Hacking, theft and destruction: 2025’s worst data breaches
Every year, TechCrunch looks back at the cybersecurity horror shows of the past 12 months, from the biggest data breaches to hacks that left weeks of chaos, to see what we can learn. This year’s data breaches were unlike anything we’ve seen before. Let’s take a look back at some of the biggest security incidents […]
OpenAI reportedly looking to raise $100 billion at $830 billion valuation
OpenAI is in talks to raise up to $100 billion in a funding round that could value the ChatGPT maker as much as $830 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources. The company aims to raise funds by the end of the first quarter of next year and may ask sovereign wealth […]
1,400 years ago, Nubians tattooed their young children. Archaeologists are trying to figure out why.
Archaeologists discovered mummified bodies in Sudan and discovered that children as young as 18 months old had their faces tattooed 1,400 years ago in the Nile Valley region. Furthermore, this practice coincided with the introduction of Christianity to the area known as Nubia. “If the tattoo was a symbol of the person’s Christian beliefs, it […]
Japan trials 100-kilowatt laser weapon – capable of cutting metal and drones while in flight
Japan has deployed a system that fires laser beams with 100 kilowatts of energy, powerful enough to disable small drones. It was installed on a 6,200 ton (6.3 million kg) warship. The weapon combines 10 lasers (each with a power output of 10 kW) into a single 100 kW beam, providing enough concentrated power to […]
Stargazing during the Christmas holidays: 10 sights you’ll want to look up to
There are few sights in nature as stunning as the night sky in December. Bright stars like Betelgeuse, Capella, Aldebaran, Sirius, and Orion Belt stars will dominate the night sky after dark, but you can follow some unique astronomical phenomena over two weeks from December 20, 2025 to January 4, 2026. As seen from the […]
WatchGuard warns of active exploitation of critical Fireware OS VPN vulnerability
December 19, 2025Ravi LakshmananVulnerability/Network Security WatchGuard has released a fix that addresses a critical security flaw in Fireware OS that was allegedly exploited in a real-world attack. The vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2025-14733 (CVSS score: 9.3) and is described as a case of an out-of-bounds write impacting the iked process, potentially allowing a remote unauthenticated […]
2025 Urids meteor shower: When and where to see ‘shooting stars’ on the longest night of the year
If you’re stargazing late on Dec. 21 and 22, keep your eyes peeled for “shooting stars” during the peak of the annual Uruid meteor shower. The Ursa Minor meteor shower will be active from December 13th to December 26th, with its nighttime peak coinciding with the winter solstice on December 21st at 10:03 a.m. ET. […]
Nigeria arrests RaccoonO365 phishing developer involved in Microsoft 365 attack
December 19, 2025Ravi LakshmananCybercrime/Law Enforcement Nigerian authorities announced the arrest of three “prominent internet fraud suspects” suspected of involvement in phishing attacks targeting major companies, including the main developer of the RaccoonO365 phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) scheme. The Nigeria Police National Cyber Crime Center (NPF-NCCC) said an investigation conducted in collaboration with Microsoft and the Federal Bureau […]
New UEFI flaw allows early boot DMA attack on ASRock, ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI motherboards
December 19, 2025Ravi LakshmananFirmware security/vulnerabilities Certain motherboard models from vendors such as ASRock, ASUSTeK Computer, GIGABYTE, and MSI are affected by security vulnerabilities that make them susceptible to early-start direct memory access (DMA) attacks across architectures that implement Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) or Input/Output Memory Management Unit (IOMMU). UEFI and IOMMU are designed to […]
TikTok reaches agreement to transfer control of its U.S. business to a group of U.S. investors
TikTok has reached an agreement to transfer a significant portion of its U.S. operations to a group of American investors, ending a years-long battle in which the federal government tried to force the platform to do so. An internal memo from ByteDance CEO Shou Chew, seen by TechCrunch, describes the new partnership as “a new […]