Security teams log 54% of successful attacks and alert on just 14%. The rest move through your environment unseen.
The Picus whitepaper shows how breach and attack simulation tests your SIEM and EDR rules so threats stop slipping by detection.
At IO-AI Tech, a startup about 45 minutes north of downtown Shenzhen, China, I glimpsed a wacky new frontier of blue-collar work. Workers wearing the company’s VR headsets, handheld controllers, and motion-tracking gear remotely control humanoid robots for workplaces like factory floors and convenience stores. The company wants the robots to do useful work, like stocking shelves and picking items out of bins, but it also wants to gather training data that could one day let the bots operate autonomously.
To show off the tech, the company invited me to its offices, where I was allowed to control 10 humanoid robotic hands, each from a different company, using a custom motion-tracking glove. The device instantly transferred my finger movements to all 50 robotic digits.
I’m a little embarrassed to say that the first thing I tried with this futuristic gear was getting all 10 hands to flip the bird. After getting this out of my system, I was impressed by how quickly my movements transferred to the robot hands, and how easily the tech went both ways—I was able to feel a ball placed in one of the electronic hands.
Courtesy of Will Knight
The company also let me try a system that’s being tested by a Chinese convenience store chain. Using a VR headset and a pair of grippers, I tried picking up boxes of medication from a shelf. It was disorienting at first: I had to adjust to a slight difference between my movements and those of the robot I could see through the headset. After a little practice, however, I was stacking shelves like a robot-boss.
Elsewhere, I watched people wearing virtual reality headsets and body-tracking sensors reminiscent of Ready Player One. In one large room, I saw workers using a range of different systems to control diminutive Unitree humanoids. One person marched around with a Unitree robot next to them, and the machine mirrored their movements within a mocked-up apartment. The human operator, wearing a headset and viewing the scene through the robot’s eye-level cameras, went through the motions needed to remove a shirt from a hanger and fold it.
IO-AI develops technology that transfers a person’s movements to different robot forms—a useful offering because there are dozens of different humanoids and robot hands on the market in China today. The startup’s algorithms also need to combine human control with some level of autonomy because a person and a robot aren’t always going to be the same shape, size, and weight. Without some ability to move independently, the robot may lose its balance.
The ultralight may become a permanent fixture in Apple’s smartphone lineup.
Apple could be making a follow-up to the iPhone Air, the ultralight smartphone introduced last fall. According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, plans may be in motion for the company to launch a second version of the device for spring 2027. Sources said the potential new product might add a second rear camera, improved battery life and a version of the A20 Pro processor.
Apple rarely offers specifics around sales figures for individual models, but our impression has been that the iPhone Air was not a big mover among buyers. The device has largely been viewed as a precursor for Apple’s eventual foldable smartphone, and many of us who watch the company closely didn’t expect it to have much staying power.
This rumor suggests that Apple may have higher aspirations for this ultralight form factor as a more permanent part of its mobile lineup. We did find the solitary rear camera to be a downside in our review of the iPhone Air, so alleviating some of the tradeoffs needed for such a slim chassis might increase the appeal.
The idea of a spring release for an iPhone Air 2 confirms how Apple has been rethinking its product calendar. Previously, all of its smartphone announcements came in the fall. Within the past 12 months, however, the company focused on its pricier models in September and pushed the announcement of its budget iPhone 17e to the spring. Since several of Apple’s efforts to have smaller smartphones have been abandoned (iPhone mini and iPhone SE, we hardly knew ye), maybe the new strategy is to try providing petiteness from a different perspective.
Google has started rolling out Wear OS 7 to Pixel Watch users. This brings what is arguably the biggest software update of the year to the company’s smartwatch lineup.
The update introduces new Gemini-powered features, redesigned widgets, and battery life improvements. However, it won’t be coming to the original Pixel Watch.
According to Google, the rollout is now underway for the Pixel Watch 2, Pixel Watch 3, and Pixel Watch 4. Availability is expected to expand gradually over the coming days. Alongside a refreshed interface, Wear OS 7 is designed to improve efficiency. Google claims battery life could increase by up to 10%. This depends on how the watch is used.
