Threat actors are targeting systems with high-performance computers in an ongoing cryptojacking campaign spread through a coordinated SEO poisoning operation that also manipulated AI chatbot recommendations.
The compromise occurs through malicious download pages for utility software typically installed by owners of powerful systems, like CrystalDiskInfo, HWMonitor, Display Driver Uninstaller, FurMark, K-Lite Codec Pack, and PDFgear.
Once a system is infected, the attacker gets persistent access on the machine by deploying the legitimate remote management ScreenConnect tool, which could later be used to install additional malware.
Microsoft researchers discovered the campaign and determined that the attack begins when users look for one of the aforementioned utilities and are presented with malicious links boosted in search rankings through SEO poisoning.
However, some reports in April indicated that users were directed to the malicious domains after interacting with AI-based assistants.
“In these cases, users querying AI chatbots for software download recommendations were presented with links to attacker‑controlled domains within generated responses,” Microsoft says.
The malicious download is a ZIP archive hosted on a subdomain at gleeze[.]com, a domain that has been flagged in the past for being associated with phishing websites.
According to Microsoft, the archive includes the legitimate executable for the legitimate utility as well as a malicious DLL that is automatically loaded when launching the benign binary.
The researchers found that the DLL uses msiexec.exe to install vcredist_x64.dll, which is a package installer for the ScreenConnect remote access tool.
After establishing a ScreenConnect session with the compromised client, the threat actor drops another binary named SimpleRunPE.exe that copies itself as RuntimeHost.exe into a folder hidden in Explorer.
The purpose of the executable is to establish “six persistence mechanisms across multiple Windows autostart locations.”
In some cases, the binary is dropped via a malicious PowerShell script and is saved locally as vlc.exe, in an attempt to impersonate the executable for the popular VideoLAN multimedia player.
Based on SimpleRunPE.exe’s Program Database (PDB) path, the researchers believe that it is a fork of a public repository for demonstrating the process hollowing technique.
The threat actor resorted to this technique for stealth and tried process hollowing into a legitimate .NET binary signed by Microsoft: InstallUtil.exe, RegAsm.exe, RegSvcs.exe, MSBuild.exe, AppLaunch.exe, AddInProcess.exe, aspnet_compiler.exe.
To the same purpose, the malicious binary also invokes PowerShell to add its path and process to the exclusion list in Microsoft Defender.
Additionally, the malware checks the environment for virtual machines and a set of 40 process names corresponding to analysis tools. If any are identified, the malware terminates its execution.
After completing the process hollowing stage and the malware runs inside a Microsoft-signed Windows utility, one of three mining modules is downloaded and executed.
The supported mining programs are gminer, lolMiner, and SRBMiner-MULTI, all of them designed to use graphics processing units (GPUs).
Microsoft says that this cryptocurrency campaign stands out for its “targeting and monetization strategy engineered from the ground up to maximize GPU mining yield per compromised device,” instead of focusing on volume.
Apart from the defenses provided by Microsoft’s tools, organizations can protect their environments using the indicators of compromise included in the report.
Automated pentesting tools deliver real value, but they were built to answer one question: can an attacker move through the network? They were not built to test whether your controls block threats, your detection rules fire, or your cloud configs hold.
This guide covers the 6 surfaces you actually need to validate.
Apple takes its sweet time in adopting a new trend or technology, but when it does, it comes up with one of the best implementations ever. That’s exactly what everyone is expecting from the company’s first foldable. Call it the iPhone Fold or the iPhone Ultra, the Cupertino giant has more riding on this launch than perhaps any product launched in the last few years, and it could break cover later this year.
The rumors have been building for months, but at this point, we have a clearer picture than ever, both of the engineering advancements Apple is pushing hard for, and the trade-offs it may have to accept along the way. We’re a couple of months away from the iPhone Fold’s launch, and here’s everything you need to know about it.
| Specification | Details | |
| Name | iPhone Fold or iPhone Ultra | Apple yet to confirm the official name |
| Release date | To be announced in September 2026 | Availability possibly October–December 2026 |
| Starting price | $1,999–$2,500 | 256GB / 512GB / 1TB storage options rumored |
| Form factor | Book-style fold (horizontal) | Similar to Samsung Galaxy Z Fold but with a wider aspect ratio when unfolded |
| Inner display | ~7.76–7.8 inches, OLED | 4:3 aspect ratio; near iPad mini-sized when unfolded |
| Outer display | ~5.3–5.5 inches, OLED | Usable as a standard iPhone when folded |
| Crease | Near-invisible | Apple reportedly pursued elimination “regardless of cost” |
| Chip | A20 or A20 Pro | Based on expected September 2026 launch timeline |
| Biometrics | Side-mounted Touch ID | Face ID likely dropped to save internal space |
| Cameras | Dual rear (main + ultrawide), no telephoto | One front camera on inner display; one on outer display |
| Battery | 5,000–5,500 mAh | Largest ever on an iPhone, per Weibo leakers |
| Frame material | Titanium and aluminum | Could use liquid metal hinge |
One of the most credible sources of information for upcoming Apple products, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, remains confident that the iPhone Ultra or iPhone Fold is on schedule for a September 2026 launch, at the company’s most important fall hardware event, which has also become one of the most important events in the consumer tech industry.
