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- The Moon Lied, YouTube Tried, and Japanese Automakers Get Married
The Moon Lied, YouTube Tried, and Japanese Automakers Get Married
We're ending 2024 with a bang: huge cyber arrests, Moon drama, YouTube actually fighting clickbait, and the biggest auto merger you didn't see coming...
Grab your survival bunkers and party like it's 1999 (because today's newsletter starts there)!
Exactly 25 years ago, the world was bracing for the Y2K apocalypse – you know, when every computer was supposedly going to think it was 1900 and potentially trigger a digital doomsday. Corporations spent an estimated $100 billion fixing the two-digit date problem, only for basically nothing to happen (except for that one nuclear facility in Japan that had a brief equipment hiccup).
The moral of the story? Sometimes the biggest tech threats are the ones that don't materialize… which is definitely not the case with our first story about LockBit ransomware.
Now, let's dive in...
LockBit Developer Found Out You Can’t Code and Run
The DOJ just caught another big fish in the LockBit pond – Rostislav Panev, a Russian-Israeli dual national who allegedly helped develop LockBit's ransomware encryptors and the "StealBit" data-theft tool. Found with admin credentials to the dark web repository and making about $230,000 over 18 months (honestly, kind of underwhelming for ransomware money), Panev is the seventh LockBit member charged since 2023.
Here's where it gets interesting: investigators found something juicy on Panev's computer – administrator credentials for an online repository containing source code for multiple versions of the LockBit builder. They also discovered access to LockBit's control panel, which is basically the ransomware equivalent of finding someone's house keys and garage door opener.
Panev is a lesson in “Ways Not to Be a Cybercriminal.” If you’re running a multi-million dollar ransomware operation, maybe – and hear us out here – don't keep your admin passwords in a folder labeled something as obvious like “definitely not crime stuff”?! That’s pretty much what he just did.
But wait, there's more… The repositories also contained source code for the Conti ransomware encryptors, which was leaked after Conti sided with Russia over the Ukraine invasion. This code apparently helped create "LockBit Green" – because apparently, even cybercriminals are into recycling these days. The US State Department is still offering a cool $10M if you know where to find their leader, "LockBitSupp" (real name: Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev). That's enough money to buy a lot of hard drives to not store ransomware on…
Moon's Magnetic Field Gets Plot Twist
Chinese scientists analyzing samples from Chang'e 6 (the first mission to successfully return samples from the far side of the Moon) just dropped a lunar bombshell. Turns out the Moon's magnetic field might have had a surprise power-up around 2.8 billion years ago, challenging everything we thought we knew about Luna's magnetic history. It's like finding out your bed-ridden grandparent suddenly started powerlifting – unexpected, but kind of awesome.
The samples, which include basalt thought to be 2.8 billion years old, suggest that instead of the Moon's magnetic field gradually weakening like a smartphone battery over time (as previously thought), it actually had some sort of cosmic energy drink moment. Scientists previously believed the Moon's dynamo (fancy term for what creates celestial bodies' magnetic fields) started strong but fizzled out around 3.1 billion years ago, with a final gasp around a billion years ago.
TL;DR Turns out the Moon had a glow-up phase that would make even Steve Rogers jealous.
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You Won’t BELIEVE What YouTube’s Doing to Clickbait… in India
YouTube is cracking down on "egregious clickbait," starting with India. You know the type – "THE PRESIDENT IS A REPTILE!" (The president is, sadly, not a reptile).
The platform is targeting misleading thumbnails and titles in breaking news and current events. They're starting in India before rolling out globally, which feels a bit like dipping your toes in the water, but hey – at least they're doing something about those life-draining "You won't BELIEVE what happened next!" videos.
YouTube defines egregious clickbait as "videos where the title or thumbnail promises viewers something that the video doesn't deliver" – which describes roughly 73% of YouTube content (we made that stat up, but it feels right). For example, if a thumbnail screams "Proof Hollywood Elites Aren’t What They Say They Are" but the video is just a re-upload of that one cringe Smosh “Too Many Owen Wilson” video… that's getting flagged.