One of the most noticeable changes is the shift from full-screen tiles to a new widget system. This system looks much closer to Android’s smartphone widgets. The update also adds live notifications. This allows users to see real-time updates directly on their watch. It works in a similar way to Android’s Live Updates feature.
Google has also focused on improving how the Pixel Watch works with other devices. After updating, users will be able to interact more seamlessly with compatible accessories. For example, photos captured with supported AR glasses can be viewed directly on the watch. Meanwhile, a redesigned audio panel makes it easier to switch playback between speakers and headphones.
The biggest additions, however, come from Gemini Intelligence. A new feature called Create My Widget lets users generate personalised dashboards using voice commands. In addition, Gemini-powered automations can trigger actions across multiple apps from a single request.
Google is also giving its voice assistant deeper access to personal data, including Gmail and previous conversations. This allows it to provide more contextual responses and complete tasks more intelligently.
While many smartwatch updates focus on a handful of new features, Wear OS 7 appears to be a broader overhaul. There are battery gains, Gemini integrations and a redesigned interface. As a result, it could end up being one of the most significant Pixel Watch updates Google has delivered so far.
Hudson Rock said the attackers went on to “actively intercept SSL VPN authentication hashes and crack them using a massive, dedicated 45-GPU cluster managed via Hashtopolis.” From there, they used the GPU cluster to crack the hashes, meaning to try massive combinations of plain-text passwords until they found the right one. These passwords allowed the threat actors to move laterally to compromise Active Directory environments and other centralized authentication systems.
“This aggressive methodology has led to severe, real-world consequences,” Hudson Rock said. “Diachenko’s research confirmed full network compromises at multiple organizations across Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Iraq, and Turkey. Most alarmingly, this includes a Turkish NATO defense contractor from which classified defense documents were successfully exfiltrated by the group.”
In the interview, Diachenko put it more succinctly. “The scale is the sophistication,” he said.
The scale didn’t stop there. The attackers used the massive cluster to run a” feedback-driven, 12-level recursive system.” In other words, there wasn’t a single flat dictionary run. Password candidates came from custom dictionaries with as many as eight words, common keyboard patterns, and cracking rules. Each one looped back with each step. When guesses were successful, the passwords were fed back as seeds to generate still more candidates. In other words, the cracking techniques improved with each successful guess.
“They were quite innovative on that,” the researcher said.
The innovation contrasts sharply with the operational security of the attackers, who left artifacts on the server they used. In hacker circles, such moves are considered amateur mistakes.
Hudson Rock said that the top countries where compromised devices were found were India, the US, Taiwan, Mexico, Turkey, and Thailand. The top industries affected were IT services, construction materials, telecommunications, construction and engineering, industrial equipment, and financial services. Other organizations whose data appeared in the database included: Foxconn, Samsung, Comcast, Siemens, PwC, and Accenture. Hudson Rock said that the database listed thousands of others, including major government agencies and critical infrastructure providers.
Firewalls have long been a favorite network entry point for hackers. These devices accept connections from the outside Internet, sit at the perimeter of a network, and have access to valuable resources deep inside.
The links above list a number of steps Fortinet firewall users should take to ensure their networks are secure. Given that the data has been available to cybercriminals and potentially other threat actors who, like Diachenko, found it, the risk is substantial.

Years after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the latest trailer shows Tom Holland’s Peter Parker still living in the shadow of that memory-erasing spell. No one knows who he is anymore, not even his closest friends. The footage leans into that isolation while cranking up the personal stakes and physical chaos for the July 31 release.
The new teaser opens on a gritty New York City street, with Michael Mando’s Scorpion charging at Peter out of nowhere, dressed in a comic book-inspired outfit. The two engage in a massive, primal street battle. When Peter grips Scorpion’s tail, his eyes go completely black, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it warning that he’s losing his sanity. Next thing you know, he’s flinging Scorpion into a car, gasping as if he’s losing his hold on reality.

