You're tuned in to Tech Beat. Here are the stories shaping your digital world today.
If you've been browsing Steam Workshop for animated wallpapers, security researchers are urging caution. Malicious Wallpaper Engine downloads have been found distributing infostealers, backdoors, and account-hijacking malware — often disguised as anime-themed content. It's a reminder that user-generated platforms carry real risk when curation is thin.
Shifting to a quieter but significant story in mobile privacy, a researcher at Mysk has found that Proton VPN may be the only iOS app successfully avoiding internal tunnel IP fingerprinting — a technique that can expose users even while connected to a VPN. The finding says less about Proton's ingenuity and more about how Apple's iOS architecture creates a structural blind spot that most VPN providers haven't addressed, or perhaps can't.
And in the semiconductor world, ASML is pushing back hard against a U.S. government report suggesting one of its extreme ultraviolet chipmaking tools reached China. Commerce Secretary Lutnick reportedly raised the concern directly with company executives, and ASML called the claims inaccurate and damaging to its reputation. Given how central EUV technology is to the global chip supply chain, the tension between Washington and the Dutch manufacturer is one worth watching closely.
That's your Tech Beat for today. Keep surfing. Tech Beat out.
