- and Gecko-based browsers and writes them into a file to be exfiltrated later Figure 6 shows a code snippet from the ChromiumBrowsers function with a list of Chromium-based browsers it steals from A RunBrowserv20 function is also called to handle newer cookie encryption called "v20" in Chromium-based browsers There is also an equivalent function built to handle a list of Gecko-based browsers Figure 7 shows that Gremlin Stealer checks for various cryptocurrency wallets and steals files from each directory Gremlin Stealer checks for a related registry entry it copies the wallet.dat file to a temporary directory As Figure 9 shows, Gremlin Stealer searches for files containing a list of domains associated with each cryptocurrency in specific folders and then duplicates these files for later exfiltration. It also creates a hash list representing the data to be exported Gremlin Stealer attempts to steal FTP usernames and passwords Figure 10 shows a decompiled code snippet for the TotalCommander FTP credential-stealing function password and configuration files from popular VPN clients Figure 11 shows a code snippet of the VPN stealing function Gremlin Stealer also targets data and session information from Telegram and Discord to upload to its configured server Figures 12 and 13 show code snippets for stealing information from Telegram and Discord Gremlin Stealer creates a text file that contains system information (e.g. This malware also steals credit card information and sends the data to its server Figure 15 shows a code snippet of Gremlin Stealer's function to steal credit card information Figure 16 shows that Gremlin Stealer creates a folder under LOCAL_APP_DATA to store the following in plain text files: These texts are gathered into a ZIP archive which is sent to its server through the URL hxxp[:]//207.244.199[.]46/index.php Gremlin Stealer sends this data using the Telegram bot shown in Figure 18 It uploads the stolen data to the server using a hard-coded Telegram API key Figure 19 shows a TCP stream of an HTTP POST request that Gremlin Stealer makes when sending stolen information to its server It sends the information as a ZIP archive that contains all the data stolen from the victim's Windows host Gremlin Stealer is new malware that has been active since March 2025 This malware searches for a variety of applications on a victim's Windows computer and our code analysis confirms the specific applications targeted Stealers of this type are well-known entities in the threat landscape and there are many approaches to protecting customers from these evolving attacks Palo Alto Networks diligently monitors these campaigns utilizing a range of static and dynamic techniques to detect and prevent them These methods include dynamic and behavioral detections, as well as more reactive signature or pattern-based solutions If you think you may have been compromised or have an urgent matter, get in touch with the Unit 42 Incident Response team or call: SHA256 hash of the Gremlin Stealer sample analyzed for this article: Join our community and boost your healthy lifestyle with BOOST Special Interest programs are offered for all ages *Total Body Conditioning recommends 5-8lbs weights* For questions, email LSCC@PaloAlto.gov If you would like to offer a new program in these areas:  Please first review the City's current offerings and let us know what makes your program unique. Include a marketing plan with your proposal and email it to Programmer, Margie Cain at Margie.Cain@PaloAlto.gov  the Palo Alto City Council adopted the North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan (NVCAP) and certified the Supplemental Environmental Impact Report along with other environmental documents The adoption of the NVCAP is a major milestone for the City concluding a multi-year planning process that involved extensive community outreach and numerous conversations with decision-makers and stakeholders The NVCAP adoption establishes policies that aim to create a transit-oriented mixed-use neighborhood within the North Ventura neighborhood.  The final NVCAP document is available below The final NVCAP incorporated a few modifications directed by the City Council The draft NVCAP documents and environmental documents can be found under the NVCAP Reports and Environmental Documents sections below The North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan (NVCAP) is intended to create enhanced opportunities for building a sense of community through public involvement in the planning process businesses and property owners will help shape the physical elements of their neighborhoods through early and meaningful participation development regulations and design guidelines for the project area The North Ventura area is intended to be a walkable mixed-use neighborhood with multifamily housing The plan will also include urban design strategies and guidelines to strengthen and support the neighborhood fabric and connections to transit The NVCAP process is an effort led by the City of Palo Alto with the goal to set an integrated direction for the future of the planning area The plan requires the coordination of the City and a team of specialized consultants led by Perkins Will The NVCAP site is roughly bounded by Page Mill Road Lambert Avenue and the Caltrain tracks in Palo Alto and represents a rare opportunity within the City to plan proactively for a transit‐oriented The project area includes one of the City’s largest housing opportunity sites which was formerly occupied by Fry’s Electronics as well as a mix of small and large businesses and single-family residences The purpose of the NVCAP is to provide a vision for the future of this area The plan will address areas including policies The NVCAP should strengthen the neighborhood fabric and consider infrastructure needs providing for a mix of land uses that take advantage of the proximity to the Caltrain station Goals and Objectives were approved by City Council on March 5 Add to the City’s supply of multifamily housing “missing middle,” and senior housing in a walkable with retail and commercial services and possibly start up space Create and enhance