Then Peter’s mechanical web-shooters just fall apart at the wrists, and biological webbing shoots out in all directions. He’s swinging through traffic in a frenzy, catches a bird along the way, and then crashes into a sad couple getting married. It’s a cross between a wild, street-level disaster movie and a body horror film. Peter then runs to Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) to figure out what’s going on with his DNA. Banner pulls out a device designed to keep the Hulk hidden and gives him a harsh warning: if Peter ever discovers him without that ‘thing,’ he should get out of there as soon as possible, since this hints at a whole bunch of gamma-powered problems waiting to burst.

The action kicks up again when Spider-Man clashes with the Hand, as the ninjas make a bigger mark in the MCU this time around. He’s spinning a giant web tornado across their ranks, and the skyscrapers behind him are crashing down. Then, just when you think it can’t get any wilder, Jon Bernthal’s Punisher appears in his combat van, seemingly stepping in to save MJ at one point, adding to the drama. The trailer then turns nuclear, with the most dramatic escalation yet occurring as a huge Grey Hulk appears, apparently under mental control. Peter merely stares up at the item and says, “Wait, what?” The Hulk became bigger?’ Then the two go toe-to-toe in a battle for the ages, destroying the city.

This second trailer takes the first and turns it up a level, really going deep into Peter’s mental struggle and the consequences of his lost identity. It still includes some street-level action, as well as larger MCU crossovers such as the Hulk and Punisher, but Sadie Sink’s role remains unknown for the time being. We have the famed Destin Daniel Cretton at the helm, working with Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, who are back on writing responsibilities this time, and newcomer Justin Kuritzkes.
A newly discovered data leak dubbed “FortiBleed” has exposed what appears to be a collection of Fortinet and FortiGate VPN credentials for 73,932 firewall URLs at organizations worldwide.
The exposed data was first discovered by security researcher Bob Diachenko, who says he found a server containing what appeared to be valid Fortinet VPN credentials, including usernames, email addresses, and plaintext passwords.
According to screenshots and information shared by Diachenko, the database contains entries for Chevron, Samsung, Foxconn, Comcast, AT&T, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Sinopec, State Grid, and many others.
“Massive Fortinet/FortiGate bruteforce/active exploitation campaign uncovered in action,” Diachenko posted on LinkedIn.
“Thousands of top vendors instances are listed in the files like this (see screenshot). This one alone has 21,634 domain names – from Chevron to Fortinet itself. All – with potentially working passwords to the FortiGate appliances obtained through various menas.”
The exposed data also included comments listing each organization’s industry, revenue, and number of employees, likely for planning attacks.

Diachenko later shared additional information that claimed the operation was conducted by a Russian-speaking multi-operator threat group that harvested credentials for FortiGate SSL VPN devices.
According to Diachenko’s investigation, the attackers allegedly conducted approximately 1.16 billion credential attempts against 320,777 FortiGate targets and an additional 2.1 billion attempts against 163,650 Microsoft SQL Server systems.
He further claimed the threat actors intercepted SSL VPN authentication hashes, cracked them using a 45-GPU cluster managed through Hashtopolis, and used the recovered credentials to move laterally into internal Active Directory environments.
Diachenko told BleepingComputer he obtained these details after analyzing additional files inadvertently exposed on the same server.
“They accidentally left an open directory with artefacts, connection strings, tooling, scripts and data online. Analytics obtained via their cron jobs, bash histories, logs etc,” Diachenko explained.
The researcher also stated that multiple organizations across Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Iraq, and Turkey were fully compromised, including a Turkish NATO defense contractor from which classified documents were allegedly stolen.
Threat intelligence company Hudson Rock has since published its own analysis of the exposed data after receiving the dataset from Diachenko. The company described the collection as one of the largest known troves of compromised Fortinet-related credentials.
According to Hudson Rock, the dataset contains 73,932 unique firewall URLs across 194 countries and impacts 21,632 unique domains.
The company says the attackers maintained detailed logs of successful compromises and assembled a database containing verified credentials for organizations across nearly every major industry sector.
