XBOWXBOW is an artificial intelligence platform designed to autonomously identify and exploit software vulnerabilities. It was founded by Oege de Moor and has rapidly gained prominence by outperforming human researchers on HackerOne, a leading bug bounty platform.
The system operates without human intervention, running continuous security tests and identifying a wide range of vulnerabilities, including remote code execution, SQL injection, XSS, SSRF, and more. It has demonstrated the ability to find and exploit vulnerabilities in 75% of web benchmarks, including advanced challenges like cryptographic CAPTCHA bypasses and Jenkins remote code execution. Still, all findings are reviewed by XBOW’s security team before submission to ensure accuracy and compliance with HackerOne’s policies.
Industry Impact and Funding
XBOW recently raised $75 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its total funding to $117 million. The round was led by Altimeter, with participation from Sequoia Capital and Nat Friedman.
XBOW’s success has sparked discussions about the role of AI in cybersecurity, with experts noting both its potential to accelerate vulnerability discovery and concerns about the volume of reports it generates.
XfceXfce is a free and open-source desktop environment designed for Unix-like operating systems, including Linux and BSD. It is pronounced as four individual letters: “X-F-C-E”. Xfce is renowned for being lightweight, fast, and low on system resources, making it an excellent choice for both older hardware and users who value performance and efficiency.
Key Features
Lightweight and Fast: Xfce omits many resource-intensive visual effects found in other desktop environments, allowing it to run smoothly even on low-end computers.
Modular Design: Xfce follows the Unix philosophy of modularity and re-usability. Its components—such as the window manager, panel, desktop manager, session manager, and file manager—are packaged separately, so users can pick and choose what they need.
Customizable: Users can easily customize the appearance, layout, and behavior of the desktop through graphical settings tools, including themes, icons, panels, and keyboard shortcuts.
Standards-Compliant: Xfce adheres to standards defined by freedesktop.org, ensuring compatibility and interoperability with other software.
Stable and Predictable: Xfce emphasizes stability and a consistent user experience, avoiding frequent disruptive changes.
Core Components
Window Manager (Xfwm): Handles window placement, decorations, and workspaces.
Panel: A configurable taskbar for launching applications, switching workspaces, and displaying system information.
Desktop Manager: Manages desktop icons, background, and menus.
Session Manager: Controls login, power management, and session saving.
File Manager (Thunar): Provides basic file management and utilities like bulk renaming.
Settings Manager: Central hub for customizing desktop settings.
History
Xfce was started in 1996 by Olivier Fourdan as a Linux port of the Common Desktop Environment (CDE). Over time, it evolved into its own project, moving away from its original XForms toolkit to GTK, and is now one of the most popular desktop environments in the Unix ecosystem