YouTube's approach is interesting – they're starting with no strikes for violations while they clean house, then prioritizing new uploads.
The real question is: will this actually work, or will content creators just get more creative with their misleading titles? Just stay tuned for "YOUTUBE DESTROYS CLICKBAIT (GONE WRONG) (EMOTIONAL) (NOT CLICKBAIT)"!
⚙️ Tool Time
We recommend Postman.
The Swiss Army knife of API development that's been making developers' lives easier since 2012. With over 35 million developers using it (that's more people than the population of Canada, by the way), Postman lets you build, test, and document APIs without wanting to throw your keyboard out the window.
Here's the coolest part: It plays nicely with others. Really nicely. Their new Azure API Management integration lets you create and test APIs in Postman, then deploy them straight to Azure – it's like having a personal API bouncer that checks your work before letting it into the club. Plus, it integrates with practically everything in your tech stack: GitHub for version control, AWS API Gateway for deployment, HashiCorp Vault for secrets management, and even Slack for when you need to share your API wins (or commiserate about your losses).
Think of it as a social network for APIs, but actually useful. Plus, their desktop app is so well-designed, it makes testing APIs almost... fun? Okay, maybe "fun" is pushing it, but it's definitely less painful than trying to manage API testing through spreadsheets and sticky notes (we've all been there).
But if you’re asking us, why we love Postman so much? It’s that your entire team can collaborate in real-time, so you're not stuck in API development solitude. No more "works on my machine" moments – just smooth, streamlined API development that doesn't make you want to quit tech and become a goat farmer.
👨💻 Job Opportunities
Are you the type who gets excited about security patches like others get excited about Rockstar games finally releasing GTA 6? (JK - that’ll never happen…) Want to manage a small team, juggle FedRAMP authorization, and generally be the person who keeps the cybersecurity wheels turning? Civis Analytics is looking for someone who can speak SOC2, breathe NIST 800-53, and dream in compliance frameworks.
If can’t stop thinking about Salesforce configurations and get excited about RingCentral solutions, here's your chance to help people who are hard of hearing stay connected. You'll need to be comfortable wearing multiple hats, including the "explaining technical stuff to non-technical people" hat, which is arguably the hardest one to wear (feels like listening to this but is paid). Just think tech support for people who still print their emails.
Ever wanted to be an IT superhero for multiple companies at once? You'll essentially be the tech version of a traveling consultant, juggling various client environments like a circus performer. Bonus points if you can speak both Mac and Windows fluently – yes, can be considered as bilingual in Silicon.
🛩 Industry Moves
Honda + Nissan = Japan’s Newest Power Couple
Remember when your friends finally started dating after years of "will they, won't they"?
That's basically Honda and Nissan right now. They're planning to merge by 2026, creating the world's third-largest automaker behind Toyota and Volkswagen. Mitsubishi might join the party too, making this the automotive equivalent of a group chat becoming a social movement.
The goal? Taking on Tesla and China's BYD in the EV market, because sometimes you need to join forces to fight Mew Two.
Cathie Wood Predicts M&A boom After Trump Win
Cathie Wood, Founder of ARK Investment Management, is making waves again, predicting a surge in startup acquisitions post-election. She's also doubling down on her Bitcoin prediction of $1 million by 2030, which is either incredibly prescient or incredibly... optimistic.
But hey, in a world where a meme coin can make millionaires, who are we to judge?
💽 Data Upload
This week on Experts Exchange, our community is tackling some interesting challenges:
And that's 2024, folks – a year where AI promised to replace everyone but couldn't figure out basic math, while human engineers kept the actual internet running.
As we head into the new year, here's some sage wisdom for 2025: keep your code clean, your passwords strong, and your sense of humor intact – you're going to need all three.
We’ll be back in your inbox next year (or week) as we keep digging into your IT need to knows.
Enjoyed the news? Discuss over on Experts Exchange.
Got news to share or topics you'd like us to cover? Send ‘em our way. We can’t wait to hear from you. Really.
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