Among the organizations Hudson Rock says appear in the dataset are Foxconn, Samsung, Comcast, Siemens, Lenovo, PwC, Accenture, Oracle, and numerous government agencies and critical infrastructure operators.
The company also released statistics showing that the highest number of affected devices was in India, the United States, Taiwan, Mexico, Turkey, Thailand, Colombia, Malaysia, Chile, and the United Arab Emirates.
The most common sectors for the listed companies are telecommunications, IT services, financial services, government organizations, healthcare providers, educational institutions, and manufacturing.
One strange aspect of the leak is that many of the exposed credentials were long, complex passwords that would ordinarily be considered difficult to crack.
Cybersecurity researcher Kevin Beaumont independently reviewed portions of the exposed data and told BleepingComputer that some of the credentials are authentic.
“I have been able to confirm the authenticity of some of the admin logins and passwords – this looks like a real dump,” Beaumont said.
After further review of the data shared by Hudson Rock, Beaumont published additional findings indicating that the dataset contains credentials for roughly 75,000 Fortinet devices, most of which remain online.
According to Beaumont, the data appears to have originated from exported Fortinet configurations because it contains information, including email addresses, that is typically only accessible through configs.
He also said the affected IP addresses are different from those in the 2025 Belsen Group Fortinet leak, further indicating that this is a more recent and larger collection of compromised devices.
Beaumont said he verified that multiple organizations listed in the dataset were using valid credentials and observed that many affected devices were running relatively recent FortiOS versions.
“The data is legit. It is around 75k devices. Almost all are still online, and Fortinet devices. It appears to be recent data,” Beaumont wrote.
Based on network data from Shodan, Beaumont says the leak contains approximately half of all internet-accessible Fortinet firewalls and said that a majority of the affected devices expose their FortiGate management interfaces directly to the internet.
The source of the configuration data remains unknown, with it unclear whether it was stolen through previously disclosed Fortinet vulnerabilities, a newly discovered flaw, or another method. Neither Diachenko, Hudson Rock, nor Beaumont have identified how the configuration data was originally obtained.
Hudson Rock has created a free FortiBleed lookup tool to check if your organization is impacted.
Organizations in the dataset should immediately rotate passwords associated with Fortinet VPN and administrative interfaces, enforce MFA, examine gateway logs for suspicious activity, and monitor for exposed employee credentials.
BleepingComputer contacted Fortinet regarding the exposed dataset and will update this article if we receive a response.
Security teams log 54% of successful attacks and alert on just 14%. The rest move through your environment unseen.
The Picus whitepaper shows how breach and attack simulation tests your SIEM and EDR rules so threats stop slipping by detection.
During The State of Unreal keynote at Unreal Fest on Wednesday, Epic Games revealed just how it’s embracing generative AI in Unreal Engine (UE). Along with offering the first details on Unreal Engine 6 (UE6), the company discussed new features for Unreal Engine 5.8, which it also released on Wednesday. As part of the latest update, Epic is offering an experimental Model Context Protocol (MCP) plugin that will allow developers to hook gen AI models such as Claude and Gemini into Unreal Engine. It’s looking to make the MCP an integral part of UE6.
Marcus Wassmer, the head of Epic’s development team, wrote in a blog post that the gen AI models can act as “creativity and productivity multipliers so that teams can focus their efforts on the essential creative and technical tasks of development rather than time on time-consuming manual tasks.”
The blog post went on to state that, “our goal for UE6 is to greatly reduce the tedious work in authoring content to leave more time for creative exploration, and increase the amount of iterations a team can make to polish their content. UE6 will ship with tools and workflows where you can choose to bring your own favorite models, battletested against internal development and in UEFN [Unreal Engine for Fortnite].”
Unreal Engine 5.8 ships today with experimental MCP server support:
Your sources, your pipeline and your workflow—simply configure the MCP plugin and connect to any agent. Get familiar with the MCP server and the PCG Primitive Plugin today and see what teams can build together:… pic.twitter.com/Ca5yZIH443
— Unreal Engine (@UnrealEngine) June 17, 2026
Epic gave a demonstration of Claude Code connecting to UE, then pulling objects from an asset library and placing them in a virtual living room. Developers can still move the objects around manually in the UE editor.
