Hack Forum News - Edition Seven

Hack Forum News is back this week with another update on the weekly news to keep you up to date on the latest news on site and around the world. If you have never heard of Hack Forum News, dont worry we have you covered. We are a team of members from the Hack Forums community who are journilists and writers, and we are here to keep you in the loop of the changes around the site and now even around the world.

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Writer - [mention=121196]

New Hide Awards Feature (Individual Awards) By [mention=1]
[mention=1] has announced an exciting update to the Hide Awards feature. Users now have the ability to individually select which specific awards they'd like to hide, giving you more control and customization over your profile display.

Set Display Group as Registered By [mention=1]
In response to requests from members seeking a more minimalistic profile, [mention=1] has now introduced the option to hide your userbar. As a compromise, users can also choose to set their usergroup to 'Registered' for a cleaner appearance.

Group Automated Welcome Private Message By [mention=1]
Group leaders can now customize a welcome PM that is automatically sent when a member is accepted into their group. This feature is intended to help share important information, such as group rules and guidelines, with new members.

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Writer - [mention=121196]

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Writer - [mention=2331053]


Quick reminder, the donation awards page has had a bit of a change. Some of the classic awards are back up for purchase. If you would like to check out what is new, head over to the donation award page to snipe up some of the awards today. Or Click Here!


[mention=5568595] Has obtained the "Speaker of the House" award -
[mention=5526553] Has obtained the "Green Apple" award -
[mention=1555761] Has obtained the "King Decade" award -
[mention=4189082] Has obtained the "Green Apple" award -
[mention=4189082] Has obtained the "Dicey" award -
[mention=4189082] Has obtained the "SportsBook" award -

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H4CK3R$ x Hack Forums News Team
Writer - [mention=2331053]



In this week's edition, we have a very special inside view of the group known as H4CK3R$ and we are here to give everyone an inside view of what is happening behind the group for those who are not aware or unable to join the group.

This week we were given access to the group to have an internal view of what the group has been doing for the site and the projects they currently have going on. And we were not expecting so much content from them, but it clearly has set the standards very high for other groups to compete with.

The group is a selection of very skilled members who are all dedicated to using their skills to create a prestigious, tight-knit collective of skilled hackers, researchers, developers, and infosec hobbyists. They have the goal of promoting meaningful contributions to hacking and cybersecurity on the forum. Award recognition through ranks, hats, and rewards and always maintain a mature and focused hacker culture on site.

They envision a trusted force of members who not only build tools, share exploits, and push the edge, but also represent the ethos of old-school hacker spirit. Our long-term goal is to remain HF's most respected group of hackers, offering help for new talents, internal collabs, Vendor partnerships, and exclusive content & rates.

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The group has had a few mentions previously within our group and crew news section before, but they have contacted us to give them a bit more of a detailed version this week as a special edition where the HF News Team and the Hacker$ groups collab together and share a bit more for everyone to see if this is something they may be interested in getting into.

As for those who haven't really got into any of their threads around the site, we are just going to cover a few of the benefits of the group.

Benefits of being part of the Hacker$ group:

Members get bonus Bytes
Monthly Prizes
Live point system
Support with hacking projects
Hacker$ exclusive prefixes
Visibility and rank status
Group graphics
Group Awards

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Live Scoreboard + Memberlist

So one thing that stood out to the team was the live member list and scoreboard. Within their group, they have been using the HF API to gather everyone who is in the group and then also track everyone's activity on the site, which, in return, rewards the members with points which are used to allow the members to obtain group awards.

Below is the live scoreboard.
Spoiler (Click to View)
Group Point System

As mentioned within the live scoreboard, they are using their own in-house point system for the members of the group. Points are automatically calculated every 24 hours. This system tracks each member's participation and helps maintain a high level of contribution across the group and allows the leaders to keep everyone within the group active and enjoying the subforum.

