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.
Apple has marginally increased the cost of its individual AppleCare+ subscription, costing consumers an extra 50 cents per month to protect their Mac or iPad.
Just like any other subscription, warranty and repair services often go up in price over time. On July 15, Apple did just that to AppleCare+.
The price for the monthly AppleCare+ packages increased by 50 cents per month, or $5 per year for the annual plan, reports Bloomberg.
For example, the AppleCare+ package for a 13-inch MacBook Air now costs $7.99 per month or $79.99 per year, versus $7.49 and $74.99 previously. The Mac mini now starts at $4.49 per month or $44.99 per year for coverage, while a 16-inch MacBook Pro is $15.99 per month or $159.99 per year.
On the iPad side, a base iPad is $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year, and an 11-inch M4 iPad Air is $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year. The M5 iPad Pro is either $10.99 or $11.99 per month or $109.99 or $119.99 per year, depending on the size.
AppleCare One, Apple’s plan for protecting multiple devices for a flat rate, still starts at $19.99 per month to cover three devices. Additional products can be added at an unchanged $5.99 per month.
While the price is going up for sign-ups for new plans, existing subscribers will be grandfathered in under the old pricing. It’s not clear right now how long the grandfathering will last, but presumably it is until the next renewal.
The price change also only affects Macs and iPads. While this would normally impact the iPhone too, Apple is anticipated to do so this fall, alongside its iPhone 18 generation launches.
This project is a custom and independent version of Firefox, with the primary goals of privacy, security and user freedom.
LibreWolf is designed to increase protection against tracking and fingerprinting techniques, while also including a few security improvements. This is achieved through our privacy and security oriented settings and patches. LibreWolf also aims to remove all the telemetry, data collection and annoyances, as well as disabling anti-freedom features like DRM.
No Telemetry
No experiments, adware, annoyances, or unnecessary distractions.
Private Search
Privacy-conscious search providers: DuckDuckGo, Searx, Qwant and more.
Content Blocker Included
uBlock Origin is already included for your convenience.
Enhanced Privacy
Hardened to maximize privacy, without sacrificing usability.
Fast Updates
LibreWolf is always built from the latest Firefox stable source, for up-to-date security and features along with stability.
Open Source
Everyone can participate in the development of LibreWolf. Join us on Codeberg and Matrix.
No, while LibreWolf is built from Firefox‘s source code, it disables telemetry, privacy-invasive features, and some Mozilla services, while enabling stricter security and privacy settings out of the box.
Yes, LibreWolf is compatible with most Firefox extensions available from the Mozilla Add-ons store, allowing users to customize the browser just like Firefox.
No, Firefox Sync is disabled by default in LibreWolf because it relies on Mozilla services. Users who need bookmark, history, and password synchronization may prefer standard Firefox.
LibreWolf is ideal for users who prioritize privacy and security over convenience. It offers a hardened browsing experience with minimal configuration, making it a good choice for those who want stronger privacy protections without relying on Chromium-based browsers.
LibreWolf is based on the latest Firefox release and is typically updated within three days of Mozilla’s stable releases, often on the same day. Unlike Firefox, LibreWolf does not include an automatic updater, so updates must be installed through your operating system’s package manager or manually.
No, if you need the anonymity provided by the Tor network, you should use the Tor Browser instead. It is specifically designed to minimize browser fingerprinting and work safely over Tor. Using LibreWolf or any other browser with Tor can reduce your anonymity and is not recommended.
Yes, but only for essential, privacy-conscious features. LibreWolf connects to update filter lists for uBlock Origin, Tracking Protection, and certificate revocation, and maintains a WebSocket connection for website push notifications. The project aims to eliminate unnecessary connections while keeping the minimum required to balance privacy, security, and browser functionality.
New
Fixed
But OnePlus’ exit comes at a time when smartphone shipments are showing steep declines due to the ongoing memory crisis—the lack of RAM, eaten up by data centers for the AI boom, has caused a global shortage. Research firm Counterpoint on Monday noted an 11 percent year-over-year decline in global smartphone shipments in the second quarter of 2026, the lowest level in that period in 13 years. Two companies saw growth—Apple and Samsung—whereas competitors like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo saw the sharpest declines. (Vivo is a part of the same conglomerate, BBK Electronics, that owns Oppo, OnePlus, and Realme.)
