Backdoor in Claude Code Extension

Backdoor in Claude Code Extension

If you or a client installed the Claude Code extension inside Cursor, the AI coding editor, this week, read this before anything else. Phorion: Backdoor in Claude Code for VS Code extension on the Cursor Marketplace reports that version 2.1.313 of the extension, as served on the Cursor Marketplace, carried hidden code that adds an attacker's key to your SSH settings (SSH is the tool that lets someone log into a computer remotely) and then opens a quiet tunnel to the attacker's server. It ran as soon as the editor loaded the file. No click needed. Phorion says Cursor removed the release, and that the 2.1.313 versions on NPM and the VS Code registry were also pulled. On Hacker News, a commenter identifying himself as Felix from Anthropic says Anthropic's systems and employee laptops were not compromised, and that someone with access to Cursor's marketplace published a tampered copy Anthropic did not build or publish. Phorion found a bug in the Mac code that often stops it from switching SSH on. It still installs itself and reports back.

+ One commenter quotes Reuters as reporting that Cursor said the tampered extension was not developed by Anthropic and was live from about 2:27 a.m. to 1:35 p.m. Pacific on Thursday. That timeline comes via the comment, not our own reading of Reuters. Hacker News: Discussion thread

+ Another commenter reposts Cursor's own check: the planted key is labeled svc-telemetry inside your SSH authorized keys file. Phorion adds that the script only looks for that label, so security teams should match the key fingerprint as well, not just the name.

If you work online: If you build pages or code in Cursor, check today whether Claude Code extension version 2.1.313 was ever installed, before your next client login.

All Decked Out

Restyling a client's deck slide by slide was always the task nobody bills properly. Google just turned it into one prompt. Google Workspace: Edit entire presentations with Gemini in Google Slides says Gemini can now change many slides, or a whole presentation, from the side panel: swap fonts, colors and backgrounds across the deck, copy the look of another file, expand content using your Drive documents, or squash slides 5 to 7 into one. The edits land as normal, editable slides, so undo and version history still work, and a summary of changes appears when it finishes. It is English only at launch. Rollout began October 29 and may take longer than 15 days to reach you, on Business Standard and Plus, Enterprise Standard and Plus, and Google AI Pro and Ultra. Higher promotional limits run through at least December 1, then per-user caps kick in. The clicking part of slide work is gone. The taste part is not. (Gemini can match a style. It cannot tell your client their style is ugly.)

+ Same week, same company: Fill with Gemini in Sheets now shows the exact web source inside each AI-filled cell, and the Gemini app lets you generate and edit files right in the chat. Citations per cell is the update VAs doing research sheets should actually care about. Google Workspace: Google Workspace Weekly Recap - October 30, 2026

If you work online: Clients on Workspace Business Standard or higher will expect deck restyles in minutes now, so price slide work on judgment and content, not hours.

Binance Loses $6.3 Billion

The largest crypto theft on record took about 20 minutes. Wired: The $6.3B Binance hack was pulled off in just 20 minutes reports that from around 4pm ET Thursday, attackers drained roughly $6.3 billion from Binance hot wallets (exchange wallets kept online so customer withdrawals go out fast) across at least ten blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron and Solana. Tracing firm TRM Labs says preparation began at least 36 hours earlier, with the code tested on smaller wallets first. Binance suspended deposits and withdrawals and says it and other firms have frozen about half the stolen funds. Three tracing firms point to North Korea, and TRM and Chainalysis suspect a group called TraderTraitor, which the FBI blamed for last year's $1.5 billion Bybit hack. "We think North Korea is likely responsible," Elliptic cofounder Tom Robinson told Wired. Neither Binance nor law enforcement has named North Korea. Binance says it will cover all losses, is working with law enforcement, and that a compromised laptop was its first lead before it found additional points of breach.

+ Techmeme summarizes Reuters as reporting that Binance has set aside over $6.34 billion in company funds, including $5 billion already held in the affected tokens. Techmeme: Binance says it has reserved $6.34B+ in company funds

+ Per a Financial Times summary on Techmeme, Chainalysis says the laundering used automated patterns it had not seen before. Rappler is following the story for Philippine readers: Crypto exchange Binance freezes assets after $6.3-billion security breach

If you work online: If you get paid or hold savings on Binance, expect withdrawal delays, and ignore any text or DM offering a Binance refund link.

Taste in a Terminal

Ask an AI coding agent for a landing page and you get the same page everyone gets: purple gradients, cards inside cards, one default font. GitHub: pbakaus/impeccable adds 24 design commands to agents like Claude Code, Cursor and Gemini CLI. Critique scores a page and ranks what to fix first, while bolder and quieter push the style one way or the other. A built-in checker runs 62 fixed rules that flag generic AI-looking design, no API key needed. The README lists no price. Honest verdict: you need a terminal and a coding agent. If you sell landing pages, try it. If not, one to watch. (After today's lead story, install only from the official repo.)

If you work online: If you sell landing pages built with Claude Code or Cursor, run its critique command before delivery so clients don't get the same purple template.

Extra, Extra

+ Max Out, Ultra In: Anthropic says its $100 Max 5x plan is now just Max and the $200 Max 20x plan is now Ultra, prices unchanged, and verified Ultra accounts lose the 5-hour usage limit. Techmeme: Anthropic renames its Max plans (Same price, bigger name. Software's oldest upgrade.)

+ Bunny.net incident notice: Bunny.net, a content delivery network that serves website files for many sites, has posted a security incident notice on its status page; we have only the headline, so check it directly if your site or shop runs on it. Bunny.net: Bunny CDN Security Incident

+ Polymarket pauses trading: Polymarket halted trading on its international site for nearly an hour Thursday over what it called a compromise of third-party software, and says it will fully reimburse affected traders; The Block, citing Arkham, put losses at about $2.65 million, a figure Polymarket declined to comment on. NBC News: Polymarket 1h halt after vendor compromise; affected users will be 'made whole'

+ Crawl Space: OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and Anthropic say they will adopt a new standard that lets publishers set their AI training preferences once across multiple crawlers. The Verge: The biggest names in AI are backing a new way to opt out of scraping (Page owners, this is the switch to watch for.)

+ Teen Spirit, Filtered: Reuters reports OpenAI is tightening the weapons-related information ChatGPT gives teens, even when a question looks harmless. Techmeme: OpenAI tightens limits on weapons-related information for teens

Bottom of the Stack

+ Top Gun: Meowverick: A free browser game where cats with propellers on their paws fly, shoot and brawl for catnip over tropical islands, with five classes and no download. Catcopter: I built a multiplayer game where you're an aerial fighter cat (The all-rounder class gets four paw rotors and a machine gun. Happy Halloween.)