This Week in Tech: A $285M Heist, South Korea's Free Internet, France Leaves Windows + More

This week, a DeFi protocol loses nearly $300 million because of a disabled a safety delay, South Korea decided that slow internet is a basic right, and France is moving its government off Windows. Here's the rundown.

Drift Protocol's $285 Million Heist

Drift Protocol got hit on April 1. Attackers drained $285 million using a fake token they created. The issue wasn't a code bug. Drift had removed its timelock (waiting period to catch suspicious activity) just days earlier. Without it, once attackers got access, everything executed instantly. They walked away with a hefty sum. The token dropped 45%.

Hong Kong's First Stablecoin Licenses

Hong Kong handed out its first stablecoin licenses. 2 out of 36 applicants got approved. Both plan to launch HKD-backed stablecoins later this year. The bar is high on purpose. They want banks running this, not startups.

South Korea's Basic Mobile Data

South Korea rolls out unlimited internet access after you use up your monthly data. 400kbps. Enough for messaging and maps, not for video. The telecoms had a rough year with security issues. This is part of rebuilding trust.

Bitcoin Miners Are Losing Money

It now costs about $88,000 to mine one bitcoin. The price is around $69,000. That's a $19,000 loss per coin. Mining difficulty dropped 7.8% over the weekend as miners shut down rigs. Some are moving into AI hosting instead. More predictable revenue.

France Moves Government PCs to Linux

France announced it will start moving government computers from Windows to Linux. Each ministry has until fall 2026 to figure out its own plan. The country been pushing officials away from using tools like Teams and Zoom. This is the next piece. France wants control over its own infrastructure.

Project Glasswing

Anthropic built an AI that found a 27-year-old bug in OpenBSD. It turned 72% of its discoveries into working exploits. They're not releasing it to the public. A small group of security partners get access instead. Let defenders use it before attackers get something similar.

That's this week. Enjoy.