Last year, at the onset of president Donald Trump’s tariff war, OnePlus dramatically increased the price of its then new smartwatch from $330 to $500. In May 2026, the company hiked prices on its latest phones in India. The company has been dealing with a massive loss of smartphone market share in the US for several years.
Nabila Popal, a senior research director of Consumer Devices at the International Data Corporation, says OnePlus was never a leader in the US. Still, the company’s sales took a nosedive after T-Mobile dropped its partnership in 2023.
OnePlus went from 1 million smartphone shipments in the US in 2019 to just under 130,000 device shipments in 2025—roughly a 90 percent volume drop over six years. Smartphones are primarily sold through carriers in the US, which means phone makers that aren’t available at carrier stores often have a hard time cracking the market. Popal says carriers drive as much as 66 percent of the volume in the US, at least based on 2025 data. T-Mobile declined to comment on the OnePlus news.
The US represented around 22 percent of OnePlus’ shipments in 2021, with similar numbers from Europe, and only 18 percent from China. But Popal says by 2025, the numbers flipped with 56 percent of OnePlus’s volume coming from China, which likely explains Oppo’s statement that OnePlus’ China product road map is not changing. If you add Asia Pacific, that number jumps to 91 percent—a huge jump from 51 percent in 2021.
“In 2018, with the OnePlus 6, they had launched what they were calling very proudly a ‘flagship killer’ at the price of $529, with flagship specs,” Popal says. “And then, rather than staying at that price point, they replicated the premium market—trying to increase prices—and that made them similar to the competition.”
Popal says it’s a strategy often set by companies with razor-thin margins. The initial goal is to grab interest, then go up in price, a method to break into the market and gradually increase profitability. “But unfortunately, certain brands are not able to command a price beyond a certain point,” she says. “It’s really only been Apple and Samsung that have been able to operate very successfully.”
Chinese phone brands are often the first to introduce new technologies (like silicon-carbon batteries), and while there aren’t many Chinese players in the US, OnePlus was the outlier. The brand’s lack of a presence will mean one less choice for consumers, and Popal says the market is moving further into consolidation. OnePlus went from having 1.8 percent of the US market in 2021 to 0.1 percent in 2025, according to Popal; Apple and Samsung went from a combined 73 percent of the market in that same period to 80 percent in 2025.
“It’s a pity that US consumers do not have the choice of the number of brands that are available globally because there are some fascinating technologies and features,” Popal says. “But I don’t see that landscape changing.”
OnePlus now joins a growing list of companies that have either shut down operations, exited the mobile business, pivoted, or drastically scaled back their ambitions, including HTC, LG Mobile, Sony, Meizu, and HMD.
Disclaimer: Unless otherwise stated, any opinions expressed below belong solely to the author. Data sourced from Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower.
It’s this time of the year again, when Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower releases its latest salary data for over 420 common occupations in the domestic economy. Unfortunately, due to the scope of the task, there is a one-year lag in these statistics (they are accurate as of Jun 2025).
Though salaries do not change more than a few per cent over 12 months, so it remains pretty valid.
In 57 cases, the gross median annual pay has reached over S$100,000 per year, or S$8,333 per month. As a reminder, the median is the middle value. It means that half of the workers in a given profession make more than this figure and half make less.
Unsurprisingly, you’ll find these jobs in the two highest categories: Managers (26 jobs) and Professionals (31 jobs). In other words: those who manage people and organisations, and those who specialise in specific tasks, but not among the support staff and clerical workers.
| Occupation | Median Monthly Gross Wage |
|---|---|
| Chief information officer/ Chief technology officer/ Chief information security officer | S$18,413 |
| Risk management manager | S$16,025 |
| Company director | S$13,844 |
| Chief operating officer/ General manager | S$13,060 |
| Financial risk manager | S$12,130 |
| Managing director/ Chief executive officer | S$12,050 |
| Policy manager | S$11,858 |
| Regional sales manager | S$11,483 |
| Strategic planning manager | S$11,109 |
| Software and applications manager | S$10,973 |
| Research and development manager | S$10,750 |
| Financial services manager | S$10,750 |
| Audit manager | S$10,742 |
| Network/ Communications/ Infrastructure manager | S$10,340 |
| Insurance services manager | S$10,066 |
| Online sales channel manager | S$9,844 |
| Budgeting/ Financial accounting manager | S$9,728 |
| Wholesale trade manager | S$9,616 |
| Quality control/ assurance manager | S$9,540 |
| Marketing manager | S$9,400 |
| Supply and distribution/ Logistics/ Warehousing manager | S$9,394 |
| Business development manager | S$9,182 |
| ICT service manager | S$8,847 |
| Personnel/ Human resource manager | S$8,500 |
| Customer service manager | S$8,500 |
| Media/ Broadcast manager | S$8,400 |
It’s hardly a surprise that most of these managerial positions involve dealing with money: finance, sales and managing the entire business (in addition to a few more specialised roles).
