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A coordinated cyberattack knocked operational controls offline at more than 30 Minnesota community water systems, forcing a statewide response as federal agencies pressed critical-infrastructure operators to rehearse isolating vital systems.
Latest developments: Hackers struck operational technology at more than 30 Minnesota community water systems on July 26 and 27, taking Braham's water plant offline and disrupting automated controls and communications in Plymouth, South St. Paul, and Maple Plain, which pushed the Minnesota IT Services agency to activate a statewide incident response.
The Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) agency is coordinating with state and federal partners after intrusions hit municipal water and wastewater controls; the US and Australian governments separately urged critical-infrastructure operators to prepare to isolate vital OT systems and run them disconnected for extended periods.
Sources: BleepingComputer · The Hacker News · SecurityWeek · BleepingComputer · ↑ top
Latest developments: Anthropic said its Claude Mythos Preview derived an end-to-end key-recovery attack against the HAWK-256 post-quantum signature scheme and produced a 200- to 800-fold speedup against seven-round AES-128, while Microsoft races behind the scenes to patch the vulnerabilities the same class of models surfaces faster than its engineers can fix them.
Frontier models now generate novel cryptanalytic attacks and working exploits, compressing the window defenders have to respond; a new CryptanalysisBench benchmark found Anthropic's model discovering fresh attacks, and vendors including Contrast Security are shipping runtime shields aimed at AI-generated exploits.
Sources: The Hacker News · Schneier on Security · Ars Technica Security · The Hacker News · ↑ top
Latest developments: Broadcom patched three critical VMware flaws, led by CVE-2026-59309, a 9.8-rated vCenter authentication bypass, alongside a virtual-machine escape, while Gitea fixed CVE-2026-60004, a 9.8-rated bug that lets any user with repository write access plant a Git hook and run shell commands as the Gitea service account.
Both flaws hit widely deployed self-hosted infrastructure; administrators should apply the VMware ESX, vCenter, Workstation, and Fusion updates and upgrade Gitea to 1.27.1. Rapid7 also published a proof-of-concept for the actively exploited Check Point SmartConsole bypass CVE-2026-16232.
Sources: The Hacker News · SecurityWeek · The Hacker News · The Hacker News · ↑ top
Latest developments: Noma Security disclosed CVE-2026-59726, a CVSS 10.0 unauthenticated remote-code-execution flaw it codenamed RufRoot in Ruflo, an open-source agent meta-harness for Anthropic Claude Code and OpenAI Codex, that lets attackers seize the system and corrupt its memory so malicious behavior persists after patching.
The flaw affects all Ruflo versions before 3.16.3 and can unleash malicious AI agent swarms; operators should upgrade immediately and inspect agent memory for corruption.
Sources: The Hacker News · Dark Reading · ↑ top
Latest developments: A cyberattack hit Unitel, Angola's largest telecommunications operator, hours before its landmark stock debut, cutting voice, mobile data, and internet access for millions across the country.
Unitel carries the majority of Angola's mobile subscribers, and the nationwide outage struck as the company prepared a high-profile market listing, underscoring the exposure of national telecom infrastructure.
Sources: The Record · ↑ top
Latest developments: Researchers reported the Russian state-linked group Laundry Bear recently began exploiting a bug in Microsoft Outlook Web Access, extending a webmail espionage campaign that kept running with fresh malware after the group's February activity.
Laundry Bear, tied to earlier compromises of Western government and commercial Zimbra deployments, targets webmail to steal correspondence; organizations running OWA should watch for the group's injection techniques and patch promptly.
Sources: The Record · ↑ top
Latest developments: Washington confirmed Iran fired ballistic missiles at U.S. military installations, driving Brent and West Texas Intermediate up more than 7% and prompting Procter & Gamble to warn of a $1 billion cost hit for its new fiscal year.
President Trump vowed to deliver a "beating" to Tehran after Iran launched a surprise ballistic-missile attack on U.S. forces in the Middle East, disrupting two of the world's most critical oil-shipping routes; U.S. commercial crude stockpiles fell 7.2 million barrels in the week ended July 24.
Sources: WSJ · FT · WSJ · ↑ top
Latest developments: South Korean regulators moved to restrict retail access to leveraged exchange-traded funds after the Kospi fell by a third this month, and SK Hynix shares dropped nearly 10% despite a record $64 billion quarterly profit.
A rout in semiconductor stocks tied to doubts over the artificial-intelligence buildout has erased value across Asian and global markets and driven rotation out of technology; the Federal Reserve releases a rate decision today that economists expect will hold rates steady.
Sources: FT · WSJ · WSJ · ↑ top
This Afternoon: Slight Chance Rain Showers, high 80F.
Tonight: Mostly Clear, low 59F.