Apple has spent years watching from the sidelines, as Samsung, Google, and a couple of other Chinese companies reveal their foldables, and it wouldn’t risk revealing its first foldable through a separate event, one that might not have as much awareness or gather as much attention as its iconic fall event.
I believe the iPhone Ultra could be the last announcement, after the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max reveal.
On the flip side, analyst Tim Long has flagged the shipments for iPhone Fold might not begin until December 2026, implying that the announcement and arrival could be separated by almost three months, corroborating a report by Nikkei Asia about Apple hitting development snags with the foldable, related to engineering problems.
| Date | Rumored milestone | Status |
| Sep 2026 | Announcement alongside iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max | Most Likely |
| Oct–Nov 2026 | Limited availability after a staggered launch | Possible |
| Dec 2026 | Wider availability as mass production ramps up | Contested |
| 2027 | Full launch pushed due to hinge engineering failures | Disputed |
I think it makes sense, and for one good reason. Releasing the foldable iPhone about three months after the regular iPhone 18 Pro models ship would give customers and Apple stores a chance to catch their breath, and, at the same time, create more hype for the foldable. It would also allow people to make up their mind about spending a fortune on an iPhone that folds in half or settle for the Pro or Pro Max.
On pricing, there’s a rare agreement among the sources: the iPhone Fold won’t be cheap, not by a long shot. Ming-Chi Kuo places the starting price between $2,000 and $2,500, a range that Gurman seems to agree with. However, we’ve also heard rumors about the starting price being less than $2,000.
I believe that a $1,999 starting price could be the sweet spot that is high enough to reflect the technology but just below the psychologically daunting $2,000 ceiling.
Storage
Rumored price
Source
256GB
~$1,999–$2,320
Gurman / Kuo: “at least $2,000”
Instant Digital (Weibo): ~$2,320
512GB
~$2,500–$2,610
Kuo upper estimate: ~$2,500
Instant Digital (Weibo): ~$2,610
1TB
~$2,900
Instant Digital (Weibo) only
No corroboration from other sources
Apple’s first foldable iPhone is going to follow a book-style foldable, similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 or the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. However, unlike them, the iPhone won’t go after a tall-and-narrow design. Instead, it is believed to sport a wider form factor that looks like an iPad mini when unfolded.
The dummy models shared by Sonny Dickson on X in April 2026 make this immediately apparent. Both the cover screen and inner screen are noticeably broader than existing book-style foldables; Apple is clearly charting its own way.
According to Ming-Chi Kuo, the foldable iPhone could come with a 5.5-inch outer display and a 7.8-inch inner screen, both measured diagonally, both featuring an OLED panel. A MacRumors report goes further, citing specific resolutions: 2,088 x 1,422 on the 5.49-inch cover screen, and 2,713 x 1,920 on the 7.76-inch inner panel.
The inner screen could be closer to a 4:3 aspect ratio, as opposed to Fold 7’s 10:9, to better handle side-by-side app multitasking and video consumption without the black bars on the top and the bottom. While the inner screen could get Apple’s ProMotion display technology (up to 120Hz refresh rate), the cover screen could be limited to 60Hz, though that might not sit well with buyers who’re shelling out $2,000 for the smartphone.
There should be a punch-hole cutout on the cover screen. The inner screen will also have a front camera, though whether it will be a punch-hole or under-display remains unconfirmed. On the back, the phone might feature a camera visor, similar to the one we’ve seen on the Pixel phones, with a double-camera array toward the left and LED flash and microphone on the right side.
The power button is rumored to double as a side-mounted Touch ID sensor, alongside a Camera Control button, with volume keys repositioned to the top-right when held horizontally. On the thickness front, the device may measure around 4.5-4.8mm when unfolded and 9-9.5mm when folded, thinner than most non-foldable flagships.
The frame could use a combination of titanium and aluminum. The most important design challenge, for Apple, is the foldable’s crease. On the crease front, Apple reportedly pursued a dual-layer ultra-thin glass structure and a liquid metal hinge to minimize it.
Prototype testing in May revealed a hinge rattling issue, but a follow-up leak on May 19 from DCS claimed Apple had since locked in both the hinge and panel design (via Notebookcheck), with the solution mirroring the near-crease-free approach used on the Oppo Find N6.
Under the hood, the iPhone Fold or Ultra will most likely run on one of Apple’s A20 chips, built on TSMC’s 2nm fabrication process. With more transistors on the chip, the chips could be up to 15% faster and 30% more efficient than the A19 series (via WCCFTech). Whether the foldable gets the regular A20 or the A20 Pro chip remains a point of contention.
Given what the company might charge for the device, customers will likely hold out for the A20 Pro chip, it doesn’t matter if it’s a binned version to control the performance and thermals. What’s less debated, however, is the packaging. Apple could use TSMC’s Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module (WMCM) technology, which stacks RAM directly onto the chip’s wafer, alongside the CPU, GPU, and the Neural Engine.