well‐defined connections to transit including connections to the Caltrain station filling in sidewalk gaps and street connections to California Avenue Carefully align and integrate development of new community facilities and infrastructure with private development recognizing both the community’s needs and that such investments can increase the cost of housing Balance community‐wide objectives with the interests of neighborhood residents and minimize displacement of existing residents and small businesses Develop human‐scale urban design strategies and design guidelines that strengthen and support the neighborhood fabric Infill development will respect the scale and character of the surrounding residential neighborhood Include transition zones to surrounding neighborhoods while addressing the principles of sustainability Employ a data-driven approach that considers community desires and other relevant data to inform plan policies Create a comprehensive but user-friendly document that identifies the distribution development regulations and design guidelines to enable development and needed infrastructure investments in the project area Provide a guide and strategy for staff and decision-makers to bridge the gap between the goals and policies of the Comprehensive Plan and individual development projects in order to streamline future land use and transportation decisions Enable a process with meaningful opportunities for community engagement and an outcome (the CAP document) that reflects the community’s priorities A determination of the economic and fiscal feasibility of the plan with specific analysis of market place factors and incentives and disincentives as well as a cost-benefit analysis of public infrastructure investments and projected economic benefits to the City and community A plan that is protective of public health and a process that complies with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act Community engagement and outreach is an integral part of the planning process The anticipated community engagement activities include: Please visit the Engagement  tab below to learn more about the community engagement process and upcoming and past events The City Council appointed a committee of representatives to work as a Working Group to help guide the North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan process. More information about the group and other community engagement activities can be found on the Engagement tab below.   Working Group Booklet from the October 17, 2018 meeting(PDF, 7MB) The North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan planning process includes community engagement activities and preparation of draft concepts and a planning document The planning process is anticipated to continue through 2022 and be completed by late 2023.  Community engagement activities will be conducted throughout the duration of the NVCAP project.  The NVCAP planning process included a comprehensive community outreach program to provide opportunities for meaningful input through the planning process If you would like to participate in upcoming public hearings and meetings about the NVCAP please see above for upcoming public hearings North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan, June 2024(PDF, 11MB) NVCAP Existing Condition(PDF, 19MB)  Strategic Economic Reports(PDF, 209KB)  Additional Financial Analysis of NVCAP Housing Alternatives, March 2021(PDF, 166KB)  NVCAP Area Parcel Catalog(PDF, 6MB)  340 Portage Ave Historic Resource Evaluation(PDF, 5MB) NVCAP Windshield Survey and Preliminary Historic Resource Eligibility Analysis(PDF, 8MB) Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report(PDF, 8MB) Comment period for Draft SEIR was from March 8 Comment period for the Notice of Preparation was March 1 Video Video Agenda(PDF, 70KB) Video Agenda(PDF, 71KB) Video The NVCAP project team has assembled a comprehensive list of resources about the background These resource are listed in no particular order and linked to external sites and/or documents New resources and materials will may be updated to this page during the duration of the NVCAP project and highlighted on the Home page of this website BuildingEye (Planning Applications) Over 40 percent of Palo Alto households are renters Both renters and rental property owners contribute to the strength and diversity of our community the City Council has committed to enhancing renter protections and establishing programs and services to support both renters and rental property owners If you own a property with three or more residential rental units you must register your rental property with the City of Palo Alto non-rental properties, residential rental properties fewer than three residential units and some long-term care facilities are currently not required to participate The 2024-2025 Open Registration Period closed on January 15 Thank you to all the property owners and managers who participated in this year's program.  Check back here for any upcoming ways to engage Please refer to the available resources for the Registration Process Owner/Manager User Guide September 2024(PDF, 5MB) Rental Registry Glossary of Terms(PDF, 180KB) If you are a property owner with three or more residential rental units you must register your rental property with the City of Palo Alto unless the base rental rate for any unit on the property includes access to healthcare or related services and residential rental properties fewer than three residential units are NOT required to participate in the Rental Registry Program at this time.  All multi-family properties and duplex or single-family properties with three or more rental units are required to register Click on the Access Portal button on the project webpage at /rentalregistry.  