Thursday: Sunny, high 82F.
Latest developments: Howard Hanna Real Estate Services announced Friday a national partnership with Portside Real Estate Group that pushes the O'Hara Township firm into Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.
Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, one of Pittsburgh's largest home brokerages and based in O'Hara Township, will extend its reach across three New England states through a tie-up with Portside Real Estate Group.
Latest developments: The Allegheny County Health Department's proposal to require employers to fund up to 18 weeks of paid leave for new parents has drawn formal feedback from more than 1,400 residents.
The Allegheny County Health Department has proposed a regulation requiring businesses to pay for up to 18 weeks of leave when an employee has or adopts a child.
Sources: NEXTpittsburgh · ↑ top
Latest developments: Diamonte Walker, after five years acquiring properties, now leads Rising Tide Partners with a plan to rebuild disinvested Pittsburgh neighborhoods.
Rising Tide Partners, a Pittsburgh community-development organization, is led by Hill District native Diamonte Walker, who aims to acquire and redevelop properties in historically disenfranchised neighborhoods.
Latest developments: The Post-Gazette laid out where Governor Josh Shapiro and Republican challenger Stacy Garrity stand on energy costs and the environment heading into the 2026 election.
State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, the Republican nominee, and Governor Josh Shapiro, the Democratic incumbent, hold contrasting positions on Pennsylvania energy costs and environmental policy in this year's gubernatorial race.
Sources: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette · ↑ top
Latest developments: AHN Cancer Center will host two free community cancer-screening events in August, at Allegheny General Hospital and PNC Park.
The Allegheny Health Network's cancer center scheduled free screenings for August at Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side and at PNC Park.
Latest developments: Chatham University officials said the school will enroll the largest freshman class in its history this fall.
Chatham University, the Shadyside-based institution, expects its biggest-ever incoming freshman class when the fall term opens.
Latest developments: Kennywood brings back its Fall Fantasy Parades for a 76th year on Saturday, August 1, featuring local marching bands.
Kennywood's Fall Fantasy Parades, a tradition begun in 1950 to showcase local marching bands before the school year, take place Saturday, August 1, at the amusement park in West Mifflin.
Pirates (55-53)
Tue Jul 28 · Diamondbacks 8 · Pirates 7 · Final (12)
James McCann's 12th-inning single gives Diamondbacks 8-7 win over Pirates after blowing six-run lead
Up Next · Diamondbacks @ Pirates · Wed Jul 29, 12:35 PM
Latest developments: Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. had "something flare up" Tuesday, landing him on the physically-unable-to-perform list alongside newly acquired Jalen Ramsey as camp opened.
The Steelers placed cornerbacks Joey Porter Jr. and Jalen Ramsey on the physically-unable-to-perform list to start training camp at Saint Vincent College, the Post-Gazette reported.
Sources: Post-Gazette Steelers · Post-Gazette Steelers · ↑ top
Latest developments: Post-Gazette columnist Noah Hiles argued rookie Esmerlyn Valdez's injury scare underscores how fragile the Pirates' offense is entering the July 31 trade deadline.
Rookie outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez left Sunday's game after a hit by pitch and returned Tuesday; columnist Noah Hiles used the scare to press general manager Ben Cherington to add hitting before the deadline.
Sources: Post-Gazette Pirates · Post-Gazette Pirates · ↑ top
Latest developments: The Post-Gazette detailed how Mike McCarthy's first Steelers training camp will differ from the routines Mike Tomlin ran for nearly two decades.
Mike McCarthy, opening his first camp as Steelers head coach at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, is reshaping the practice structure and daily routine long set by predecessor Mike Tomlin.
Sources: Post-Gazette Steelers · ↑ top
Latest developments: U.S. midfielder Sebastian Berhalter transferred from the Vancouver Whitecaps to English Championship club Middlesbrough, the clubs announced Tuesday.
Sebastian Berhalter, a United States men's national team midfielder, left MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps to sign with Middlesbrough of England's second-tier Championship.
Sources: ESPN Soccer · ↑ top
Latest developments: Caeleb Dressel won the 100-meter freestyle Tuesday night to open the USA Swimming National Championships, clocking his fastest time since the 2024 Olympic trials.
Caeleb Dressel, the former Olympic champion, took the 100-meter freestyle at the USA Swimming National Championships, posting his quickest mark in the event since the 2024 U.S. Olympic trials.
Sources: ESPN Olympics · ↑ top
Latest developments: U.S. Biathlon's board is considering moving under the control of U.S. Ski & Snowboard to lift revenue and performance.
U.S. Biathlon, the national governing body for the Olympic sport, is weighing a rare merger that would place it under U.S. Ski & Snowboard.
Sources: ESPN Olympics · ↑ top
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