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JETPACK FIXES CRITICAL INFORMATION DISCLOSURE FLAW EXISTING SINCE 2016

The Jetpack WordPress plugin has released a fix for a critical vulnerability that was discovered during an internal audit. The vulnerability allowed logged-in users to view forms that were submitted by other users. Automattic has released updates for 101 impacted versions of Jetpack and recommends updating immediately.

REVENUE CYCLE VENDOR NOTIFYING NEARLY 400K PATIENTS OF HACK

Gryphon Healthcare is notifying nearly 400K individuals that their data was breached due to an unnamed third party. Potentially compromised information includes names, dates of birth, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of service, diagnoses, health insurance information, medical treatment and record numbers, providers, and prescriptions. Gryphon is not aware of any misuse of this information.

HACKERS ARE EXTORTING GLOBE LIFE WITH STOLEN CUSTOMER DATA

Globe Life has reported a data breach affecting its AIL subsidiary. A hacker stole sensitive customer information, including names, addresses, and sometimes Social Security numbers and health data. While 5,000 individuals are confirmed affected, the total impact could be much larger.

DECONSTRUCTING SECURITY MONITORING ANTIPATTERNS

Many security teams jump to security monitoring before implementing basic security hygiene. This post introduces a collection of security monitoring antipatterns. These antipatterns include focusing on data collection without implementing effective detection and response strategies, relying on custom-built solutions instead of off-the-shelf tooling, prioritizing shiny new tools over established practices, and expecting one tool to be sufficient for all needs.

PERFECTING RANSOMWARE ON AWS — USING KEYS TO THE KINGDOM TO CHANGE THE LOCKS

Ransomware attacks on AWS using cross-account KMS keys can be blocked by AWS if the key is owned by them. The new AWS KMS External Key Store feature allows for secure communication with on-premises HSMs for encryption. Simulating ransomware attacks on AWS can help to develop understanding of vulnerabilities and improve security measures.

GATEKEEPER BYPASS: UNCOVERING WEAKNESSES IN A MACOS SECURITY MECHANISM

macOS may not properly enforce the quarantine attribute, potentially allowing a bypass of the Gatekeeper security mechanism. Gatekeeper is designed to ensure only trusted software runs on systems by validating applications before execution. To reduce the risk of malicious Gatekeeper bypasses, developers should enforce the attribute on all files their applications handle.

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PASSBOOK

Passbook is a paid app that allows users to create an Apple Wallet pass from any QR code.

CLOUDWATCH LOG REDIRECTOR

CloudWatch Log Redirector is a CLI tool that allows for redirecting log output to AWS CloudWatch.

PREL

prel(iminary) is an application that temporarily assigns Google Cloud IAM Roles. It includes an approval process.

CHINESE RESEARCHERS FIND A POTENTIAL QUANTUM ATTACK ON CLASSICAL ENCRYPTION

A group of researchers have published a paper detailing a new attack using commercial D-wave quantum annealing systems. The attack targets Substitution-Permutation Network structured algorithms, which are at the heart of the AES encryption standards. The report was limited to targeting a 22-bit key though, which is much smaller than those commonly used.

HYBRID WORK EXPOSES NEW VULNERABILITIES IN PRINT SECURITY

Hybrid work has increased printer, unmanaged devices, and network security risks. A study showed that 67% of organizations experienced printer-related incidents in 2024. This article discusses recently disclosed print-related vulnerabilities.

DEEPFAKE LOVERS SWINDLE VICTIMS OUT OF $46M IN HONG KONG AI SCAM

Hong Kong police arrested 27 people involved in a $46 million AI-powered romance scam. The operation used face-swapping technology to create fake attractive personas for online dating, tricking victims into fraudulent cryptocurrency investments.

CISA, FBI SEEK PUBLIC COMMENT ON SOFTWARE SECURITY BAD PRACTICES GUIDANCE

The CISA and FBI have released a guidance on software security bad practices and are seeking public feedback.

TWO SUDANESE NATIONALS INDICTED FOR OPERATING THE ANONYMOUS SUDAN GROUP

The US charged two Sudanese brothers with running the Anonymous Sudan cybercrime group, which is known for launching DDoS attacks worldwide.

FBI ARREST ALABAMA MAN SUSPECTED OF HACKING SEC'S X ACCOUNT

An Alabama man was arrested for hacking the SEC's account to fake approval of Bitcoin ETFs.

NEARLY 80% OF CONSUMERS TRUST UGC MORE THAN INFLUENCERS

User Generated Content (UGC) outpaces influencer content in consumer trust. Up to 79% of consumers say UGC impacts purchasing decisions more than influencer posts, highlighting a growing preference for authentic consumer-created content. The creator economy is projected to grow to $250 billion by 2027, with 26% of U.S. adults aged 18-60 identifying as content creators.

