Gustafsson’s firm, founded when she was 30, is marketed as a digital parallel of a human body fighting illness

Poppy Gustafsson runs a cutting-edge and gender-diverse cybersecurity firm on the brink of a £3bn stock market debut, but she is happy to reference pop culture classic the Terminator to help describe what Darktrace actually does.

Launched in Cambridge eight years ago by an unlikely alliance of mathematicians, former spies from GCHQ and the US and artificial intelligence (AI) experts, Darktrace provides protection, enabling businesses to stay one step ahead of increasingly smarter and dangerous hackers and viruses.

Related: Huge rise in hacking attacks on home workers during lockdown

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US justice department says bureau hacked devices to remove malware from insecure software

The FBI has been hacking into the computers of US companies running insecure versions of Microsoft software in order to fix them, the US Department of Justice has announced.

The operation, approved by a federal court, involved the FBI hacking into “hundreds” of vulnerable computers to remove malware placed there by an earlier malicious hacking campaign, which Microsoft blamed on a Chinese hacking group known as Hafnium.

Related: Documents reveal FBI head defended encryption for WhatsApp before becoming fierce critic

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Cambridge-based company claims to be first to use AI to detect cybersecurity threats on a large scale

The cybersecurity firm Darktrace has announced plans to float on the London Stock Exchange, in a move that will reportedly value the Cambridge-based company at £3bn.

It is the first big company to have chosen the City for its initial public offering (IPO) since Deliveroo’s disappointing stock market debut last month.

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Experts urge users to secure accounts and passwords after breach exposes personal details of more than 500 million people

Australians are being urged to secure their social media accounts after the details of more than 500 million global Facebook users were found online in a massive data breach.

The details published freely online included names, phone numbers, email addresses, account IDs and bios.

Related: Australia’s move to tame Facebook and Google is just the start of a global battle | Michelle Meagher

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Streaming service tests feature that asks viewers if they share household with subscriber

Netflix has begun testing a feature that asks viewers whether they share a household with a subscriber, in a move that could lead to crackdown on the widespread practice of sharing passwords among friends and family.

Some Netflix users are reported to have received a message asking them to confirm they live with the account owner by entering a code included in a text message or email sent to the subscriber.

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IT operator Sita, which serves airlines including Singapore, Lufthansa and United, reports systems breach revealing frequent flyer data

Data on hundreds of thousands of airline passengers around the world has been hacked via a “highly sophisticated” attack on the IT systems operator that serves around 90% of the global aviation industry.

Sita, which serves the Star Alliance of airlines including Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and United, said on Thursday it had been the victim of a cyber attack leading to a breach of passenger data held on its servers.

Related: Airbus reveals planes sold in last two years will emit over 1bn tonnes of CO2

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Incident prompts fears for latest Silicon Valley craze’s ability to guarantee users’ security and privacy

Clubhouse, the audio-chatroom app that has emerged as the latest craze to consume Silicon Valley, has shut down a site that was rebroadcasting the platform’s content, renewing concerns over the service’s ability to provide security and privacy for its users.

The app, currently available only on iPhones, allows users to quickly and easily set up and discover panel-style discussions, with a small group of speakers and potentially thousands of listeners in each room. It has been strictly limited since its launch in April, with users requiring an invitation before they can create an account. It initially gained popularity in the tech and venture capitalist community of the San Francisco Bay area.

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Genetic testing company with 10 million customers’ data has ‘huge cybersecurity implications’

The genetic testing company 23andMe will go public through a partnership with a firm backed by the billionaire Richard Branson, in a deal that has raised fresh privacy questions about the information of millions of customers.

Launched in 2006, 23andMe sells tests to determine consumers’ genetic ancestry and risk of developing certain illnesses, using saliva samples sent in by mail.

Related: Your DNA is a valuable asset, so why give it to ancestry websites for free? | Laura Spinney

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Exclusive: former cybersecurity chief calls for law change and warns situation is ‘close to getting out of control’

Insurers are inadvertently funding organised crime by paying out claims from companies who have paid ransoms to regain access to data and systems after a hacking attack, Britain’s former top cybersecurity official has warned.

Ciaran Martin, who ran the National Cyber Security Centre until last August, said he feared that so-called ransomware was “close to getting out of control” and that there was a risk that NHS systems could be hit during the pandemic.

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Investigation launched after teachers warn of worm on devices handed out by government for home schooling

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An investigation has been launched into reports that some of the laptops handed out to vulnerable children for homeschooling in England are infected with malware.

According to an online forum, teachers from a school in Bradford noticed the issue and believe it contacts Russian servers.

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