RSnake Report 20260927

Jev and structured LLMs, tax hikes in Russia, etc.

September 27, 2026

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Geopolitics
Cybersecurity
Technology
Business

Hello, and thanks for reading! It has been quite a week from Germany, to Austria, back to Germany, and then back to the good old USA. I have to say that I never really appreciate the US as much as when I'm in another country for a few days. It's the little things, like less bureaucracy everywhere. I also managed to get a bit of a cold while I was there, so suffice it to say, I'm back at home and resting up.

The talk of the whole week was definitely mostly around AI and in particular Open AI, because there were a few people there from the marketing team, what Meta is up to with Muse and of course Jev. I'm sure I'll weave some ideas I had while I was there into this newsletter at another time but for now, let's just jump into it!

In Russia/Ukraine News, Ukraine hit seven strategic targets on Russian territory in a week, including the Moscow, Perm, Novoshakhtinsky, Bashneft-UNPZ, Kuibyshev and Ilsk refineries plus the Iskra plant. The strikes damaged oil-processing capacity and a military production site. MAKS 26 🇺🇦👀

Novoshakhtinsk refinery halted operations with a capacity of 5.6 million tonnes per year. The closure came exactly one month after the previous shutdown and affects export-oriented production more than domestic refining, reducing revenue.

A Ukrainian MiG-29 crew struck a concentration of Russian forces, destroying a command post, personnel, equipment and ammunition. The strike was reported by Ukrainian sources. Lew Anno Support#USA#NATO#Ukraine 24/2-22

Lew Anno Support#USA#NATO#Ukraine 24/2-22

Russian forces struck a McDonalds warehouse in the Brovarskyi District of Kyiv Oblast. The attack occurred on the 25th September and it was likely another assault on food, because like it or not, McDonalds provides a lot of food and at very reasonable prices. OSINT Intuit™

And yes, the fuel shortage is still in full swing. For instance, Crimea is facing fuel shortages that limit vehicle movement. That's not going to be great for the economy. MAKS 26 🇺🇦👀

Speaking of, Russia’s Finance Ministry has proposed new tax increases including higher levies on excess profits and a 22% VAT on cross-border e-commerce. Asked how this squared with previous statements that the tax burden would not rise, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied "no comment." 🤡 🤣 NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦

There is a new phenomina arising from the depths of PTSD... Ukrainian doctors have observed a pattern of trauma linked to drone attacks that they call dronophobia. Patients experience obsessive anxiety, panic, hypervigilance and exhaustion from the constant hum and sudden strikes. Symptoms can persist far from the front line and can be triggered by ordinary mechanical sounds or even silence. The term dronophobia was also used by Ukrainian military psychiatrist Serhii Andriichenko. And there are a lot of drone losses! Ukrainian forces reported another 1,690 Russian personnel losses in the past 24 hours, bringing the total since 24 February 2022 to about 1,528,970. But look at that automotive and fuel tanks stats... 517 in a day! Ouch.

Operation Vivaldi near Lyman demonstrated large-scale integration of ground robots in an offensive. The robots cleared mines, laid minefields, resupplied infantry, evacuated casualties and were flown behind Russian lines. The 3rd Army Corps also used robots armed with twin Bullspike launchers that fired into Russian shelters before detonating inside them. It's a pretty intense video.

A Geran-5 struck the internet, surveillance and satcom company DATAGROUP in Kiev. Several data centers in Kiev were also struck. The Russians are getting better at hitting deeper and targets that matter it seems.

The Novator armored vehicle saved the lives of two servicemen from the 81st Separate Slobozhanska Airmobile Brigade operating in the Sloviansk direction. The vehicle was hit by two FPV drones, one striking frontally and damaging the radiator while the second carried a shaped-charge warhead whose jet penetrated the armored capsule, passed through the seat and exited through the floor. Both servicemen survived and reached their destination. The vehicle has withstood nine FPV drone strikes and continues to serve with the Ukrainian military. You read that right, nine! This is going to have a huge impact on understanding survivability. Yes, it was hit, which is bad, but it survived, and the people inside survived. That's enormously useful data.