How Points Are Gained Within The Group:
+30 points — New thread in H4CK3R$ group
+15 points — New post in H4CK3R$ group
+5 points — New thread outside group (other group threads not included)
+1 point — New post outside group (other group threads not included)
+15 points — New thread in Hacking Section (currently only "Hacking Tools & Programs", more are set shortly)
+5 points — New post in Hacking Section (currently only "Hacking Tools & Programs", more are set shortly)

With the points system, each month the top monthly point earner receives a $100 prize. This is a massive incentive for everyone within the group and I must admit I know the HF News Team would love to use this as a giveaway ourselves. If we get anywhere near this, we will be sure to start a giveaway ourselves.

Group Awards

Currently, the group has three main awards for its members which, as mentioned, are gained from the current point system. These awards are gained by gaining points within the group, which, as mentioned above, are following the group scoreboard. Each award has its own special number of points needed to obtain such awards that we are not going to go into detail as the current scoreboard is still in beta and isn't final yet.

Current awards from group ranks:

Blue Hat: Indicator of TR41N33 - Trainee rank
Red Hat: Indicator of 0P3R8T0R - Operator rank
Black Hat: Indicator of 3L173 - Elite rank

Projects

We mentioned earlier that the group has a few notable projects that are currently ongoing. We spent some time looking into these and had a little test with them as well.

Project - HackHF

Project HackHF has been out now for a while and, with this, it is its own website where members can find ways to crack exploits or even easily find passwords to complete the task that is given. Similar to a quest or mission, some may even call it. This project has been public for a little while now and a lot of members have had their hands on it and given it a go. It's friendly to those who are new to hacking and can even help those who are well-experienced test their skills.

Project - H4CK3R$ CASINO

This is a brand-new project that the group is working on that will bring a casino to HF in the short term. Currently, this project is at very early stages, but from what we have seen so far the project is looking very promising and shows that it will be a much bigger project in the future as they are currently working on bringing black jack, coinflip, and Guess the number games to the table. Right now, the project is in a closed group alpha stage, so there isn't too much to go off on what else could come from the project, but after having a little look at the project so far, the casino project will be using bytes from HF as a currency and allowing players to have the possibility to win big.

These are the most notable projects currently ongoing but we don't want to spoil it all and allow them to keep a few smaller projects hidden away for now, but we are sure they will be shown off a bit more very soon.

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This concludes our internal review of the H4CK3R$ group. The Hack Forum News Team would like to thank [mention=6] & [mention=3740051] for allowing the team to have access to make this story this week and to everyone within the group who is behind the group work. As you can see, there are some great things within the group, and we are sure they have so much more to come!

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Writer - [mention=3929084]

GROUPS FOR SALE AND SOLD

Succubus group is still listed for sale by [mention=3604010]
Olympians group & Benevolence are listed for sale by [mention=1342286]

No recent group sales.


RECENT GROUP CHANGES & EVENTS
New & Exclusive Upgrade to H4CK3R$ & The Academy!

Anyone wearing the userbar for either of these two groups will get a multiplier on bytes earned for posting and creating threads. H4CK3R$ will receive 10x bytes & The Academy will receive 5x bytes.

https://hackforums.net/showthread.php?tid=6303358

RECRUITMENTS:

Casino Recruitment
Pink LSZ Recruitment
Warriors Recruitment
Gamblers Recruitment
Legends Recruitment
Allegiance Buy-in
Olympians leader recruitment
The Academy Recruitment

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Writer - [mention=2331053]


Remember if you have reached an achievement on your account feel free to post about it on our weekly reports thread. That way we can add you to the news for the next edition. Click Here To See The Weekly Reports Thread

TWIXX Has been closed.

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Writer - [mention=2331053]

France to officially recognize Palestinian state

France has become the first G7 country to formally recognize Palestine, sparking both domestic and international debate.

Source

Series of deadly European heatwaves & wildfires

Parts of Europe have endured record-breaking heatwaves since June, with wildfires affecting France, Spain, Turkey, and Greece. These events have resulted in deaths, injuries, and widespread evacuations—France alone reporting over 119 injuries and Turkey evacuating more than 52,000 people.

Source

Flash floods disrupt UK life

The UK experienced severe flash flooding around mid‑July. Notably, heavy rains disrupted hearings at the Old Bailey and inundated large areas in Northern Ireland and the East of England, causing school closures, road and rail disruptions, and property damage.