This will lead you to the Registration Portal page The registration period begins on October 1 2025. The portal will not be active before October 1 The fee for this program year has been waived but will take effect at the start of the next open registration period in Fall of 2025 The Rental Registry Fee will be published as part of the City's annual municipal fee schedule update in August 2025 Is there a penalty fee if I do not register my units Property owners who fail to register their required rental units will be cited an Administrative Penalty Fee of $50 per unit after closure of the first annual open registration period in January 2025 Property owners must come into compliance with the program by registering all required units and pay the applicable citations to avoid additional citations and/or delinquency fees.  Do I need to report any other rental-related events that happen throughout the year Property owners are required to report certain events via the online portal as they occur over the course of the year property owners must report any of the following within ten (10) calendar days: • A notice to quit is sent to a renter • An unlawful detainer complaint is filed Can we file for Rental Registry Program exemptions Do long-term care and similar healthcare facilities need to register their units I did not receive a registration letter but think I may be required to register this year; what do I do Please email staff at rentalregistry@paloalto.gov  with your property address and APN to confirm whether a registration letter was sent to the mailing address on file for your property then you are not required to register this year and will not be fined for non-compliance but may be required to register in the future If a letter was sent but you did not receive it (i.e it was returned to the city or sent to an outdated mailing address) staff will provide you with a new registration letter via either email or USPS mail (depending on your preference) so that you can comply with the program this year I did not receive a registration letter would like to proactively register my residential rental units this year; what do I do Please email staff at rentalregistry@paloalto.gov  with your property address and APN to request a registration letter for your property and to voluntarily participate in this program.  How do you define a unit for the purposes of the Rental Registry Program A unit is a private living space with its own cooking A unit may be rented to one or more individuals Do owner-occupied units count towards the total number of units on a property Do these units need to be registered in the online portal annually owner-occupied units count towards the total number of residential rental units on the property since these units may or may not continue to be occupied by an owner in the future and are therefore considered part of the city’s overall rental housing stock These units also need to be registered annually via the online rental registry portal Do vacant units count towards the total number of units on a property vacant units (whether or not they are currently listed for rent) count towards the total number of residential rental units on the property since these units may or may not continue to be vacant in the future and are therefore considered part of the city’s overall rental housing stock Do rented rooms need to be individually registered the units containing the rented rooms may still need to be registered if they are located on a property with three or more residential rental units.  and/or bathing facilities with the landlord need to be individually registered the individually rented rooms do not need to be registered the unit containing the rented rooms may still need to be registered at this time if it is located on a property with three or more residential rental units.  Is an ADU considered a unit for the purposes of the Rental Registry Program but an ADU only needs to be registered at this time if it is located on a property with three or more residential rental units Is a JADU considered a unit for the purposes of the Rental Registry Program If a JADU shares bathing facilities with the primary unit it does not need to register as a separate unit then it is considered a unit for the purposes of the Rental Registry Program and must register if it is located on a property with three or more residential rental units Palo Alto requires all JADUs to have their own cooking facilities Do ADUs and JADUs count towards the total number of units on a property ADUs and JADUs that do not share bathing facilities with the primary unit count towards the total number of units on a property Do I need to register my units if I own three or more residential rental units spread across various one- or two-unit properties If you own multiple one- or two-unit rental properties you do not need to register these units at this time You only need to register units located on a property with three or more residential rental units.  I received an automatic email after I submitted my rental registry application online stating that the application was incomplete and/or the number of units I entered does not match the county assessor’s records If you registered a different number of units than the county assessor’s current records show for a particular property your registration application will be flagged as a potential unit discrepancy case for staff review our staff asks for your patience while we conduct the necessary research to confirm the correct unit count for the property If the number of units registered matches the research staff conducts staff will manually mark the registration complete and you will receive another automatic email to confirm this If the staff is not able to confirm the unit count based on our own research we may reach out to you for further information or to offer you an affidavit to complete that indicates the correct number of units currently on the property We ask that you reply in a timely manner if staff does reach out to you Staff will do their best to resolve these unit discrepancy cases as quickly as possible over the coming weeks and months but please do not worry if you don’t hear from us right away Rest assured that your property is considered compliant with the rental registry program based on your initial submittal and that you will not be fined a penalty fee even if we are not able to resolve your unit discrepancy ahead of the posted registration deadline What if I don’t have the exact data that the rental registry