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North Korea crypto heist, SpaceX's NASA deal and China's robot lead

A busy day across cybercrime, space contracts and Chinese tech, from a ten million dollar hack to a near-billion-dollar NASA award.

The TechMap Live reporter · · 3 min read · from 10 reports

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Quick catch-up on what's been happening in tech. The big one is a cybercrime story: hackers linked to North Korea used fake coding tests — like the ones developers get in job interviews — to infect about thirty thousand devices and steal more than ten million dollars in crypto from over seven thousand wallets. And it wasn't the only security story. CrowdSec, which is itself a security company, confirmed its source code was stolen in a supply chain attack back in May, and Kaspersky found a complex attack on industrial production in the Middle East that was built to extract a ransom. Meanwhile, Chinese tech had a strong day. Moonshot AI started supplying its Kimi K3 model to Amazon Web Services, BYD launched an electric truck with fast charging to take on Tesla in Europe, and Unitree Robotics said it now holds 37 percent of the global market for quadruped robots — number one worldwide. Over in the US, NASA signed a 946 million dollar deal with SpaceX for three more crewed trips to the space station. And for the hardware fans: LG Display showed a 24.5-inch OLED screen running at 720 hertz for esports, and NVIDIA's DLSS 5 was demoed running on Apple's M5 Pro chip. That's the day — stay safe out there, and maybe double-check your next coding test.

A rough day for cybersecurity

The biggest story is out of North Korea. Hackers linked to the government there used fake programming tests to infect about thirty thousand devices. They walked away with more than ten million dollars in cryptocurrency, taken from over seven thousand wallets. It's a reminder that a job interview-style coding test can be an attack vector, not just an annoyance.

Two more incidents landed the same day. CrowdSec, a security company itself, confirmed its source code was stolen in the TanStack supply chain attack back in May. And Kaspersky said its researchers found a complex attack aimed at industrial production in the Middle East, built to extract a ransom. Three separate stories, one pattern: attackers are going after developers, suppliers and factories, not just end users.

China's tech firms push outward

Moonshot AI has started supplying its flagship Kimi K3 model to Amazon Web Services. The deal is being treated as a test case for how open-weight AI models can actually make money. That's a notable route onto a big Western cloud platform for a Beijing-based lab.

Elsewhere in China, BYD unveiled the ETT 44, an electric truck with a 651 kilowatt-hour battery and ultra-fast charging, aimed squarely at competing with Tesla in Europe. And Unitree Robotics said it took 37 percent of the global market for quadruped robots in the first half of the year, putting it first worldwide. Chinese firms aren't just catching up in these categories — in robot dogs, at least, one of them is out in front.

Space, screens and silicon

NASA signed a 946 million dollar contract with SpaceX for three more crewed flights to the International Space Station. It's a straightforward vote of confidence in the company that already ferries astronauts for the agency.

On the hardware side, LG Display announced a 24.5-inch OLED panel with a 720 hertz refresh rate, aimed at esports players who chase every frame. And NVIDIA's DLSS 5, its neural image generation tech, was shown running on Apple's M5 Pro chip — an interesting pairing given the two companies' usual rivalry. On a smaller note, software firm Freehand made its first US marketing hire, appointing Krshna Prashant as marketing lead in New York.

Questions people ask

How did the North Korea-linked hack work?

Hackers used fake programming tests — the kind developers get in job processes — to infect around thirty thousand devices. From there they stole over ten million dollars in cryptocurrency from more than seven thousand wallets.

What is the Moonshot AI and AWS deal about?

Moonshot AI, a Beijing-based lab, has begun supplying its flagship Kimi K3 model to Amazon Web Services. The arrangement is being watched as a test case for how open-weight AI models can be monetised.

What did NASA actually buy from SpaceX?

NASA signed a 946 million dollar contract covering three additional crewed flights to the International Space Station. SpaceX already carries astronauts for the agency, and this extends that arrangement.

The events in this briefing

Every event summarised above, in the order it was reported. Each one links to its own page and to the outlet that reported it, so any figure here can be checked against its source.

  1. North Korea-linked hackers infect 30,000 devices via fake coding tests · cnBeta
  2. Moonshot AI supplies Kimi K3 model to AWS · SCMP Tech
  3. NASA awards SpaceX $946 million for three crewed ISS missions · Benchmark.pl
  4. LG Display unveils first 24.5‑inch OLED panel with 720 Hz refresh · 3DNews
  5. Freehand appoints Krshna Prashant as first Marketing Lead · The Next Web
  6. Unitree Robotics captures 37% global quadruped robot market share in H1 2026 · cnBeta
  7. CrowdSec confirms source code stolen in supply chain attack · SecurityWeek
  8. BYD launches electric truck ETT 44 with fast charging to compete with Tesla in Europe · Zoomit
  9. NVIDIA DLSS 5 runs on Apple M5 Pro · Technopat
  10. Kaspersky identifies complex cyberattack on production targeted for ransom · CNews

This briefing was written by an automated reporter from 10 event reports already published on this site. It contains no original reporting, and no figures beyond those in the events listed above.

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