Photo by David Trinks on Unsplash
U.S. Authorities Reveal Chinese Hackers Stole Data From American Telecom Companies
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shared a joint statement yesterday to inform about a cyber espionage campaign performed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and addressed to commercial telecommunications infrastructure in the United States.
In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!
- FBI and CISA shared a joint statement informing about a cyber espionage campaign performed by Chinese hackers
- American authorities said the criminals breached multiple telecommunications companies
- Malicious actors also intercepted systems used by law enforcement for surveillance
American authorities made a call for victims and stakeholders to consider the situation and share information, and promised to help and share more updates after more developments.
According to Reuters , this announcement confirms what the media had previously shared. The Wall Street Journal reported it in October and said companies like Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen Technologies were affected. At that moment, the Chinese government denied its involvement and said it was an attempt to accuse and frame its regime.
Other media outlets said multiple politicians including JD Vance and recently elected candidate Donald Trump’s phones had been intercepted. Authorities are studying the attack and analyzing the causes of this major security breach.
The United States has not been the only nation affected by Chinese-led operations in the past few months. In July, Australia and cybersecurity agencies from multiple countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany accused the Chinese government of targeting and spying on organizations in their countries.
A few weeks ago, Chinese criminals deployed ToxicPanda malware and hit bank accounts across Latin America and Europe.
Photo by Goran Ivos on Unsplash
AI Startup Tessl Raises $125 Million, Surpassing a $500 Million Valuation
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
The AI software development startup Tessl raised $124 million across two funding rounds: $25 million in a first round led by GV and boldstart in April, and $100 million in a series A led by Index with Accel participation. The company’s valuation is now above $500 million.
In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!
- AI software development startup Tessl raises $25 million and $100 during two funding rounds
- Tessl hasn’t released any products yet, but investors trust its creator Guy Podjarny
- The company aims to build a new safer and simpler AI native software development platform
“We’re happy to be well-fueled for the big journey ahead, and humbled by this vote of confidence in our mission and team,” wrote Guy Podjarny, CEO and founder of Tessl in a public statement . “Software powers our digital world, and improving the tools we use to create it can have exponential effects.”
Tessl is focusing on AI Native Development and developing AI software that can write code and maintain code autonomously.
According to TechCrunch , Tessl hasn’t launched any products yet, but investors trust the talent behind the creator. Podjarny is a popular developer, entrepreneur, and researcher, co-founder of the cybersecurity firm Snyk—valued at $7.4 billion in 2022—and founder of the web performance optimization company Blaze.io, and former Chief Technology Officer at Akamai, an internet infrastructure company.
In this new venture, Podjarny—also known as Guypo, according to Fortune —thought of the impact artificial intelligence is having on software and how it could be used to assist developers beyond AI coding assistants like Copilot. He noticed weaknesses in security, efficiency, and costs in the current methods of using AI for coding, and came up with Tessl—alluding to the process of “tessellation” when space or data divides in an organized system—to avoid mess and overlapping, and build a stronger AI native platform.
“We’re starting with relatively simple software that allows us to build an end-to-end system that is more manageable for LLMs to generate, and more manageable for humans to specify. And we will evolve from there,” said Podjarny in an interview with TechCrunch.
TechCrunch confirmed with multiple sources that the London-based startup’s valuation is above $500 million and Fortune said people with knowledge of the deal said it reached a $750 million valuation.
Generative AI startup Writer recently raised $200 million to expand its services.
