Tootfinder

Scale AI signed a $100M ceiling contract with the DOD to provide end-to-end services, including its data engine for data preparation and AI model testing (Maria Curi/Axios)
https://www.axios.com/2025/09/17/scale-ai-deal-pentagon

Exclusive: Scale AI strikes deal with Pentagon
The deal will allow DOD to acquire AI capabilities and deploy them on top secret networks using Scale AI's end-to-end products.

Russia paints the "end of Europe" and "erases Ukraine" from the map | Hate Speech: https://benborges.xyz/2025/09/17/russia-paints-the-ampquotend-of.html

About 40 to 50 Pentagon reporters turned in access badges and exited the Pentagon rather than agree to new US government-imposed restrictions on their work (David Bauder/Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-press-a…

Journalists exit Pentagon rather than agree to new reporting rules
Journalists at the Pentagon turned in access badges and cleaned out their workspaces, the price for refusing to agree to new restrictions on their jobs at the seat of U.S. military power. The refusal was near-unanimous, from trade publications, wire services, television networks and newspapers, and included outlets that appeal largely to conservatives like Fox News Channel and Newsmax. Many of the reporters chose to turn in their badges together at the 4 p.m. deadline set by the Defense Departm…

https://therecord.media/senate-confirms-sutton-dod-cyber-policy
Senate confirms Sutton as Pentagon cyber policy chief

Senate confirms Sutton as Pentagon cyber policy chief
Katherine Sutton most recently served as the chief technology adviser to the commander and director of Pentagon operations at U.S. Cyber Command.

LIVE: Israel ‘burning the ground’ in Gaza City assault, thousands flee
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/9/16/live-israel-pounds-gaza-city-muslim-leaders-condemn-strike-on-qatar

LIVE: Israel pounds Gaza City; Muslim leaders condemn strike on Qatar
Israeli forces intensify attacks on Gaza City as Arab and Muslim nations denounce Israel’s attack on Doha.

The danger of not manufacturing locally can be much bigger than a few extra dollars profit.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-17/khapra-beetle-f…

Khapra beetle, a threat to grains industry, discovered in imported nappy pants
Authorities are investigating how khapra beetle, the number-one-priority pest for the grains industry, entered Australia.

On the set of fixed points for NRS($m$)
Mario DeFranco
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.14176 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.14176

On the set of fixed points for NRS($m$)
Let $f(z)$ be a degree $d$ polynomial with zeros $z_i$. For arbitrary $m$ we construct explicit set of fixed points (attractors) of NRS($m$), and prove a factored formula for the Jacobian at these points. We prove that if NRS(2), when applied to $f$ with an arbitrary starting point, converges to a point $(w_0, w_1)$, then $w_0$ is of the form $z_i+z_j$ for some $i \neq j$. As a corollary, we prove a formula expressing the elementary symmetric expansion of the function \[ \prod_{1\leq i < j \leq…

The pseudoautomorphism group of $\mathbb{P}^3$ blown-up at $8$ very general points
C\'ecile Gachet
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.12977 https://arxiv.org/p…

The pseudoautomorphism group of $\mathbb{P}^3$ blown-up at $8$ very general points
We prove that the pseudoautomorphism group of a blow-up of $\mathbb{P}^3$ at $8$ very general points is trivial. We also establish the injectivity of the Coble representation associated to blow-ups of $\mathbb{P}^3$ at $r\ge 8$ general points, answering a question of Dolgachev--Ortland.

Check out today's Metacurity to learn how this has been a big news week for young, native English-speaking hackers, along with the critical infosec developments you should know today, including
--Personal data stolen in Insight Partners breach,
--ShinyHunters claims theft of 1.5b Salesforce records,
--Russian troll farm Storm-1516 is back,
--Pentagon has over 70K cyber personnel,
--RevengeHotels threat group is back,
--Malicious macros return as an at…

A banner week for Scattered Spider/Lapsus$/ShinyHunters and maybe The Com
Personal data stolen in Insight Partners breach, ShinyHunters claims theft of 1.5b+ Salesforce records, Russian troll farm Storm-1516 is back, Pentagon has over 70K cyber personnel, RevengeHotels threat group is back, Malicious macros return as attack vector, APT41 targets US-China groups, much more

Before you head out for the weekend, don't miss today's Metacurity for the critical infosec developments you should know, including
--Com members doxx DHS and ICE employees,
--DPRK hackers use EtherHiding malware to turn blockchain into C2 server,
--Trump buys Dominion Voting Systems to be "America-owned,"
--Trump's DoJ sues voting tech company Smartmatic amid defamation suit,
--MI5 points to new Chinese threat disruption,
--Hackers st…

The Com members doxxed DHS and ICE workers
DPRK hackers use EtherHiding malware to turn blockchain into C2 server, Trump buys Dominion Voting Systems to be "America-owned," Trump's DoJ sues voting tech company Smartmatic amid defamation suit, MI5 points to new Chinese threat disruption, much more