Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai

@[email protected]
8.6K Followers
1.8K Following
1.3K Posts

Real-time cyber historian of the late capitalist era @TechCrunch, writing about the intersection of hackers, human rights, and spies.

Also writing a book about Hacking Team and the history of government spyware.

Posts about infosec, surveillance by day. 🍕, ⚽️, 🎸, 🎮 by night. 


☎️ Signal: +1 917 257 1382

💻 Keybase/Telegram: @ lorenzofb

✉️ [email protected]


Previously: VICE Motherboard, Mashable, WIRED's Danger Room.

Twitterhttps://twitter.com/lorenzofb
Personal Sitehttps://lorenzofb.com
PronounsHe/him
Searchable viatootfinder
TechCrunchhttps://techcrunch.com/author/lorenzo-franceschi-bicchierai/
Show threadLorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai16m ago

I just updated this story with details from Google's lawsuit complaint, which included a lot of fascinating details on how the operation worked behind the scenes.

Court document here: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28239704-google-v-outsider-enterprise-complaint/

google-v-outsider-enterprise-complaint

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai3h ago

NEW: Google has filed a lawsuit against an alleged AI-powered massive cybercrime operation it calls Outsider Enterprise.

The operation sent 2.5 million scam texts to Android users in a two week period, according to Google.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/12/google-sues-alleged-chinese-cybercrime-operation-that-used-ai-to-send-scam-texts/

Google sues alleged Chinese cybercrime operation that used AI to send scam texts | TechCrunch

The tech giant said a group called "Outsider Enterprise" used AI to scam hundreds of thousands of victims, sending 2.5 million text messages over a span of two weeks.

TechCrunch
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai6h ago
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai1d ago

NEW: Oracle is warning customers of an unpatched bug in its PeopleSoft software, which Google says is the flaw that the cybercrime group ShinyHunters is exploiting in its latest mass hacking campaign. 

Google said it notified more than 100 organizations worldwide that they had exposed and vulnerable PeopleSoft servers, most of them colleges and universities. 

https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/11/oracle-warns-of-security-bug-that-hackers-abused-to-breach-100-companies/

Oracle warns of security bug that hackers abused to breach 100+ companies | TechCrunch

The tech giant warned of a security flaw that a cybercrime gang said it's exploiting as part of a mass-hacking campaign. Google said it notified more than 100 organizations that had potentially vulnerable servers.

TechCrunch
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai1d ago

NEW: Oracle is warning customers of an unpatched bug in its PeopleSoft software, which Google says is the flaw that the cybercrime group ShinyHunters is exploiting in its latest mass hacking campaign. 

Google said it notified more than 100 organizations worldwide that they had exposed and vulnerable PeopleSoft servers, most of them colleges and universities. 

https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/11/oracle-warns-of-security-bug-that-hackers-abused-to-breach-100-companies/

Oracle warns of security bug that hackers abused to breach 100+ companies | TechCrunch

The tech giant warned of a security flaw that a cybercrime gang said it's exploiting as part of a mass-hacking campaign. Google said it notified more than 100 organizations that had potentially vulnerable servers.

TechCrunch
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai1d ago
If you're bored, this website shows you random exposed webcams all over the world. https://stumbletv.alec.is/c/38c16f28687f1a55
Manchester, United States · StumbleTV

Watching Manchester, United States on StumbleTV.

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai1d ago

NEW: Cybercrime group ShinyHunters claimed to have hacked into more than 100 organizations' Oracle PeopleSoft servers, including several universities.

The hackers said they stole student data, including home addresses, phone numbers, emails, and dates of birth.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/10/cybercriminals-claim-breach-of-oracle-peoplesoft-servers-at-100-plus-organizations/

Cybercriminals claim breach of Oracle PeopleSoft servers at 100-plus organizations | TechCrunch

The ShinyHunters hacking gang claims to have compromised the Oracle PeopleSoft servers of more than 100 organizations, including many universities.

TechCrunch
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2d ago

NEW: Cybersecurity researchers are not happy about the guardrails on Anthropic’s new model Fable.

Researchers say that the new LLM basically blocks anything related to cybersecurity, including code reviews and prompts asking for help writing secure code.

“[Fable] rejects any request that could be tangentially cyber related. Even innocuous tasks like reading a blog post,” said one researcher.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/10/cybersecurity-researchers-arent-happy-about-the-guardrails-on-anthropics-fable/

Cybersecurity researchers aren't happy about the guardrails on Anthropic's Fable | TechCrunch

Cybersecurity researchers are complaining that Anthropic's new model Fable has guardrails that are too strict for any cybersecurity work.

TechCrunch
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2d ago
Zack Whittaker2d ago

New, by me: ServiceNow appears to have notified some enterprise customers that there was outside access to their data, after a security bug left instances exposed to the web.

The company has hidden its notice behind a login wall, but was shared by network defenders on Reddit.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/10/servicenow-tells-customers-a-bug-left-some-of-their-data-exposed-to-the-internet/

ServiceNow tells customers a bug left some of their data exposed to the internet | TechCrunch

ServiceNow is used by thousands of enterprises to automate their internal processes, but says several customers had data accessed because of a security bug.

TechCrunch
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai4d ago

NEW: WhatsApp said it caught and disrupted a new hacking campaign by NSO Group against its users.

The Meta-owned messaging giant said this phishing campaign violates a court decision that ordered NSO to stop targeting WhatsApp and its users. WhatsApp is seeking to hold NSO in contempt of court because of this violation.    

https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/08/whatsapp-says-it-caught-new-spyware-attacks-linked-to-nso-group-in-violation-of-court-order/

WhatsApp says it caught new spyware attacks linked to NSO Group in violation of court order | TechCrunch

The messaging giant announced that it disrupted a phishing campaign targeting its users with NSO’s spyware.

TechCrunch
Lorenzo Franceschi-BicchieraiJun 5

NEW: A former cybersecurity executive turned whistleblower accused IBM of getting breached three times and trying to cover up the hacks.

IBM was “routinely hacked by foreign state actors and others,” and data was frequently stolen and government agencies were “never notified,” he said in a lawsuit.

http://techcrunch.com/2026/06/05/former-cyber-executive-turned-whistleblower-accuses-ibm-of-covering-up-several-data-breaches/

Former cyber executive turned whistleblower accuses IBM of covering up several data breaches | TechCrunch

IBM and two of its subsidiary companies were allegedly breached during the mid-2010s — a lawsuit filed by a former cybersecurity executive accuses IBM of not disclosing and actively covering it up.

TechCrunch