AMERICANS' TRUST IN MEDIA REMAINS AT TREND LOW

Trust in the U.S. media is at a record low, with only 31% of Americans expressing confidence in its ability to report news accurately and fairly. A larger share of adults (36%) have no trust at all in the media, reflecting a trend of declining trust since the 1970s, particularly among Republicans and younger people. Local and state governments are the most trusted institutions, while the federal government, its branches, and the media are among the least trusted. Trust is generally higher among older adults and Democrats, except for the judicial branch where Republicans express more confidence. Overall, many U.S. institutions are experiencing a crisis of public confidence.

CHILI PIPER DOESN'T DO DISCOUNTS

Chili Piper's no-discount approach relies on fully transparent pricing published openly on its website. Unlike companies that negotiate lower prices on a case-by-case basis, Chili Piper ensures everyone pays the same rate. To achieve competitive and fair pricing, it conducted a 500+ participant survey to gauge willingness to pay and preferences for bundling products. This data-driven approach led to a pricing calculator that accounts for per-user costs, platform fees, and discounts for longer contracts. The pricing structure simplifies complex factors while remaining accessible, with the price displayed being the final cost for all customers.

WHAT MAKES ONLINE CONTENT VIRAL? THE PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND SHARES

The "25 Years in Search" video by Google hit 353 million views by triggering nostalgia, a proven motivator for sharing. Studies show that people are more inclined to share content that reflects their emotions or adds value to their social identity. Brands like AARP and Home Depot successfully leverage that insight by combining practical insights with emotional storytelling, which increases the chance of going viral.

REDCAR

Redcar.io automates lead gen and sales outreach for B2B companies. Its platform, AgentExpress, de-anonymizes website visitors and proactively reaches out to potential customers. It also writes hyper-personalized emails by researching target customers' websites, LinkedIn profiles, and online presence.

INSTAGRAM UPDATES FOR 2025: WHAT MARKETERS NEED TO KNOW

Instagram's latest updates include new interaction tools, expanded content creation features, and integrated AI support for marketers.

BRANDS, ADS, AND VIDEO GAMES

Brands are increasingly investing in gaming as a way to reach younger, more engaged audiences. Games like Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite attract massive user bases, surpassing traditional media in influence. Early adopters like e.l.f. Beauty have seen success by creating immersive experiences, while many brands still struggle to adapt fully to the gaming space. The main challenge lies in committing to long-term strategies rather than relying on one-off campaigns. Collaboration with advertisers will become more important in shaping the future of interactive entertainment as game companies seek new revenue streams.

AMAZON WANTS TO MOVE BEYOND RETAIL MEDIA

Amazon's unBoxed event highlighted its shift from retail media dominance toward full-funnel advertising, signaling Amazon's ambition to capture a larger slice of media budgets. The company's ads drive conversions. Executives aim to position Amazon as a broader media partner for all advertisers. This aligns with companies like Hasbro, which focuses on brand building over immediate sales.

WHY GOOGLE SEARCH IS FALLING APART

The decline in Google Search's user experience is driven by excessive ads, blurred distinctions between ads and organic results, and irrelevant content. AI integration and manipulative SEO tactics further degrade result quality. Google's business model prioritizes ad revenue over usability, leading to frustration.

BLUESKY GAINS HALF A MILLION NEW USERS IN ONE DAY AFTER X CHANGES HOW BLOCKING WORKS

X's decision to weaken its block function has led to a user exodus, with Bluesky gaining 500,000 new users in 24 hours and surpassing 11 million total users.

WHY IG CAROUSELS GET MORE REACH THAN SINGLE PHOTO POSTS (1 MINUTE VIDEO)

Carousels get more reach due to higher interaction rates and a second viewing chance if users don't swipe.

A SIMPLE WAY TO ADD DELIGHT FOR PROSPECTS

Add personality in boilerplate text on form submission by telling prospects what will happen next and giving them a tip on how to use what they downloaded.

ELON DREAMS AND BITTER LESSONS

By 2020, SpaceX had significantly reduced costs and transformed the space industry. Elon Musk's vision for fully autonomous, low-cost Tesla vehicles that rely on AI and camera technology, which contrasts with competitors like Waymo's more hardware-reliant approach, aims to revolutionize cities and achieve Level 5 autonomy.

THE MESSY INBOX PROBLEM: WEDGE STRATEGIES IN AI APPS

Millions of small businesses waste time sorting unstructured data to qualify customers. LLMs are now solving this "messy inbox" problem by automating data synthesis, streamlining top-of-funnel tasks, and initiating downstream workflows, reducing the need for manual work.

