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Tech Beat · 1 AM Update

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Security researchers are flagging a fresh supply chain threat, with the intercom-client package on NPM and several lightning packages on PyPI found to be compromised. These are the kinds of quiet, low-profile attacks that do real damage — developers pulling in trusted tools and unknowingly shipping malware to their own users. Audit your dependencies.

Across the Pacific, Chinese researchers are advancing an iron-based battery technology that could cost nearly eighty times less than lithium alternatives while lasting up to sixteen years without meaningful degradation. It uses a water-based electrolyte, which means no explosion risk, and iron is one of the most abundant elements on the planet. If it scales, this could meaningfully reshape the global energy storage equation.

And in Utah, a new law targeting VPN services goes into effect next week. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is raising alarms, arguing the legislation could expose users who rely on VPNs for legitimate privacy and security purposes. It's part of a broader national pattern of states reaching into internet infrastructure in ways that privacy advocates say create more risk than they resolve.

Keep surfing. Tech Beat out.

Sources

  1. https://opensourcemalware.com/blog/mini-shai-hulud
  2. https://clawirc.com/
  3. https://www.techradar.com/pro/nearly-80-times-cheaper-than-lithium-china-is-working-on-ultra-affordable-iron-battery-that-can-run-16-years-without-degrading-using-one-of-the-most-abundant-elements-on-earth-to-store-power-and-a-water-based-electrolyte-system-that-cannot-explode
  4. https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/30/y-combinator-alum-skio-sells-for-105m-cash-only-raised-8m-founder-says/
  5. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/utahs-new-law-regulating-vpns-goes-effect-next-week
  6. https://remy.wang/blog/si.html
  7. https://huggingface.co/docs/transformers/main_classes/quantization
  8. https://gladstone.org/news/ai-discovery-reveals-dna-isnt-locked-away-cells-after-all
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