The company also showed how a developer might use Claude Code in UE to build a city that can be automatically adjusted as assets like parks are added. Along with modifying assets, gen AI models can adjust factors like lighting and match atmospheric conditions to real-world examples.
In a video showing off Unreal Engine 5.8, Epic suggested that developers could use the likes of Claude to “automate asset creation, testing and optimization. The plugin can access core UE systems such as blueprints, assets, levels, materials, meshes and many more.”
It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that Epic is going all in on gen AI in UE6. Back in November, CEO Tim Sweeney suggested that a “made with AI” tag may be “relevant to art exhibits for authorship disclosure, and to digital content licensing marketplaces where buyers need to understand the rights situation. It makes no sense for game stores, where AI will be involved in nearly all future production.”
In January, the Game Developers Conference published its 2026 State of the Game Industry report, which was based on a survey of more than 2,300 game industry workers. Of those, 36 percent said they were using gen AI tools as part of their job. Most of those using such tools were doing so for research and brainstorming (81 percent) but also for tasks like prototyping (35 percent). However, 52 percent of respondents said they thought gen AI was bad for the industry. That figure was up from 30 percent in the 2025 edition of the survey and 18 percent in 2024. Only seven percent said it was having a positive impact.
Elsewhere at Unreal Fest, it emerged that Epic is merging Unreal Engine 5 and UEFN into a single platform in UE6. One other thing that the company is testing is the ability to pull Fortnite skins into other UE6 games, and to let developers move their skins in the other direction. The company aims to release UE6 in early access in late 2027, with a full release lined up for around 12-18 months later.
Epic had some news to share about collaborations as well. Those creating Fortnite experiences using UEFN will soon be able to make games based on The Simpsons, just as they can currently do with Star Wars IP. The company also revealed that more than 30 gaming collaborations are lined up for Fortnite this year, including Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Vampire Survivors, Control Resonant and Phantom Blade Zero.
However, Vampire Survivors developer Poncle appears to have concerns about Epic’s embrace of gen AI. “Following today’s news about gen AI usage by Epic to create all sort [sic] of game assets, including Fortnite characters, we’re currently ‘reviewing’ our collaboration with Fortnite,” Poncle stated on Reddit. “We’ll let you know if anything moves forward.”
Ghana will take on Panama in a must-win contest for both teams as they begin their respective FIFA World Cup 2026 Group L campaigns in Toronto. A defeat would leave either side facing a daunting path, with upcoming matches against European heavyweights England and Croatia.
Quarter-finalists in 2010, the Black Stars enter the match as favorites, particularly with Panama’s star midfielder Adalberto Carrasquilla reportedly nursing an injury and unlikely to be risked. Yet Ghana have had a difficult spell recently, highlighted by their failure to qualify for the most recent 24-team Africa Cup of Nations, for the first time in two decades.
They then let go of coach Otto Addo and in April welcomed Carlos Queiroz, who returns to a World Cup dugout for the fifth successive tournament after coaching Portugal in 2010, and Iran in 2014, 2018 and 2022. Can he end Ghana’s six-match winless run? Queiroz will look to revive the form Ghana displayed during qualification, where they recorded eight wins, one draw, and only one loss. Much will depend on captain Jordan Ayew, who will break brother Andre’s all-time caps record today, alongside attacking talents Ernest Nuamah and stellar Man City winger Antoine Semenyo.
Panama, meanwhile, are appearing at only their second World Cup after making their debut in 2018, when they lost all three group-stage matches, conceding 11 goals. However, Los Canaleros arrive with renewed confidence following an impressive runners-up finish in the 2025 CONCACAF Nations League, beating World Cup co-hosts the USA en route. Physically dominant, they’ll look to put pressure on from the off.
So, read on as we show you exactly how to watch Ghana vs Panama for free from anywhere in the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Ghana vs Panama is available to watch for free in multiple countries, including the UK, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland and Turkey.
