Windows Telemetry Cracks a Hacker Case, China Flags Claude Code and AI’s Cognitive Surrender
Windows Telemetry Cracked a Case His VPN Couldn’t Hide
A new court filing shows Microsoft’s Global Device Identifier (GDID) helped trace an alleged Scattered Spider hacker despite his VPN, according to The Hacker News. Notably, the GDID is a persistent, per-installation Windows telemetry ID. As a result, it let the FBI and Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation follow his trail. Peter Stokes, a 19-year-old dual US-Estonian citizen, allegedly went by the alias “Bouquet.” He was later extradited from Finland and arrested carrying two 2TB hard drives. Additionally, he faces charges including conspiracy, computer intrusion and fraud in the Northern District of Illinois, per the Department of Justice.
Investigators allege his GDID connected the exact same minute as an intrusion into a luxury jewelry retailer. Meanwhile, attackers breached the retailer May 12-15, 2025 via vishing and MFA-reset social engineering. In total, they exfiltrated roughly 77GB at about $2 million in cost. The same ID also linked to an ngrok signup page and to his personal Snapchat, Apple and Facebook accounts. Furthermore, investigators accessed those device-linked accounts from IP addresses in Tallinn, Estonia, New York and Thailand. Ultimately, those locations matched his own State Department travel records, Tom’s Hardware reports.
China escalates the AI trust war with a formal “backdoor” advisory
China’s National Vulnerability Database (NVDB) issued a formal advisory alleging Anthropic’s Claude Code contains a “backdoor,” Reuters reports. Meanwhile, the NVDB operates under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. According to the advisory, the backdoor can transmit users’ location and identity-related data to remote servers without consent. Specifically, it names Claude Code versions 2.1.91 through 2.1.196.
A distributed Git network built for the AI-agent era
Former GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke has unveiled Entire, a distributed Git network for the AI-agent era, DevOps.com reports. Essentially, it aims to solve the version-control bottlenecks created by autonomous AI coding agents. In addition, the company raised $60 million in seed funding at a $300 million valuation.
AI didn’t steal your thinking — you handed it over
In a new op-ed, Techstrong Group CEO Alan Shimel argues that AI isn’t degrading critical thinking, per Techstrong.ai. Instead, he says, AI amplifies habits people already had.
Hosts: Alan Shimel, Mike Vizard
Guests: Mitch Ashley, Tom Hollingsworth, Jack Gold, Fred Wilmot
