A mass hacking campaign targeting iPhone users in Ukraine and China used tools that were likely designed by U.S. military contractor L3Harris, TechCrunch has learned. The tools, which were intended for Western spies, wound up in the hands of various hacking groups, including Russian government spooks and Chinese cybercriminals. Last week, Google revealed that over the course of 2025 it discovered ...
A mass hacking campaign targeting iPhone users in Ukraine and China used tools that were likely designed by U.S. military contractor L3Harris, TechCrunch has learned. The tools, which were intended for Western spies, wound up in the hands of various hacking groups, including Russian government spooks and Chinese cybercriminals. Last week, Google revealed that over the course of 2025 it discovered that a sophisticated iPhone-hacking toolkit had been used in a series of global attacks. The toolkit, dubbed “Coruna” by its original developer, was made of 23 different components first used “in highly targeted operations” by an unnamed government customer of an unspecified “surveillance vendor.” It was then used by Russian government spies against a limited number of Ukrainians and finally by Chinese cybercriminals “in broad-scale” campaigns with the goal of stealing money and cryptocurrency. Researchers at mobile cybersecurity company iVerify, which independently analyzed Coruna, said they believed it may have been originally built by a company that sold it to the U.S. government. Two former employees of government contractor L3Harris told TechCrunch that Coruna was, at least in part, developed by the company’s hacking and surveillance tech division, Trenchant. The two former employees both had knowledge of the company’s iPhone hacking tools. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk about their work for the company. “Coruna was definitely an internal name of a component,” said one former L3Harris employee, who was familiar with iPhone hacking tools as part of their work at Trenchant. “Looking at the technical details,” this person said, referring to some of the evidence Google published, “so many are familiar.” Contact Us Do you have more information about Coruna, or other government hacking and spyware tools? From a non-work device, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram, K...
Australia’s responsibilities for the welfare of the Iran women’s football team are not over, as advocates expect more players to seek asylum amid a frantic but “delicate” effort to inform the entire squad of their rights. Five of the players, led by captain Zahra Ghanbari, were formally granted protection in Australia by home affairs minister Tony Burke early on Tuesday morning. The group has alre...
Australia’s responsibilities for the welfare of the Iran women’s football team are not over, as advocates expect more players to seek asylum amid a frantic but “delicate” effort to inform the entire squad of their rights. Five of the players, led by captain Zahra Ghanbari, were formally granted protection in Australia by home affairs minister Tony Burke early on Tuesday morning. The group has already been given an offer to train with A-League Women club Brisbane Roar. The other team members remain in their Gold Coast hotel as advocates work to link the players with lawyers who can assist them in understanding their options and protection available in Australia. Those connected to the group expect more – including possibly some staff – to make the decision to stay in Australia. But the group is still under surveillance by the minders around the team. Burke said on Tuesday morning the group given protection broke out in a spontaneous chant of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi” to celebrate receiving their Australian papers. He added the rest of the squad is remaining at the hotel with the team’s entourage, which has been linked to the Iranian regime. “We are making sure there are further opportunities where if people want to make a request [to stay] they get that opportunity,” Burke said. Legal experts have expressed concern over possible offences committed under “exit trafficking” legislation, which prohibits the movement of people in and out of Australia using coercion. NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner James Cockayne called for “accountability” for people “undertaking criminal violations of Australian law while in Australia”. He wrote to Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner Krissy Barrett on Monday night, referring “a case of suspected exit trafficking for immediate investigation”. He said members of the Iranian team, CCTV and other eye-witness accounts could help determine whether crimes have been committed. “There’s certainly a duty to protect human rights ...
(RTTNews) - Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) announced positive data from a pre-specified Week 36 interim analysis of the ongoing Phase 3 RAINIER trial evaluating povetacicept, an engineered fusion protein and dual inhibitor of BAFF (B cell activating factor) and APRIL (a proliferation-inducing ligand) cytokines, in patients with immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN). The trial successfully met it...
(RTTNews) - Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) announced positive data from a pre-specified Week 36 interim analysis of the ongoing Phase 3 RAINIER trial evaluating povetacicept, an engineered fusion protein and dual inhibitor of BAFF (B cell activating factor) and APRIL (a proliferation-inducing ligand) cytokines, in patients with immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN). The trial successfully met its primary objective. In the interim analysis population, patients treated with povetacicept achieved a 52.0% reduction from baseline in urine protein-to-creatinine ratio (UPCR) at Week 36. This represented a statistically significant and clinically meaningful 49.8% reduction compared to placebo. Importantly, the reduction in proteinuria was consistent across all pre-specified subgroups. The study also met its secondary objectives. For the first secondary endpoint, patients receiving povetacicept demonstrated a 77.4% reduction from baseline in serum galactose-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1), compared to an increase of +9.1% in the placebo group. This translated to a 79.3% reduction versus placebo (P0.0001). For the second secondary endpoint, among patients with baseline hematuria, 85.1% achieved hematuria resolution in the povetacicept group compared to 23.4% in the placebo group, yielding a 61.7% improvement over placebo. According to the company, povetacicept was generally safe and well tolerated. The majority of adverse events (AEs) were mild to moderate. There were no serious adverse events (SAEs) related to povetacicept and no deaths in the trial. There were no opportunistic infections, and no discontinuations due to infections. As expected, anti-drug antibodies (ADAs) were observed; these ADAs had no impact on efficacy or the risk profile. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted rolling review of the Biologics License Application (BLA) for povetacicept in IgAN. Vertex has already submitted several modules and will complete the full BLA submission by the end of March...
Carmignac Gestion is supporting a campaign by UK-based activist fund Palliser Capital to try to improve corporate governance and boost shareholder value at South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd. “Chronically undervalued” LG Chem has underperformed peers and Seoul’s Kospi benchmark over the past decade and trades at a discount of about 75% to net asset value, according to the Paris-based fund manager. Palliser...
Carmignac Gestion is supporting a campaign by UK-based activist fund Palliser Capital to try to improve corporate governance and boost shareholder value at South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd. “Chronically undervalued” LG Chem has underperformed peers and Seoul’s Kospi benchmark over the past decade and trades at a discount of about 75% to net asset value, according to the Paris-based fund manager. Palliser has filed resolutions for LG Chem’s annual general meeting on March 31, including a call for a clearer monetization strategy for its 79% stake in battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. It marks the first time Carmignac has publicly backed an activist’s AGM proposals. Palliser submitted its proposal in February along with a letter to LG Chem’s board highlighting that “significant governance, transparency and capital allocation shortcomings have led to an erosion of trust among investors and the company’s persistent and unsustainably large discount to NAV.” If LG Chem committed to lowering its LG Energy Solution stake and use the proceeds for a buyback or similar action, its NAV discount might drop toward the roughly 50% average in the Korean market, boosting its stock price and value, according to Carmignac. South Korea — like Japan — is seeking to improve corporate governance and shareholder returns, targeting companies with low price-to-book ratios and weak returns on equity. This AGM season will show if the reforms are making a meaningful dent in the country, where such meetings have long been procedural, dominated by controlling shareholders and marked by dissent. Carmignac said there have been improvements in Korean corporate governance, but its attempts to engage LG Chem have been unsuccessful. LG Chem’s shares have risen 27% in the past 12 months, valuing the company at about $15 billion, while LG Energy Solution is up 5% and has a market cap of $58 billion. The Kospi has surged more than 115% in the past year. “LG Chem’s persistent discounted valuation stands out in ...