Abroad? Can’t access your free stream? Unblock your free World Cup stream with Norton VPN — more on that below.
It’s the World Cup, and if you’re traveling, you might discover your usual Ghana vs Panama stream is suddenly unavailable due to geo-restrictions.
Don’t worry, that’s exactly where a VPN can help. A virtual private network lets you connect to servers around the world so you can securely access your usual World Cup coverage as if you were back home.
We recommend Norton VPN. Here’s why:
US viewers can watch Ghana vs Panama on FS1.
Cord-cutters can access FS1 through live TV services like YouTube TV (free trial), Hulu+Live TV, Sling (select markets), Fubo or DirecTV.
Those looking for a streaming service instead can watch Ghana vs Panama on Fox One (3-day free trial).
If you are looking for a stream in Spanish you can watch on Telemundo which is available via Peacock or one of the cord-cutters above.
Visiting the US from the UK? You can still watch your World Cup stream for free thanks to Norton VPN (try for 60 days).
UK customers are in luck as they can stream Ghana vs Panama for free on ITV. Live coverage is available on ITV1 and ITVX.
You require a TV license and a valid UK postcode for an account (e.g. SE1 7PB).
Norton VPN can unlock your stream if you’re abroad today.
Ghana vs Panama will be shown for free in Australia on SBS On Demand.
The streaming platform has every game of the tournament for free, making it the perfect place for your World Cup viewing.
Traveling for work or on holiday? A VPN like Norton VPN can help unlock your free stream.
In Canada, TSN and free-to-air channel CTV will be broadcasting Ghana vs Panama.
You can live stream via the TSN+ streaming platform, which costs CA$8 per month or CA$80 per year.
CTV will require TV provider login details for you to watch for free online.
Outside of Canada? Use Norton VPN whilst you’re traveling away from home to unlock your stream.
Ghana vs Panama kicks-off at 7pm ET on Wednesday, June 17. That’s 12am BST / 9am AEST on Thursday, June 18.
Ghana
Goalkeepers: Lawrence Ati-Zigi (St. Gallen), Joseph Anang (St Patrick’s Athletic), Benjamin Asare (Hearts of Oak)
Defenders: Alidu Seidu (Rennes), Jonas Adjetey (VfL Wolfsburg), Abdul Mumin (Rayo Vallecano), Gideon Mensah (Auxerre), Abdul Rahman Baba (PAOK), Jerome Opoku (Istanbul Basaksehir), Kojo Peprah Oppong (Nice), Derrick Luckassen (Pafos), Marvin Senaya (Auxerre)
Midfielders: Caleb Yirenkyi (Nordsjaelland), Thomas Partey (Villarreal), Abdul Fatawu (Leicester City), Kwasi Sibo (Oviedo), Antoine Semenyo (Manchester City), Elisha Owusu (Auxerre), Augustine Boakye (Saint-Etienne), Kamaldeen Sulemana (Atalanta)
Forwards: Jordan Ayew (Leicester City), Brandon Thomas-Asante (Coventry City), Christopher Bonsu Baah (Al-Qadsiah), Inaki Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Ernest Nuamah (Lyon), Prince Kwabena Adu (Viktoria Plzen)
Panama
Goalkeepers: Luis Mejía (Nacional), César Samudio (Marathón), Orlando Mosquera (Al-Fayha)
Defenders: César Blackman (Slovan Bratislava), José Córdoba (Norwich City), Edgardo Fariña (FC Pari Nizhniy Novgorod), Roderick Miller (Turan Tovuz), Fidel Escobar (Saprissa), Jiovany Ramos (Puerto Cabello), Eric Davis (Plaza Amador), Andrés Andrade (LASK), Jorge Gutiérrez (Deportivo La Guaira), Amir Murillo (Beşiktaş)
Midfielders: Cristian Martínez (Ironi Kiryat Shmona), José Luis Rodríguez (Juárez), Adalberto Carrasquilla (UNAM), Yoel Bárcenas (Mazatlán), Carlos Harvey (Minnesota United), Aníbal Godoy (San Diego), César Yanis (Cobresal), Azarías Londoño (Universidad Católica de Chile), Alberto Quintero (CD Plaza Amador)
Forwards: Tomás Rodríguez (Deportivo Saprissa), Ismael Díaz (León), José Fajardo (Universidad Católica), Cecilio Waterman (Universidad de Concepción)
|
Position |
Team |
GD |
Points |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
England |
0 |
0 |
|
2 |
Croatia |
0 |
0 |
|
3 |
Ghana |
0 |
0 |
|
4 |
Panama |
0 |
0 |
Of course, most broadcasters have streaming services that you can access through mobile apps or via your phone’s browser.
