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HostSecure.org - Industry News

HSC Industry Digest - June 22, 2026
June 22, 2026

Gravity SMTP Plugin Flaw Exposes 100,000 WordPress Sites; Security Concerns Mount

Industry News - June 22, 2026
Executive Summary
A critical vulnerability in the Gravity SMTP plugin is being mass-exploited to steal API keys from approximately 100,000 WordPress sites, representing a significant security threat to the web hosting ecosystem. Meanwhile, European internet registries are moving to reduce dependence on US hyperscalers, signaling a broader shift in infrastructure sovereignty, while open-source self-hosted tools continue gaining traction among developers seeking privacy and control.
Notable Players
Gravity SMTP Plugin:

Critical vulnerability being actively exploited to steal API keys from 100,000 WordPress sites

Contabo:

Announced milestone achievement of 500,000 hosted VPS, demonstrating continued growth in competitive VPS market

European Internet Registry:

Moving to exit US hyperscalers in pursuit of infrastructure independence and data sovereignty

Portabase:

Released version 1.20 with new storage and notification connectors for open-source database backup/restore tool

MuckScraper:

Launched open-source self-hosted news aggregator with local AI processing and bias ratings

Top Stories

Hackers mass-exploiting Gravity SMTP flaw to steal API keys from 100,000 WordPress sites

Hackers are actively exploiting a critical vulnerability in the popular Gravity SMTP WordPress plugin to steal API keys from approximately 100,000 websites. This mass-exploitation campaign poses an urgent threat to WordPress site owners and their hosting providers.

European internet registry set to exit US hyperscalers

A major European internet registry is transitioning away from US-based hyperscaler infrastructure, reflecting growing concerns about data sovereignty and geopolitical independence in critical internet infrastructure.

Contabo Reaches 500,000 VPS Milestone

Contabo announced it has reached 500,000 hosted virtual private servers, marking significant growth in the competitive VPS hosting market and reflecting continued demand for affordable infrastructure solutions.

Portabase 1.20: new storage and notification connectors for our open-source database backup/restore tool

Portabase released version 1.20 with expanded storage and notification connector options, advancing the open-source self-hosted database backup ecosystem. The project continues to gain traction among infrastructure-conscious developers.

Please help—I'm the latest victim of Liquid Web

A Reddit user reports experiencing issues with Liquid Web's services, highlighting ongoing customer satisfaction concerns within the managed hosting sector. Such complaints reflect broader industry accountability discussions.

Security & Compliance

Hackers mass-exploiting Gravity SMTP flaw to steal API keys from 100,000 WordPress sites

Hackers are actively exploiting a critical vulnerability in the popular Gravity SMTP WordPress plugin to steal API keys from approximately 100,000 websites. This mass-exploitation campaign poses an urgent threat to WordPress site owners and their hosting providers.

Canadian web hosts / online service providers, how are you going to handle Bill C-22?

Canadian hosting providers are grappling with the implications of Bill C-22, which is likely to pass and significantly impact how online services operate. The bill is prompting hosts to reconsider their operational and compliance strategies.

Cloud & Infrastructure

European internet registry set to exit US hyperscalers

A major European internet registry is transitioning away from US-based hyperscaler infrastructure, reflecting growing concerns about data sovereignty and geopolitical independence in critical internet infrastructure.

Pricing & Business

Samsung and SK hynix bonuses for chip workers flagged as a national inflation risk

South Korea's Bank of Korea has flagged performance bonuses at Samsung and SK hynix as inflationary risks, projecting full-year inflation significantly above the 2% target. This reflects broader economic pressures in the semiconductor supply chain.

Technology & Tools

MuckScraper: open source self-hosted news aggregator with bias ratings, story clustering and local AI summarization

MuckScraper is a new open-source, self-hosted news aggregator that processes everything locally without external APIs, featuring bias ratings and AI-powered summarization. It represents the growing demand for privacy-preserving content consumption tools.

Amerta.io

Amerta is a fully production-ready, open-source e-commerce platform offering self-hosted Shopify alternative with comprehensive documentation. The project demonstrates mature alternatives to proprietary SaaS platforms.

Portabase 1.20: new storage and notification connectors for our open-source database backup/restore tool

Portabase released version 1.20 with expanded storage and notification connector options, advancing the open-source self-hosted database backup ecosystem. The project continues to gain traction among infrastructure-conscious developers.

TIL The next release of DokuWiki will finally have built-in Markdown support

DokuWiki's next release will add native Markdown support, modernizing the self-hosted wiki platform to align with contemporary documentation standards. This addresses long-standing community requests.

TapMap 1.8.0 released

TapMap 1.8.0 adds integrated GeoIP database management with MaxMind GeoLite support, enhancing the free network visualization tool. The update improves functionality for monitoring active internet connections.

