Ticketmaster

Hacker Pleads Guilty in Snowflake Customer Data Theft

Connor Moucka, a 26-year-old Canadian, pleaded guilty to hacking more than 165 Snowflake customers, stealing billions of records and extorting affected companies and individuals, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Prosecutors say Moucka and co-conspirators received over $2.5 million in ransom payments and about $500,000 from selling stolen data on hacking forums; victims suffered approximately $9.5 million in losses. Targets included major customers such as AT&T, LendingTree and Ticketmaster, with more than 100 million AT&T customers’ call and text records reportedly accessed. Moucka was arrested in Canada in late 2024, faces decades in prison and is scheduled for sentencing on October 27, 2026.

World raises $52.5M via WLD token sale

World, the online verification startup co-founded by Sam Altman and operated by Tools for Humanity, raised $52.5 million through a 12-month lockup sale of its crypto token WLD to strategic investors. The funds will be allocated to the World Foundation, an exempted limited guarantee foundation in the Cayman Islands established to steward World’s network. The sale’s lead buyer was Pantera Capital, with participation from Eightco Holdings, Bain Capital Crypto, Susquehanna Crypto, Selini Capital and others. World offers biometric-based verification (World ID) using Orb devices that scan users’ irises to generate cryptographic identifiers. The project began as Worldcoin, rebranded to World, has launched a new app and announced partnerships including Tinder and Ticketmaster, and recently conducted layoffs at Tools for Humanity.

Roost 'slow-cial' app revives carrier-pigeon messaging

Roost is a free Slow-cial messaging app for Android and iOS that delays delivery by routing messages through virtual animals (birds, penguins, snails) which travel at fixed speeds, so messages arrive only when the chosen animal completes its journey. Created by Logan Mendelsohn, a Ticketmaster senior product manager, Roost grew from about 10,000 to 100,000 users in three days after a Threads post and approached 300,000 users within five weeks. Users sign in with Apple or Google, provide age/name and accept rules; phone-number verification is required for slow-penpal connections. The app emphasizes privacy-minded defaults and anonymous pen pals, delays photo sharing pending moderation, and gamifies unlocking and speeding animals through daily logins, challenges and minigames. It monetizes via in-app purchases for extra or faster animals and used AI-assisted tooling during development, prompting an artist contest after backlash over AI-generated art.