Technology

Hacking group Cl0p has claimed to have stolen data from roughly 50 companies including Shell, Philips, Fiserv, and GE by exploiting CVE-2026-12569, a critical remote code execution vulnerability in PTC's Windchill and FlexPLM products that researchers believe was used as a zero-day in early June. The claimed volumes of 89GB from Shell and 13.5GB from Philips remain unverified, and company responses range from active investigation to reports of no confirmed data compromise. PTC has released patches across multiple product versions, and CISA added the vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog in June, making patch status the most actionable item for organizations running affected PTC software.

A phishing attack in early 2026 gave an unauthorized party access to a subset of Intuitive Surgical's internal business applications, exposing some employee, customer, and corporate data. The company completed an independent review by June 2026, reported no instances of fraud or identity theft, and concluded no additional regulatory disclosures were required. The number of affected individuals was not published, no Form 8-K was filed under the SEC's cybersecurity incident item, and the company's assertion that clinical systems and hospital networks were unaffected rests solely on its own reporting with no independent forensic verification located.

Apple filed a three-tier commission proposal on August 13, 2026, covering purchases made through external links in iOS apps, but the district court has not approved any fee and Apple cannot charge one until it does. The proposal is notable because Apple's own filing acknowledges that applying the Ninth Circuit's strict necessary-costs standard would produce a 0 percent charge. Epic has 60 days to submit legal analysis before a hearing determines what rate, if any, is permissible.

On August 13, 2026, Judge James Donato directed Google to make three specific changes to Google Play: returning rival app stores in standard search results, removing a dedicated intermediary landing page, and replacing a 'view' button with an 'install' button on the third-party store notice screen. Verbal reports from the hearing indicate a one-week compliance deadline, placing the target date at August 20, though the written Civil Minutes do not specify that date. The ruling is an implementation order under the existing October 2024 permanent injunction and does not alter the underlying framework requiring Google to grant third-party Android stores access to the Play catalog.

Industry sources cited by ZDNet Korea report Samsung is internally considering repurposing its NRD-K Line 2 facility at Giheung from R&D to a 2nm foundry line for HBM5 base dies, with a second-half 2028 opening target. No equipment orders have been placed, no customer commitments have been disclosed, and Samsung has not confirmed the plan in any regulatory filing or official release. The report positions Samsung on a potential internally supplied 2nm path for HBM5, while competitor SK hynix has already formally announced it will use TSMC's advanced logic process for its HBM4 base die.