Mastodon’s flagship server was hit by a distributed denial-of-service attack on Monday, the social networking software maker said, which rendered the instance unusable at times.

Much of the site was inaccessible, throwing error messages or displaying a full-screen outage warning.

The makers of the decentralized social networking software, which runs its official mastodon.social instance, said in a status update at around 7 a.m. ET on Monday that it was investigating the cyberattack.

By 9:05 a.m. ET, Mastodon said it implemented a “countermeasure against the DDoS attack, and the site is accessible.” However, the company warned that some instability may continue to be seen as the attack is ongoing.

The cyberattack targeting Mastodon comes days after Bluesky, another decentralized social network, resolved much of its days-long outages following a lengthy DDoS attack. As of Bluesky’s update on April 17, the DDoS attack continues, but its service has been stable since April 16 at 9 PM PDT. Today’s update confirmed the ongoing stability.

Representatives for Mastodon did not immediately comment on the cause of the cyberattack when contacted by TechCrunch.

Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks rely on sending massive amounts of junk web traffic towards an app or website’s servers, with the aim of knocking them offline. These cyberattacks don’t involve data theft, but DDoS attacks can be disruptive to users.

DDoS attacks have become exponentially more powerful over the years. Last year, network security company Cloudflare said it mitigated what it says is the largest DDoS attack to date, measuring a peak of 29.7 terabits per second, the equivalent of filling up thousands of hard drives with data every minute.

When aimed at decentralized social networking services, the attacks can cause instability and outages, but not everyone is taken offline. In Bluesky’s case, for instance, those who had moved their account to other providers, like Blacksky, which run on the same protocol and interoperate with Bluesky, were not impacted.

Similarly, the attack on Mastodon has so far targeted only the larger server (mastodon.social) and not the many smaller instances that make up the full Mastodon social network.

It’s happening. Ubisoft has scheduled a livestream for April 23 at 12PM ET to discuss the long-awaited Assassin’s Creed Black Flag remake. The showcase will be available to watch on the company’s and pages.

It’s officially called Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced and has . Ubisoft ended speculation by .

We don’t know anything about how the game will play or look, as Ubisoft has only dropped some promotional art featuring protagonist Edward Kenway lounging on a boat. The livestream should feature a trailer that will answer many burning questions.

For instance, rumors have been swirling that this is a and not a simple port. That makes sense given the . It’s also been rumored that this new version will , with a total focus on pirate-themed action.

We don’t have that long to find out. Maybe the livestream will also give us some information about that upcoming mainline franchise entry, which is currently being developed . Ubisoft has promised it will be a “unique, darker, narrative-driven Assassin’s Creed experience.”

The deal is an internal Blackstone consolidation, both AirTrunk (acquired for A$24 billion in 2024) and Lumina CloudInfra (launched by Blackstone in 2022) sit within the same portfolio.

By folding Lumina into AirTrunk, Blackstone gives its Asia-Pacific data centre platform a foothold in India’s hyperscale market without a third-party acquisition. Terms were not disclosed.

AirTrunk, the Asia-Pacific data centre operator owned by Blackstone, is acquiring Lumina CloudInfra, an India-focused data centre developer, marking AirTrunk’s entry into one of the world’s fastest-growing digital infrastructure markets.

The acquisition gives AirTrunk access to Lumina’s development pipeline, customer contracts and relationships, and operational capabilities, including approximately 600 megawatts of planned capacity across India’s major cities, representing up to $5 billion of development potential. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal has an unusual structure: both companies are Blackstone entities. Lumina CloudInfra was launched by Blackstone in 2022 as a standalone India-focused hyperscale data centre platform, seeded with significant capital and led by local industry veterans.

AirTrunk, Asia-Pacific’s largest independent data centre operator, was acquired by Blackstone in December 2024 for A$24 billion, Blackstone’s largest ever transaction in the region.

Rather than bring in a third-party acquirer, Blackstone is consolidating its two data centre platforms under a single operating entity, giving AirTrunk a ready-built India entry point with existing land positions, customer relationships, and a management team with deep local market experience.

Post-acquisition, AirTrunk will operate across six markets: Australia, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and India, with a combined portfolio of more than 3 gigawatts of operating and planned capacity across 20 campuses.

Lumina’s planned 600MW pipeline is spread across India’s Tier-1 cities, beginning with Mumbai and Chennai and extending to Pune, Delhi/NCR, and Hyderabad.

Lumina’s co-founder and CEO Sujeet Deshpande, a former head of Colt Data Center Services’ India operations who previously led Reliance Jio Infocomm’s integrated data centres, framed the deal as combining “local strength with global platforms.”

AirTrunk’s founder and CEO Robin Khuda described India as “one of the largest and fastest growing markets for hyperscale and AI infrastructure worldwide” and said the acquisition positions the company to “deliver the scale, speed, and performance our customers need as they expand across the APAC region.”

Peng Wei Tan, Senior Managing Director of Real Estate at Blackstone, framed it as reinforcing “one of Blackstone’s highest conviction themes, digital infrastructure,” and noted that as the world’s largest data centre investor, Blackstone is positioned to meet rising demand across Asia-Pacific’s fastest-growing economies.

