Susie Wiles Is the Latest Powerful Woman to Exit the Trump Administration
A wave of high-ranking women have left the Trump administration in the past year. Many were replaced by men.
Chainalysis Says Breach Exposed Credentials For All Customers
Chainalysis says attackers exposed usernames, password hashes and live tokens for all of its customers. "While the company locked Chainalysis accounts as a precaution after discovering that some customers' passwords had been exposed and asked users to reset their passwords before signing in again, it has now taken the login portal offline, together with Reactor and Data Solutions, the Know-Your-Transaction (KYT) user interface and API, and address screening products, after discovering further abnormal activity," reports BleepingComputer.
The company says it has no evidence that investigative data or blockchain attribution records were accessed or altered, but all users will be required to reset passwords and rotate API keys before regaining access. BleepingComputer reports: Chainalysis provides blockchain analysis tools to trace cryptocurrency transactions and investigate crimes such as fraud, ransomware, and money laundering. Its customer list includes law enforcement, government agencies, financial institutions, insurance companies, and cryptocurrency businesses worldwide. This follows the company's disclosure last Friday that attackers using AI tools accessed customers' names, email addresses, user IDs, and organizational role labels using what it described as "offensive agentic techniques."
While it initially said the impact was limited and the breach affected only non-sensitive identity metadata, later updates revealed that usernames and password hashes for all customers were exposed in an "on-path attack" (more commonly known as a Man-in-the-Middle or MITM attack). However, the company found no evidence that the attackers accessed investigative graph data or altered its blockchain attribution repositories. [...] To ensure threat actors don't access affected accounts, Chainalysis asked customers to provide trusted IP addresses so they can regain access to the login portal once it is brought back online and reset their credentials.
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Activists Breach Microsoft Data Center Construction Site As Protests Spread In Europe
More than 100 activists breached a Microsoft AI data center construction site in Amsterdam as part of coordinated protests against the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure. "These data centres are destroying our world. It's becoming uninhabitable because of all the resources they consume. That's why we're here today," protester Sam van der Beek said. Reuters reports: Activist groups have announced actions in 16 countries on Friday and Saturday, according to the "Stop Dirty Data Centers" coalition, which is rallying environmental groups and digital rights campaigns behind calls to pause large-scale construction. In Amsterdam on Friday, more than 100 activists gathered at the construction site of a Microsoft AI data centre, marching arm in arm before breaking into the site, climbing cranes, hanging balloons and dancing while police stood by. Some carried placards with messages reading: "Screw your datacenter."
Site owner Pure Data Centers, which plans to invest more than $1 billion and is backed by Brookfield-owned Oaktree, said it was committed to engagement with local stakeholders. "We respectfully ask those on site to leave safely and engage with us in dialogue about the development and any concerns they may have," it said. Other planned actions include a march in Dublin, a protest outside the parliament building in Warsaw, and a demonstration against a different Microsoft data centre in Denmark. [...] Stop Dirty Data Centers says it is not anti-progress or calling for existing data centers to be closed but that major construction should be halted until governments establish clearer rules.
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Southern Democrats Now Have a Chance to Lead. What Will They Do With It?
Sweeping midterm successes in Georgia and North Carolina have given the party an opportunity, and a test, to lay out a vision for governing in the South.
Hegseth Faces Impeachment Effort and Bipartisan Scrutiny After Midterm Elections
A looming impeachment push could put President Trump’s polarizing defense secretary in a standoff with Democrats and Republicans.
How Elon Musk Frittered Away Nearly $500 Million on the Midterm Elections
Behind the scenes, the world’s richest person spent a record amount over two years to bend the country’s politics to his will. He couldn’t.
Developer Pulls Roku's Popular Fish Tank Screensaver Following Fox Sale
Roku is removing its popular Aquatic Life fish tank screensaver on December 1 and automatically switching affected users to Roku City. According to Cord Cutters News, the creator pulled the license after Roku's sale to FOX was announced. Ars Technica reports: The screensaver has been an option for Roku OS users for 10 years. Roku has been licensing the animation, which is called the Marine Aquarium, from artist Jim Sachs through Prolific Publishing. Sachs is the creator and copyright holder of the Marine Aquarium. He developed the screensaver through his company SereneScreen. He tells Ars Technica that the licensing agreement with Roku is up for renewal every October and can be canceled by either party for any reason. A day after learning that Fox was planning to buy Roku, a deal that closed today, Sachs told Prolific that he wouldn't be renewing Roku's license. "I can't be part of the Fox world," he tells Ars, pointing to Fox News' controversial style of news and entertainment.