Source

US–EU trade deal reached

In a breakthrough summit in Scotland, President Trump and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to freeze tariffs at 15% (down from proposed 30%) and increased EU purchases of American energy and military hardware.

Source

Earth experiencing the shortest days on record

Scientists have recorded unusually fast rotation in July 2025, including a day on July 10 that was 1.36 milliseconds shorter than typical. This phenomenon may have implications for timekeeping, GPS, and digital systems.

Source

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Writer - [mention=811]

Notable console & hardware releases:

Nintendo Switch 2 - Wave 2 Colors (Released July 18, 2025):

Following the successful launch of the console, Nintendo released two new color variations for the Switch 2: 'Superstar Silver' and 'Mushroom Kingdom Red'. These are standard models with no performance difference.

Analogue duo - black edition (Released July 11, 2025):

Analogue released a new production run of its high-end duo console in a limited all black colorway. The console plays original TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine/SuperGrafx game cartridges, Hucards, and CDs.

Razer "Viper V4 Pro" gaming mouse (Released July 22, 2025):

Razer launched its next-generation lightweight competitive gaming mouse. Featuring updated optical sensor and improved battery life.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova 9X headset (Released July 15, 2025):

The latest wireless gaming headset from SteelSeries designed primarily for Xbox consoles, but also featuring Bluetooth. It has improved microphone clarity and a longer battery life compared to previous models.

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5050 (Released July 2025):
NVIDIA has officially launched the GeForce RTX 5050 GPU at a budget friendly price. This card has the most up to date technological advancements in GPU for this generation making it a "smart" GPU.


Notable News (July 2025)

Call of Duty Remote Code Execution (RCE) exploit (Ongoing July 2025):

Spoiler (Click to View)Highly Vulnerable: Call of Duty: WWII (PC)

When the publisher Activision was aware of this critical vulnerability PC servers went completely offline for emergency maintenance.
Timeline of the event:

July 2nd - 4th: This is when the community became aware of the issue. People began posting on Reddit and X warning other users that hackers began opening applications like Notepad and harassing players in-game.
July 5th: Activision's official "Call of Duty Updates" account acknowledged they were investigating "an issue" and took the PC version of the game offline.

A specific vulnerability "CVE-2018-20817" effected several older Call of Duty games as well. Hackers could exploit the game's authentication process, and execute code on your machine remotely.

Historically Vulnerable and Still Considered Unsafe on PC:

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
  
• Call of Duty: Black Ops
  
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
  
• Call of Duty: Black Ops II
  
• Call of Duty: Ghosts
  
• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
  
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered (on official servers)
  
• Call of Duty: Black Ops III (A patch was released in 2023 by Treyarch. Members of the COD community still advise caution and recommend community patches.)
  

Ubisoft Announces major restructuring (July 21, 2025):

Ubisoft announced a significant internal reorganization into "Creative Houses." This is designed to give its development studios more creative autonomy and streamline production following several years of underperforming releases.

"Wuchang: Fallen Feathers" launches (July 25, 2025):

The highly anticipated Soulslike action RPG launched on PC and consoles. While praised for its art style and combat, the release was plagued by widespread reports of performance issues. Especially on PC leading to a mixed rating on Steam.

"Ready or Not" surpasses 1 Million sales on consoles (July 23, 2025):

Developer VOID Interactive announced that its tactical shooter, "Ready or Not," sold over one million copies within its first week of release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Supermassive games hit with layoffs (July 22, 2025):

Reports confirmed that Supermassive Games, the UK-based studio behind "Until Dawn" and "The Quarry," conducted a round of layoffs. The exact number of effected employees and the impact on future projects are not publicly disclosed.

"Grand Theft Auto VI" marketing campaign (Early July 2025):

Rockstar Games kicked off the official marketing campaign for GTA VI with the first in-game screenshots released via social media and several high-profile digital billboards appearing in cities like Los Angeles and New York.