The result could be faster RAM access, leading to better performance, less heat generation, and improved on-device Apple Intelligence performance. For those wondering, the iPhone Fold could ship with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM, the same amount as the iPhone 17 Pro and the purported iPhone 18 Pro. Storage could span across three tiers: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
On the connectivity front, we could get Apple’s second-generation C2 modem (same as the iPhone 18 Pro), the successor to the C1X modem on the iPhone 17e, which would also bring mmWave 5G support to the foldable. The device could also be eSIM-only, given the limited internal space.
As I mentioned earlier, the iPhone Fold or Ultra will most likely feature Touch ID instead of Face ID, a compromise that might sting in the beginning, but given that fingerprint authentication is already present on existing iPads, shouldn’t take long to get the hang of.
Out of the box, the iPhone Fold is expected to run iOS 27, and a special version of the operating system no less, which will be built around utilizing the additional screen real estate on the foldable.
It might sound like iOS 27 for the foldable iPhone is taking a lot of inspiration from iPadOS, after all it’s designed for a bigger-screen iPhone, but the Fold won’t run iPadOS entirely, nor will it support iPad apps out of the box. Apple might make it easier for developers to transition their apps from an iPad to the iPhone Fold, but that would be the extent of it.
Apple should give us a glimpse of iOS 27 at the WWDC 2026, which is also when the public beta of the next operating system should come out. The stable version should ship after Apple concludes the September 2026 event.
On paper, the iPhone Fold or Ultra’s camera systems don’t look as good as the iPhone 18 Pro, or the iPhone 17 Pro for that matter, and for a device that might cost twice as much, that isn’t a trade-off worth ignoring.
The iPhone Fold is expected to come with two 48MP sensors on the back, similar to the baseline iPhone 17, one with a wide lens and another with an ultrawide lens. What’s missing here, you might ask? It’s the telephoto lens found on the Pro models, and I think it’s likely due to space constraints in the foldable’s chassis that Apple might not include a dedicated zoom lens.
A November 2025 JP Morgan forecast (via MacRumors) also claimed that Apple might drop the LiDAR module and optical image stabilization on the foldable. While the first might be okay, the second could be a dealbreaker, especially for a smartphone that costs around or over $2,000. If I were to presume, the company will lean on computational photography and the A20’s NPU to compensate for the lack of hardware.
The same forecast also says about a 24MP under-display selfie camera on the inner screen. Whether it will retain the Center Stage functionality from the iPhone 17 series is something that isn’t clear yet, and so is the resolution for the punch-hole camera on the cover screen.
Talking about the battery, the iPhone Fold is rumored to ship with the largest battery on an iPhone, ever. According to Chinese tipster Fixed Focus Digital (via Weibo), the foldable could sport a 5,000 to 5,500 mAh battery, which, if true, could be bigger than the Fold 7’s 4,400 and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s 4,821 mAh battery.
The Razr Fold has a 6,000 mAh battery, but Cupertino’s foldable might beat it in terms of usage time, primarily due to better hardware-software optimization and its chip’s superior efficiency. Initial rumors hinted toward the presence of a silicon-carbon battery on the purported foldable, but none of the most credible sources have supported the notion.
Contrary to earlier rumors, the iPhone Fold’s recent pictures, via a leaked case listing (via PhoneArena), suggest that it might feature MagSafe charging after all. However, if that doesn’t happen, the iPhone Fold will be the first high-end iPhone to move out of the production line without MagSafe, since the iPhone 11 Pro, a genuinely baffling omission at $2,000.
The iPhone Fold is shaping up to be one of the most consequential product launches in Apple’s history, and one of the most expensive. While the company might actually achieve a crease-free display and create an ultra-durable foldable that passes the test of time, the compromises are hard to ignore, especially at an asking price north of $2,000. Apple needs to do what the company does best: stick with its core instincts and make the product work at all costs.
Who could have seen this coming?
To the surprise of nobody at all, people are continuing to abuse prediction markets to make a quick buck. Or according to accusations recently levied against a Google employee, a million quick bucks. Software engineer Michele Spagnuolo has been accused of using insider information from his employer to place bets on Polymarket about common Google search subjects. A federal criminal complaint has charged Spagnuolo with commodities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. He allegedly earned $1.2 million after betting that the top-searched person on Google for 2025 would be singer d4vd, then tried to hide the source of his sudden windfall.
A Google spokesperson shared the following statement with ABC News regarding the case: “We’re working with law enforcement on their investigation. The employee accessed our marketing material using a tool available to all employees, but using such confidential information to place bets is a serious breach of our policies. We’ve placed the employee on leave and will take the appropriate action.”
Insider trading has been making headlines with some regularity on prediction markets. Everyone from an employee of YouTuber MrBeast to political candidates to military personnel have tried to turn privileged information into money on these platforms. Some people have allegedly gotten up to even stranger hijinks to try and scam the bets. Polymarket adopted new rules in March specifically to cut down on insider trading, but only time will tell whether the policies are effective.
Workplace AI adoption has entered a phase of extraordinary acceleration across global office environments, as The total time spent using AI tools nearly tripled between 2023 and 2024, then repeated that explosive growth into 2025.
