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Microchip Technology discloses cyberattack impacting operations

American chipmaker Microchip Technology Incorporated has disclosed that a cyberattack impacted its systems over the weekend, disrupting operations across multiple manufacturing facilities.

Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, the company has roughly 123,000 customers across multiple industry sectors, including industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defense, communications, and computing markets.

Due to an incident, some Microchip Technology manufacturing facilities operate at reduced capacity, affecting the company’s ability to meet orders. Microchip Technology also had to take steps to manage the situation, such as shutting down some systems and isolating the affected ones following the breach.

August Windows updates break dual boot on some Linux systems

According to user reports following this month’s Patch Tuesday, the August 2024 Windows updates are breaking dual boot on Linux systems with Secure Boot enabled.

This issue is caused by Microsoft’s decision to apply a Secure Boot Advanced Targeting (SBAT) update to block Linux boot loaders unpatched against the CVE-2022–2601 GRUB2 Secure Boot bypass vulnerability, which could “have an impact on Windows security.”

“The vulnerability assigned to this CVE is in the Linux GRUB2 boot loader, a boot loader designed to support Secure Boot on systems that are running Linux,” Microsoft says in an advisory published last week to address this issue.

Ransomware rakes in record-breaking $450 million in first half of 2024

Ransomware victims have paid $459,800,000 to cybercriminals in the first half of 2024, setting the stage for a new record this year if ransom payments continue at this level.

Last year, ransomware payments reached a record $1.1 billion, which Chainalysis previously predicted from stats gathered in the first half of the year when ransomware activity grossed $449,100,000.

We now stand at approximately 2% higher than 2023’s record-breaking trajectory from the same period despite significant law enforcement operations that disrupted large ransomware-as-a-service operations, such as LockBit.

Artificial Intelligence Predicts Earthquakes With Unprecedented Accuracy

Researchers at the University of Texas have developed an AI that predicted 70% of earthquakes during a trial in China, indicating potential for future quake risk mitigation.

The AI, trained on seismic data, also ranked first in an international competition, underscoring its effectiveness and opening doors for further enhancements in regions like California and Texas.

AI Earthquake Prediction Breakthrough

Quantum Leap in Superconductivity As Electrons Pair at Higher Temperatures

Superconductors, known for enabling lossless electrical conductivity and even magnetic levitation, typically function only at extremely low temperatures. Recent research has identified electron pairing, a core superconductor behavior, in materials at higher-than-expected temperatures, such as an antiferromagnetic insulator.

This discovery by SLAC and Stanford researchers could lead to new ways to develop superconductors that operate closer to room temperature, potentially revolutionizing technology in many fields including quantum computing and transportation.

Exploring the Enigma of Superconductors.