Ukrainian units ordered more than 590,000 drones through Brave1 Market in the first nine months of 2026 with the average monthly order value more than doubling since January. Interceptors lead demand while fixed-wing kamikaze UAVs grew fastest, six times the January rate at peak. Bomber drones take the largest share of spending. Units earn ePoints for confirmed hits, recon, and robotic logistics and evacuation then spend them on the tech they need. You can dig into the map of what is happening here.

An interesting video popped up of a Russian Geran-4 Seeker glided toward the target after shutting off its jet engine. It is still unclear whether this is a malfunction or an intentional way to approach more slowly and accurately. It could also be a way to reduce the heat/sound signature used by some tracking software. Interesting nonetheless. Drone Wars

Speaking of, a jet-powered Shahed drone was intercepted by the 1020th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment using the STING interceptor and Hornet Vision CTRL. The Rubin crew recorded the downing as its 1020th such engagement. That's good news, but I wonder what sort of tracking was used to get this close because the video is pretty bad. Thermal might be one way and this would make sense why you'd turn off your engines when you were close. Wild Hornets

I saw this video that shows some insane ghillie suits used by the Ukrainians. It was so good when I first looked at the video I wasn't even sure what I was looking at. This would be great in tree-lines as long as there was no thermal gear.

In European News, A brief video clip showed the extreme mobility of the Prinoth Panther vehicle. This is a pretty cool vehicle that I am assuming is designed for the swampy conditions in Ukraine during the springtime. With the big dump-truck attachment on top it would be able to do some heavy lifting of equipment/gear or earth moving.

Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US ambassador to Greece, met privately with leaders of Romania's Social Democratic Party in a Bucharest hotel on March 31st. Allegedly, six days later, the Social Democrats allied with the pro-Russian AUR party to file the motion that collapsed the government of Prime Minister Bolojan, which had opposed purchasing US gas above market prices. Sources told the Wall Street Journal that Guilfoyle later bragged about collapsing the Romanian government over its refusal to buy US gas and warned that the United States could do the same in Greece. It's unclear if that's true or not, but it does sound like we want to play hardball with the fact that the US still has some capacity to spare. Daractenus

Several men were detained near RAF Fairford airbase in the United Kingdom on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack. Counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation into the possible preparation of an attack. A newly surfaced photo reportedly showed five suspects lying handcuffed on the ground as armed police surrounded them after the major incident. The arrests are linked to an ongoing investigation into suspected explosives near the US-used air base. Mossad Commentary

World leaders from Canada, Australia, Germany, the EU, the UAE, and other countries signed a letter calling for AI control mechanisms based on Dario Amodei's essay. There is no meat behind this at the moment, but I suspect regulations will come soon enough, if history is any clue. MTS

In South East Asia News, I saw an interesting and subjective graph that says that China is no longer a theoretical challenge. I think it's a really clever way of thinking about this, even if some of it may be questionable.

In Middle East News, the aftermath of an IDF airstrike in Lebanon was captured on video earlier today. We are still seeing a lot of activity in Lebanon, although something kind of heartening was an arrest of a Hezbollah fighter by the Lebanese army. That is perhaps the beginning of a sea-change. I'm encouraged, but I think this will be a long road. Mossad Commentary

Iranian Army Chief General Hatami warned that if Iran cannot trade, if Iran cannot live, no one will be able to trade or live, declaring the Strait of Hormuz the strait of Iran's dignity and honor. This is something that is unique amongst them compared to the US where you will almost never find a general spouting policy that doesn't align with the regime. Almost as if to make his point the IRGC seized a U.S. Navy autonomous underwater vehicle in the strait using electronic warfare and over the past two nights, Iran's armed forces targeted 7 violating ships last night and 12 violating ships the night before.