Open-source Vulkan driver NVK gains experimental DLSS support

NVK, the community-built open-source Vulkan driver for Nvidia GPUs in Mesa, has gained experimental DLSS support through imported CUDA binaries. This advancement benefits Linux users seeking hardware-accelerated graphics performance.

Web Hosting

Please help—I'm the latest victim of Liquid Web

A Reddit user reports experiencing issues with Liquid Web's services, highlighting ongoing customer satisfaction concerns within the managed hosting sector. Such complaints reflect broader industry accountability discussions.

Contabo Reaches 500,000 VPS Milestone

Contabo announced it has reached 500,000 hosted virtual private servers, marking significant growth in the competitive VPS hosting market and reflecting continued demand for affordable infrastructure solutions.

Other News

Anthropic's Mythos mess just keeps getting more complicated

Anthropic faces escalating complications in its Mythos project amid pressure from the Trump administration, with potential consequences for the broader cybersecurity community. Political and corporate tensions continue to intensify.

Dramatically redesigned GMKtec EVO-X3 shown bearing Lisa Su's signature of approval

GMKtec's redesigned EVO-X3 mini PC gains AMD's Lisa Su approval, continuing to leverage the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 'Strix Halo' processor. The refresh underscores momentum in AI-focused computing hardware.

Age of Empires II's goats used as AI building blocks to build a neural network

A Microsoft AI researcher used Age of Empires II goats as neural network components to critique anthropomorphization of LLMs. The absurdist project challenges overconfident claims about chatbot consciousness.

Signal's Meredith Whittaker says AI chatbots 'are not your friends'

Signal's Meredith Whittaker warns users about the true nature of AI chatbots, emphasizing they are not trustworthy companions. Her stance reflects growing skepticism about overhyped AI capabilities and corporate narratives.

Best Location for Network Uptime, Security and Speed

An article exploring optimal geographic locations for achieving maximum network uptime, security, and performance. Infrastructure placement decisions remain critical for hosting providers and their clients.

Cooler Master NR2 Pro mini-ITX system packing an RTX 5080 is $400 off in Newegg deal

A compact Cooler Master system featuring RTX 5080 GPU and Intel Core Ultra processor is available at discounted pricing. The configuration demonstrates emerging trends in high-performance mini-ITX gaming systems.

Ingenious modder converts countertop ice machine into an RTX 3060 GPU cooler with a beer fridge thermostat

A creative hardware enthusiast converted an ice machine into an unconventional GPU cooler, reducing temperatures by up to 62% in gaming workloads. The extreme modification demonstrates innovative cooling solutions for demanding compute tasks.

How to learn/try out Kubernetes on a homelab?

A Reddit user seeks guidance on learning Kubernetes for home infrastructure without full deployment commitment. The inquiry reflects growing interest in container orchestration among self-hosting enthusiasts.

Protect p2p network from node spoofing?

A maintainer of an open-source peer-to-peer social network seeks security advice for protecting against node spoofing attacks. The question highlights infrastructure security challenges in decentralized systems.

Switching/switching from Tailscale to Headscale or Wireguard on Synology NAS?

A user explores alternatives to Tailscale following Canadian Bill C-22 concerns, considering Headscale and WireGuard. The regulatory pressure is driving infrastructure decisions among self-hosting communities.

Second provider with nzbdav

A user inquires about benefits of multi-provider redundancy in streaming contexts using nzbdav. The question reflects reliability concerns in media delivery infrastructure.

Homeserver upgrade: What would you do?

A self-hosting enthusiast seeks advice on upgrading home server infrastructure. The post illustrates ongoing optimization cycles within the homelab community.

Temporary storage in cloud

A user seeks cloud storage solutions for temporary use while building a NAS from existing and new disks. The inquiry reflects hybrid infrastructure strategies combining local and cloud resources.

What happend to us.to, uk.to and other subdomains?

A user reports inability to register free DNS subdomains on Afraid.org, suggesting service changes or restrictions. The situation highlights challenges in maintaining free DNS infrastructure.

Best way to secure 35 remote PiSignage players? Moving from Cloudflare to Tailscale + Firewall

A user managing digital signage across UAE and UK locations is transitioning from Cloudflare to Tailscale for enhanced security. The shift reflects changing approaches to remote device management and access control.

[[Help] Best way to expose some services given constraints](https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1uc1mpv/help_best_way_to_expose_some_services_given/)

A user seeking to securely expose self-hosted services to non-technical users while behind CGNAT constraints. The scenario represents common challenges in consumer-facing infrastructure exposure.

Automatizing my server setup

A user wants to automate VPS migrations using infrastructure-as-code to simplify deployment workflows. The effort reflects industry trends toward reproducible infrastructure management.

How do you expose your Proxmox VE (via a reverse proxy, etc.)?

A user explores best practices for safely exposing Proxmox hypervisor management interfaces beyond local networks. The question reflects security considerations in remote infrastructure management.