The Operational Gaps That Break Incident Response
Having an incident response retainer, or even a pre-approved external incident response firm, is not the same as being ready for an incident. A retainer means someone will answer the phone. Operational readiness determines whether that team can do meaningful work the moment they do. That distinction matters far more than many organizations realize. In […]
PyPI package delivers ZiChatBot malware via Zulip API on Windows and Linux
Ravi LakshmananMay 7, 2026Malware/Threat Intelligence Cybersecurity researchers have discovered three packages in the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository designed to covertly deliver a previously unknown malware family called ZiChatBot to Windows and Linux systems. “While these wheel packages implement the functionality described on the PyPI web page, their true purpose is to covertly deliver malicious […]
5 architects of the AI economy explain where the wheels come off
Earlier this week, five people from every layer of the AI supply chain gathered at the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills to discuss everything from chip shortages to orbital data centers to the possibility that the entire architecture behind the technology is wrong. On stage at TechCrunch: Christophe Fouquet, CEO of ASML. ASML is […]
Vulnerability in vm2 Node.js library allows sandbox escape and arbitrary code execution
Ravi LakshmananMay 7, 2026Vulnerabilities/Software Security More than a dozen critical security vulnerabilities have been disclosed in the vm2 Node.js library that could be exploited by malicious actors to breach the sandbox and execute arbitrary code on susceptible systems. vm2 is an open source library used to run untrusted JavaScript code in a secure sandbox by […]
A 20-minute pitch wins Indian startup Pronto, backed by Lachy Groom
Rashi Groom, one of Silicon Valley’s hottest private investors, decided to back Indian startup Pronto just 20 minutes after his first meeting with the 24-year-old founder. Through this mutual connection, the meeting, held in February, led Groom to invest $20 million in Pronto as an extension of its Series B round, valuing the startup at […]
Barry Diller trusts Sam Altman. But as AGI approaches, “trust becomes irrelevant,” he says.
Billionaire media mogul Barry Diller doesn’t think OpenAI CEO Sam Altman can be trusted, despite recent reports to the contrary. Diller took to the stage this week at the Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything conference to defend AI executives who have been accused by some former colleagues and board members of being manipulative and […]
Is xAI now neocloud?
On Wednesday, xAI and Anthropic announced a surprise partnership in which Claudemaker will “buy out all the computing power.” [xAI’s] The “Colossus 1 data center” has a capacity of approximately 300MW, which allowed Anthropic to immediately increase usage limits. This is a big deal for xAI, likely worth billions of dollars. More importantly, it immediately […]
Mirai-based xlabs_v1 botnet exploits ADB to hijack IoT devices and launch DDoS attacks
Cybersecurity researchers have published a new Mirai-derived botnet that targets internet-exposed devices that self-identify as xlabs_v1 and are running Android Debug Bridge (ADB), allowing them to join the network to perform distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Hunt.io, which detailed the malware, said it discovered it after identifying a published directory on a server with […]
Microsoft’s AI datacenter push clashes with clean power goals
Microsoft is considering delaying or scaling back one of its most ambitious clean energy goals, as the rapid buildout of AI data centers puts pressure on its ability to meet the goal. Microsoft hasn’t announced it yet, but Bloomberg reports that the company is internally discussing hourly clean energy matching targets. The company said it […]
Robinhood venture fund’s IPO attracted more than 150,000 individual investors, CEO says
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev is touting the success of the fintech’s new Ventures Fund I, which allows retail investors to invest in private technology companies such as Stripe, Oura, Databricks, and OpenAI through exchange-traded funds listed on the New York Stock Exchange. “More than 150,000 retail investors participated in the IPO, so it’s pretty democratized,” […]