The Latest

Here’s an overview of some of last week’s most interesting news, articles, interviews and videos:

Week in review

Encrypted DNS still tells an eavesdropper where to look
Encrypted DNS runs across much of the Internet. DNS over TLS, HTTPS, and QUIC keep the contents of a query away from anyone watching a network link. The encryption covers the message inside each packet. The packet still carries plaintext headers, and those values mark a flow as DNS.

Agent Beacon: Open-source telemetry layer for AI agents
AI coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, and Claude Cowork run on developer laptops, CI jobs, cloud environments, where they edit files, run commands, and call outside tools. Beacon, an open-source project from Asymptote Labs, configures telemetry for those runtimes and writes a normalized record of what each agent does across local, CI, and cloud-agent surfaces.

Who pays when you gate cyber-capable AI models?
In this interview with Help Net Security, Jaya Baloo, COO & CISO at Aisle, examines the debate over restricting access to cyber-capable AI models. She lays out the strongest argument for gating these tools, then explains where it breaks down for security teams who depend on the same capabilities for defense.

A $1,400 experiment in AI security auditing outperformed OpenAI’s Codex Security
A research team has built a system that teaches AI agents to hunt for software bugs by writing the audit method down as plain text. The system, called EVOHUNT, keeps the underlying AI model fixed and improves only an external “playbook” that tells the agent how to work.

GTA 6 early access offers are taking gamers’ crypto
Scam websites are circulating across the internet with a pitch aimed at millions of gamers: a way to play Grand Theft Auto VI before its release. The pages promise early access for a few hundred dollars in cryptocurrency, ask buyers to enter a payment code, and claim the game will then unlock.

Praxen: Open-source AI agent behavior verification
Praxen is an open-source tool with a simple job: it checks whether an AI agent does what it claims to do. The tool takes an agent’s declared policy, looks at how the agent operates, and points out every spot where the two drift apart.

Where IT meets OT and railway cybersecurity gets harder
In this interview with Help Net Security, Jorge Aldegunde, Global Head of Railway Services at DNV, talks through what happens when old operational technology meets newer IT in monorail systems. He explains why open networks widened the attack surface, how teams decide whether to patch a signalling flaw without stopping trains, and who carries the liability.

Scoring AI hackers when there is no answer key
AI models are solving an increasing number of offensive cybersecurity benchmarks, making those tests less useful for evaluating the most advanced systems. Many rely on vulnerabilities that have already been publicly documented, allowing models to draw on existing knowledge. FrontierCyber, a benchmark from AI security lab Irregular, takes a different approach. It places models on real systems and measures how far they progress toward a security objective.

The uptime questions every engineering leader should ask this week
In this interview with Help Net Security, Mattias Geniar, CTO at Oh Dear, explains why most outages start quietly, as creeping latency or a slow rise in errors. He argues teams alert on the wrong things: absolute numbers instead of changes, isolated endpoints instead of real user outcomes.

Healthcare leaders see a fatal cyber incident as inevitable
Healthcare practices run on a chain of outside vendors. An EMR system holds clinical records, a billing platform processes claims, a telehealth tool supports remote visits, and a cloud provider stores data. Every one of those connections gives an outside company a path into the practice, and any one of them can break. According to Omega Systems’ 2026 Healthcare IT Landscape Report, the large majority of practices dealt with at least one operational disruption that traced back to a vendor or a vendor’s own supplier.

Two CEOs on why security and AI readiness belong together
SuperOps and Guardz are bundling PSA, RMM, MDM, and agentic SecOps into one offering for MSPs. In this Help Net Security Q&A, SuperOps CEO Arvind Parthiban and Guardz CEO Dor Eisner explain how a connected stack cuts the time and context lost to tool-switching, lowers costs against multi-vendor setups, and helps close the gap between average MSP margins of 8% and the 18% top performers reach.

What the Fortibleed campaign means for organizations running FortiGate firewalls
A massive credential-harvesting campaign targeting FortiGate firewalls has exposed thousands of organizations to potential network compromise, and a trove of attacker tools, scripts, and credentials left inadvertently exposed on a server has given researchers an unusually detailed look at how the operation worked.

Cisco Unified CM flaw actively exploited to drop webshells (CVE-2026-20230)
CVE-2026-20230, a server-side request forgery (SSRF) vulnerability affecting Cisco’s Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM), is being exploited to drop webshells and achieve remote code execution capability on the underlying server.