A new report from DeskTime analyzed anonymized data from more than 50,000 users over three years, revealing increasing competition with ChatGPT within workflows.
ChatGPT, which commanded an astonishing 99.91% of all tracked AI time back in 2023, has seen that monopoly shattered considerably, as according to DeskTime, which tracked power users who log at least 26 hours annually, ChatGPT’s share dropped to 74.71% during the first four months of 2026.
Though a good number of offices still have ChatGPT in their workflows, power users loyal to ChatGPT fell from 100% to 75.61% over the same period.
This erosion mirrors what earlier internet users saw as Firefox gradually lost ground to newer alternatives.
“With AI, it’s often difficult to separate hype from reality, so DeskTime decided to look into what’s really going on in today’s workplace,” said Artis Rozentals, the chief executive of DeskTime.
“The figures are compelling…AI is fundamentally redefining work, and the risk of falling behind is growing exponentially.”
Google’s Gemini has surged to become the primary challenger among workplace AI tools by capturing 14.38% of office AI time tracked so far in 2026.
Claude has mounted an even more dramatic ascent, now accounting for 8.56% of usage and showing the steepest upward curve this year.
Both rivals have converted casual experimenters into repeat users at a pace that ChatGPT cannot match.
However, Microsoft’s Copilot presents a puzzling contrast, as its share has stagnated at roughly 1% across multiple years.
Neither growth nor collapse appears to characterise this tool’s trajectory within office settings.
Meanwhile, a category of smaller alternatives, including Perplexity and Mistral, has failed to gain any meaningful foothold.
The market for workplace AI agents increasingly resembles a three-horse race rather than a one-player field, and workplace professionals are actively diversifying their toolkits rather than sticking with a single familiar interface.
These figures come from a single productivity tracking service and may not represent a widespread narrative of AI use.
The definition of “AI time” may vary across different job functions and industries in ways that distort competitive comparisons.
Nevertheless, the current trend appears consistent enough to warrant attention from any dominant software provider.
Whether ChatGPT can reverse this decline or will follow Firefox into niche status remains an open question for the remainder of 2026.
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People saw it on Facebook. And they saw it on Instagram. But many had to come see it up close and in person.
Social media scrollers turned into real-life gawkers on Wednesday as a steady stream of onlookers paused along the western shore of Seattle’s Lake Union to take in Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s superyacht.
No one knew why the $300 million, 387-foot Launchpad was in Seattle. Some wished it wasn’t. Others were pretty thrilled to get a glimpse of the gleaming blue and white vessel, backed into a giant slip along Westlake Avenue North.
“I’ve been selling boats here in Seattle on Lake Union for 35 years, and I believe this to be the biggest boat I think I’ve ever seen on the lake,” Tony Witek told GeekWire.
The biggest boat Witek has ever sold was about 90 feet long. He called Zuckerberg’s Dutch-built yacht a “personal cruise ship.” Asked how many boats he’d have to sell to afford one like Zuck’s, Witek laughed.
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“I think you’d only have to sell this one, and then you could easily go into retirement,” he said.
On a blue-sky May day at lunchtime, the bike and pedestrian trail along the lake was especially busy, and slowed to a pinch point as people stopped to stare, take selfies, FaceTime friends or just ask, “Whose boat is that?”
On the water, people got even closer in dinghies and kayaks — and were warned to stay back by a private security guard from land. A stand-up paddleboarder floated nearby to take pictures. The Argosy Cruises tour boat slowed during a pass by the yacht’s bow. Two electric rental boats did circles as passengers looked up at the towering Launchpad.
The vessel arrived in Seattle Tuesday night, drawing a similar crowd as it passed through the Ballard Locks. The timing was called less than ideal by some, as Meta cut nearly 1,400 jobs in Washington state earlier in the day.
“The timing of it seems a little distasteful,” said Tim Peterson of Renton. “Probably should have kept it out there in the Sound a little bit longer.”
Peterson said he can’t afford a boat of his own and said he’d be lucky to be able to get a dinghy. He’s not on Facebook, but he is on Meta-owned Instagram.
“I helped pay for it a little bit,” he laughed. “I guess my taxes helped pay for it as well,” he added, lamenting the yacht as a glaring example of excess while many people lack food, housing and healthcare.
“If people have that, then by all means, get you a big old boat,” Peterson said.
The yacht drew several employees from Meta’s nearby South Lake Union offices. Two engineers said it was interesting to get a sense of the scale of the ship, especially one owned by the head of their company.
“That’s what it’s like to work for a conglomerate,” one of the workers said. The two didn’t want to give their names for fear of being fired.
Steven Redpath, a former Boeing worker, said he used to come to Lake Union to see the aerospace company’s superyacht, Daedalus. The floating corporate entertainment venue was sold for approximately $13 million in 2020.
“Boeing has cleaned up their corporate image and got rid of the yacht,” said Redpath, who took a detour on his bike ride to get a glimpse of Launchpad.