You might be surprised to see CEOs or company directors ranked lower than CIOs or CTOs here, but you have to keep in mind that only big companies have these specialised roles, while virtually every business has a CEO.
This means that the number of data points for CEOs is much higher and their distribution is much broader, including many smaller businesses where the boss isn’t necessarily paid five figures per month. This brings those average figures down.
| Occupation | Median Monthly Gross Wage |
|---|---|
| Financial derivatives dealer | S$20,000 |
| ICT sales and services professional | S$15,250 |
| In-house legal counsel (excluding judiciary, ministries and statutory boards) | S$12,507 |
| Commercial airline pilot | S$12,337 |
| Economist | S$12,113 |
| Artificial intelligence/ Machine learning engineer | S$11,838 |
| Enterprise/ Solution/ Software architect | S$11,605 |
| Fund/ Portfolio manager | S$11,270 |
| Business valuer | S$10,942 |
| University lecturer | S$10,931 |
| Treasury manager | S$10,286 |
| Sales professional (institutional sales of financial products) | S$10,270 |
| Advocate/ Solicitor (practising) | S$10,000 |
| Editor (news/ periodicals) | S$9,823 |
| Chemical engineer (petroleum) | S$9,612 |
| Data scientist | S$9,537 |
| Oil/ Bunker trader | S$9,459 |
| Cyber risk specialist | S$9,423 |
| Interaction designer | S$9,306 |
| Tax accountant | S$9,282 |
| Internal medicine physician | S$9,262 |
| Compliance officer/ Risk analyst (financial) | S$9,182 |
| Biochemist | S$9,161 |
| Cybersecurity architect | S$9,142 |
| Medical scientist | S$9,067 |
| Management consultant | S$8,811 |
| Veterinarian | S$8,805 |
| Insurance underwriter | S$8,780 |
| Financial product structurer | S$8,745 |
| Marketing strategy/ planning professional | S$8,713 |
| Operations research analyst | S$8,569 |
This might be the list that interests more people, as it shows that you don’t have to aspire to “manage” anything to make really good money. You can simply be an expert in one of many diverse fields, enjoying your line of work and getting paid handsomely for your expertise.
It may, of course, involve a job in finance or insurance, but also being a doctor, or a veterinarian, lawyer, data scientist, engineer, press editor, designer, AI developer or a university lecturer.
You might be good with numbers or good with people (or even animals). You can fly a plane, teach or trade oil.
There are countless career opportunities that Singapore’s job market is willing to reward with a good salary, as long as you yourself acquire the skills and knowledge required.
Few people could complain that the city is too small to allow them have a good career. There are many avenues to follow even if you never set foot outside this small island.
Featured Image Credit: jpldesigns/ depositphotos

JPMorgan Chase is building out a new AI software infrastructure team, anchored in Seattle, focused on running AI across its data centers and outside providers in a way that controls costs, protects its intellectual property, and avoids tying its fortunes to any one vendor.
Lori Beer, the bank’s global CIO, discussed the effort as part of a broader interview Tuesday during a stop in Seattle. She said the bank is being “careful about lock-in, strategic risk, financial risk, all those things.”
The move comes as business and tech leaders — including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Palantir CEO Alex Karp — publicly warn about the risks of letting a small number of AI vendors accumulate control over costs, data, and the choice of which AI tools businesses can use.
Beer described the new group as an AI infrastructure team but said it works at the software level, separate from JPMorgan groups that build data centers or procure hardware.
She said the group will, for example, develop systems to determine when to route different types of AI workloads to JPMorgan’s own data centers, when to tap into public cloud providers, and when to use newer specialty computing suppliers.
