It’s all fun and games until your Muppets fandom website is targeted by repeated cyberattacks (wocka wocka!).

Joe Hennes, the Muppets fanatic who owns and edits ToughPigs, a fan blog devoted to Jim Henson’s beloved puppets, has spent years grappling with determined hackers. He first knew something was wrong when the website wouldn’t load properly: Instead of words and images devoted to Kermit the Frog and friends, he was staring at a single line of text…in Russian.

“It was like, obviously Bad News Bears,” Hennes said.

Here’s how ToughPigs survived the attacks.—BM

AI is having a huge impact on pretty much every part of the economy—and the environment. Researchers expect the AI industry to consume at least 10 times the amount of electricity it demanded in 2023 by 2026, which is leading to big questions about the technology, energy-related emissions, and climate change.

In looking for ways to decrease that potentially massive carbon footprint, experts have championed solutions like optimizing workflow, using sustainable hygiene (like not running things the enterprise isn’t actively using), and even using AI itself to monitor emissions.

Organizations like SustainableIT.org, a nonprofit spearheaded by tech execs, are aiming to set standards in the IT industry for best practices and provide training in order to reduce AI’s environmental impact.

Individual companies, like the multicloud and AI solutions company Rackspace Technology, have set sustainability goals. Rackspace aims to become 90% net-zero in carbon emission by 2045, with 50% net-zero emissions by 2032.

More numbers here.—CN

“Pig-butchering” scams are increasing, and some experts think the US government isn’t doing enough to protect consumers.

These scams, where bad actors build a rapport with their victims over weeks or months before stealing their money, have received national attention.

The FBI reported that, as of July, it had notified 6,475 victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud, and helped victims save an estimated $400 million that would’ve ended up in the hands of scammers. Despite such efforts, scammers used pig butchering to steal roughly $5.6 billion from US victims in 2023 alone, the agency stated.

In response to questions from IT Brew, the FBI pointed to publicly available information on Operation Level Up, an initiative to help identify and notify victims of cryptocurrency scams, as well as different internet crime reports.

Why pig butchering is bigger than ever.—CN

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