Meanwhile, Iran informed the Trump administration that it will open the blocked Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States lifts its military blockade of Iranian ports. The senior Iranian government official who made the announcement also indicated that Iran’s crude oil exports have virtually halted because of the port blockade. Crude prices fell roughly three dollars per barrel on the news. The economic sanctions are working, and the longer we let them go the worse it will be for the military and the regime and they know it. Rory Johnston

Hormuz crude oil transits averaged 11.8 million barrels per day from September 19-25, representing 92% of pre-war levels, while more than 13.5 million barrels per day cleared the strait yesterday on a 7-day moving average. Yanbu loadings continue at approximately 2.5 million barrels per day, and Saudi PG flows reached 6 million barrels per day. Dozens of fuel tanker trucks have crossed from Syria to Iraq to ease the fuel crisis following the Iranian blockade. If that's true, that is really incredible, and shows that Iran's blockaide has proven ineffective against the US. LVision

The Pentagon confirmed high-energy lasers are downing drones in the Strait of Hormuz, with the Army awarding a nearly $500 million production contract for its Enduring-High Energy Laser system, the first-ever production deal for directed energy in US history. It's cool to see these being used successfully at sea in particular where the ships are rolling. That's a big accomplishment from a technical capability perspective, and has the advantage of not needing to resupply it's magazines of missiles to defend costal regions.

Ansarallah announced that the Yemeni Houthis struck sensitive sites in Riyadh and Aramco facilities in Yanbu with cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones. Saudi civil-defense alerts sounded across ten cities and provinces during the overnight barrage. NASA FIRMS data showed a fire burning for several hours at the Aramco Central Region Distribution facility near King Khalid International Airport. Drop Site

In North America News, Hurricane Polo reached triple Category 5 peak intensity. The storm produced sustained winds of 160 miles per hour and maintained a 26-mile-wide stadium effect with core pressure likely below 929 millibars. NOAA Hurricane Hunters recorded a surface wind gust of approximately 190 miles per hour inside the eyewall while a drone at 500 meters measured winds exceeding 230 miles per hour! 🤯

Some Hurricane Hunters captured footage from inside the eye of the system, which ranks among the strongest single storms on Earth at present. We should see these arcing north and then east towards Baja and then north into Texas most likely, but will weaken once they hit land. There are a few of these in the Pacific at the moment. Hot ocean temps create these monsters and it's been a pretty hot summer, although unusually quiet in the Atlantic ocean.

A poll examined five routes for Trump to leave office before the end of his term. Four of the five options drew support from a plurality of Democrats, including a military coup and death by natural causes, while an assassination option received support from 29 percent of respondents. Pretty nasty. Also, Trump and Republicans writ large have been polling especially weak due to the economy in particular, even amongst the middle aged male population who is traditionally some of their strongest voting base, largely to the failed economic policies and a near-complete lack of interest in what is going on in Iran or nuclear weapons they may have.

In Tech News, Space Launch Delta 45 is installing a directed-energy defense system at Cape Canaveral Spaceport to take down unauthorized drones as reported which apparently is becoming a bigger issue, and likely going to continue to be one with the cartels on our southern border and submarines on our coastlines. This video was interesting because you can see the distances and the equipment necessary to hit them. Still though, this does require some time to heat up the drone in question and line of sight to the target. C14 News | EN

OpenAI, Anthropic, and security researchers are investigating tens of thousands of incidents in which frontier models took steps that outside evaluators would consider problematic. Tens of thousands of incidents in which they didn't expect it to do whatever it did. That is not a good sign. In another report models interacted with other AI models. If one model thinks another can do it, it'll flip over and use that model to bypass it's own controls. Great. Great great great. Great.

As I saiid at the top of this newsletter, Jev has been all the talk of the town. However, people have been coming up with a lot of different takes for it. For instance, a developer recreated the core idea behind Jev in twenty-five lines of Python that run a tiny model locally with no API calls as reported. Granted, it's slow, but it "works" in the most strict sense. In other news, Jev can function as an embedder by creating cosine similarities between entities. Kinda cool.