Law enforcement hits StealC and Amadey malware networks
Operation Endgame, the largest international law enforcement operation aimed at disrupting ransomware and cybercrime infrastructure across the world, has claimed its latest targets: StealC and Amadey.

Mystery hackers use novel SharkLoader dropper against governments, software devs
Kaspersky researchers have uncovered a previously unknown cyberattack campaign that has compromised government organizations and software development companies in multiple countries.

Synology issues critical fix for MailPlus Server vulnerabilities
Synology has has fixed critical vulnerabilities in MailPlus Server, a software package used to run private email infrastructure on Synology NAS devices. Details about the vulnerabilities are still under wraps.

Product showcase: How to evaluate AI SOC platforms and where Prophet AI leads
The agentic SOC market is crowded with vendors promising to automate alert triage, investigation, and response. The challenge is separating measurable operational gains from marketing claims. Prophet Security is an agentic AI SOC platform that autonomously triages, investigates, and responds to security alerts. It also helps strengthen detection and response programs by identifying tuning opportunities, uncovering detection gaps, and enabling natural-language threat hunting.

23 ClawHub plugins squatting official scopes expose AI registry security gaps
In this Help Net Security video, Ax Sharma, Head of Research at Manifold Security, breaks down how 23 code-executing plugins ended up under ClawHub’s official @openclaw and @clawhub scopes while owned by unrelated accounts, why an official-looking scope is a supply chain risk even when the code isn’t malicious, and what the registry changed after the disclosure.

What your next cyber insurance renewal will demand
In this Help Net Security video, Michael Loewy, co-founder, Tide Foundation, explains how cyber insurance is rewriting security programs at renewal time.

Hundreds of AI-powered iOS apps found exposing credentials
Mobile app developers are packing AI features into everything from writing assistants to productivity tools and lifestyle apps. New research shows that securing access to those services remains a challenge. Researchers from Wake Forest University analyzed 444 iOS applications with LLM features and found 282 that exposed exploitable credentials or backend access mechanisms.

Free, no-signup World Cup streams serve scams instead of football
Researchers at Malwarebytes identified dozens of websites claiming to offer free access to FIFA World Cup matches. Instead of streaming games, the sites directed visitors through a chain of advertising pages designed to generate revenue for their operators.

Phishing hides in routine Microsoft 365 workflows
Attackers are abusing Outlook Groups and Microsoft 365 collaboration features to make phishing campaigns appear routine, according to Fortra. The attack begins when a target is added to or invited into an attacker-controlled Microsoft 365 Group. The group’s name, description, or welcome message is designed to create urgency, often using themes such as payroll updates, contract renewals, supplier requests, or mandatory training notices.

Two Scattered Spider hackers plead guilty over Transport for London cyberattack
Two members of the notorious hacker group Scattered Spider have pleaded guilty to charges related to a 2024 cyberattack on Transport for London (TfL) that resulted in £29 million in loss and recovery costs.

Using Reddit to manipulate AI search results is surprisingly easy
A Reddit comment that takes only a few seconds to write can end up influencing the answers generated by AI research tools. A Cornell Tech study found that a short snippet of user-generated text, sometimes as little as 13 words, was enough to affect the output of deep-research agents, AI systems that search the web, gather information from multiple sources, and generate reports with citations.

LastPass customer data exposed through Klue supply chain attack
LastPass disclosed that attackers used OAuth tokens compromised in a supply chain attack on Klue, a market intelligence platform that integrates with CRM and sales tools across organizations, to access customer data stored in its Salesforce environment.

Phishing attack on healthcare firm Xsolis impacts 1.4 million people
Healthcare technology company Xsolis confirmed that a phishing attack resulted in unauthorized access to its network. The company develops AI-powered software for hospitals, health systems, and health plans and serves more than 600 hospitals and health insurers.

Algerian national accused of running cybercrime marketplaces extradited to US
An Algerian national accused of running online marketplaces that sold phishing kits and fraud tools has been extradited from Spain to the United States to face bank fraud conspiracy charges.

WhatsApp will warn users before they message a potential scammer
WhatsApp is rolling out a warning screen on Android and iOS that appears before users open chats with unfamiliar phone numbers. Meta hopes that this new feature will help users avoid scammers.

Hacker gets 18 months for attack that compromised 60,000 betting accounts
A 21-year-old man known online as “Snoopy” was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in a scheme that hacked user accounts on a fantasy sports and betting website and sold access to them, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.