San Diego Comic-Con gaming reveals (July 24-27, 2025):

SDCC featured several gaming announcements, including the reveal of a new "Friday the 13th" video game, more details on the "Magic: The Gathering" x Spider-Man crossover, and an art book for the "Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection."

Game Releases - July 2025
Spoiler (Click to View)

• Mecha Break (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - July 1
  
• Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley & Skytree Village (Switch) - July 3
  
• EA Sports College Football 26 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - July 7
  
• Every Day We Fight (PC) - July 10
  
• Everdeep Aurora (PC) - July 10
  
• Islanders: New Shores (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch) - July 10
  
• Mycopunk (PC) - July 10
  
• Patapon 1+2 Replay (PC, PS5, Switch) - July 11
  
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Switch 2) - July 11
  
• Kaizen: A Factory Story (PC) - July 14
  
• Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S) - July 15
  
• Edens Zero (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - July 15
  
• Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - July 15
  
• Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch) - July 15
  
• Hunter × Hunter: Nen × Impact (PC, PS5, Switch) - July 16
  
• Worship (PC) - July 16
  
• Donkey Kong Bananza (Switch 2) - July 17
  
• Neon Abyss 2 (PC) - July 17
  
• RoboCop: Rogue City - Unfinished Business (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - July 17
  
• The Wandering Village (Switch) - July 17
  
• Shadow Labyrinth (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Switch 2) - July 18
  
• Kick'n Hell (PC) - July 21
  
• Abiotic Factor (PC) - July 22
  
• Misc. A Tiny Tale (PC, Switch) - July 22
  
• Monument Valley 3 (PC) - July 22
  
• Wildgate (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - July 22
  
• Eat the Rich (PC) - July 23
  
• Wheel World (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - July 23
  
• Killing Floor 3 (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - July 24
  
• Super Mario Party Jamboree (Switch 2) - July 24
  
• Total Chaos (PC) - July 24
  
• Wuchang: Fallen Feathers (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - July 24
  
• No Sleep for Kaname Date (PC, Switch, Switch 2) - July 25
  
• Ratatan (PC) - July 25
  
• Wild Hearts S (Switch 2) - July 25
  
• Grounded 2 (PC, Xbox Series X/S) - July 29
  
• Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch) - July 29
  
• Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch) - July 31
  
• System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch) - July 2025 (Specific date TBD)
  

🏆 E-Sports

Valorant Champions Tour 2025: Stage 2 Masters (Tokyo) - (Concluded July 6, 2025):
Winner: Fnatic
League of Legends - LCK 2025 Summer Split - (Playoffs ongoing, no final winner for July):
Standings leader at end of July: T1
League of Legends - LEC 2025 Summer Season Finals - (Concluded July 20, 2025):
Winner: G2 Esports
Counter-Strike 2 - IEM Cologne 2025 - (Concluded July 27, 2025):
Winner: FaZe Clan
Dota 2 - Riyadh Masters 2025 at Esports World Cup - (Concluded July 21, 2025):
Winner: Team Spirit
Apex Legends Global Series: Year 5 Split 2 Playoffs - (Concluded July 13, 2025):
Winner: DarkZero Esports
Overwatch Champions Series - Major Dallas - (Concluded July 7, 2025):
Winner: Toronto Defiant

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Writer - [mention=2331053]

Google launches AI virtual try-on feature

Now users can virtually try on clothes by uploading a full-body photo. Google also previewed future AI tools for outfit suggestions and room décor planning.

Source

UK regulators target Apple & Google’s mobile dominance

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has proposed sweeping reforms impacting the App Store, Safari, and the iOS ecosystem. Apple and Google may be designated as having “strategic market status.”.

Source

OpenAI partners with UK government on AI integration

A non-binding agreement aims to deploy AI tools across sectors like health and public services to improve efficiency and innovation.

Source

AI giants’ earnings underway: “Magnificent Seven” in focus

Investors are watching AI-related results from Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple and Tesla amid ongoing tariff uncertainties. Nvidia’s earnings are pushed to August.

Source

Neuralink implants chip in ninth patient

Elon Musk's Neuralink has advanced its brain-interface program by enrolling a ninth trial participant.

Source