AI agents are one example of where the bank is drawing a line.
Beer said JPMorgan will build and own the software that runs its agents, while treating the underlying AI models as interchangeable. The agentic layer is specific to JPMorgan’s business, whereas the underlying models are general-purpose, and JPMorgan wants to be able to switch among them as the market changes.
Cost is another focus. Given the option, Beer said, engineers naturally reach for the newest and most powerful model, even when a cheaper one works as well. Systems built by the new team will route specific workloads to different types of models.
The new AI infrastructure team will be spread across multiple JPMorgan locations, but Beer said the Seattle area offers a high concentration of the required skills, including engineers who built cloud infrastructure at Amazon, Microsoft, and other tech platforms before joining JPMorgan.
It’s part of a broader focus on AI at JPMorgan’s Seattle Tech Center, which has grown to about 400 people since opening in 2018, with a heavy emphasis on cybersecurity.
JPMorgan said this week that it has named Ture Armas, the bank’s CTO for Commercial Bank Lending Technology, to lead the Seattle Tech Center. Armas will continue in his existing role while adding oversight of the tech center’s strategy, talent, and community engagement. He replaces Mamtha Banerjee, who left in March.
The Seattle Tech Center is preparing to move next month into an expanded space at the JPMorganChase Center, the skyscraper that was renamed from the Russell Investments Center in January. The tech center is currently located in a smaller space in a nearby building. The move will put engineers closer to business teams, which Beer called critical as AI accelerates the pace of product development.
Beer, who started her career as a software engineer at a nuclear facility, joined JPMorgan in 2014 from health insurer WellPoint. In 2017, she became the first CIO to sit on the bank’s Operating Committee. She oversees a technology division of about 70,000 people, including 45,000 engineers, with a $20 billion annual budget.
JPMorgan reported record second-quarter results Tuesday morning, topping Wall Street expectations. On the earnings call, CEO Jamie Dimon said the bank has almost 1,000 AI use cases across the business, with about 50 he described as the most important, in areas including risk, fraud, marketing, note-taking, and document reading.
In what turned out to be a preview of Beer’s comments later in the day, CFO Jeremy Barnum described the bank’s AI priorities: “Use the right model for the right purpose, be smart about open source where appropriate, and ensure that you’re getting value out of it ultimately.”
A Russian-speaking threat actor known as “bandcampro” used Google’s open-source Gemini CLI AI tool as a hacking agent and to operate a small-scale botnet.
The AI agent responded to the attacker’s prompts, troubleshooting problems on the fly and even proposing operational improvements at least 59 times.
In more than 200 sessions between May 19 and April 21, the threat actor worked with the AI tool to deploy and operate an infrastructure that controlled eight systems in a dental clinic and to get access to the OpenDental database.
The AI agent assumed the role of an “authorized pen tester” acting without safety disclaimers and automatically saved any credentials.
Its skill file contained the command-and-control (C2) playbook, complete with a description of the architecture, standard operations, infection code, commands for persistence, and troubleshooting steps.
Trend Micro researchers say that the threat actor used Gemini CLI to migrate the botnet to a new C2 infrastructure. Starting from a single instruction that read “”Study the C2 migration,” the AI processed the guide and prepared all the steps and code necessary for the process.
The AI migrated the C2 infrastructure, handling the architecture, coding, VPS deployment, Cloudflare configuration, and initial debugging in just six minutes.
“The AI read the migration guide, then prepared a migration bundle, a small archive of server code, payloads, and the skill file. It then unpacked the bundle, launched the C&C server on a VPS, and brought up the Cloudflare tunnel,” Trend Micro says.
When machines initially failed to reconnect, the AI diagnosed conflicting traffic between the old and new servers, and after the actor shut down the old server, all bots reconnected.

Daily operation logs show that the threat actor continued to manage the botnet entirely through natural-language requests, asking which machines were online, listing files on particular computers, and generating infection links.

From a technical standpoint, the botnet setup was remarkably lightweight, containing all components and instructions in three plain-text files totaling roughly 5 KB.
These contained a Gemini jailbreak prompt, a C2 playbook covering infection, persistence, and troubleshooting, and a migration guide for rebuilding the infrastructure.
The C2 used an in-memory Python HTTP server and PowerShell agents that polled it every five seconds, and persistence relied on scheduled tasks, WMI events, and registry modifications, depending on privileges.