Stealthy new backdoor surfaces in attacks on multiple sectors
A relatively new backdoor called Mistic has been deployed in multiple attacks since April 2026 targeting organizations in the insurance, education, IT, and professional services sectors, according to Symantec.

A privacy-first take on local malware analysis
Submitting a suspicious file to VirusTotal or MalwareBazaar uploads a copy to a searchable public repository. While these platforms help analysts quickly identify malicious files, they also allow threat actors to see when their tools have been detected by monitoring for matching hashes. In targeted attacks, uploaded samples may also contain sensitive victim data, exposing it to third-party systems. Burnyard, a research project from The Ohio State University takes aim at this condition. It runs suspicious binaries on the analyst’s own hardware and keeps each sample local for the duration of the analysis.

Microsoft gives Windows 10 users an unexpected extra year of free security updates
Microsoft has given Windows 10 users another year of free security updates, extending its consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) program until October 12, 2027.

SIM-swapping gang busted in international police operation
Officers from Poland’s Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime (CBZC) arrested four suspected members of an organized cybercrime group accused of SIM swap attacks, cryptocurrency theft, and money laundering.

Mirage2FA phishing kit uses HTML smuggling to steal Microsoft 365 credentials
Mirage2FA, a phishing kit that combines short-lived HTML smuggling with obfuscated JavaScript loaders to deliver fake Microsoft 365 login pages and steal credentials during MFA prompts, has been identified by researchers at Fortra.

The systemd 261 release brings a software TPM, new OS installer
Linux distributions that ship systemd as their init system now have a new version to track. The systemd 261 update adds a cloud metadata subsystem, carries process state through kexec reboots, and continues a long-running effort to load external libraries on demand.

Product showcase: Avira Security for iOS blends security, privacy, and device optimization
Avira Mobile Security for iOS combines security, privacy, and device optimization tools in a single application. The app is also available for Android, macOS, and Windows devices.

Only 7% of companies are ready for the AI agents they deployed
Most organizations now run or pilot AI agents that operate on company data with limited human direction at each step, a share that reaches 88% in Veeam Software’s Data and AI Trust Gap report. The systems that are supposed to keep an eye on them have not caught up.

Residential proxy SDKs are hiding in LG and Samsung smart TV apps
Smart TVs in living rooms run small apps that show fish tanks, clocks, solitaire games, and slideshows of puppies. A share of those apps can also send other people’s internet traffic out through the home connection. Spur Intelligence scanned 6,038 apps across LG webOS and Samsung Tizen and found 2,058 that contain residential proxy software.

OpenAI wants AI to fix vulnerabilities, not just find them
OpenAI expanded Daybreak, its cybersecurity initiative that combines AI models, Codex Security, security researchers, maintainers, industry partners, and access controls to support vulnerability discovery and remediation. Organizations can use the initiative to identify, validate, and fix software vulnerabilities, while developers, maintainers, and security teams can use its tools to strengthen defensive security capabilities.

Security testing was built for a slower world
Software teams are pushing code into production faster than security testing can keep up. AI is accelerating development cycles and adding pressure to security programs that rely on periodic validation and manual penetration testing. The 2026 State of AI Security Testing report from Aikido Security found that 76% of organizations have had to stop, restrict, or roll back AI-driven behavior in the past 12 months.

Google Workspace expands password reset alerts to all admins
Google’s Alert Center, a dashboard in the Google Admin console that displays security and administrative alerts and helps administrators identify, investigate, and respond to issues affecting their organization, is expanding the “Super Admin password reset” alert into the “Admin password reset” alert. The feature is rolling out gradually and will be available to all Google Workspace customers.

Anthropic’s Claude Tag gives AI agents independent identities
Anthropic introduced an agent identity model for Claude Tag, its AI assistant designed for team collaboration in shared workspaces. The model gives Claude its own identity, permissions, and tool access, configured by administrators and tied to a workspace or channel.

Most teams will ship AI-written infrastructure code with little review
AI-assisted development has settled into everyday practice across software organizations, and developers using it move from idea to working code in hours. That code does not stay with the developers who prompt it. It flows downstream to the DevOps and platform teams who deploy and maintain it, and those teams are not getting the same speed boost.

Best practices for AI in open-source work
Free and open source software developers us AI coding assistants such as Claude Code, Copilot CLI, Antigravity, and OpenCode in their daily work. The Software Freedom Conservancy responded to that trend with a set of recommendations for contributors who use these tools, which it groups under the label LLM-gen-AI, meaning generative AI systems backed by LLMs.

