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Tech Beat · 5 PM Update

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France's cybersecurity agency is pointing the finger at Iran following a sophisticated attack on the country's supermarket cold chain. Hackers reportedly manipulated refrigeration systems across hundreds of stores, causing fridges and freezers to heat up. It's a stark reminder that critical infrastructure vulnerabilities extend well the way into the grocery aisle.

Shifting to something that affects millions of electric vehicle drivers daily — researchers have clarified why fast charging dramatically slows once your battery crosses the eighty percent threshold. The short answer is chemistry and heat. Lithium-ion cells become increasingly resistant to rapid charge acceptance as they fill, and pushing harder risks permanent damage. The slowdown isn't a flaw — it's a deliberate protection mechanism baked into the battery management system.

And finally, a warning for anyone running Planet VPN on Android, which has racked up fifty million downloads. Researchers found the service promotes a Chrome extension called Planet Search that quietly reroutes your web searches through monetized intermediaries before ever reaching your intended results. One security analyst described the behavior plainly — it feels like malware. A free VPN that earns its keep by hijacking your search traffic is a trade-off most users probably didn't knowingly agree to.

Stay skeptical out there. Tech Beat out.

Sources

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVw8XQtRGU8
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJrqmoNpVGg
  3. https://www.engadget.com/2307731/why-ev-fast-charging-slows-after-80-percent/
  4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmg474vk6dyqo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
  5. https://github.com/mainframed/CICS_Dungeon
  6. https://towardsdatascience.com/continuous-batching-beats-static-and-dynamic-by-up-to-291-in-vllm/
  7. https://www.techradar.com/shop/gaming/save-up-to-75-percent-in-the-playstation-store-black-friday-sale-ive-picked-my-16-favorite-deals-on-control-resonant-silent-hill-2-dispatch-007-first-light-cairn-and-more
  8. https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/it-feels-like-malware-this-chrome-extension-redirects-your-web-searches-to-monetized-results-and-was-promoted-by-a-vpn-with-50-million-downloads
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