The malware itself was rather unsophisticated, according to Trend Micro, as it did not benefit from obfuscation, packing, or evasion mechanisms.
Beyond the botnet, the actor allegedly used AI for password guessing, generating plausible variants of existing passwords for WordPress portals, and analyzing 1Password dumps to find exploitation alleys.
The researchers say that the latter failed only due to the operation extending for long enough that the AI lost track of the broader attack concept.
The retrieved logs show that Gemini refused to comply in at least one case, when it was asked to build a self-spreading “agent-bomb,” but this simply made the threat actor try out other tasks instead.
BleepingComputer has contacted Google for a comment on this example of Gemini CLI abuse, but we have not received a response as of publishing.
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.
New buyers will now pay $.50 more per month or $5 a year.
With recent price bumps across its Mac and iPad lineups, Apple has decided to boost the cost of covering them, too. Applecare+ prices for Mac, MacBook and iPad products just rose by $.50 per month or $5 per year, Bloomberg reported. The prices only affect new purchases so your existing AppleCare+ contract pricing won’t change. AppleCare One, the new plan that covers up to three devices, is also unaffected.
As we saw last month, Apple hiked prices across most of its Mac and iPad lineups. Basic iPads went up by $100 to $449, while the 13-inch iPad Pro now costs $1,499, $200 more than before. On the Mac side, the new MacBook Neo rose to $699, up $100, the 15-inch MacBook Air jumped $200 to $1,499 and the M5 Max MacBook Pro now costs $4,099, up $500. So far, iPhones and some other products have haven’t been impacted.
Those higher product prices have now affected the cost of insuring them, as well. As Apple puts it, “AppleCare+ is an insurance policy covering you during the policy period for repairs or replacement of your covered Apple device in the event of accidental damage or battery depletion and it gives priority access to telephone technical support from Apple.” With the pricing bump, for instance, coverage for a 13-inch MacBook Air goes up from $7.49 to $7.99 per month, or $80 per year instead of $75 per year annually.
Affordable hybrid IEMs are arriving at a furious pace in 2026, which means another multi-driver in-ear monitor needs more than a padded spec sheet to warrant your attention. SIVGA is making its case at CanJam London 2026 with the Lyrebird, a new $150 quad-driver hybrid IEM built around four drivers and handcrafted stabilized-wood faceplates.
The Lyrebird combines multiple driver types with premium internal components in an effort to deliver a spacious, balanced presentation without wandering into premium-priced territory. At $150, however, it enters a crowded field that includes the $99 ACTIVO Scoop, with its five-driver hybrid array, while DUNU’s four-driver KOTO ITO sits just above it at $199. Both have already demonstrated how much hardware buyers can now expect without emptying their wallets.

The Lyrebird uses a quad-driver hybrid configuration, with each driver assigned to a specific portion of the frequency range. SIVGA says the design is intended to produce a cohesive, natural presentation across the spectrum.
The four-driver array includes:
Each Lyrebird earpiece features a handcrafted stabilized-wood faceplate with a unique grain pattern. SIVGA says a specialized resin treatment enhances the appearance of the wood while improving durability and helping to reduce unwanted resonance.
The faceplates are paired with CNC-machined aviation-grade aluminum-alloy housings. The lightweight shells are shaped for an ergonomic fit and are intended to remain comfortable during commuting, home listening, and longer sessions.

The Lyrebird includes a hybrid cable made with Furukawa oxygen-free copper, silver-plated copper, and gold-plated silver-copper conductors.
A detachable 0.78mm two-pin connection allows the cable to be replaced or upgraded, while the supplied 4.4mm balanced plug is intended for use with compatible headphone amplifiers, digital audio players, and DACs.