LLM security advice looks solid until you check the hard cases
Plenty of people now type their security worries straight into a chatbot. A hacked account, a suspicious email, a stalker who might be tracking a phone, all of it lands in the same window someone would use to ask about dinner. A benchmark called HelpBench tests how well chatbots handle those moments, and the results give security professionals something to watch in what their users are being told.

Google Wallet adds TSA Touchless ID for faster airport screening
Google Wallet has joined the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) PreCheck Touchless ID program, allowing travelers to pass through security checkpoints using the TSA’s facial comparison technology. The system verifies identity by matching a live photo taken at a checkpoint with identity and flight information, reducing the need to present a physical ID.

Modelplane: Open-source control plane for AI inference
Organizations that run open-weight models on hardware they own operate GPU fleets spread across clouds, neoclouds, and on-premise data centers. Each fleet handles model placement, replica scaling, infrastructure provisioning, weight distribution, and traffic routing. Teams have built this coordination layer by hand, one operator at a time. Upbound, the company behind the Crossplane project, released Modelplane, an open-source control plane that manages fleet-wide coordination for AI inference.

Ransomware gangs find Europe’s weakest link in third-party suppliers
Ransomware attacks against European organizations increased during the first months of 2026, with third-party suppliers becoming a major entry point for attackers. Black Kite examined 2,066 ransomware incidents across 31 countries between January 2025 and April 2026 in its 2026 European Cyber Risk Report.

Critical open-source projects get a new security framework
Open source software projects are getting a new framework for handling security vulnerabilities as AI shortens the time between flaw discovery and exploitation. The Linux Foundation has launched Akrites, an industry initiative that brings together technology companies, financial institutions, security vendors, AI companies, and open source projects to support the remediation and disclosure of vulnerabilities affecting widely used open source software.

Cybersecurity jobs available right now: June 24, 2026
We’ve scoured the market to bring you a selection of roles that span various skill levels within the cybersecurity field. Check out this weekly selection of cybersecurity jobs available right now.

New infosec products of the month: June 2026
Here’s a look at the most interesting products from the past month, featuring releases from AISLE, Asimily, Blue Planet, depthfirst, Diligent, Drata, Elastic, Filigran, Flip, Hyland, IDnow, Legit Security, MazeBolt, Noma, Qodo, Ridge Security, Tigera, and WitnessAI.


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Yesterday was a bad day for anyone looking to buy a new Apple product. Following a cryptic announcement from outgoing CEO Tim Cook earlier this month, Apple officially raised its prices on a number of devices. These weren't small increases, either: Most Macs jumped by $200 to $500 overnight, while many iPads saw $100 to $200 increases. Even Apple's "budget" laptop, the MacBook Neo, shot up nearly 17% to $699. This computer launched at $599 just three months ago, and even allowed anyone to take off an additional $100 off under its lax education discount. Now, it's on par with some used MacBook Airs.

It's not just Apple's biggest products that are now more expensive, either. Apple TVs now cost $200 instead of $129; HomePods cost $349 instead of $299, and HomePod minis cost $129 instead of $99; Vision Pro now starts at $3,699, which makes it an even more difficult sell than before.

While Apple is obviously concerned with protecting its profits, the company didn't simply decide it wanted more money. The rationale behind these increases is the same as every other company that raised its prices in recent months: The global memory shortage is making all computer components more expensive, to the point where companies feel they cannot continue operating without sharply inflating MSRPs. Sony raised prices on the PS5, as did Nintendo with the Switch 2. Acer, Dell, and Microsoft all increased the costs of certain computers and laptops. If it runs on a chip, it likely costs more now than it did last year, or it will soon.

Which Apple products did not get a price hike?

And yet, Apple did not increase the cost of its products across the board. While it's a brutal market for Macs and iPads today, other products were spared a price hike—at least, for now. Here's what Apple decided to keep the same for the time being:

  • iPhone 17

  • iPhone Air

  • iPhone 17 Pro

  • iPhone 17 Pro Max

  • iPhone 17e

  • iPhone 16

  • iPhone 16 Plus

  • Apple Watch Series 11

  • Apple Watch SE 3

  • Apple Watch Ultra 3

  • AirPods Max 2

  • AirPods Pro 3

  • AirPods 4

  • AirPods 4 With Active Noise Cancellation

  • AirTag

In addition, Apple doesn't appear to have raised prices on its accessories, like iPhone cases or Magic Keyboards. If you were planning on turning your iPad into a laptop, or adding a MagSafe accessory to your iPhone, you should still pay as much today as you would have on Wednesday.