A new Contrastive Language Model (CLM) called CLM-8B is pre-trained on internet-scale data and delivers up to 9× faster inference than Jev while achieving comparable performance across computer-use, gaming, and tool-calling tasks Introducing Contrastive Language Model (CLM): an ultra-fast System One Model trained with a contrastive learning objective that connects states and actions. With lightweight fine-tuning, CLM-8B sets a new SOTA on challenging agentic coding benchmarks, such as DeepSWE (81.6%) and Terminal-Bench 2.1 (87.6%), and researchers also establish scaling laws for CLMs and build efficient training and serving infrastructure by disaggregating states and actions.

Laya-MLX is an open-source classification system similar to Jev, ported to MLX with performance optimizations, running on-device with a maximum of 1G memory and playing Snake at a decision speed of 60 times per second. It occupies a maximum of 1G memory only on your device Laya is an open-source classification system similar to Jev, based on text output probabilities I ported it to MLX and made some performance optimizations!. 雨夹雪❄️

And you thought I was kidding that it was all about Jev this week! Welp, Kev-0.6B, 4B, and 8B are now available as a family of small open source Jev-like decision models based on Qwen3 using the same LoRA + small pointer head technique, with Kev-8B achieving 79.6% out of domain on data it never trained on compared to Jev's 85.7%, and Kev-4B serving on a 32 GB Mac in bf16 with ~300 ms for five questions. So cool! Jared Palmer

An actively exploited unknown critical Citrix NetScaler zero-day has prompted governments and organizations to shut down all their devices immediately Looks nasty, and given that it's on the perimeter and doesn't require auth, I'd take this one seriously. International Cyber Digest

A cool paper was shown that basically proves that a model trained to predict AI-written blog posts from structural features and discovered the shape of slop. It's cool for so very many reasons, including the fact that now we will be able to create automatic detectors for this kind of thing. Even if their code is not very good at the moment, at scale, I know the big search engines are going to implement something like this and punish sites that only use LLMs to product bulk output. In fact that came up this week that it's already happening with companies that use mass AI document builders. The search engines are already starting to punish them. It falls under a "scaled content abuse" rule that Google has had for a long time. A list of thirty-seven mistakes companies make with AI transformation was posted. I'd add the 38th here... do not write thousands of new blog posts a day with AI.

Google will launch TPUs aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 next week to test orbital AI data centers. The payload will evaluate whether data-center hardware can operate in space TPUs aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. We're finally here, ladies and gents. We'll see the future of dyson swarms of datacenters or... not. Granted the cost to get these up is enormous but it's also something that might make a ton of sense if they can get the power utilization and lifetime up high enough. God help you if you brick the machines though! Lol. Speaking as someone who has bricked quite a few machines in my day, and even caused one to catch fire, I can tell you it does happen.

Meta unveiled new VR glasses priced at $1,299 and scheduled for spring 2027 new VR glasses priced at $1,299. The 100-gram device houses displays and sensors in the frames while a separate puck holds the processor, battery, and storage. It features 5K micro-OLED panels at 37 pixels per degree, custom pancake lenses, Dolby Vision and Atmos support, and full-color passthrough cameras. The glasses run on a Snapdragon Reality Elite chip, offer up to three hours of high-resolution playback, support 45-watt charging, and integrate Meta AI with voice, eye tracking, and hand gestures. They are the first IMAX Enhanced-certified VR product and include partnerships with Disney+, Prime Video, YouTube, DIRECTV, AMC+, Crunchyroll, Plex, ESPN, and Tubi. I still am not sure if this thing will act as a screen mirroring tool so that I can work on a plane without bugging other people or not, but that would be the killer app.

Speaking of Meta... Meta's AI assistant Muse, which was announced last week also exported an entire Linux filesystem including SSH keys when a user requested file export. The incident showed the assistant following instructions literally without additional safeguards. This is an easy mistake to make and it needs to have some pretty high level of access to install tools for you, so I get how they'd run into problems here, but still, this has got to be one of the very first things you'd want to protect against. It's not like the SSH keys are useful by themselves because you can't log into the remote hosts without an open port, but it's still not great, because you could potentially pivot from one machine to another.