program is asking for as part of the registration process available at this time Please provide estimates or best guesses for required fields for which you do not have detailed data available You may also utilize the “N/A” or “Unknown” checkboxes for certain fields as shown in the forms on the online registration portal Please do your best to locate detailed data for these fields in future registration years It is recommended to avoid data entry using a mobile device Are there paper versions of the annual registration forms available paper forms are available at the Development Center located at 285 Hamilton Avenue Rental Registry Program participants are encouraged to complete the forms using the online portal Public computers are available at City libraries and in-person portal trainings will be offered on October 22 November 18 and January 8 (please see the City Calendar for details) Email any questions or comments to staff at rentalregistry@paloalto.gov The Rental Registry Program requires all residential properties with three or more rental units to register and report details on their rental property to the City of Palo Alto on an annual basis Online registration will begin on October 1 Over 40% of Palo Alto households are renters The creation and preservation of rental housing is a key objective for the City Council Establishing a rental registry follows a series of changes by the Council to support programs and resources for renters and property owners in our community Rental property owners play an important role in providing much-needed housing in Palo Alto Data collected from this effort will help City leaders better understand the City's rental landscape as experienced by renters and property owners It will also help inform future Council decision-making What kind of information about the rental units will Rental Registry Program collect The Rental Registry Program will collect the following information such as when there is any increase in rent when an unlawful detainer complaint is filed How frequently would rental units need to be registered The Rental Registry Program requires registrants to report information on their rental units annually and submit an affidavit declaring that the information provided is true and correct What personal information is made public for a Public Records Act Request (PRA) Palo Alto Municipal Code (PAMC) Section 9.65.040 outlines privacy restrictions for information collected by the Rental Registry Program. Considerations for the security are incorporated into the Rental Registry Program portal software and professional services contract Where can I read more about the Rental Registry Program Municipal Code More information on the Rental Registry Program is found in Chapter 9.65 of Palo Alto Municipal Code, Residential Rental Registry Program  How can I report a complaint related to the quality and/or environmental safety of my rental unit What if I have a rental unit agreement issue My rent was raised above the allowed state law regulations Any violations of current state level law around rent increases is a private matter that needs to be resolved by individuals and not the City When will we know if the program will be expanded to include smaller rental properties with just one or two units City Council is expected to determine whether to expand the program by the end of Program Year Two (June 2026) Will rental registry fees be waived in future years too City Council has only waived rental registry fees for this year Rental Registry Program Community Meeting with Q/A was held on August 22 Planning and Transportation Commission - July 10, 2024(PDF, 652KB) Informational Staff Report: To provide an update on the Rental Registry Program implementation process City Council Public Hearing - May 13, 2024 - Consent Calendar Item: Approval of a Professional Services Contract Number C24187280 With 3Di in a Not-to Exceed Amount of $443,256 to Provide Rental Registry Program Software Solutions and Professional Services for a Term of Four-Years City Council Public Hearing - December 18, 2023 - Second Reading of an Ordinance Adopting a Residential Rental Registry Program City Council Public Hearing - November 27, 2023 - First Reading of a Draft Rental Registry Program Ordinance and Feedback on Rental Registry Program Development The Rental Registry Portal is live as of October 1 Access Portal Sign Up Email rentalregistry@paloalto.gov Please try using other words for your search or explore other sections of the website for relevant information Our team is working diligently to resolve the issue Thank you for your patience and understanding Deep-pocketed investors have adopted a bearish approach towards Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) and it's something market players shouldn't ignore Our tracking of public options records at Benzinga unveiled this significant move today The identity of these investors remains unknown but such a substantial move in PANW usually suggests something big is about to happen We gleaned this information from our observations today when Benzinga's options scanner highlighted 17 extraordinary options activities for Palo Alto Networks This level of activity is out of the ordinary The general mood among these heavyweight investors is divided Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $110.0 to $210.0 for Palo Alto Networks during the past quarter the mean open interest for Palo Alto Networks options trades today is 706.71 with a total volume of 2,066.00 we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Palo Alto Networks's big money trades within a strike price range of $110.0 to $210.0 over the last 30 days Palo Alto Networks is a platform-based cybersecurity vendor with product offerings covering network security The California-based firm has more than 80,000 enterprise customers across the world including more than three fourths of the Global 2000 3 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock proposing an average target price of $188.67 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Palo Alto Networks, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts Benzinga