Tech News

1. Cybercrime:

   • A 17-year-old hacker suspected of cyberattacks on Vegas casinos in 2023 has been released to his parents. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Police seized $439 million stolen by cybercrime rings worldwide in a five-month joint operation led by Interpol. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • 2.5 million people were affected in a student loan breach. 👉 threatpost.com (1 year, 1 month ago)
   • The Co-operative Group says it lost $107 million after Scattered Spider attack. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • A federal judge preliminarily approves Anthropic's $1.5B copyright settlement with authors. 👉 reuters.com

2. Vulnerabilities and Exploits:

   • CISA issued an emergency directive ordering US federal agencies to secure their Cisco firewall devices against two flaws exploited in zero-day attacks. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Microsoft has released security updates to address a high-severity zero-day vulnerability in Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software that is currently being exploited in attacks. 👉 thehackernews.com
   • Cisco warned customers to patch two zero-day vulnerabilities impacting the VPN web server of Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com 👉 thehackernews.com
   • Microsoft warns of new XCSSET macOS malware variant targeting Xcode devs. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • U.S. federal agencies are urged to patch Cisco networking equipment following the discovery of critical vulnerabilities being exploited by an advanced threat actor. 👉 axios.com
   • The EU launches an antitrust probe into SAP over its ERP software maintenance and support services, with a potential fine of ~10% of its annual global sales. 👉 reuters.com
   • Fortinet's Derek Manky discusses the exponential increase in the speed that attackers weaponize fresh vulnerabilities, where botnets and offensive automation fit in, and the ramifications for security teams. 👉 threatpost.com (1 year, 1 month ago)
   • New EDR-Freeze tool uses Windows WER to suspend security software. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com

3. AI and Security:

   • OpenAI has released a benchmark to test AI performance on economically valuable, real-world tasks", and says Claude Opus 4.1 was the best performing model. 👉 techcrunch.com
   • Microsoft to block Israeli military's access to Azure, after an investigation found the tech was used for mass surveillance in Gaza and West Bank. 👉 theguardian.com
   • Cloudflare announced plans to launch NET Dollar, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin designed to enable autonomous AI agents to conduct instant financial transactions. 👉 nerds.xyz
   • A call-recording app Neon, which became the #2 social app on the US App Store, goes dark after exposing users' phone numbers, call recordings, and transcripts. 👉 techcrunch.com

4. Malware and Phishing:

   • A self-replicating worm has infected at least 187 code packages made available through the JavaScript repository NPM, stealing credentials from developers and publishing those secrets on GitHub. 👉 krebsonsecurity.com
   • Two malicious Rust packages on Crates.io steal crypto wallet keys. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Microsoft has disabled certain services and subscriptions by Israel's defense ministry after finding evidence that it used the tech company's cloud services to surveil Gaza citizens. 👉 msn.com
   • Vane Viper Generates 1 Trillion DNS Queries to Power Global Malware and Ad Fraud Network. 👉 thehackernews.com
   • North Korean Hackers Use New AkdoorTea Backdoor to Target Global Crypto Developers. 👉 thehackernews.com

5. Data Breaches and Leaks:

   • Microsoft is blocking the Israeli military's access to Azure and AI services that have been used in the mass surveillance of Palestinian civilians. 👉 cyberplace.social
   • Microsoft terminated Israel military's Unit 8200 access to Azure, after an investigation found the tech was used for mass surveillance in Gaza and West Bank. 👉 theguardian.com
   • Apple asks the EU to repeal the DMA; EU rejects Apple's demand, saying it is “not surprised” as Apple has “contested every little bit” of DMA since day one. 👉 france24.com
   • xAI sues OpenAI in California for allegedly stealing trade secrets by means of hiring away key employees. 👉 sherwood.news
   • Google has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause a judge's order requiring major changes to its Play Store after losing an antitrust case to Epic Games. 👉 reuters.com
   • Amazon will pay $2.5 billion to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that it duped users into paying for Prime memberships. 👉 cnbc.com

6. Business and Finance:

   • Trump approves TikTok deal through executive order, Vance says business valued at $14 billion. 👉 cnbc.com
   • Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi's MGX will be the main TikTok USA investors, with a ~45% stake. 👉 cnbc.com
   • Wall Street Journal: Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has spoken to TSMC CEO C.C. Wei about a partnership or a joint venture. 👉 wsj.com^$