“We bend over backwards for public transportation. We are always looking for solutions to the homeless crisis, and that doesn’t help with either one,” he said, pointing at the yacht. “I think capitalism is letting us down. This is not what our founding fathers were intending to do. This is run amok.”
Gurneet Takhar, an estate planning attorney in Seattle who spends her time analyzing the money moves of millionaires and billionaires, called the yacht “an interesting asset to own.”
A man piloting a dinghy nearby said he owned a boat on the lake and cruised over to get some size perspective, joking about how many of his boats would fit in the yacht. Another man made a comment about taxes while pointing out the yacht’s Marshall Islands flag, a common registry for large yachts.
And another onlooker, a real estate broker reflecting on the effect of tech layoffs on Seattle and the housing market, called the boat “ugly.”
Deckhands from the yacht could be seen unloading cardboard boxes from a U-Haul box truck parked on the dock. It was tough to tell what was in the boxes — supplies for the stay in Seattle, perhaps. Other workers, including one wiping down parts of the boat, could be seen on decks above.
There was no sign of Zuckerberg.
Ava Pappas stopped by after seeing a picture of the yacht in her aunt’s Instagram story.
Pappas leads a Seattle run club called Cool Down Running that runs from the Center for Wooden Boats in South Lake Union up to the Fremont Bridge and back on Wednesday nights.
She planned to make a stop with the group mid-run.
“It’s insane. Most people don’t understand the caliber of this megayacht,” Pappas said. “It’s definitely just a treat to be able to see it in person. It’s a beautiful boat, and I love just kind of looking at it in awe.”
Check out more GeekWire images:
The Steam Deck OLED 512GB variant has risen from $549 to $789, while the 1TB model has climbed from $649 to $949. The entry-level LCD Steam Deck, which had anchored the lineup at $399, has been discontinued entirely. Competitive pricing was one of the Steam Deck’s most unexpected strengths when…
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In the months leading up to the implementation of Australia’s social media ban in December 2025, there was much discussion about the possible negative consequences.
Among these were concerns that teenagers would consume less news. As most young adults use social media for news and many rely on it, this was a real risk.
So months on, has this come to pass? In our newly-published research, we found the more young people are impacted by the ban, the more likely they are to report they are getting less news and having less opportunity to discuss news and the issues that matter to them.
In February we surveyed 1,027 young people aged 10 to 17, just two months after the legislation took effect.
As part of a longitudinal survey that has examined young Australians’ news engagement since 2017, we asked young people questions about the ban’s impact on their social media use and their news engagement.
First, we investigated if the ban had affected young people’s social media use by asking them if their engagement with each banned platform had changed at all, and if so, whether the change was a complete stop or if they just used it less.
We found 61% of under-16s who had previously been using banned platforms reported little or no change in their social media use. For the majority of young people surveyed, the ban was ineffectual.
In fact, only one in four (26%) reported their social media use had been affected.
Next, we asked young people if the ban had affected their engagement with news.
For those whose social media use was significantly disrupted, the result was stark: 51% reported getting less news as a direct result of the ban.
This finding is a significant concern because it suggests that as the ban becomes more “successful”, with a greater number of young people being removed from platforms, their news engagement will fall in parallel.
A 2025 report from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, based on testing of year 6 and year 10 students, finds school students’ civics knowledge is the lowest it has been since testing began 20 years ago. This is despite most young people believing it’s important to take action in the community on issues that matter to them.
Our findings show that when young people are impacted by the social media ban they lose access to news about issues they care about. They are also talking less about news and finding fewer opportunities to share their views or take other forms of action.
Our previous research shows news engagement makes young people feel knowledgeable and more capable of responding to issues.
A large body of research also shows news interest and engagement is closely associated with civic engagement. The more engaged people are with news, the more likely they are to become involved in community and social issues.
It’s unlikely that being cut off from news on social media will lead young people back to traditional news sources.
Most young Australians say they don’t feel represented or heard by traditional news organisations. They also feel the news mainstream outlets create isn’t accessible to young people and doesn’t focus on the issues that matter most to them.
In our survey, 75% said news organisations have no idea what their lives are actually like, and 71% said they find it difficult to find news relevant to people their age.
Our earlier research also shows Australian news organisations rarely include young people in news stories. When they are included, they are seen but not heard.
For instance, young people are shown in news stories in photographs and video footage ten times more than their voices are heard or they are quoted in stories.
In addition, another study of news has shown that when young people are included in breaking news events, they are often stereotyped as being lazy, dangerous and entitled.
These findings demonstrate some of the reasons young people have likely turned to social media for news in recent years.
It’s likely that over time, more young people will be cut off from social media as loopholes in the ban are ironed out. This emphasises the need to find ways to encourage young people to engage with other news sources in productive and meaningful ways.
A key concern is trust. We need to educate young people about the importance of news to democratic process, providing them with insights into how high quality journalism is produced and supporting them to make informed decisions about who and what to trust online.
This can happen as part of media literacy education but this requires investments in high quality curriculum resources and teacher training.
In Australia, we are in the fortunate position that we already recognise the need for media literacy in the Australian curriculum. High quality news literacy resources are being produced by the ABC through programs such as BTN (Behind The News), and other organisations such as Squiz Kids.