India’s data centre market has attracted significant international capital in recent years as hyperscale cloud providers, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and others, accelerate their buildout in the country.

Blackstone had previously committed to investing approximately $11 billion in Indian data centres, with Lumina as the primary vehicle.

Integrating Lumina into AirTrunk’s global operating platform gives those India investments access to AirTrunk’s hyperscale customer network, global design and construction standards, and Blackstone’s full capital resources, a consolidation of capabilities rather than a simple financial transaction.

Recorded from the show floor at AXPONA 2026, this episode brings together Cornelius and Jamie O’Callaghan of the IAG Hi-Fi Division for a deep dive into the legacy and future of QUAD’s electrostatic loudspeakers, including the ESL 2912X. We break down what makes electrostatic panel speakers fundamentally different from traditional designs, why QUAD has remained committed to the technology for decades, and how the latest generation improves on transparency, dispersion, and real world usability. The conversation also explores how these iconic speakers fit into a modern hi-fi landscape increasingly dominated by compact and wireless solutions, and why QUAD continues to attract listeners who care more about realism than convenience.

This episode was recorded on April 10, 2026 (the first day of AXPONA 2026).

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Robert Walters research suggests that many Irish organisations are lacking a clear leadership succession plan.

Leadership often defines an organisation and Robert Walters has published data indicating that a number of companies are not as prepared for upcoming changes as they should be. 

The report found that, of those who contributed their data, just 16pc of organisations have a leadership succession plan in place. More than 40pc of Irish companies have no plan in place whatsoever and 7pc are unsure whether one currently exists or not. At the same time, 72pc of Irish leaders said they have a shortage of senior talent, with half describing the shortage as significant.

“There is a clear gap between how concerned organisations are about senior talent shortages and how prepared they are for leadership change,” said Suzanne Feeney, the country manager at Robert Walters Ireland.

She added: “In many organisations, succession planning has historically been handled informally. But they are now operating in a far more complex environment than they were even a few years ago. 

“Advances in artificial intelligence, geopolitical uncertainty and economic pressures are all contributing to more frequent leadership transitions. With only one in five businesses having an established succession plan, many are leaving themselves exposed to significant operational risk.”

Pipeline pressures

Securing and retaining skilled professionals is a key issue for employers in 2026. The recent Data Salaries & Job Sentiment Analysis 2026 report, published by Analytics Institute and SAS, highlighted the growing challenges being experienced by organisations looking to expand their data capabilities. 

The report found that 64pc of organisations have future plans to increase the size of their data teams, whereas 70pc of professionals explained that they are unlikely to change employers this year. 

Commenting on the Robert Walters report, Adam Gordon, the global head of talent development at Robert Walters, said: “Leadership continuity can be a challenge for organisations of every size, from SMEs to the world’s most recognised brands.

“Senior talent is one of the hardest resources to replace and finding the right long-term successor can take time. Interim leaders can play a valuable role here by maintaining stability and ensuring critical decisions continue to move forward while organisations assess their long-term options.”

Robert Walters’ research also points to challenges in the development of future leaders, with the report suggesting that nearly two-fifths (38pc) of participants are struggling to identify and develop strong successors within their business. 

Feeney said: “Many organisations have talented people internally, but identifying future leaders early and giving them the right development opportunities takes deliberate effort.

“At its core, succession planning is about future-proofing the organisation, building a strong leadership pipeline comprising internal progression and external hiring to ensure organisations have the resilience they need for the long term.”

Undoubtedly, the working landscape for modern-day employees is evolving quickly in 2026. An earlier report from Robert Walters, at the start of the year, found that changes in remote and in-person arrangements could compel skilled employees to increase their engagement in the workplace. 

More than half (59pc) of contributing Irish employees said that they want their place of employment to adopt a microshifting schedule, with Feeney noting that microshifting has the potential to increase engagement, accountability and even time spent in the office.

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Over the weekend, hackers stole more than $290 million in cryptocurrency from Kelp DAO, a protocol that allows users to earn yields on idle crypto investments. 

By Monday, LayerZero, one of the projects affected by the hack, accused North Korea of carrying out the heist. The hack is now the largest crypto theft of the year so far, following an earlier hack at crypto exchange Drift in April netted hackers around $285 million.

Per its post on X, LayerZero said the hackers exploited Kelp DAO via its LayerZero bridge, which allows different blockchains to send instructions to each other. The hackers then took advantage of Kelp’s own security configuration, which did not require multiple verifications before approving transactions. That allowed the hackers to siphon off the funds with fraudulent transactions.

The company cited “preliminary indicators” that point to North Korea as the culprit, in particular its hacking group that targets crypto known as TraderTraitor. 

Kelp DAO responded to LayerZero blaming it for the theft instead. 

In the last few years, North Korean hackers working for Kim Jong Un’s regime have become highly successful at stealing crypto. Last year, North Korean hackers stole more than $2 billion in crypto. Overall, since 2017, the total amount of stolen crypto by North Korea is said to be around $6 billion.