Roku will automatically switch the Aquatic Life screensaver on affected devices to the Roku City screensaver, another popular animation that includes subtle advertisements, according to the user notice. The Aquatic Life screensaver provided an ad-free, relaxing display for years for some Roku users. Numerous people online have lamented the impending loss of the screensaver for Roku OS. [...] The decision to not renew the licensing contract has "major financial consequences," Sachs said. "Our needs are very small, with a high property tax bill being the only significant expense," he said. "We'll be okay but can't start any of the projects I had planned."
According to Sachs, the licensing "agreement was $80,000 per year for exclusive rights to all set-top devices, or $60,000 per year for non-exclusive. They have always opted for exclusive." Ars asked Roku to confirm the details of the licensing agreement but didn't hear back ahead of publication. The licensing deal with Roku was Sachs' primary form of income, he told Ars, noting low sales of the version of the screensaver for computers. Marine Aquarium fans can still buy the screensaver for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, but it seems unlikely that it will return to the Roku platform.
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OpenAI's New Cyber Model Found Ways to Attack Nearly 1,000 Linux Flaws
OpenAI says its new GPT-6 Cyber model helped an automated system identify 1,724 security flaws in the Linux kernel and exploit 948 of them to gain administrator-level access during testing, including at least 10 previously unknown techniques. Axios reports: During testing, the system identified 1,724 security flaws and found ways to use 948 of them to gain administrator-level access to Linux systems for about $1.2 million in API credits. At least 10 of the techniques the model used were previously unknown, according to OpenAI. Human researchers reviewed the Linux findings before reporting vulnerabilities and proposed fixes to maintainers. The model also uncovered 81 previously unknown, high-severity flaws in Mozilla's Firefox browser.
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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Summoned By Congress Over Chinese Espionage Concerns
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Top Republican lawmakers have asked Jensen Huang to appear before Congress to answer questions after it was reported that US intelligence officials believe Nvidia's chief executive has been targeted by a Chinese spying operation. The chairs of the House committees on China, foreign affairs, and intelligence wrote to Huang this week asking him to appear before a joint closed-door briefing for their committees on November 18. "Recent reports raise significant national security concerns regarding the People's Republic of China's access to sensitive US technology and information," representatives John Moolenaar, Brian Mast, and Rick Crawford wrote. "The issue of PRC infiltration and access to cutting-edge US technology is core to the investigative work of our three committees this Congress. It is vital that Congress determines the extent to which US national security has been placed at risk," the lawmakers added.
The New York Times last week wrote that US intelligence officials believed Huang had been the target of a Chinese spy operation. The concerns center on a Chinese woman named Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based cloud company that has bought billions of dollars of Nvidia's chips. Nvidia has rejected the claims and on Thursday would not say if Huang would appear before Congress. "Meetings with customers are part of a CEO's job. Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year," the company said. "Our regional cloud customers receive ordinary business information -- not sensitive Nvidia trade secrets -- and zero information relevant to national security," it added.
The lawmakers said they wanted Huang to discuss the security protocols Nvidia had in place to protect against "foreign adversary espionage." The company said its chief executive had an "outstanding security team" that travels with him. The New York Times said Huang had not received a "defensive briefing," which the intelligence community usually, but not always, provides potential espionage targets to warn them about the activity. Nvidia said it was confident that the US government would have let the company know if it thought a person was a threat to US industry and that it often receives updates from Washington about people of concern.
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They Spent Millions to Keep Their Dream Cruise Afloat. It Died Anyway.
Secrecy, debt and soaring fuel costs all contributed to the Odyssey’s downfall. Here’s an inside look at how the “endless cruise” unraveled.
Republicans’ Losses in New York’s Midterms Were Bad. Then Came Their Post-Election Freakout.
The party’s losses in New York mirrored those across the nation, but leading Republicans in the state quickly blamed each other for the results.
U.S. Attorney Who Oversaw Centerpiece of Trump’s Revenge Campaign Resigns
Jason Reding Quiñones joins what is expected to be a succession of departures at the Justice Department after the midterm elections, including that of the leader of the national security division.
Tesla to Wind Down Cybertruck Production
Elon Musk says Tesla will be "winding down" Cybertruck production at its Texas Gigafactory around mid-2027 to free up capacity for increased production of its Cybercab robotaxi. CNBC reports: The Cybertruck is exclusively produced at the company's plant in Texas alongside the Tesla Model Y and two-seat Cybercab, which Musk has touted as a crucial product for the automaker moving forward. Musk did not say whether the company would produce the Cybertruck at a different facility, but he later responded to a user on X who called the update an "end of an era" and said the Cybertruck was the "best vehicle Tesla has ever made." "True, but the Cybertruck fleet will be around for a long time," Musk said.