At the same time, to develop trust, mainstream news organisations need to do a much better job of representing young people in fair and inclusive ways so they feel seen and heard.
Finally, it’s important to recognise that amid all of these changes to young people’s technology access, our research shows family is the first and most trusted source of news for young people. We need to help parents understand the important role they play in helping their kids navigate the news.
Michael Dezuanni is Professor, Digital Media Research Centre at Queensland University of Technology; Simon Chambers is a Postdoctoral research fellow at Western Sydney University, and Tanya Notley is Professor in Digital Media at Western Sydney University
Filed Under: australia, journalism, news, social media, social media ban, teens
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Dataware house gambles cloud conveniences, AI accelerated insights will justify the cost.
Cloud data warehouse Snowflake plans to spend $6 billion on Amazon’s custom Graviton CPUs and AI accelerators over the next five years.
The collab aims to reduce friction in connecting Snowflake customer data with a growing number of AI services built atop AWS’ cloud infrastructure.
“We are making it easier for enterprises to bring AI directly to governed data, so they can move faster, operate with greater density and create measurable impact at scale,” Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy said in a canned statement.
Snowflake is a long-time AWS customer, having built the company atop the cloud titan’s servers going back to 2011. Over the past few years, Snowflake has shifted an increasing amount of compute from Intel and AMD CPUs to Amazon’s own Arm-based Graviton instances.
Now in their fifth generation, Amazon’s latest Graviton processors cram 192 Arm Neoverse V3 cores which are fed by 12 channels of memory up to 8800 MT/s.
As we’ve previously reported, CPUs are back in the spotlight again after years of being overshadowed by GPUs and other AI accelerators.
The models themselves still run on GPUs, but the tools and functions those models call — a SQL query or Python script, for example — do not. Those workloads still rely on CPUs.
This has driven renewed demand for CPU cores as each agent’s performance is inherently limited by how quickly the processor can service the request.
Under the agreement, Snowflake will run and train its GenAI models and services using a combination of GPUs running in AWS and Graviton CPU cores. For example, Snowflake says that its Cortex AI platform can convert natural language to SQL queries, summarize data, and conduct sentiment analysis.
According to Amazon, Snowflake’s lifetime AWS marketplace sales crossed $7 billion and exceeded $2 billion during the 2025 calendar year. Clearly the data warehousing platform is betting these AI tools will continue to drive revenues enough to justify splashing $1.2 billion a year on additional infrastructure.
Gamble or not, Wall Street doesn’t seem to worried, with Snowflake rallying by more than 30 percent in after hours trading Wednesday.
Snowflake isn’t the only company diving deeper into Graviton’s orbit. Back in April, Meta revealed plans to deploy tens of millions of Amazon’s Graviton 5 CPU cores. The multi-year collaboration was expected to make the social network one of the biggest consumers of AWS’ homegrown silicon.
Much like Snowflake’s $6 billion investment in Amazon’s infrastructure, Meta’s cloud spend is largely aimed at securing cores for AI agents.
But unlike Snowflake, which for better or worse remains heavily reliant on AWS for compute, Meta’s tie up may only be a stopgap while it awaits Arm’s buzzword-packed AGI CPUs. ®
The Glassworm botnet targeting developers in software supply-chain attacks has been disrupted after researchers took down its resilient command-and-control infrastructure relying on Solana blockchain transactions and the BitTorrent DHT network.
In a coordinated operation conducted yesterday, CrowdStrike, Google, and The Shadowserver Foundation cut off the botnet operators’ access to four distinct command-and-control (C2) channels designed to resist conventional disruption efforts.
Glassworm campaigns have been ongoing since October 2025 and initially targeted developers with malicious OpenVSX and Microsoft VS Code extensions that stole cryptocurrency wallets and developer credentials.
Later attack waves extended to GitHub repositories and npm packages, with one campaign in March impacting more than 400 software artifacts.
In a more recent attack, Glassworm operators planted dozens of dormant extensions on OpenVSX that would activate the malicious component after an update.
One reason the Glassworm threat has survived this long is its C2 infrastructure, which relies on non-traditional communication channels that are difficult to take down.
“The combination of blockchain, peer-to-peer, and legitimate web services as resolution layers was designed to be resilient against takedowns — a dynamic front protecting the actual C2 servers behind multiple layers of indirection,” CrowdStrike notes.
The researchers say that “Glassworm’s operators built their infrastructure for resilience,” and taking down the botnet required hitting the four C2 channels simultaneously:
Because of this architecture, disrupting a single channel would have little impact on the Glassworm operation, as communications could shift to another channel, allowing the threat actor to maintain control.
“All four channels had to be disrupted simultaneously in a coordinated effort. As a result, infected machines can no longer receive new instructions or payloads,” CrowdStrike says.
Following the disruption, all machines compromised in a Glassworm attack are beaconing to the IP address 164.92.88[.]210 operated by CrowdStrike.
Organizations are advised to look for this network indicator and take immediate remediation action. Additionally, the researchers have published YARA rules to confirm infections on suspected hosts.