A CULTURE OF GOOD DECISION-MAKING

This article outlines techniques for improving decision-making processes in organizations, including the ACID model for defining decision roles, the "disagree and commit" approach, and avoiding outcome bias by judging decisions based on the information available at the time, not their results. It also covers the importance of using evidence, algorithms, and fostering group dynamics to make decisions more efficient and less influenced by hierarchy.

WHEN THE DATA AND THE ANECDOTES DISAGREE, THE ANECDOTES ARE USUALLY RIGHT

Anecdotes and direct experience should be prioritized over aggregate data in decision-making. Park Conrad of Rippling and Jeff Bezos of Amazon both show how digging into specific instances and ground-level truths often reveals insights that data might miss, helping correct flawed metrics and uncover underlying issues in business operations.

NAVIGATING THE STAGES OF THE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

Understanding your product stage is essential for strategy, team organization, and goal-setting. After achieving market fit, focus on growth while maintaining a fast learning pace. During maturity, prioritize retention as competition intensifies, and prepare for the next phase by introducing new offerings before decline sets in.

THE ONLY MEASURE OF PM SUCCESS IS THE SUCCESS OF YOUR PRODUCT

Many product managers emphasize "outcomes over output" but often focus more on processes than results. True success comes from delivering user, customer, and business value. Product managers should prioritize outcomes, adapt processes to their context, and ensure their work drives product success.

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CREATING A PRODUCT HIERARCHY

Instead of focusing on a product in isolation, consider the broader portfolio where it resides. A well-structured product hierarchy aligns teams around customer needs, guiding product strategy, marketing, and messaging. By organizing from categories to features, teams can execute independently yet stay aligned on market goals.

PM CAREER BOOSTER: DEVELOP YOUR GO-TO-MARKET SKILLS

Product managers are increasingly expected to own or contribute to GTM strategies, as their skills are essential for both product development and driving customer adoption. By understanding the GTM process, including conversion optimization and sales efficiency, PMs can significantly impact the success of their company's marketing and sales efforts, particularly through PLG strategies.

WHY FOUNDERS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THE WORLDVIEW OF BUREAUCRATS

Bureaucrats who prioritize job security and risk aversion can hinder innovation, particularly for startups or leaders pushing new ideas. To succeed in selling to them, it's essential to use social proof, minimize the perception of risk, and understand that their decisions are often driven by defensibility rather than innovation.

TRAIN YOUR CREATIVITY LIKE AN OLYMPIC ATHLETE

Adopting the mindset of an Olympic athlete can transform your creative process. Like athletes, focus on smart strategies by prioritizing consistency over intensity and recognizing the value of rest. Structure your creative practice with daily sessions to build skills, establish weekly rhythms to balance intensity and recovery, and implement seasonal cycles to foster long-term growth.

TYPES OF DEBT THAT PRODUCT TEAMS TACKLE

Product teams face multiple types of debt, from tech and product debt to marketing, pricing, and organizational debt.

WHERE'S THE GENERATIVE AI ROI? START WITH THE SUPPLY CHAIN

The supply chain industry is plagued by outdated communication methods, leading to errors and inefficiencies.

ESCAPING THE CHROME SANDBOX THROUGH DEVTOOLS

Vulnerabilities in Chromium allowed malicious Chrome extensions to execute arbitrary shell commands. By exploiting undocumented features in the chrome://policy page and a race condition in the chrome.devtools API, users were able to bypass the sandbox and execute code outside the browser's restrictions.

WHY DOES EVERYONE RUN ANCIENT POSTGRES VERSIONS?

While Postgres 17 offers huge improvements, most users stick with older versions due to the perceived stability of the database and the challenges of upgrading. Major version upgrades can be complex and require extensive planning, data migration, and testing, especially for large production databases. However, delaying upgrades inevitably leads to technical debt. There is now a tool available called PG Versions that can help visualize the new benefits of upgrading earlier rather than later.

EVAL-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT: BUILD BETTER AI FASTER

Evals, a new testing paradigm for AI-native development, are similar to end-to-end tests. They assess the quality of AI output using automated checks, human judgment, and AI-assisted grading. Vercel's frontend-generating AI product v0 is built on eval-driven development.

EVALUATION QUIRKS, METRIC PITFALLS, AND SOME RECOMMENDATIONS

There are a few issues with system evaluation practices, like in cases where metrics with similar names yield vastly different results, implementation bugs lead to inflated scores, and incorrect predictions improve the score. Developers need to be careful when choosing metrics and understand what a metric truly measures to make sure it's implemented correctly.