does not provide investment advice The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq This data feed is not available at this time These symbols will be available throughout the site during your session These instruments will be available throughout the site during your session Smart Portfolio is supported by our partner TipRanks. By connecting my portfolio to TipRanks Smart Portfolio I agree to their Terms of Use The City of Palo Alto has eight Boards and Commissions appointed by the City Council The Boards and Commissions focus on specific areas of discussion Members volunteer their time and expertise to review items and make recommendations before they are reviewed by the City Council. Apply to interested Board/Commission through the online forms listed below Several questions on an applicant's background and Board/Commission-specific insights will be asked We strongly encourage filling out the forms thoroughly.  For more informational resources, visit our Board, Commissions, and Committees Webpage Please contact the City Clerk's Office at City.Clerk@PaloAlto.gov for further inquiries The City of Palo Alto complies with the Maddy Act(PDF, 127KB) (Government Code Section 54970) all scheduled vacancies on the City Boards and Commissions for the following year are listed and posted annually by December 31st Become an Emergency Service Volunteer Other City Volunteer Opportunities Rendering of proposed Homekey Palo Alto design A map of the Homekey Palo Alto project site and vicinity Neighborhood surrounding the Homekey Palo Alto site Homekey Palo Alto is a new modular interim housing shelter with the capacity to serve over 200 individuals annually with on-site support services The project is being codeveloped by the City of Palo Alto and LifeMoves.  Located at 1237 San Antonio Road in Palo Alto near the Palo Alto Baylands Homekey Palo Alto will provide a dignified transitional step for unhoused residents on the path to stable housing This project is made possible through a combination of State funding combined with local contributions from the Palo Alto Community Fund The Peery Foundation, Sobrato Philanthropies and the City of Palo Alto for a total project cost estimated at $37.2 million.  Palo Alto City Council adopted Housing for Social & Economic Balance as a priority for 2022 and had previously adopted this priority in 2021 This continued focus on housing showcases the City's commitment to supporting affordable housing in Palo Alto.  Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox and more info about our products and services © 2025 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved. A Division of NBCUniversal Data also provided by the City Council authorized a contract with BKF Engineers for the Embarcadero Road Corridor Improvements Project which included improvements at El Camino Real and Embarcadero Road/Galvez Street and along Embarcadero Road from El Camino Real east to Emerson Street  Final construction documents (100% design) were completed in 2019 which included an encroachment permit approval from Caltrans for work on El Camino Real.  The construction of the project was placed on hold shortly thereafter due to the ongoing Grade Separation study and potential conflicts and overlap resulting from the potential mitigation work on Emerson Street and Embarcadero Road the Rail Committee asked staff to revisit this project and to complete the east portion of this project (from Alma to Emerson) The design for the Improvements for the east portion of the project includes pedestrian improvements at the intersections of High Street Shahla.Yazdy@paloalto.gov May is Bike Month and Bike to Work Day is around the corner on Thursday Bike to Wherever Days continues the fun through May 17 with more events and Energizer Stations for riders in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties Bicycling is a great alternative to driving a car, and it is a fun and healthy way to explore your community. There is a wide variety of activities for everyone during Bike Month. So, come out and join us with friends and families to celebrate bicycling. Pledge to Ride during Bike to Work/Wherever Days and register to receive a Bike to Work Day tote bag We hope to greet you at an energizer station Visit Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition website for more information Want some swag or to meet up with others biking Stop by any of the four energizer stations in Palo Alto from 6:30 AM - 9:30 AM on Thursday Here are some resources to kick start your ride: Family bike routes in Palo Alto Fields marked as 'Required' must be completed Enter your email address or your friend's email addresses all separated by commas Development Services is a resource for homeowners The goal of our staff is to help our customers build safe healthy and sustainable buildings that comply with applicable codes and regulations We see ourselves as an integral part of each project team and are committed to establishing positive working relationships with our partners while focusing on problem solving and delivering exceptional customer service.  The Development Center is open for in-person services by appointment and limited walk-in service The City has moved to an all-digital application and plan review platform This means that we no longer accept paper plan submittals All submittals must be done in digital format 2/18/2025: Building Inspection Services – Temporary Impact: Building inspection appointment availability is limited through mid-April Appointment wait times may extend up to 7 days and our team is actively working to increase appointment slots when possible We appreciate your patience and understanding and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause Applying for a Residential Mechanical, Electrical, or Plumbing (MEP) permit? See if you qualify for our new Over-The-Counter Residential MEP Permit Pilot Program Pre-applications for building permits can be filed online through Palo Alto’s Accela Citizen Access portal The online pre-application process allows prospective building permits applicants to submit their pre-applications and upload digital building plans