All WordPress installations require an immediate update because of a remote code execution vulnerability rated 9.2 CVE that affects versions back to 2016 remote code execution vulnerability rated 9.2 CVE. Ever since the new version popped up there have been a number of vulns in WordPress core, which is typically rather rare. Guess this new version is quite different! And not in a good way. 😆

A framework called SPAR groups AI safety into security, privacy, alignment, and reliability. The approach treats these attributes as complementary elements rather than competing priorities. There is no reason to be throwing security out just because it didn't work when you misconfigured it, and yet that is what all of the big labs are saying at the moment. Nathan Hamiel

A kinda of cool idea popped up about a company called Space, which is an "infinite" filesystem that streams files to a laptop once mounted, allows direct cloud work without downloads, supports native app and agent access, and permits shared drives across devices and teams. This seems cool, but I am holding out hope that UOR will do this and more for free.

Google released LangExtract, an open-source document extraction tool offered at no cost. It is described as outperforming enterprise tools that cost up to $100,000 and now it's free. I see this happening in a lot of areas. Things that use to cost money are now free. It is one way that AI really is speeding up the value of online work, by reducing cost. Matt Dancho (Business Science)

Users can claim a credit to run cloud-based Claude code by following the link provided or running /claim-credit in the CLI before the deadline of Oct 7, with GitHub connected to start a session Follow the link below to claim the credit or run /claim-credit in the CLI. You’ll need GitHub connected to start a session. Claim by Oct 7 if you want to try it.

NVIDIA's new Nemotron 3 Diarization model with 100M parameters tracks who spoke when, even when voices overlap, and handles up to eight speakers, now available on Hugging Face. When several people talk at once, a transcript can get messy fast. The new Nemotron 3 Diarization model tracks who spoke when, even when voices overlap. It handles up to eight speakers. Pretty cool! 👍 NVIDIA AI

Phantom-KV is a refusal-removal system for large language models that doesn't touch a single weight and instead, it loads a small, learned bank of key/value tensors into the model's KV cache as context, making uncensoring a per-request, hot-swappable capability mode. So theoretically if you like an older model or one no one has bothered to uncensor you can do it yourself.

VAULT is a new storage system based on Gridfinity that can be 3D printed at home, is expandable, and addresses storage needs for woodworking and maker labs. Best of all, people can 3D print it at home. Christmas is coming folks! Linus ✦ Ekenstam

It is now becoming possible to automatically decrypt and statically analyze iOS App Store apps, making static API keys and other hardcoded credentials likely to be discovered in the near term. It is an example of how obscurity is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. It also means access to binaries is enough. No need for the original source code.

Okay, onto the articles!

Geopolitics

New studies suggest that Saturn's moon Enceladus may harbor conditions suitable for life, with evidence indicating it's easier to analyze ocean samples beneath its icy surface than previously thought. Microorganisms that could potentially survive in Enceladus' extreme conditions have also been identified, increasing the likelihood of discovering biosignatures in future space missions to the moon.

Research indicates Enceladus may be more supportive of life than previously assumed.
Future space missions could effectively analyze ice particles for signs of extraterrestrial life.

[RSnake: Interesting. If one day we do find life anywhere in the solar system it is likely to be cellular at best, but the real question is how it would have gotten there. Evolve independently or transpermia?]

Source: https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/presse/informationen/fup/2026/fup_26_116-enceladus-cassini-mikroben-science-postberg/index.html

In Ekurhuleni, South Africa, the police have found the bodies of 10 women over recent months, leading to speculation about a potential serial killer. The local authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths, which are part of a broader context of high rates of gender-based violence and homicide in the country.

Ten women's bodies have been discovered in Ekurhuleni, South Africa.
The local police are investigating the possibility of a serial killer due to similarities in the cases.

[RSnake: Oof, that's no good. That said there is a lot of domestic violence in South Africa.]