Why did Apple keep these products at the same price?

The short answer? We don't know. Apple's limited comments on these price hikes specifically mention the iPad and Mac, not the iPhone or its other products. After all, iPhones and Apple Watches still rely on components, including RAM, just like Macs and iPads—and yet, they get to keep their price tags. Still, we can make inferences to guess at the company's logic here.

The most likely factor behind this decision is the iPhone 18. Apple will almost assuredly announce this new iPhone line during its big fall event in September, and, when it does, it will likely announce price increases compared to the previous iPhone generation. Perhaps it's only in the company's best interest to keep the iPhone status quo the same for the next three months, to encourage users to buy iPhones (and watches) from now until the next generation. Then, it can implement a new round of price hikes for buyers looking for a new iPhone. Last week, The Wall Street Journal estimated that the iPhone 18 could start at $1,299, while Bloomberg's Mark Guman has speculated the rumored foldable iPhone could cost more than $2,000.

Will those increases also extend to the Apple Watch Series 12? Possibly. Apple may follow the same playbook for the next series of Apple Watches as it likely will with the iPhone, but we can't know for sure. The only thing we do know is that if you see a good deal on an Apple device you want to buy, it might be best to jump on it sooner rather than later.

Our Best Editor-Vetted Apple Deals Right Now
Apple AirTag Tracker (4-Pack) — $59.98 (List Price $99.00)
Apple 1M USB-C Woven Charging Cable (3-Pack) — $21.99 (List Price $57.00)
Deals are selected by our commerce team

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Anyone who has ever worked in an office (or imagined themselves working in one) immediately connects with The Office. In fact, we connected with that show so hard we still watch it today, more than a decade after the series finale. While things like the fire drill, the dinner party, and the reveal that Jim has always been an Asian man will never not be hilarious, you might need a little more variety in your viewing life. If you’ve already burned through the shows that bring that Scranton vibe, here are the books, movies, podcasts, and games that will scratch that itch.

The best books like The Office

Whether you want some deep background about this innovative and hilarious sitcom, or you want to linger in a similarly absurd fictional universe, books have got you.

The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s: An Oral History, by Andy Greene

Need to know how something as perfect as The Office actually happened? Check out Andy Greene’s book. Billed as an “oral history,” it details the development and production of the show through interviews with the people actually involved. From its BBC origins created by Ricky Gervais through nine seasons on NBC here in America, you’ll get all the insider tea about background struggles, attempts to cancel the show, and how some of the most hilarious moments came to be.

Then We Came to the End, by Joshua Ferris

If you’re looking for an absurdist, hilarious story set in an office that hides a lot of humanity and emotion under its humor, Then We Came to the End is the ticket. Set in a Chicago advertising agency going through a tumultuous period of layoffs, you’ll find the quirky, belligerent staff in these pages is the ideal substitute for the Scranton gang. Arguments over chairs, incoherent personal grudges, and a growing sense of desperation as the firings continue until morale improves all mix together to form the perfect Office replacement.

Several People Are Typing, by Calvin Kasulke

The Office was never afraid to bend reality a little for a good joke. Several People are Typing goes a lot further into the crazy than the show ever did, but the tone is spot-on. Gerald works for a grim PR firm, and has somehow been absorbed into its Slack channel. No one else in his office believes he’s trapped inside their chats, however, and Gerald has to turn to everyone’s least-favorite AI, Slackbot, for assistance. It’s grimly hilarious and hits all the late-stage capitalist horrors that The Office thrived on.

I Hope This Finds You Well, by Natalie Sue

Have you ever wondered what it must be like to be Dwight Schrute? Read I Hope This Finds You Well. Jolene has never fit in at her office, and she knows people mock her. To cope, she begins writing snarling insults to people in small, white font at the end of her emails. When her passive-aggressive stunt is exposed, new security is installed on her computer—but the new software also allows her to read all of her coworkers' emails and messages, and she immediately begins weaponizing the information for personal gain. Like The Office, it all leads to a surprisingly warmhearted ending.