| SIVGA Model | Lyrebird (2026) | Nightingale PRO (2025) |
| Product Type | Quad-Driver Hybrid In-Ear Monitors | IEM (In-Ear Monitor) |
| Price | $149 | $269 |
| Driver Type | 10mm Polymer Composite Dynamic Driver
Balanced Armature Driver Micro Planar Driver 9.2mm Multilayer Piezoelectric Ceramic Driver |
Planar magnetic driver with multi-magnet structure |
| Diaphragm | Refer to Driver Type | 0.008mm composite film with 0.006mm aluminium ribbon conductor |
| Housing | CNC Aviation-Grade Aluminium Alloy | CNC-machined aluminium-magnesium alloy with hand-polished wood faceplates |
| Frequency response | 20Hz – 20kHz | 20Hz – 40kHz |
| Impedance | 14Ω ±15% @1kHz | 16Ω |
| Sensitivity | 108 ±3dB @1kHz | 100dB ±3dB |
| Cable | Hybrid cable (30-core Furukawa OFC + 10-core silver-plated copper + 10-core enamelled gold-plated silver-copper) | Detachable 1.2m silver-plated OFC with 0.78mm 2-pin connectors |
| Weight | Not Provided | 27g (without cable) |
| Package Contents | 1 x SIVGA Lyrebird IEMs 1 x Detachable Connector Cable 1 x Leather carrying case Extra Ear Tips |
1 x SIVGA Nightingale PRO IEMs 1 x Detachable Connector Cable 1 x Hard carrying case 2 x Eartip size M 2 x Eartip size L 2 x Eartip size S 1 x Eartip case |

The Lyrebird comes with a Crazy Horse leather carrying case and a selection of silicone ear tips to help users achieve a secure fit and proper seal.
With its hybrid driver array, stabilized-wood faceplates, aluminum housings, detachable balanced cable, and included accessories, the Lyrebird arrives as a complete package for home and portable listening.
SIVGA continues to expand its headphone and IEM lineup, and the Lyrebird moves the brand further into affordable territory without abandoning the materials and design details that distinguish its more expensive models.
The Lyrebird is positioned below the 2025 Nightingale Pro, but it is not simply a stripped-down alternative. Its four-driver hybrid array combines a dynamic driver, balanced-armature driver, micro-planar driver, and piezoelectric ceramic driver—an unusually diverse configuration at $150. The stabilized-wood faceplates, aluminum housings, detachable hybrid cable, and 4.4mm balanced termination also give it a stronger visual and technical identity than many competitors at this price.
That price places the Lyrebird in a crowded segment that includes the Fosi Audio IM4 at $99, Sony IER-M500 at $119, and Meze Audio Alba at $159. SIVGA’s combination of handcrafted wood, multiple driver technologies, and balanced connectivity gives the Lyrebird a distinct proposition, although its ultimate value will depend on how successfully those four drivers have been integrated.
The Lyrebird could also create some awkward competition within SIVGA’s own lineup. Its more complex driver configuration may address some of the concerns raised in our Nightingale Pro review, despite costing considerably less, but that remains to be confirmed through listening. Should it perform as intended, the Lyrebird may prove to be more than an affordable entry point into the brand—it could become the SIVGA IEM that offers the strongest balance of design, technology, and price.
The SIVGA Lyrebird will be first shown and demoed at CanJam London 2026 on July 18-19, 2026.
In all of our discussions about how the digital revolution has created a system in which people don’t actually own the things they think they’re buying, I get particularly frustrated by the lack of change in it all. We’ve spilled much ink complaining that this clearly anti-consumer practice needs to be done away with, where an unsuspecting public thinks they’re buying “a thing” only to learn months or years later that “the thing” they bought was actually a license to use/view/listen to another “thing”, and that license exists at the pleasure of the company that collected the money for it. And if you want to see the lack of change or action really honed in upon, let’s take a look at Sony’s PlayStation Store.
In 2022, due to “evolving licensing agreements” with distributor StudioCanal, German and Austrian users had hundreds of movies disappear from their PS accounts, long after buying them through Sony. Then in 2023, it happened again in America, specifically when Sony ended its licensing agreement with Discovery after the Warner Bros. merger, which, of course, has since been bought by Paramount Skydance. That resulted in customers having hundreds and hundreds of episodes of TV shows deleted from their accounts. Nowhere in any of this were there refunds, of course. No recompense at all, actually. Just a thing you thought you’d bought taken away from you by the very people you thought you bought it from.
And now it’s happening again. Due to another licensing agreement fallout with StudioCanal, hundreds of movies and TV shows are being ripped from the accounts of PS Store customers, and there appears to be fuck all that they can do about it.