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3vgyyj8q807o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

The humanitarian situation in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, Kherson Oblast, is critical, with reports of starving residents resorting to eating grass for survival. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has called for international organizations to provide humanitarian access and facilitate evacuations, holding Russia accountable for the deteriorating conditions.

Oleshky faces a critical humanitarian crisis due to lack of food and essential supplies.
Ukrainian officials are urging international aid organizations to intervene and assist civilians.

[RSnake: And here I thought Russia was liberating them! But in all seriousness... this is the down side of destroying supply lines.]

Source: https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/09/26/8055161/

Many countries are increasingly adopting Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), which could transform the relationship between individuals and financial systems by allowing states to impose controls over personal transactions. Cash usage has declined significantly, with a growing reliance on digital payment systems that link expenditures to personal identities, thus enhancing governmental surveillance capabilities. The implications of this shift raise fundamental questions about privacy, freedom, and economic autonomy as digital currencies could restrict spending based on governmental programming.

Over 130 countries are exploring or implementing CBDCs, changing the nature of monetary transactions.
The decline of cash usage raises concerns about the implications of financial surveillance and state control over individual economic decisions.

[RSnake: I am of mixed opinions on centralized digital currencies for a lot of privacy and security reasons, and yes, I know the irony in that having a credit card, a bank card, etc.]

Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/prepping-cashless-control-grid-how-digital-currency-becomes-digital-control

Tensions are escalating between the U.S. and China as both countries engage in a competitive race for advancements in artificial intelligence, with implications for national security. China is reportedly using advanced AI models to gather intelligence on U.S. naval movements and may share this information with adversarial nations, raising the stakes in geopolitical conflicts. Concerns around AI technology also include potential risks posed by rogue AI systems and the regulatory landscape that could shape future developments in the industry.

China is leveraging advanced AI to track U.S. naval assets and potentially coordinate attacks with Iran.
The U.S. and China are in an intense competition over AI technology, which has significant implications for national security.
There are concerns regarding potential rogue AI systems and the impact of regulation on the future of AI development.

[RSnake: I heard that Trump wants everyone in the military to start referring to it as super intelligence. I wonder what the impetus for that is, especially because a lot of the most useful generative models are actually small language models and not exactly "super" at anything other than the one task they were designed for.]

Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/rickards-real-ai-not-super-intelligence-its-china

Cybersecurity

The ShinyHunters extortion gang has developed a technique to exploit a zero-day vulnerability in Oracle PeopleSoft servers, allowing them to bypass web application firewalls and steal data. Google reported that this new method has led to widespread attacks on various sectors, including education, healthcare, and government organizations, and prompts urgent security updates from Oracle to remediate the issue.

ShinyHunters is exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Oracle PeopleSoft servers to conduct data-theft attacks.
A new technique allows attackers to bypass web application firewalls, increasing the risk for organizations that have yet to apply security updates.
The attacks have targeted various sectors, leading to ongoing recommendations from Google and Mandiant for urgent remediation.

[RSnake: Mm... did they develop it or buy it? I am going to go out on a limb and say that it is far more likely someone sold it to them.]

Source: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/shinyhunters-uses-waf-bypass-trick-in-oracle-peoplesoft-attacks/

Two third-party GitHub Actions that were previously compromised in a malware campaign were re-enabled, allowing workflows to download malicious code for over a week before being disabled again. The malware, part of the Mini Shai-Hulud supply-chain attack, targets developers' tokens and credentials, posing a significant risk to those relying on these actions. Developers are advised to remove affected actions or pin verified clean commits to mitigate the risks.

GitHub Actions were re-enabled with malicious payloads still active after prior compromise.
The Mini Shai-Hulud attack targeted developers' tokens and credentials.
Developers are advised to remove or pin these actions to avoid exposure.

[RSnake: Supply chain attacks are going to be a hot mess in this vibe-coded world where anything can be installed by any company anywhere.]