Automated pentesting tools deliver real value, but they were built to answer one question: can an attacker move through the network? They were not built to test whether your controls block threats, your detection rules fire, or your cloud configs hold.
This guide covers the 6 surfaces you actually need to validate.
Sony launched “MLB The Show Mobile” for iPhone and Android with free-to-play monetization and high hardware requirements as it pushes deeper into the mobile sports market.
Sony says it built “MLB The Show Mobile” from the ground up for smartphones instead of adapting the console version of “MLB The Show” directly. The company centered the release around collectible player cards, progression systems, and competitive multiplayer modes.
Promotional material tells players to “Build your team. Set your strategy. Stack rewards.” Sony is also using pre-registration bonuses to pull existing “MLB The Show” players into the new mobile ecosystem.
Sony released “MLB The Show Mobile” as a free download, but the App Store listing heavily promotes paid card packs, season passes, booster bundles, and virtual currency.
In-app purchases range from $2.99 player cards to a $99.99 “1st Inning 20 Booster Pack Bundle.” The pricing structure mirrors free-to-play sports games built around recurring purchases and collectible progression systems.
Sony’s launch material prominently promotes pack-opening mechanics and collectible progression. One section of the company’s press release tells players to “Open packs and hunt for the cards that transform your lineup” as part of a mode called “Chase the Ultimate Pull.”
“MLB The Show Mobile” includes more than 900 player cards alongside solo progression modes and head-to-head best-of-three PvP matchups. Sony also says the game features officially licensed MLB teams, athletes, and all 30 MLB stadiums.
In-app purchases range from $2.99 player cards to a $99.99 “1st Inning 20 Booster Pack Bundle.”“MLB The Show Mobile” carries higher hardware requirements than many mobile sports games, particularly on iPhone. Apple’s App Store listing says the game requires iOS 26 and an iPhone with an A12 Bionic chip or later, including devices as old as the iPhone XS and iPhone XR.
The App Store listing also shows “MLB The Show Mobile” can require up to 4.66 GB of storage depending on downloaded assets and updates.
“MLB The Show” already operates as a live-service title on consoles through modes like “Diamond Dynasty.” The mobile version keeps that same progression loop through rewards, roster collection, and recurring purchases.
A modest upgrade on the previous model, Homey Pro Early 2023, the Homey Pro 2026 doubles the RAM, increasing the number of apps you can run. For large homes with a lot of devices, the new hub is worth buying if you’re either new to the system or your old Pro hub is approaching its limits. Those with smaller homes and lower requirements will find the Homey Pro mini a better choice.
Exceptionally powerful automation
Wide device support
Reacts quickly
Ethernet is not integrated
Can’t join existing Thread networks
Review Price:
£399
Multi-device support
Works with Z-Wave, Zigbee, Thread, Matter and more
Optional Ethernet
Requires the special Ethernet adaptor
One of the most powerful home automation systems, Homey has expanded its reach to hit smaller homes with the Homey Pro Mini, and revamped its high-end offering with the Homey Pro 2026 hub that I have been using for the past few weeks.
Effectively, the same product as the Homey Pro 2023 but with more memory, the new hub is ideal for those with more devices or the need to run more Flows. Should you upgrade or start with this hub if you’re new to the system? Read my full review to find out.
Externally, the Homey Pro 2026 is identical to the Homey Pro Early 2023, which feels like a missed opportunity. Although the round hub looks great (well, as nice as a smart home bridge can get), it still doesn’t have integrated Ethernet and only has dual-band Wi-Fi 5 built in.
Ethernet is built into the cheaper Homey Pro mini (though it doesn’t have Wi-Fi), but you’ll need a separate adaptor for a wired connection. I think Ethernet makes much more sense for a device like this, as it’s more reliable, which is what you need if you’re going to trust your home automation to a single device.
In that regard, the Ethernet adaptor is an essential purchase. If you do get one, just remember to follow the instructions and plug it in the right way: the Ethernet adaptor plugs into the power adaptor via its integrated USB-C cable, then you use the Homey Pro’s USB-C cable to connect the hub.
It’s worth connecting the Homey Pro 2026 to Wi-Fi anyway. The Ethernet connection is preferred, but should it drop out, Wi-Fi will take over.
Protocol support for the Pro 2026 is the same as for the Pro Early 2023, with Z-Wave, Zigbee, Thread, Matter, 433MHz and Infrared all supported. In other words, you can connect anything to this hub.
In comparison, the Homey Pro mini doesn’t have Z-Wave, Infrared or 433MHz support, although you can add these with the addition of a Homey Bridge.
The main difference between the Homey Pro 2026 and the 2023 version is memory: the new version has 4GB, compared to the 2GB on the older hub. Both have the same 1.5GHz quad-core processor.
More memory means that you can run more apps: more than 100 here, vs 60 on the old one. If you’re approaching that limit on the old Pro, then it’s worth upgrading to the new one. Those new to Homey with large smart home installations should buy the Homey Pro 2026; those with smaller installations with more basic needs will find the Homey Pro mini better.
