Developer accidentally published the private chat tool
Also massive API key leaks and orbiting Soviet junk

The "Secure" Channel with a Mandatory Compliance BCC

Security researcher Micah Lee completed a technical analysis of the obscure, unofficial Signal clone that US Representative Mike Waltz was photographed using to message former President Donald Trump's officials. It turns out the app, imaginatively named "TM Signal," was not just a clone; it was a clone that included a special feature to automatically forward copies of every message to an archival server. It is the digital equivalent of a water cooler chat that has to be carbon copied to compliance for "regulatory reasons."

The goal was a secure communication channel that was also, you know, available for institutional review, which fundamentally misunderstands the entire point of an end-to-end encrypted messaging application. This is not a sophisticated hack; it is just someone in IT thinking the most complicated encryption protocol in the world needed a "Save To Sharepoint" button. When the goal is secrecy but the requirement is evidence, the easiest solution is apparently to duct tape a keylogger onto the privacy tool and call it a feature upgrade.

Elon Musk's Intern Finds the Shared Drive Credentials

A developer at xAI, the company founded by Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, accidentally leaked an API key that granted access to private internal Large Language Models (LLMs) used by both SpaceX and Tesla. The developer was merely trying to build something cool; the process involved leaving the credentials in a publicly accessible script. This is what happens when you treat security like a pop-up you can dismiss on a Tuesday morning.

The leaked key reportedly gave the ability to query models trained on internal corporate data. That data probably includes sensitive information like "when the next rocket is going to explode" and "which car color is the least profitable." It is the corporate version of leaving your entire vault of proprietary schematics in a transparent briefcase next to the breakroom vending machine, only the briefcase is a line of code and the breakroom is the global internet.

Apple Relaxes the Mini-Bar Pricing on Its Digital Hotel

After a prolonged legal saga that should have been solved by a mandatory 90-day offsite training retreat, Apple has updated its App Store guidelines to allow US-based developers to direct customers to external purchasing mechanisms. For years, mentioning the existence of a cheaper option was a violation punishable by banishment to the corporate doghouse.

Apple is still maintaining its proprietary in-app purchase system, but at least now developers can tell customers there is a perfectly good convenience store across the street instead of forcing them to use the extremely expensive lobby vending machine. This is a massive policy shift that only occurred after several governments and courts got involved; clearly, the internal memo writing process took a little longer than planned.

Briefs

• Regulatory Oversight: The Irish privacy watchdog fined TikTok €530 million over data transfers to China. That is the corporate equivalent of an HR memo that says, "Please stop emailing the entire company's sensitive payroll data to unverified foreign domains."
• Uncontrolled Re-Entry: An old, decommissioned Soviet Venus descent craft is nearing re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. This is not a national security threat; it is just a former superpower leaving its unmanaged electronic waste in orbit for everyone else to worry about.
• Document Standards: An Ars Technica report reminds everyone, including all necessary legal counsel, to not watermark legal PDFs with purple dragons in suits. If your proprietary branding is getting confused with a bad fantasy novel cover, you have done something terribly wrong.