Lucky Jim, by Kingsley Amis

The trope of the clueless, casually offensive man in a position of authority has been around for a long time—and Amis’ 1954 novel is a perfect companion to the show. Jim Dixon is a college lecturer trying to secure a permanent job at the university where he works—but everything Jim touches goes hilariously wrong. From scholarly papers that are stolen and translated into Italian to drunkenly burning down buildings, Jim’s misadventures are very Michael Scott-coded.

The best movies like The Office

The Office wasn’t just terrific comedic writing—it was also collectively one of the best comedic performances of the modern TV age. If you want more visuals with your office-based comedy, check out these hilarious movies.

Office Space (1999)

The Office often pivoted off the absurdities and frustrations of working in an office with a group of people you might not have chosen to hang out with for eight hours a day. Office Space lives in that precise mood. When a hypnosis session leaves programmer Peter Gibbons freed from any concern over his job, he begins living and working in a more joyous, free way. Even as the effect fades, it leaves Peter’s eyes open to the way work has robbed him of life. It’s a sharp satire of modern work that fans of the show will absolutely love. Rent Office Space on Prime Video.

Nine to Five (1980)

Want more narratives about terrible bosses? This film, starring a powerhouse cast including Lili Tomlin, Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Dabny Coleman, tells the story of three women working under a sexist boss who thinks way too highly of himself. The comedic scenes depicting the women’s violent fantasies of revenge remain hilarious, and anyone who has ever wished that someone would finally teach Michael a lesson about how awful he can be will enjoy the way the story plays out. Stream Nine to Five on Fubo or rent it on Prime Video.

Waiting for Guffman (1996)

What would life be like if Michael Scott had actually made Threat Level Midnight for real, or actually pursued his improv comedy more seriously? Waiting for Guffman (or, honestly, any of Christopher Guest’s “mockumentary” films) might be close. In the small town of Blaine, Missouri, the local community theater troupe plans a performance to celebrate the town’s 150th birthday, led by director Corky St. Clair, who is Michael Scott-levels of deluded when it comes to his talent and capabilities. Like The Office, it’s a character-driven story where the humor comes from the bizarre-but-lovable personalities of everyone involved. Rent Waiting for Guffman on Prime Video.

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

The Coen Brothers’ least successful film is a stealth gem, and its story of a deluded, kind of dim man’s rise from the mailroom to the boardroom of Hudsucker Industries echoes Michael Scott’s rise from salesman to regional manager. The Hudsucker Proxy has a different tone—it was inspired by 1930s screwball comedies and it’s set in the 1950s—but if you love watching a Clueless Michael Scott bumbling his way through his job, you’ll love Tim Robbins unfolding a drawing of a circle and earnestly saying “You know—for kids!” Stream The Hudsucker Proxy on The Roku Channel or rent it on Prime Video.

The Apartment (1960)

The office has been a rich source of humor and pathos since forever. This classic 1960 film written and directed by the legendary Billy Wilder is set at an enormous insurance company in New York City. Employee C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is a bachelor who offers up his apartment to executives to use for their extramarital affairs in order to get promoted, and, yes, hijinx ensue. Just like The Office, the humor is offset by a warm and affectionate core that sees the humanity in every character, and the script remains sharp and hilarious six decades later. Stream The Apartment on Kanopy or rent it on Prime Video.

The best video games like The Office

Looking for a hands-on experience that will give you that Office vibe? Believe it or not, there actually was an official PC game based on the show released in 2007, and there was an announced game for the Meta Quest VR headset that appears to have been hindered by the fact that no one actually owned Meta Quest VR headsets. If you’re looking for games you can actually play, these will stand in for The Office nicely.

The Office: Somehow We Manage

This official mobile-only game is a cozy way to dive into the Scranton office, playing as an actual salesperson working for Dunder Mifflin. The game is free, but is a bit cluttered with in-app purchases and advertisements. Each level of the game is based on a classic Office episode, however, and all the beloved characters are represented here, so it’s a great lo-fi way to play The Office.

Platforms: Android, iOS

Dale & Dawson Stationery Supplies

Dale & Dawson Stationery Supplies is a blend of The Office and the survival video game Among Us. You play as an employee of the titular company—but you also have another role: Manager, Specialist, or Slacker. Managers have been tasked with figuring out who’s slacking off on the job, Specialists are just trying to do their job, and Slackers are gonna slack. Managers try to figure out who the Slackers are and fire them, Slackers try to evade that and maybe get their coworkers to vote out a manager, and you can engage in various pranks and other fun stuff. It’s as close to playing The Office as you can get.

