Episode
The ‘first’ AI-run ransomware attack still needed a human; plus, hacktivists call out Trump by hacking and defacing US Army websites
- Podcast
- TechCrunch Industry News
- Published
- Jul 8, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 454
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://mgln.ai/e/211/traffic.megaphone.fm/AIRWV4033840097.mp3
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Summary
An AI agent carried out the technical execution of a real-world ransomware attack for the first known time, but new details show a human still chose the victim, set up the infrastructure, and supplied stolen credentials — meaning it wasn't quite the fully autonomous cybercrime debut that last week's headlines suggested. Also, the U.S. Army has fixed two of its websites that were hacked to display messages calling President Trump a "pedophile" and a "thief." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices