Yup, you read that right. The internet was a flurry of activity recently involving bad actors. First came the news of a possible data breach involving popular family genetics company 23andMe. Apparently, a hacker made off with millions of "pieces of data" from the website and tried to auction that data off. While 23andMe has denied claims of a data breach, it did offer an explanation of what might have happened, and it had to do with users using the same password on more than one website. 23andMe said the hacker may have relied on a technique called credential stuffing i.e. collecting passwords stolen from other sites and reusing them in a bid to hijack 23andMe accounts. Folks, here's your reminder to never use the same password on multiple websites. The 23andMe hack pales in comparison to what happened next, though. On Tuesday, each of Amazon, Google, and Cloudflare reported one of the largest distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks in the internet's history. According to Google, bad actors used a new novel technique called HTTP/2 Rapid Reset that reached a peak of 398 million requests per second — 7.5x larger than the next largest DDoS attack known to mankind. For context, the two-minute DDoS attack generated more requests than the total number of article views reported by Wikipedia during the entire month of September 2023. YIKES! Each of the providers has taken steps to mitigate the fallout from the attack and shared technical details that you can read about here, here, and here. Google ranked #5 on HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings while Amazon was on the #11 spot. After Long Wait, Microsoft Completes Activision-Blizzard Acquisition 🕹️ After what might have felt like ages, Microsoft finally got around acquiring Call of Duty-maker Activision-Blizzard in one of the largest acquisitions in the gaming industry. For those that weren't following the acquisition closely, there was a LOT of regulatory drama involved in the $69 billion purchase, pitting Microsoft, the creator of the Xbox console, against Sony, which was worried the acquisition would limit access to the Call of Duty titles to gamers on its PlayStation platform. Microsoft offered assurances that it would not limit access to the popular title, but Sony was adamant, and used every opportunity that it could to drum up support against the takeover. Nonetheless, it looks like Microsoft was able to make a case for itself, successfully fending off regulatory concerns by agreeing to divest certain streaming rights for video games in a bid to make the acquisition a reality. Microsoft ranked #12 on HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings. 👋 You’re reading part 2 of HackerNoon's Tech Company News Brief, a weekly collection of tech goodness that combines HackerNoon's proprietary data with internet trends to determine which companies are rising and falling in the public consciousness. Part 1 went live yesterday. Prefer reading the whole thing a day early AND in one go? No problemo! Just subscribe here to receive the complete newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday. In Other News.. 📰 What happens to Snap? — via The Verge.
Ferrari to accept crypto as payment for its cars in the US — via Reuters.
AI voice clones mimic politicians and celebrities, reshaping reality — via The Washington Post.
How roboticists are thinking about generative AI — via TechCrunch.
TikTok steps up efforts to counter misinformation about Israel-Hamas war — via CNN.
Artificial intelligence's $100 billion possibility — via Axios.
Every Franchise Xbox Now Owns After Buying Activision — via Kotaku.
Australia fines X, formerly Twitter, for not answering questions on child abuse content — via CNBC. And that's a wrap! Don't forget to share this newsletter with your family and friends! See y'all next week. PEACE! ☮️ — Sheharyar Khan, Editor, Business Tech @ HackerNoon *All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings page. Yup, you read that right. The internet was a flurry of activity recently involving bad actors. First came the news of a possible data breach involving popular family genetics company 23andMe. Apparently, a hacker made off with millions of "pieces of data" from the website and tried to auction that data off. While 23andMe has denied claims of a data breach, it did offer an explanation of what might have happened, and it had to do with users using the same password on more than one website. might 23andMe said the hacker may have relied on a technique called credential stuffing i.e. collecting passwords stolen from other sites and reusing them in a bid to hijack 23andMe accounts. Folks, here's your reminder to never use the same password on multiple websites. The 23andMe hack pales in comparison to what happened next, though. On Tuesday, each of Amazon , Google , and Cloudflare reported one of the largest distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks in the internet's history. Amazon Amazon Google Google According to Google, bad actors used a new novel technique called HTTP/2 Rapid Reset that reached a peak of 398 million requests per second — 7.5x larger than the next largest DDoS attack known to mankind. For context, the two-minute DDoS attack generated more requests than the total number of article views reported by Wikipedia during the entire month of September 2023. YIKES! Each of the providers has taken steps to mitigate the fallout from the attack and shared technical details that you can read about here , here , and here . here here here here here here Google ranked #5 on HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings while Amazon was on the #11 spot. After Long Wait, Microsoft Completes Activision-Blizzard Acquisition 🕹️ After Long Wait, Microsoft Completes Activision-Blizzard Acquisition 🕹️ After what might have felt like ages, Microsoft finally got around acquiring Call of Duty-maker Activision-Blizzard in one of the largest acquisitions in the gaming industry. Microsoft Microsoft For those that weren't following the acquisition closely, there was a LOT of regulatory drama involved in the $69 billion purchase, pitting Microsoft, the creator of the Xbox console, against Sony , which was worried the acquisition would limit access to the Call of Duty titles to gamers on its PlayStation platform. regulatory drama regulatory drama Sony Sony Microsoft offered assurances that it would not limit access to the popular title, but Sony was adamant, and used every opportunity that it could to drum up support against the takeover. Nonetheless, it looks like Microsoft was able to make a case for itself, successfully fending off regulatory concerns by agreeing to divest certain streaming rights for video games in a bid to make the acquisition a reality. offered assurances offered assurances divest divest Microsoft ranked #12 on HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings . Tech Company Rankings Tech Company Rankings 👋 You’re reading part 2 of HackerNoon's Tech Company News Brief, a weekly collection of tech goodness that combines HackerNoon's proprietary data with internet trends to determine which companies are rising and falling in the public consciousness. Part 1 went live yesterday. Prefer reading the whole thing a day early AND in one go? No problemo! Just subscribe here to receive the complete newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday. 👋 You’re reading part 2 of HackerNoon's Tech Company News Brief, a weekly collection of tech goodness that combines HackerNoon's proprietary data with internet trends to determine which companies are rising and falling in the public consciousness. Part 1 went live yesterday. Prefer reading the whole thing a day early AND in one go? No problemo! Just subscribe here to receive the complete newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday. You’re reading part 2 of HackerNoon's Tech Company News Brief, a weekly collection of tech goodness that combines HackerNoon's proprietary data with internet trends to determine which companies are rising and falling in the public consciousness. Part 1 went live yesterday. Prefer reading the whole thing a day early AND in one go? No problemo! Just subscribe here to receive the complete newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday. part 2 Part 1 Part 1 here complete In Other News.. 📰 In Other News.. 📰 What happens to Snap? — via The Verge. Ferrari to accept crypto as payment for its cars in the US — via Reuters. AI voice clones mimic politicians and celebrities, reshaping reality — via The Washington Post. How roboticists are thinking about generative AI — via TechCrunch. TikTok steps up efforts to counter misinformation about Israel-Hamas war — via CNN. Artificial intelligence's $100 billion possibility — via Axios. Every Franchise Xbox Now Owns After Buying Activision — via Kotaku. Australia fines X, formerly Twitter, for not answering questions on child abuse content — via CNBC. What happens to Snap? — via The Verge . The Verge The Verge Ferrari to accept crypto as payment for its cars in the US — via Reuters . Reuters Reuters AI voice clones mimic politicians and celebrities, reshaping reality — via The Washington Post . The Washington Post The Washington Post How roboticists are thinking about generative AI — via TechCrunch . TechCrunch TechCrunch TikTok steps up efforts to counter misinformation about Israel-Hamas war — via CNN . CNN CNN Artificial intelligence's $100 billion possibility — via Axios . Axios Axios Every Franchise Xbox Now Owns After Buying Activision — via Kotaku . Kotaku Kotaku Australia fines X, formerly Twitter, for not answering questions on child abuse content — via CNBC . CNBC CNBC And that's a wrap! Don't forget to share this newsletter with your family and friends! See y'all next week. PEACE! ☮️ — Sheharyar Khan, Editor, Business Tech @ HackerNoon *All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings page. *All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings page. *All rankings are current as of Monday. To see how the rankings have changed, please visit HackerNoon's Tech Company Rankings page. Tech Company Rankings Tech Company Rankings

Hot off the press! This story contains factual information about a recent event.

Privacy vs. Convenience

If You Can't Beat' Em, Buy 'Em!

Read My Stories

Too Long; Didn't Read

Boost your HackerNoon story @ $159.99! 🚀

The Hackx0rs Were Active

About Author

Comments

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN

Related Stories

Untitled Story

AI Boom Propels Nvidia Revenue to Unprecedented Levels, Stunning Wall Street

What Could Have Stopped the 23andMe Hack?

What Happens When Hackers Get Your DNA Data? Ask 23andMe

Meta Left with $600 Million Headache as Spanish Media Consortium Files Fresh Lawsuit

Why Being Likable At Work Matters

AI Boom Propels Nvidia Revenue to Unprecedented Levels, Stunning Wall Street

What Could Have Stopped the 23andMe Hack?

What Happens When Hackers Get Your DNA Data? Ask 23andMe

Meta Left with $600 Million Headache as Spanish Media Consortium Files Fresh Lawsuit

Why Being Likable At Work Matters

Light-Mode

Classic

Newspaper

Dark-Mode

Neon Noir

Minty

HN StartUps