Platforms: Steam

Dispatch

Yes, this is a superhero game (of sorts), but don’t let that fool you: The tone and gameplay are perfect for fans of The Office. You play as Robert Robertson, a former superhero working in the emergency call center for the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN), managing a bunch of reformed supervillains trying to make the city a better place. Its tone is very reminiscent of The Office, with a lot of comedy and office family interactions. If you’re looking for something to replace the show in your life, check it out!

Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Steam

The Stanley Parable

If you want to lean into the absurdity of working in an office, selling off years of your life in exchange for just enough money to get by, The Stanley Parable is the delirious answer to your prayers. You play as Stanley, employee 427 at an unnamed company. When your computer crashes one afternoon, you wander out of your office and discover that the whole place has been abandoned. A sardonic narrator accompanies you as you sink into an increasingly weird and consistently funny adventure that definitely goes in directions you won’t expect.

Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox, PC, macOS, Nintendo Switch, Steam

Last Man Sitting

If your favorite parts of The Office were the times the employees stopped working and just had some silly fun by staging an Office Olympics or engineering an elaborate prank, play Last Man Sitting. It’s ridiculous—and ridiculously fun. This rogue-like game where you play as workers in an office, riding swivel chairs like chariots and using a wide variety of weapons to fight each other. There are robots, an evil presence, and lots and lots of carnage as you destroy corporate settings—so maybe there’s a cathartic aspect to this one as well.

Platforms: Steam

The best podcasts like The Office

One of the best parts of The Office is re-watching, discussing, and quoting it with, well, everyone (because everyone knows at least a little Office). Podcasts are the perfect way to extend that experience a little more.

Office Ladies

Office Ladies
Credit: Podcast logo

If you’re a fan of The Office and you haven’t been listening to Office Ladies, what are you even doing? Hosted by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey (who were, you know, actually on the show), this is the ultimate insider podcast. The Ladies revisit every episode and drop tons of insider knowledge, hilarious backstage stories, and generally entertaining conversation that wanders all over the place. After examining every episode in detail, they’ve moved on to deep dives into characters and even discussing the new Office spinoff, The Paper.

The Michael Scott Podcast Company

The Michael Scott Podcast Company
Credit: Podcast logo

In its current incarnation, The Michael Scott Podcast Company covers a lot of films and TV shows, but it started as a dedicated Office recapping podcast, hosted by three friends (Sean Roney, Edwin Janes, and Alex Ward) who simply loved the show. It’s got that hangout vibe that makes a podcast feel like aural comfort food while also providing lots of interesting analysis and hilarious moments that every fan of the show will appreciate.

The Office Deep Dive

The Office Deep Dive
Credit: Podcast logo

If you love the behind-the-scenes aspect of Office Ladies and want more of that, Brian Baumgartner’s The Office Deep Dive is your jam. It’s an expansion of his terrific An Oral History of The Office, and it not only includes Brian’s unique perspective on every aspect of every episode, it also manages to pull in plenty of other actors and crew members who are happy to spill their tea for an old friend. It’s the perfect way to really become the Office Trivia Authority in your neck of the woods.

Wooden Overcoats

Wooden Overcoats
Credit: Podcast logo

If you want to replicate the joyous insanity of The Office in audio form, check out Wooden Overcoats. This British podcast production is set in a small Channel Islands village, where the Rudyard and Antigone Funn have been running the sole funeral home for years. When a new undertaker opens a rival business, the Funns are thrown into chaos. Many of the Funn siblings’ schemes to triumph over their new competition will give you that Michael Scott vibe—in the good way, not the Scott’s Tots way.

The Teacher’s Lounge

The Teacher’s Lounge
Credit: Podcast logo

Love the way Michael Scott’s incompetence, social awkwardness, and self-importance generated consistent hilarity in Scranton? Check out the four teachers at Hamilton High School portrayed by Drew Tarver, Dan Lippert, Jon Mackey, and Ryan Rosenberg on The Teacher’s Lounge. They’re not dedicated and they’re not very good at the job of teaching our kids, but they are reliably funny as they recount their deranged adventures in podcast form.


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We know that ICE wants to deploy eyeglasses with facial recognition that can identify people in real time.

Turns out Meta is prototyping the feature with a Pentagon supplier. (Alternate news story.)


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Prime Day is June 23 to 26, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before it's over. 