and documents Staff then review the application materials to ensure all necessary documents have been provided The applicant will be notified once the online submittal package is considered complete and ready for the building permit application intake phase All applications begin at 'First Phase' to avoid unnecessary delays by allowing staff to review your application submittal for completeness and accuracy to help ensure your project is ready for review before advancing to the 'formal review' phase of your application Please visit our Online Permit Services web page to learn more Scheduling inspections with Accela Citizen Access (ACA) or the PA Inspection Request Mobile App (PA iRequest) Now Available Schedule an inspection through OPS Logging on or registering for an account not required to schedule an inspection via OPS The Palo Alto Building Division conducts plan review The mission of the Palo Alto Fire Prevention Bureau is to provide quality and timely development services Our fire prevention staff performs fire plan checks Our goal is to accommodate all requests for service in a time frame that meets our customer's needs.  Public Works provides services integral to our community on a daily basis Our department's mission is to provide quality services with commitment In partnership with the Palo Alto community cost effective and environmentally responsible services that make Palo Alto a beautiful vibrant and appealing City in which to live and work The Public Works Department is comprised of a variety of divisions however there are three divisions that typically relate to development services These divisions include Public Works Engineering We in Utilities are eager to help make your project successful and be sure you are safely hooked up to all the electric Utilities also handles commercial "dark fiber optic network" connections Be advised that all utility-related projects within the City's public right of way (including gas services up to and encompassing the gas meter) need to conform to the Water Gas & Wastewater Standards and Electrical Requirements as described on the linked pages and any relevant Public Works Standards---unless otherwise approved in writing by the responsible Engineering Manager Private utilities on private property are under the jurisdiction of the City's Planning Department Friday (Virtual only - Development Center closed) The City of Palo Alto has a Special Events Team made up of representatives from the Police Department Planning & Development Services Department plan and properly permit special events.  A special event is defined as any occurrence on public or private property that by its nature may have an effect on residents To learn more about the various types of special events and the processes required to obtain City permission for them expand the appropriate section of the accordions below you must submit a written proposal to the Special Operations Sergeant at least 30 days prior to the event The Special Operations Sergeant will distribute the proposal to Special Events Team members for review and authorization You can apply for a permit online by clicking on the link below There you can download a permit application form The application can be filled out online and then printed out and mailed or brought to the Police Department (the application must be signed) you will be required to pay the applicable permit fees prior to your event Your permit will not be issued until the fees have been collected Activities that may require permits are as follows: private parties any erected tent with more than 400 square feet any noise source not covered by the Municipal Code and/or any planned event that the City's Risk Manager believes creates City liability Special Event Permit Application(PDF, 3MB) Palo Alto provides an excellent backdrop for film and video production companies. All filming proposals will be arranged through the Special Operations Sergeant (650-329-2459) who will notify other City departments (Public Works and Community Services) in order to arrange for the safe and orderly compliance of laws and City policies The film proposal shall be submitted no less than 30 days prior to filming Sixty days (60) in advance is required for a large-scale production Guidelines and Filming Permit Application(PDF, 102KB) If you are planning a block party in a residential neighborhood you can download a copy of the permit application form below Block Party Permit Application(PDF, 167KB) Residents may also request services from the Police Department to assist with security traffic and crowd control for certain types of special events It must be understood by the party requesting police services that requests are filled on an overtime basis only and overtime requests are posted one month in advance the sooner we receive your written request for police services the better chance you have of that request being filled Any written request for police services received less than 30 days prior to the event may not be filled due to the above policy All requests for police services must be approved by the Special Operations Sergeant It is the policy of our Revenue Collections Department that a deposit for the full estimated amount of services be received prior to the event If your request for police services cannot be filled or an officer(s) was there for a shorter length of time than requested if an officer(s) is at an event longer than requested or a higher-ranking officer fills the spot Checks are to be made out to the City of Palo Alto; arrangements must be made to have the check received at least one week prior to the event You can download a Request For Police Officer Services Form using the link below and complete it online then print it out and mail or bring it to the Police Department You should call the numbers listed on the form for more information on fees and deposits Request for Police Officer Services Form(PDF, 17KB) you can download an application using the link below which can be completed online and then printed out and mailed or dropped off at the Police Department (along with the permit fee) Valet Parking Permit Application(PDF, 543KB)