The Global Hits of the IT Privacy and Security Weekly update for the week ending February 10th., 2026

Episode 278 In this week's global update:A sprawling, year-long espionage campaign quietly turned government networks in 37 countries into a global listening post for a still-unattributed state-backed actor.Russian inspector spacecraft are no longer just loitering in orbit, they are now close enough to eavesdrop on, and potentially tamper with, Europe’s most critical communications satellites.Anthropic’s latest AI model has kicked off a new chapter in defensive security by autonomously uncovering hundreds of serious flaws hiding in widely used open-source software.Moltbook promised a glimpse of a self-aware bot society, but instead became a masterclass in hype, human puppeteers, and painfully bad security hygiene.Under sweeping new federal rules, US automakers are racing to surgically remove Chinese software from connected vehicles before geopolitical risk collides with the modern car’s codebase.Waymo’s testimony revealed that when its driverless cars get confused, the call for help may be answered half a world away, raising new questions about safety, sovereignty, and accountability.Years after being jailed mid-engagement, two Iowa courthouse pentesters have finally won a six-figure settlement, alongside a chilling warning that future testers may not be so lucky.Coinbase’s latest insider incident is a particularly pointed reminder that the real damage often comes not from nation-state hackers, but from overprivileged humans already inside the system.Let's hit it!Find a full transcript to this week's podcast here.