Source: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/github-actions-re-enabled-with-mini-shai-hulud-payload-still-active/

Old-school credit card scams continue to persist, with criminals using techniques such as mailing fake credit cards and phishing letters that appear legitimate. The rise of these scams is attributed to the high cost-effectiveness and the continual use of magnetic stripe cards, which remain vulnerable to skimmers. With financial fraud losses in the U.S. exceeding $1 billion annually, both classic and new methods are employed by thieves to exploit unsuspecting victims.

Criminals are utilizing mail-based scams, including fake credit card offers, to exploit victims.
Financial losses due to credit card skimming and fraud have reached over $1 billion in the U.S. each year.

[RSnake: Sure, because it works. Why would the adversary want to change anything when things are still working just as they planned?]

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/kernel-panic-old-timey-credit-card-scams/

A directory named Kitploit offers a collection Purple-Team-Automation tools, which aims to automate adversary emulation against Active Directory environments to validate detection coverage. This toolset leverages frameworks like Caldera and Sigma, facilitating a comprehensive approach to validating security defenses against realistic attack scenarios.

Kitploit serves as a resource for cybersecurity professionals to access various tools for vulnerability testing.
Purple-Team-Automation assists in validating security measures using automated adversary simulations.

[RSnake: Might be worth taking a look at to integrate with agentic workflows.]

Source: https://kitploit.com/en/tools/github/joshuagodwin7929/purple-team-automation

Technology

A new platform called DeepSeek Elastic Compute (DSec) has been introduced to support large-scale agentic training with large language models. This platform enables the creation of efficient sandbox environments for diverse workloads and enhances resource management in AI training processes.

DSec provides a unified SDK that allows for the management of various sandbox backends.
The platform supports high-density execution and can create millions of sandboxes daily.

[RSnake: Be extremely careful with these platforms. I think what will (definitely) come out at some point is how many of these companies are training off the data they receive even when they claim they don't. But the thing is, it's provable with unique email addresses, URLs, etc.]

Source: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.22978

Markdown is becoming the preferred format for large language models, replacing JSON due to its efficiency and better alignment with model training. Many data providers are now offering APIs that return responses in Markdown, significantly reducing token usage and improving readability for AI systems. As a result, the infrastructure for AI is evolving to optimize for machine readability, indicating a shift in how data is structured and consumed by models.

Markdown format reduces token costs significantly compared to JSON.
Data providers are adopting Markdown to enhance model performance and simplify parsing.

[RSnake: Markdown is great until you need it structured, and then forget it. This is why Jev is the new hotness - purely structured outputs are highly token efficient and less prone to breakage and hallucinations. They can be wrong, but that's different.]

Source: https://thenextweb.com/news/markdown-default-language-search-data-ai-models

VPN technology is evolving to address the changing landscape of internet connectivity, with users shifting between various networks and devices throughout the day. This evolution includes the integration of eSIM technology with VPN services to streamline mobile data access and privacy, reflecting a trend towards making protective connectivity more seamless and less disruptive for users.

VPNs are adapting to support users' need for connectivity across multiple networks and devices.
The integration of eSIM technology with VPNs is creating a more streamlined experience for mobile data users.

[RSnake: Just your regular reminder that many VPN companies are owned/run/managed by nation states. Like almost all of them. And ones that aren't friendly to the US.]

Source: https://thenextweb.com/news/gnuvpn-vpns-connectivity-layer-esim

Hollywood studios are increasingly seeking film graduates with skills in AI video tools, moving towards educational partnerships to fill this talent gap. Institutions like NYU and USC are now offering courses featuring Runway's AI tools, while major tech companies like Google and OpenAI are also engaging in training filmmakers. The demand for AI proficiency is growing as studios integrate more AI into their production processes.

Studios prefer hiring graduates skilled in AI video tools over training existing staff.
Educational institutions are now incorporating AI tools into filmmaking courses.

[RSnake: Good... It only took them a few years to catch up. Funny thing is I have a producer buddy who was fighting me on this for a long time and now he's working on mainstream Hollywood feature films/docos that use AI heavily. Oh how I hate to say "I told you so," but....]