This news was brought to people’s attention by X user somatyk, who posted the notification they had received from PlayStation this week. Along with the unapologetic news that the purchased movies would be deleted from their account on September 1, the message concluded with, “Click here for a full list of affected titles that will no longer be supported. Thank you.” The same warning is now reproduced in full on the PlayStation website, along with the list of 551 films and TV series that are being pulled from people’s libraries.

As Kotaku notes later in their post, part of what is striking in all of this is the sheer mundanity of the announcement. Because there have been no consequences, or any action at all from the public or government, Sony treats this all as if it’s perfectly normal and no big deal. You can tell me all you want about how the Ts and Cs in these purchases do in fact note that the nature of the purchase is a temporary licensing of the content for an undetermined time period… but I can promise you that the public in general doesn’t understand that. They think they’re buying a thing, not a license.
And that’s because of the purposeful obfuscation of that fact. Sony damned well knows that the vast majority of people don’t read those Ts and Cs. It knows that the public largely doesn’t understand how these backend licensing agreements with distributors work, or that they even exist. And Sony isn’t exactly putting out a big blinking sign on its store pages informing the public of all of this. Instead, the company is only too happy to collect money from a public that is being purposefully kept ignorant of what they’re buying.
Of course, when you scroll past the endless EULAs when you first use your PlayStation, and click “Agree” the first time you load the store, you’re unwittingly agreeing that nothing you buy is really truly bought, and that it can be taken away from you at any point, and there’s nothing you can do. The same is true of your games.
This, too, will probably pass without any real action. The government has done its best to gut our consumer protection agencies, so they won’t be any help. Angry customers won’t coalesce into activism or action, most likely. And I’ll probably be writing another one of these posts in a couple of years when it all happens again.
But it shouldn’t be that way. There are common sense things that can be done to better inform the public. Rules for how the store should inform people with each and every purchase. Someone just needs to demand it be done.
Filed Under: eula, ownership, playstation, playstation store, video games
Companies: sony, studiocanal
It’s likely to become a direct power source for SpaceXAI’s data centers.
Elon Musk acquired APR Energy earlier this year, adding a new business to his portfolio: fossil fuels. APR produces mobile gas and diesel turbines that can be mounted on trailers. The move happened quietly in May, with no public announcement or declarations from Musk or APR itself. Electrek only picked up on the filing yesterday, and it estimates the purchase value at about $1 billion.
The most likely application for this purchase will be powering AI data centers. Producing all that NSFW content demands a whole lot of energy. APR’s mobile fleet is similar to the turbines Musk’s xAI was sued for using at a data center in Southaven, Mississippi on charges of violating the Clean Air Act. Since that suit was filed, the number of mobile turbines at the data center has increased significantly. The Department of Justice is attempting to have the suit dismissed so that the US military can keep using xAI’s Grok for its operations.
Investing in gas and diesel marks quite a reversal from the game Musk was talking a decade ago, when he called continued use of fossil fuels “the dumbest experiment in history, by far.” His business may further compound that experiment by building a natural gas pipeline in Texas.
Zoom is warning of a critical vulnerability in its desktop client and software development kit for Windows that could be exploited by an unauthenticated party to hijack accounts.
Discovered internally, the security issue is tracked as CVE-2026-53412 and received a severity score of 9.8 out of 10.
In an advisory this week, the messaging platform says that the flaw affects Zoom Workplace for Windows before version 7.0.0, the Windows VDI Client before versions 7.0.10, 6.6.15, and 6.5.18, and the Meeting SDK for Windows before version 7.0.0.
Zoom Workplace, formerly known as Zoom, is a desktop collaboration application for video meetings, group chat, VoIP phone calls, calendar, email, document collaboration, whiteboards, and AI-powered productivity features.
The Windows desktop client is widely deployed and used by millions of individuals and organizations worldwide.
The vendor did not provide any technical details about the flaw in the bulletin, and just described it as an improper input validation issue.
“Improper Input Validation in Zoom Desktop Client for Windows, Zoom VDI Client for Windows, and Zoom Meeting SDK for Windows may allow an unauthenticated user to conduct an account takeover via network access,” reads the security advisory.
To mitigate the risks stemming from CVE-2026-53412, the company recommends that users apply the latest updates.
Zoom’s newest security patches also address the following less severe flaws:
At the time of disclosure, there are no indications that any of the vulnerabilities that Zoom fixed are being exploited in attacks.
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.
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