7. Open Source:

   • Sources allege that nonprofit Ruby Central took control of some Ruby open-source projects from their maintainers without consent, after pressure from Shopify. 👉 joel.drapper.me
   • (1 week ago)

8. TikTok Deal:

   • Trump signs an EO declaring that a proposed deal allowing TikTok to continue operating in the US will be a qualified sale that meets national security concerns. 👉 apnews.com
   • Trump says Xi Jinping approved the TikTok deal, and JD Vance says the transaction values TikTok US at $14B. 👉 cnbc.com
   • Trump signs order advancing TikTok deal, in boost to corporate allies. 👉 washingtonpost.com
   • Trump approves TikTok deal separating U.S. operations from China HQ. 👉 deadline.com

9. OpenAI News:

   • OpenAI is testing a new GPT-5-based AI agent called GPT-Alpha. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • OpenAI launches ChatGPT Pulse, a mobile feature for Pro users that delivers daily personalized updates based on their chats, feedback, and connected apps. 👉 theverge.com
   • The EU opens competition probe into software group SAP. 👉 ft.com^$
   • OpenAI and Databricks Strike $100 Million Deal to Sell AI Agents. 👉 wsj.com^$
   • A recent benchmark release from OpenAI tests how its AI models perform compared to human professionals across a wide range of industries and jobs. 👉 techcrunch.com

10. Apple and the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA):

    • Apple is claiming the EU is forcing it to cripple iPhones in Europe. 👉 iphoneincanada.ca
    • Apple demands EU repeal the Digital Markets Act, saying it is "not surprised” as Apple has contested every little bit since day one. 👉 france24.com
    • Apple says the DMA exposes users to new risks, reduces choice by making iOS resemble Android, and creates unfair competition by not applying to Samsung. 👉 apple.com

11. Meta News:

    • Meta is considering using Google's Gemini and open-source Gemma AI models to improve its ad summarization and recommendation system. 👉 theinformation.com
    • Meta rolls out Vibes, a platform where users can create and share short-form, AI-generated videos, in the Meta AI app and on the meta.ai website. 👉 reuters.com
    • Meta is expanding Facebook and Messenger teen accounts, which have extra safety controls, globally. 👉 engadget.com
    • Meta says it is implementing new AI tools to remove deepfakes and misinformation. 👉 variety.com (1 year ago)

12. Podcast Highlights:

    • There is no question that the level of threats facing today’s businesses continues to change on a daily basis. 👉 threatpost.com (1 year, 1 month ago)
    • Listen to KnowBe4’s Dr. Lydia Kostopoulos explain blockchain, NFTs and how to stay safe. 👉 threatpost.com (1 year, 1 month ago)
    • Learn how to stop ransomware with experts at HYAS, CyberEdge Group & Osterman Research in this webinar. 👉 threatpost.com (1 year, 3 months ago)

13. Other News:

    • Accenture has reduced its global workforce by more than 11,000 in the past three months and warned staff that more would be asked to leave if they cannot be retrained for the age of AI. 👉 ft.com^$
    • Amazon executives were at risk of being held individually liable if the jury sided with the FTC. 👉 x.com
    • The U.S. government gets cheap use of Elon Musk's xAI Grok until 2027. 👉 upi.com
    • U.K. authorities have arrested two teenagers linked to the August 2024 cyber attack on Transport for London. 👉 thehackernews.com
    • Google updates Gemini 2.5 Flash with better response formatting and image understanding. 👉 9to5google.com
    • Financial Times: HSBC says it has tested an IBM quantum computing tool on European bond market data and saw a 34% improvement over traditional methods in predicting order fills. 👉 t.co
    • Lumafield's CT scan analysis of 1,054 lithium-ion 18650 batteries found 33 cells from low-cost and counterfeit brands contained a serious manufacturing defect. 👉 theverge.com
    • Sources allege that nonprofit Ruby Central took control of some Ruby open-source projects from their maintainers without consent, after pressure from Shopify. 👉 joel.drapper.me (1 week ago)

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