Author: TechBrunch

US cybersecurity agency CISA said federal government departments are not sufficiently patching Cisco firewalls to protect against active hacking activity targeting them. In an updated advisory released Wednesday, CISA said it is now “actively tracking the exploitation” of two security flaws in Cisco's Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software, which hardens a variety of enterprise-grade firewalls used by major companies and government agencies to protect networks from malicious outsiders. CISA said the flaw has been being exploited by a “sophisticated” but as-yet-unnamed attacker since September, prompting CISA to issue its third emergency directive this year ordering government agencies to patch affected…

Deepwatch, a cybersecurity company that develops an AI-powered detection and response platform, on Wednesday laid off dozens of employees, citing AI in part. Deepwatch CEO John DiLullo told TechCrunch in an email that the company is “aligning our organization to accelerate our significant investments in AI and automation.” A current DeepWatch employee, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press, told TechCrunch that the layoffs affected between 60 and 80 of the company's approximately 250 employees. A Linkedin post by the person who said he was fired also mentioned 80 people. “They're doing things with…

There have been reports across social media of Elon Musk's X users being stuck in an infinite loop and, in some cases, being locked out of their X accounts. It appears that the required two-factor security changes failed. On October 24, X said in a post that it is asking users who rely on passkeys or hardware security keys (such as Yubikey) as a two-factor authentication method to re-register using the x.com domain. (Users who use authenticator apps are not affected.) Mr. X said this is part of an effort to retire the old twitter.com domain, which currently redirects to…

A group of Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to several state governors, including Arizona, California, Colorado and Wisconsin, warning that their states are inadvertently sharing driver data with federal immigration authorities. The letter, first reported by Reuters, told governors that each state provides U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies with “fleet self-service access to the personal data of all residents” through a nonprofit called the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (Nlets), which is managed by state law enforcement agencies. Nlets facilitate the sharing of state residents' personal data (in this case, driver's license data) between state,…

Australian Intelligence Secretary Mike Burgess has warned that Chinese-backed hackers are “probing” and in some cases gaining access to the country's critical infrastructure. Mr Burgess, head of the country's main intelligence agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Agency, said at least two Chinese government-backed hacker groups were preparing sabotage and espionage operations. The comments, made in a speech at a conference in Melbourne on Wednesday, echoed similar remarks from the US government, which warned that ongoing hacking operations could pose a risk of economic and social disruption. Burgess said a group of hackers known as Bolt Typhoon is trying to break…

While the US is far ahead of Europe in the race for large-scale AI models, the picture is different at the application layer, with emerging category leaders such as Lovable and Synthesia emerging. This is the conclusion reached by global VC firm Accel in its 2025 Globalscape report, which focuses on the AI ​​and cloud market. Astonishingly, cloud and AI applications in Europe and Israel have so far attracted 66% more private funding than their US peers by 2025. “When we started this report 10 years ago, Europe was one-tenth the size of the US,” Accel partner Philippe Bottelli told…

There's a moment backstage at Web Summit when a member of the production staff (well twice Laurent Mequise's size) puts a thick arm around the shoulders of the CEO of Oracle Red Bull Racing and guides him toward the soundboard to pull out his cell phone for a selfie. Most executives leading organizations of 2,000 people, even die-hard fans, would resent the informality. Mekies smiled instead, his demeanor unchanged as he responded to his star-struck crew. It's a small moment, but perhaps a revealing one for Mekies, who just four months ago became the second person in Red Bull Racing's…

Raising $250 million in a Series D round may seem like a distant and unnecessary distraction for startup founders pitching their first $1 million in seed money to investors. But that shouldn't be the case, according to some founders and venture capitalists. In their view, founders need to develop a strategy for late-stage funding from the beginning. Aven co-founder and CEO Sadi Khan said on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt that startup founders should start thinking about subsequent rounds before raising their first round of funding. This strategy allows founders to determine the amount of capital they will need throughout their…

January Ventures co-founder Jennifer Neundorfer stopped by the Equity podcast during TechCrunch Disrupt to talk about raising money in this very AI-driven market. Founders and investors alike are excited about AI, and even Neundorfer said her company is looking at ways to use AI to make its work more efficient, such as helping with market and competitive due diligence. When it comes to companies that are starting up, I prefer founders who want to create something entirely new. “What excites me is when I see someone using AI to do something that’s not 10 times better, because it’s actually creating…

Gamma, a startup that creates AI-generated presentations, websites, and social media posts, on Monday announced a $68 million Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz at a valuation of $2.1 billion. Co-founder and CEO Grant Lee posted on X that the company had 70 million users and $100 million in ARR, making it profitable. Lee previously posted that the startup made $50 million in profits in its first two years. Gamma last raised a $12 million Series A round led by Accel in 2024. Gamma isn't exactly a new AI startup (at least by AI standards). According to Lee's LinkedIn,…