Chargers are easy to overlook, but the right one can replace several power bricks and keep more than just your phone running. That makes Prime Day’s final hours a good time to shop for discounts on compact USB-C chargers, wireless stands, travel adapters, and laptop-ready power banks. Prices start at $12, making this a practical opportunity to replace an aging charger or declutter your desk.

These Magsafe-compatible chargers are up to 43% off 

Belkin’s Qi2.2 25W Three-in-One Charging Station is down to $79.99 from $99.99 and can charge a compatible phone, Apple Watch, and earbuds from one stand. It folds for travel, includes a 45-watt adapter, and supports wireless charging at up to 25 watts. The older Qi2 15W version is a cheaper alternative at $62.99, down from $79.99, with the same three-device setup and portable design, but slower 15-watt phone charging.

Anker’s Prime Three-in-One Charging Station is at a record-low $137.99, down from $229.99, and adds active cooling, a built-in display, and up to 25-watt wireless charging for three devices. The Anker MagGo Two-in-One Stand is the simpler, more affordable option at $37.79, down from $53.99, and is better suited to anyone who only needs to charge a phone and earbuds while keeping the phone upright for notifications or StandBy mode.

At $28, down from $49, Apple’s two-meter MagSafe Charger gives you more freedom to use your phone while it charges without sitting directly beside an outlet. It snaps into place on compatible iPhones and supports charging at up to 25 watts, though the required 30-watt USB-C adapter is sold separately.

These desktop charging stations are up to 30% off

Anker Prime 200W Charging Station: At $55.99, down from $79.99, this is the strongest option for a desk with multiple power-hungry devices. Its six USB ports share 200 watts of output, and two USB-C ports can each deliver up to 100 watts simultaneously, making it capable of charging two compatible laptops at once.

Belkin 70W GaN Charging Station: At $36.09, down from $49.99, Belkin’s station is better suited to a desk that needs regular outlets as well as USB charging. It combines three AC outlets with two USB-C and two USB-A ports, giving you one place to connect a laptop, monitor, phone, and older accessories.

Anker’s 112W Six-Port Desktop Charger is $32.29, down from $39.99, and gives you three USB-C and three USB-A ports for phones, tablets, earbuds, and other everyday devices. For just $33.99, also down from $39.99, the 100W Nine-in-One Charging Station adds three AC outlets, four USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, and surge protection, making it the more versatile choice for a desk with lamps, monitors, and other plug-in equipment.

These compact wall chargers are up to 41% off

Anker 511 Nano 3: At $12.34, down from $15.99, this tiny 30-watt USB-C charger is an easy replacement for the slow brick that came with an older phone. It can also handle tablets and lower-powered laptops, though you will need to supply your own cable.

Belkin 42W Dual-Port Charger: At $16.99, down from $25.49, this compact charger gives you one 30-watt USB-C port and a 12-watt USB-A port. It is a practical choice when you still own a mix of newer USB-C devices and older accessories.

Ugreen Nexode 65W Wall Charger: At $23.72, down from $39.99, this charger solves one of the more irritating parts of packing: remembering the cable. A retractable USB-C cable is built in, and two additional ports let it charge three devices at once.

Anker Nano Travel Adapter: At $19.99, down from $25.99, this five-in-one adapter gives international travelers one AC outlet, two USB-C ports, and two USB-A ports. That said, its 20-watt maximum output is better suited to phones and accessories than power-hungry laptops.

These power banks are up to 30% off

Anker MagGo 10,000mAh Power Bank: At $60.79, down from $79.99, this battery snaps magnetically onto compatible iPhones and doubles as a stand. It offers 15-watt wireless charging, while its USB-C port supports faster 27-watt wired charging.

Anker Laptop Power Bank: At $91.19, down from $119.99, this is the one to consider when a phone-sized battery is not enough. Its 25,000mAh capacity and 165-watt combined output can charge laptops alongside phones, tablets, and portable gaming systems.

Belkin MagSafe Power Bank: At $69.99, down from $99.99, Belkin’s 10,000mAh MagSafe power bank is a useful pick for long days away from an outlet. It attaches magnetically to a compatible phone, charges wirelessly at up to 25 watts, and has a built-in kickstand and display so you can prop up your phone and see how much battery remains. 

Looking for something else? Retailers like Walmart and Best Buy run Prime Day-style sales that are especially useful if you don’t have Amazon Prime.

Our Best Editor-Vetted Prime Day Deals Right Now
Deals are selected by our commerce team

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