Claude Code backdoor; Anthropic backs crawler opt-out — SkimNews
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- Arrowspace S1 offers camera-assisted bit selection and automatic torque on Kickstarter for $79, or $129 with 52 illuminated bits; its earliest stated shipping date is April 2027.link ›
- Google Suncatcher launched a prototype on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 with four TPUs; DeepMind’s Gemma 4 generated the first AI poem from a satellite-based data center.link ›
- The UK Home Office aims to cut asylum-review time by about an hour with tools built on GPT-4 and Microsoft Foundry, but Open Rights Group found error rates above the reported 9% and no policy-search quality control.link ›
- Apple shipped iOS 27.2 and macOS Golden Gate 27.2 with new Siri AI features, five iPhone additions and a new Music logo.link ›
- Anthropic already supports the shared robots.txt policy token; OpenAI says “coming months,” while Google and Microsoft say next year and separately say opted-out sites remain searchable.link ›
- Claude Code 2.1.313 ran injected JavaScript before the legitimate extension activated, dropping a persistent SSH implant across macOS, Linux and Windows that opened a reverse tunnel to 134.209.82[.]225.link ›
- Cursor removed version 2.1.313 and the associated NPM and VSCode packages after Phorion confirmed the compromise; the implant’s macOS privilege flaw blocked standard-user Remote Login.link ›
- Stanford researchers used AI to complete an engineering project in under half a day for under $500; three experts had previously needed five months manually.link ›
Claude Code’s compromised 2.1.313 release turned an AI coding tool into a direct path to developers’ source code. Phorion found that the official Claude Code for VS Code extension on Cursor Marketplace executed injected JavaScript before the legitimate code and dropped a persistent SSH implant across macOS, Linux and Windows. The payload opened a reverse SSH tunnel using an embedded private key; Cursor removed the extension and its associated NPM and VSCode packages after confirming the compromise. A macOS logic flaw blocked the Remote Login attempt under standard user rights, but machines with Remote Login already enabled—or later configured for it—remained exposed. One poisoned release put internal systems within an attacker’s reach. That is the bill for trusting AI tools at machine speed.
The stories behind this week
This electric screwdriver uses a camera and AI to figure out what bit you needFor DIY users, the $79 standalone option includes automated bit selection and torque setting, while the $129 bundle supplies 52 illuminated bits. That reduces the trial-and-error behind a stated risk of stripped screws, but buyers wait until at least April 2027, and the claimed 900-screw runtime changes when torque is raised manually.
Google's AI satellite writes poetry in orbitGoogle’s in-orbit AI test shifts high-performance computing closer to space infrastructure, where radiation resilience and power constraints directly impact reliability. The success of TPUs in space could reduce reliance on ground-based data centers for time-sensitive satellite operations, altering how future space missions handle data processing—especially as both Google and SpaceX depend on Starship’s reusability to scale.
UK Watchdog May Probe Home Office AI Use in Asylum CasesAsylum applicants face potential harm from unverified AI summaries that may contain errors or bias, while the Home Office’s non-disclosure violates transparency rules and risks breaching data rights laws—undermining public trust in a system already under legal scrutiny.
Tech Life: PHP Crisis, AI Avatar and Supercomputer Q&APHP’s sudden jump from tech-world obscurity to much wider recognition in a week is the material change: newly discovered vulnerabilities made the acronym relevant beyond specialist circles. Tech Life’s insider-led treatment gives that broader public a direct account of the crisis rather than only encountering the acronym.
Apple Ships 27.2 With Siri AI and New Music LogoFor iPhone and Mac users, the 27.2 cycle puts new Siri AI features in both platform releases. iPhone users also receive five highlighted features and a Music logo change, making the phone release broader than the Siri additions alone.
OpenAI, Google, Microsoft Back Shared Scraping Opt-OutFor publishers, the practical gain is replacing company-by-company opt-outs with one robots.txt preference. Anthropic already supports it, OpenAI plans implementation in the “coming months,” and Google and Microsoft say next year; their existing controls also leave ordinary search visibility intact.
Backdoored Claude Code Extension Drops SSH ImplantDevelopers using the compromised extension unknowingly granted attackers a pathway to long-term access to source code and internal systems. The flaw in the macOS SSH check reduced immediate risk, but machines with Remote Login already enabled—or those later configured to allow it—remained exposed, turning a trusted AI coding tool into a potential breach vector.
AI Boosts Formal Code Verification StartupsFormal verification could drastically reduce software vulnerabilities in critical systems, but its expansion hinges on whether AI can overcome high costs and talent shortages. With startups raising hundreds of millions and major tech firms experimenting, the bottleneck is no longer just technical—it's whether developers will trust and adopt AI-generated proofs at scale.
Why it matters: Installing Claude Code extension 2.1.313 could expose developers’ source code and internal systems through a reverse SSH tunnel, making extension-marketplace vetting a primary security control.
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