Adding the Homey Pro 2026 is easy via the Homey app. If you’ve got an old Hub, you can run a backup (I think it’s worth paying the small fee for cloud backups), and then restore to the new hub, and all devices will reconnect.
It can take a while, and it took around 10 minutes before all of my devices had reconnected.
If you’re starting from scratch, then the wizard takes you through creating the floors and rooms that make up your home, and then you can start to add devices and build automations.
The only real restriction with the Homey Pro is that it can’t join an existing Thread network, due to the shared radio for Zigbee and Thread. Looking at my home, I ended up with two Thread networks: one that contained my Apple, Aqara, Tado and SmartThings devices, and one for the Homey Pro.
Depending on the layout of your home and the number of devices you have, this may be an issue. To extend a Thread network, you need plug-in Thread devices, but these aren’t as popular as you might think, and I’ve largely got battery-powered devices such as my Ultion Nuki 2025 smart lock.
As a result, I struggled to place the Homey Pro 2026 in a location that worked for everything. If I put the hub in the main house, it doesn’t reach the smart lock on my office; if I place it in my garden office, then I don’t get coverage in my house.
While a Homey Bridge can be added to expand Infrared and Z-Wave coverage, this device doesn’t have Thread built in. I think it’s time that Homey launched a Bridge with Thread.
There are options. First, you can connect devices to an alternative system first. I run Apple Home and have a HomePod mini, so it’s easy to connect devices here, and then share them with Homey. Plus, this route gives me a backup control system.
The other option is to use two Homey Pro bridges. You can’t put them directly in the same account, but there is the HomeyLink app to bridge them, giving you all of your devices in one interface without having to switch between hubs.
Device support is excellent, and now all of my devices work whether via official apps or via community-written ones. For example, in my garden office, I have a SmartWings blind and Ultion Nuki smart lock, connected via Matter over Thread, a Yale Linus smart lock connected via the Yale cloud app, and a Ring Alarm connected via a community app.
This level of support has meant that I can move away from Apple Home for my automations and no longer need a HomeBridge server running on a Raspberry Pi.
A couple of years ago, the support was relatively poor and I couldn’t connect many of my smart home devices; today I can connect everything.
Individual device control is easy. I can add my most-used devices to the Favourites section, but otherwise each device gets its own tile in the app, organised by floor, then room.
My only wish is that Homey would create an iOS widget for quick access to my favourite devices. Currently, the only widget option is for Flows (Homey’s name for routines).
Flows are simple to build and can be simple in operation or much more complicated. For example, when I unlock my office Ultion lock, my Ring Alarm turns off, the Yale Linus unlocks and the SmartWings blind opens; the opposite happens when I lock the door.
That kind of automation can be done with many smart home systems, but Flows are even more powerful with an And option giving more control over when a Flow triggers.
For example, I can have a Flow that says turn on the garden lights if the Ultion Nuki lock locks and it’s after sunset. In other words, the garden lights only come on to show the way back to the house when I’m done with work, only if it’s after dark.
While the basic Flow editor makes most things possible, there’s an Advanced Flow editor available via the web app that offers even more powerful features: multiple triggers, options to wait for multiple devices to finish simultaneously, and more. It’s both brilliantly simple or extremely complicated, depending on what you need.
Homey also offers more control. When I had underfloor heating installed, the plumber didn’t put a two-port zone valve in, so when any radiator turns on, the kitchen floor starts to get warm. My solution is to use an Aqara Valve Controller T1 to isolate the underfloor heating, turning on when the Tado X thermostat turns on, and shutting the valve when the Tado X system turns off.
I can do this automation in Apple Home, which gives me the on/off trigger only; in Homey, I get the same trigger, plus triggers for when the temperature is above or below a target, or when humidity is above or below a target.
Where other systems may give more basic options, Homey exposes everything, making it potentially a lot more powerful.
With the power of the Homey Pro 2026, Flows activate very quickly. As soon as I unlock my office, for example, the alarm turns off and the blinds start opening straight away.
If you’ve got a lot of devices and complex routines, Homey is the best smart home system and this is the best hub.
If you have fewer devices and basic automation needs, stick with your current hub or buy the Homey Pro mini instead.
Doubling the RAM of the previous hub, the Homey Pro 2026 can run more than 100 apps, making it ideal for homes with lots of devices.
Device support is excellent, with support for Z-Wave, Zigbee, Thread, Matter and more, either direct or via the cloud. Powerful automation and exceptional flexibility make this hub and Homey the best smart home system for power users.
I’d have liked integrated Ethernet and a simple option to extend Thread reach, but that aside, this is the top smart home hub, although those with lower requirements will be fine sticking with the older Homey Pro or with the simpler, cheaper Homey Pro mini.
We test every smart home product we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Yes, you can run a backup and then restore it on the Homey Pro 2026.
| Homey Pro 2026 Review | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | – |
| Size (Dimensions) | 127 x 127 x 29.5 MM |
| Release Date | 2026 |
| First Reviewed Date | 27/05/2026 |
| Model Number | Homey Pro 2026 |
| Accessories | Optional Ethernet adaptor |
| Networking | Zigbee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, IR and Matter |
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