The Cybertruck and its polarizing design gained a niche following, but it did not achieve mass-market sales, despite Musk's pre-launch prediction that annual sales would eventually total 250,000. "Trucks have been the same for a very long time," Musk said when the truck was unveiled in 2019. "Like 100 years. Trucks have been basically the same. We want to try something different." While Tesla does not break out its sales by model or region, Cox Automotive estimated sales of the Cybertruck last year at 20,237 units in the U.S., down 48% from 38,965 in 2024. Thank you Slashdot reader Dan Posluns for sharing the news.
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After These Midterms, JD Vance Is in a Bind
He will need to sell voters on a tarnished Trump brand.
Britain to Make Salary Disclosure In Job Ads Mandatory
Britain plans to require employers to disclose salaries in job advertisements. "Whether you're a young person starting out or a parent trying to support your family, you should know what a job pays before spending your time and effort applying for it," Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in a statement. Reuters reports: The government said requiring companies to disclose pay in job ads would help young people applying for their first jobs, while boosting pay transparency and helping tackle disparities that can disadvantage women. Just over two in five employers always publish salary ranges, while fewer than one in five always disclose specific salaries, Burnham's office said, citing estimates from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
The government will soon introduce legislation to parliament making salary disclosures mandatory, Burnham's office said, although it did not provide a timeline. Nearly one million, or 13%, of 16 to 24 year-olds in Britain are not in employment, education or training, one of the highest shares in Europe. A government review into youth inactivity is due to be published later in November.
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Sony Revives the Original Walkman Headphones, Adds USB-C
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Sony has brought back the MDR-3-series headphones that debuted in 1979 alongside the Walkman TPS-L2 cassette player. [...] The new MDR-3R (originally called the "MDR-3L2") headphones look just like the originals and come with orange and blue ear cushions. New headphones are often wireless these days, but the MDR-3R continues the wired tradition of the MDR-3, with an essential twist: a USB-C connector. For better or worse, the new headphones also use "the same 23 mm driver units as the MDR-3 to reproduce sound quality close to the original," per Sony. Audiophiles will prefer something more advanced, perhaps with additional acoustic features. In addition to the USB-C connector, the MDR-3R also adds an in-line remote control and an integrated microphone. They are available for $60.
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Blue Origin Announces New Glenn Third Stage, New Booster Engine
Blue Origin has unveiled a third stage called GS3 for its New Glenn rocket, designed to deliver satellite constellations directly to geostationary orbit and support heavy-lift missions to the Moon and deep space. The company also announced Northstar, a new methalox booster engine that it says produces 715,000 pounds of thrust while cutting mass by 30% and parts by 50% compared with the BE-4. Space.com reports: The new stage will be powered by one BE-7 engine, which the company developed for use on its Blue Moon spacecraft, one of the two private vehicles that NASA selected to be crewed lunar landers for its Artemis program. (The other is SpaceX's Starship.) Blue Moon landing missions won't need to launch on GS3-equipped New Glenn rockets, according to Blue Origin. But the third stage "can support sustained operations around the moon," the company wrote in today's blog post. "By delivering significant payload mass directly to trans-lunar injection (TLI), GS3 enables faster transit times while preserving propellant for on-orbit operations." And there's already demand for such services: Blue Origin also announced today that a government customer (which it did not name) has booked a GS3 mission to cislunar (Earth-moon) space, with launch targeted for 2028.
And the company dropped yet more news today -- that it's working on a new first-stage engine, called Northstar. Like Blue Origin's other booster engine, the BE-4, Northstar burns liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellant, a combination known as methalox. But the new engine is more powerful and less complex. "Compared to the BE-4 engine, Northstar reduces mass by 30% and parts count by 50%, while increasing thrust from 640,000 to 715,000 pounds-force," Blue Origin said in a second blog post today. "Manufacturing advancements have also significantly shortened production timelines, enabling assembly in less than a day." Northstar went from program approval to development testing in just 11 months, according to the company. But today's update did not say when the new engine will fly for the first time.
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What to Expect From Lame-Duck Trump
“When he feels cornered, when he feels attacked, he fights back,” the columnist Carlos Lozada says of Donald Trump, who is now entering the lame-duck phase of his presidency. Columnists from across Times Opinion share their predictions for what the final two years of Trump’s term might look like — and they’re not pretty.
After ‘Babydoll’, Dominic Fike Embraces the Mess
In the wake of a viral hit, new sobriety and fatherhood, the rocker scrapped the album he had been working on to make a less-polished LP.
What to Know About Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights
The biggest public holiday in India features prayers for prosperity and good fortune — and lots of sweets.