Source: https://thenextweb.com/news/hollywood-film-schools-ai-talent-runway

The Russian Ministry of Education has approved guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence in schools, specifying that AI is prohibited during tests and assessments. In lower grades, AI is not permitted, while in middle and high school, its use is allowed with teacher consent for information retrieval and project work.

Russian schools have new regulations regarding artificial intelligence use.
AI will not be allowed in tests, while controlled use is permitted in higher grades.

[RSnake: Probably a good idea. We should do the same at any accredited school in the US.]

Source: https://serp.mk.ru/social/2026/09/27/shkolnikam-serpukhova-razyasnili-pravila-ispolzovaniya-neyrosetey.html

Business

Google's AI data center project in Andhra Pradesh, India, has received environmental clearance for 2.51GW of power capacity, more than double the initially announced figure. Villagers affected by the project report that promised compensation and jobs have not materialized, and several legal actions have been initiated regarding land use and environmental impacts.

The AI hub will substantially increase local power capacity and aims to create jobs.
Local residents are facing challenges regarding land acquisition and compensation from the project.

[RSnake: Making friends all over the place!]

Source: https://thenextweb.com/news/google-india-ai-datacentre-andhra-pradesh-land

Three Vietnamese clothing manufacturers, connected to the sanctioned Chinese company Esquel, exported at least $5 million worth of cotton products to the United States despite the sanctions imposed due to allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang. Esquel’s connections with the Vietnamese factories may lead U.S. customs to view these manufacturers as part of its ecosystem, with substantial business ties apparent through prior branding and shared ownership structures. Major international retailers, including Muji and Rodd & Gunn, have confirmed sourcing from these factories, which reportedly have ongoing audits planned in response to the situation.

Vietnamese factories exported $5 million worth of clothing to the U.S. despite sanctions on Esquel.
These factories had prior branding connections to Esquel, indicating a close corporate relationship.
International retailers have confirmed sourcing from the factories involved in this situation.

[RSnake: It's a tiny amount in reality, but it's also clear that we have a pretty big leak when it comes to these other countries laundering Chinese products and goods.]

Source: https://www.mk.ru/social/2026/09/27/vetnamskie-fabriki-pomogli-podsankcionnoy-firme-postavlyat-odezhdu-v-ssha.html

The IRS has identified approximately $100 billion in loans from COVID-19 relief programs as potential fraud, following a review of discrepancies between loan applications and tax filings. The Small Business Administration had previously referred over $200 billion in suspected fraudulent loans to the IRS, estimating that around 20% of pandemic relief funds might have been obtained through fraud. Consequently, a significant crackdown on this fraud is underway, with the federal government poised to impose penalties on those found culpable.

The IRS is investigating $100 billion in suspected fraudulent loans related to COVID-19 relief.
The Small Business Administration estimates that about 20% of pandemic relief funds were potentially misappropriated.

[RSnake: That makes sense. We actually returned our loan at Bit Discovery when we saw the hidden terms and realized how hard it would be to explain the need in a way that wasn't just total BS. So we ended up giving every penny back immediately without touching it. I bet a lot of other companies were a lot less ethical/diligent.]

Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/irs-probing-100-billion-potential-covid-19-loan-fraud

Larry Ellison has pledged significant additional Oracle stock as collateral to support a $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount, which is now close to finalizing the deal after settling legal challenges. This move comes amid a decline in Oracle's stock price and record high credit default swaps, indicating increased risk concerning the company's financial obligations.

Larry Ellison has pledged $9 billion in Oracle stock to fund the acquisition of Warner Bros. by Paramount.
Oracle's stock price has dropped significantly, leading to heightened concerns about its financial stability.
The deal includes substantial funding from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds.

[RSnake: This is probably a very good deal for him, because the stock might crater if the AI bubble bursts but entertainment has no such bubble to burst.]

Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/ellison-pledges-9-billion-more-oracle-stock-fund-warner-bros-deal-price-tumbles-cds-hits

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