You can also stay up-to-date with all of the key World Cup moments on the official social media channels on X/Twitter (@FIFAWorldCup), Instagram (@FIFAWorldCup), TikTok (@FIFAWorldCup) and YouTube (@FIFA).
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
The streaming industry has gotten a lot of flak over the past few years, but there is one thing that Hollywood studios are undeniably good at: recycling the same idea, over and over and over again until the world ends (or until everyone finally decides they’re sick of Harry Potter, whichever comes first).
This tried-and-true formula is now playing out in real time with Prime Video’s Off Campus and Netflix’s upcoming series Icebreaker, shows that, like Heated Rivalry, are hockey-themed romances about polar opposites who just can’t seem to keep their hands off each other.
But there’s one key difference: Icebreaker and Off Campus are about heterosexual romances, while Heated Rivalry is about a secret gay relationship. And considering how much queerness played a role in Heated Rivalry’s explosive popularity, it seems like the clamor for straight horny hockey content is another example of Hollywood just not getting the message.
Off Campus, which debuted last month, is about Hannah Wells, a reserved musician who agrees to enter a fake relationship (?) with college hockey captain Garrett Graham in exchange for philosophy class (??) tutoring. The forthcoming Icebreaker, which Netflix announced this week, is about a figure skater who falls in love with a hockey player after they’re forced to practice on the same rink.
Hockey aside, Icebreaker and Off Campus have a lot in common with Heated Rivalry. They’re all adaptations of popular novels: Off Campus is based on a series of steamy books by Canadian author Elle Kennedy, while Icebreaker is inspired by a YA novel by British author Hannah Grace. They’re also all variations on the “enemies to lovers” trope, popularized by fanfic sites like Wattpad and ao3.
When it debuted on Crave and HBO Max last winter, Heated Rivalry primarily received attention for its steamy sex scenes, as well as the chemistry between its two leads, Connor Storrie (who plays the mercurial Ilya Rozanov) and Hudson Williams (the straight-laced Shane Hollander). But as the show gained traction, it also was acclaimed for its depiction of the surprisingly tender relationship between the two, as well as its portrayal of LGBTQ-specific spaces and themes. It also gained a huge following among straight women, drawing attention to the Japanese fandom fujoshi, which centers around heterosexual women consuming gay male stories.
It’s hard to overemphasize just how much of Heated Rivalry’s success is owed to its queerness—not just because it was hot, but because there is genuine audience demand for it. According to UCLA’s 2024 “Hollywood Diversity Report,” shows featuring “underrepresented stories,” including LGBTQ-themed narratives, have higher median ratings and more social media discourse than shows that don’t. “The evidence is clear that audiences today are hungry for both diverse stories and diverse storytellers,” the report’s coauthors Ana-Christina Ramón and Michael Tran tell WIRED via email.
There is certainly evidence to suggest that general interest in hockey has increased as a result of Heated Rivalry’s popularity, with NHL ticket sales reportedly surging in the weeks after the show’s launch. But it’s hard to understand how studio executives can look at the success of that show and attribute it to a sudden, newfound interest in a sport that, historically, has been less popular in the United States than baseball, basketball, or football.
