Ivanti VPN zero-day chain leads a week of record patches and a $60B Ramp round
Edge devices took the brunt of the week in cybersecurity: attackers chained three Ivanti Connect Secure zero-days, BeyondTrust's Remote Support was exploited before a patch, and Microsoft shipped its largest Patch Tuesday yet. In drones, counter-drone money kept flowing from Raytheon's $729 million contracts to Germany's net-drone framework, while Ramp's $60 billion round showed no cooling in AI-era funding. If you read one story, read the Ivanti zero-day chain.
This week's pick
- Unauthenticated attacker chained three Ivanti Connect Secure zero-days for root access on fully patched VPN Volexity says the chain gave root code execution on a patched appliance, and the privilege-escalation flaw still has no fix.
OSINT
- Satellite imagery shows Russia pulled rare S-400 launchers from storage to strike Ukraine A researcher counted about 16 fewer launchers at Kapustin Yar than in 2022, matching reports of S-400 missiles refitted as ballistic weapons.
- Webcam and satellite imagery pin Bulgaria's Starlink arson to the Plana Earth Station Geolocation identified the sensitive site while officials stayed silent, and no one has been charged.
- Bots inflate Russia's fake midterm videos Bloomberg reviewed 130 fake videos and found view counts propped up by bots, with little real audience reach.
Drones
- RTX's Raytheon wins $729 million in counter-drone contracts for the US, Qatar, and Jordan The LIDS award includes the first international sales of the KuRFS radar and Coyote interceptor.
- Bundeswehr signs seven-year net-drone framework with ARGUS Interception, reported at over €1.1 billion The A1-Falke interceptor catches drones in a net, though the value comes from a single outlet.
- FAA, War and Homeland Security set a one-nautical-mile no-drone zone along the US-Mexico border Unauthorised drones are barred up to 400 feet, and anyone needing access must ask Customs and Border Protection 48 hours ahead.
VC Investment
- Ramp raises $1.85B at a $60B valuation, four months after its last round Dragoneer led the round, up from $44 billion in June, with annualised revenue above $2 billion by Ramp's own figures.
- Modal raises $750M Series D at a $15.75B valuation as annualised revenue tops $1B Accel led a round that more than triples May's valuation as investors pay up for the layer that runs AI models.
- IonQ to acquire cybersecurity startup Elisity in up to $1.3 billion all-stock deal Shares fell more than 9 per cent as investors weighed IonQ's push to grow through equity-financed acquisitions.
CyberSecurity
- Suspected China-linked group exploited BeyondTrust Remote Support zero-day before patch CISA added the authentication bypass to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue and urged immediate patching of self-hosted appliances.
- Microsoft's October 2026 Patch Tuesday fixes a record 1,411 flaws, including an actively exploited zero-day The priority fix is a Windows Shell bypass already exploited before the patch.
- Cyberattack forces Ahold Delhaize to take systems offline, disrupting grocery brands across the US and Europe The company began a controlled re-launch on 13 October, with no attacker or data theft confirmed.
- Ledger confirms hidden spy chip in hardware wallets sold by Malaysian reseller behind crypto thefts The implant captured seed phrases, and Ledger has asked resellers across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong to halt wallet sales.