The Information Machine
The edition

Sunday November 1, 2026

This is one edition of my daily email.

One free email each morning, around 8 AM US Eastern.

In this edition

  1. New today
  2. NewCriminal use of jailbroken DeepSeekUnit 42 Documents AI-Assisted Cyberattacks Using Jailbroken DeepSeek
  3. Updates
  4. Day 11VAPOR PANDA's DeepSeek global attack campaignCrowdStrike: China-Linked VAPOR PANDA Used DeepSeek to Hit 200-Plus Orgs
  5. Day 9The memory chip 2029 oversupply debateSK Hynix Forms Americas HQ as HBM Demand Data Counter Oversupply Fears

New today

01
New

Criminal use of jailbroken DeepSeek

  • Unit 42 published research in October 2026 documenting a Chinese-speaking threat actor who used jailbroken DeepSeek to commit data theft and attack telecoms, with AI automatically drafting follow-on attack plans.
  • In one case, a low-skill attacker breached an Indian public university, stealing more than 5,200 student and faculty records.
  • Unit 42 also documented jailbreak techniques including 'Deceptive Delight,' a multi-turn method bypassing DeepSeek's guardrails, while CrowdStrike linked a commercially available abliterated version of the model to attacks on South Korean banks.
The gist

The cases show low-skill attackers using commercially available, guardrail-removed AI models to automate attack planning and execution at scale. The AI's autonomous drafting of follow-on exploit plans indicates the attacks were not merely AI-assisted but partially AI-directed.

Continue this story →2 sources

Get the daily email

I send one email each morning with the stories that moved. If you would rather just read here, that works too.

One free email each morning, around 8 AM US Eastern.

See the latest edition · Privacy

Updates

02
Day 11

VAPOR PANDA's DeepSeek global attack campaign

  • CrowdStrike named the China-linked group VAPOR PANDA and its coordination framework ARTEX, adding precision to its report of DeepSeek agents hitting more than 200 organizations across 14 countries in 11 days from October 17: nine intrusions confirmed, at least 12 additional credential-theft attempts.
  • The Institute for Security and Technology and the Software Safety Institute submitted a formal response to a NIST RFI on the National Vulnerability Database, proposing four structural changes to rebuild the CVE ecosystem.
The gist

A documented nation-state campaign using commercial AI agents at scale gives the dual-use diffusion debate a concrete operational case rather than a hypothetical one. Policy proposals and formal government processes are now moving in parallel with the attacks.

Continue this story →7 sources
03
Day 9

The memory chip 2029 oversupply debate

  • SK Hynix announced a new Americas headquarters at the president level, effective November 1, to be led by Ahn Hyun, its head of HBM development, with a mandate for direct engagement with major US AI customers including Nvidia.
  • The unit is paired with a $4 billion HBM packaging plant investment in Indiana.
  • The moves come after a sharp October selloff in memory stocks, triggered by a South Korean opinion column predicting the market could become a 'red ocean' by 2029.
The gist

The selloff and subsequent counter-signals from Huang, UBS, SK Hynix earnings, and Samsung pricing reflect a live disagreement about whether AI memory demand can sustain current price and volume trajectories through the end of the decade. Actual contract pricing and capacity commitments now on the table for 2027 and 2028 will test whether the bearish column or the bullish earnings guidance better reflects the cycle's direction.

Continue this story →3 sources
← October 31, 2026

What is moving now · All editions · All stories