The actual explanation for Heated Rivalry’s popularity appears fairly obvious: the girls, gays, and theys like watching hot guys make out in hotel rooms and exchange yearning looks over a dance floor. The taboo nature of Shane and Ilya’s relationship in a traditionally hetero-masculine space also likely played a huge role, says Matt Puretz, senior researcher for UCLA’s Center for Storytellers and Scholars.

Vedana Therapeutics, a Seattle-based startup aiming to prevent migraine attacks, emerged from stealth Wednesday with $46 million and a leadership team of heavy-hitters in cutting-edge migraine treatment.
The new funding will allow the company to advance antibody therapies targeting migraine-related signaling pathways — candidates patients could eventually self-administer by injection at home.
Vedana’s goal is to become the definitive migraine therapy company — and its roster of leaders, board members and advisors have played essential roles in the sector already, helping develop antibody therapies against two types of proteins: calcitonin gene-related peptides (CGRP) and a newer target called pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptides (PACAP).
“We need to make medicines that will enable patients not to have a single migraine day,” said Anurag Agarwal, Vedana’s co-founder and CEO. “And that means targeting not one, but multiple biological pathways and layering them together to completely address this very complex and diverse disease.”
While CGRP medicines represented the first specialized therapies for migraine, roughly two-thirds of patients still suffer from the condition. A migraine attack can trigger a cascade of symptoms unfolding over days, potentially including nausea, light sensitivity and disrupted sleep; flashing lights or partial vision loss; moderate to severe headaches; and fatigue and brain fog.
Vedana’s lead drug candidate program is a next-generation PACAP antibody, and its second targets both PACAP and CGRP.
The multipronged approach is essential, said Dr. Ernesto Aycardi, chief medical officer, because it’s “not just one neurotransmitter, it’s not just one protein that is causing the problem. In addition, there’s a significant complexity from the patient perspective.” Patients respond to different treatments, he added, and even within an individual, a migraine can be triggered by different causes between episodes.
The startup has 14 employees. Its leadership includes:
While multiple Seattle-area biotech companies in general are pursuing medical therapies created using AI tools, Vedana touts the decades of its team’s experience as a huge advantage.
The antibodies from living organisms “are more robust than any LLMs that we have built. These have been built over billions of years of information, so I would say that we are leveraging that neural network,” Agarwal said. The company will use AI for later steps in the drug development process, he added.
Major biotech companies marketing approved CGRP antibody therapies include Amgen, Eli Lilly, Teva and Lundbeck. In the PACAP space, Vedana faces competition from Lundbeck, Mentari Therapeutics and Slate Medicines.
Vedana’s Series A round was co-led by Westlake BioPartners and Canaan Partners, with participation from Dawn Biopharma and Alexandria Venture Investments.
Editor’s note: Story updated at 10:35 a.m. to add additional comments from Anurag Agarwal and Dr. Ernesto Aycardi.
If a blackout has ever cost you a fridge full of groceries, Jackery has a fix for that now. The company is introducing FridgeGuard alongside three new HomePower Series batteries, giving you power backup options for different appliances.

Jackery says FridgeGuard is the world’s slimmest refrigerator backup battery. It measures just 2.6 inches thick and weighs 23 pounds, allowing it to sit beside a refrigerator, lie flat, or be mounted on a wall. Inside, a 1024Wh battery delivers up to 15 hours of runtime, stretching to 30 hours with an optional expansion battery.
With a 10ms switchover, your fridge barely notices when the power actually cuts out. Jackery also built in a 1600W peak output to handle compressor startups, along with surge protection and a bypass mode that preserves battery health once it is fully charged. FridgeGuard can also support home offices, aquariums, and CPAP devices. It launches as a Costco exclusive at $559.99 for members.

For broader backup needs, Jackery is introducing three HomePower models:
All three rely on LiFePO4 batteries rated for 6000 cycles, translating to roughly 16 years of use. The HomePower Series launches June 23 through Jackery’s website and Amazon.
Jackery is entering a growing category of home backup batteries designed specifically for refrigerators. Earlier this month, Anker introduced the Solix S2000, a compact power station that claims up to 35 hours of fridge runtime during a blackout.
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