Tim Cook's 65th birthday is next week, on Nov. 1. And with the Apple CEO's special day almost here, talks have been growing as to who could be his successor should he choose to retire. Cook has made no official public mention of stepping down yet, but according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the tech giant is working behind the scenes to ensure a seamless transition when the time comes.

Cook replaced Steve Jobs in 2011, and after a period of uncertainty, Cook ushered Apple into its most profitable era. Stock-watching website Stocktwits reports that the company's stock has increased by around 1,800% since Cook took over leading the company.

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Jobs may have introduced devices like the iPhone into everyday use that changed how we interact with technology, but Cook expanded on the Apple experience. Under his guidance, the company built upon Apple's smartphone by introducing subscription services and more mobile products, including earbuds and wearables.

He introduced Apple Pay, Beats headphones became part of the company's ecosystem, the Apple Watch launched 10 years ago, and Apple even entered the entertainment business, producing original Oscar-winning movies and Emmy-winning TV shows through Apple TV Plus.

Read more: Best iPhone in 2025: Here's Which Apple Phone You Should Buy

We should reiterate that the notion of Cook stepping down is pure speculation at this point. We don't know what Apple's CEO is currently planning or what his thoughts about retirement may be. That said, there are a handful of contenders who have reportedly been part of the succession conversation. 

Potential Apple CEO contenders

Apple likely has "a solid bench of successors" that the company's board has been developing, says Bryan Ma, VP of Devices Research at IDC.

"But the anxiety gets amplified when there isn't clear visibility for such a valuable and iconic company," Ma says. "Compounding the challenge is the fact that the bar has been set by big rock stars like Steve Jobs and Tim Cook. The next generation of leaders have very big shoes to fill."

John Ternus, Apple's current vice president of Hardware Engineering, was top of Gurman's list. Ternus has been with the tech giant for more than two decades, so he has the knowledge and experience for a chief executive upgrade. There would be value in having an engineer behind the wheel. 

Ternus appeared during the September Apple event to introduce the iPhone Air. At 50, he's the same age Cook was when he took over as Apple CEO.

Other potential contenders are also being considered, including Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering; Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing; and Jeff Williams, the company's former chief operating officer, according to a report by Apple Insider. On Oct. 10, Bloomberg reported that Federighi also will soon be overseeing the Apple Watch operating system watchOS, while Ternus will be overseeing Apple Watch hardware engineering once Williams departs at the end of the year.

Federighi has been with Apple for a long time and has the public speaking experience -- frequently speaking during Apple Events -- that would be vital if he replaced Cook as CEO. Considering his current role, Joswiak has a more marketing perspective and a broader overview of the company and may not be as hands-on with the tech as Ternus and Federighi. And according to Gurman, Williams was viewed as a shoo-in to be Cook's replacement until his role as COO was announced to be ending. (He's now Apple's senior vice president of design, watch and health.) Cook held the position of chief operating officer before he replaced Jobs as CEO in 2011. Sabih Khan will be stepping into that COO role, which also puts his name in the running.

When Cook steps down, Apple will undoubtedly have a pool of qualified talent to choose from to take up the leadership mantle. Who exactly will take the mantle remains to be seen.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

After years of political wrangling, lawsuits, looming bans and uncertainty for millions of people, TikTok's long-running dramatic saga might finally conclude this week. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to "consummate" a long-negotiated agreement on Thursday, allowing TikTok to continue operating in the US under new ownership terms.

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"The details are ironed out," Bessent said, stating that his purpose in the negotiations was "to get the Chinese to agree to approve the transaction" and that it was "successfully accomplished."

Of course, Thursday could come and go without a TikTok deal finalization. Dates and deadlines have been flexible along the way. Trump set numerous deadlines for changes involving TikTok and has bumped those dates several times. TikTok went briefly offline in January, hours ahead of a planned ban, but returned the next day.

Read also: TikTok Introduces Parental Controls, Fact-Checking and AI Moderation Features

TikTok's controversial history in the US

TikTok's political rollercoaster began in 2020, when Washington first raised alarms about the app's Chinese ownership and potential data vulnerabilities. Congress passed a 2024 law forcing ByteDance, TikTok's Beijing-based parent, to divest its US operations or face a total ban. 

Since then, the video-sharing site has faced multiple executive orders, court challenges and failed acquisition attempts.

The time to make a deal has been running out. The US Supreme Court upheld the divestment order earlier this year, rejecting arguments that a ban would violate free speech. That ruling pushed both sides back to the negotiating table, but there have been numerous delays and shifts to the TikTok deal deadline over the last few months. 

Trump signed an executive order on Sept. 25, allowing the new ownership to be US-based and made up of a majority of American investors and stakeholders.

The all-important algorithm

The White House confirmed in September that TikTok's algorithm will be operated in the United States and overseen by American tech company Oracle. Private equity firm Silver Lake and Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, will also be among the investors. 

In September, Trump said that News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch would also be part of the ownership group, but CNN later reported that the Murdochs' media company, Fox Corp, would be the investor, not the two Murdochs individually.

TikTok's algorithm is a major part of the deal. The algorithm recommends content to you while you're scrolling on TikTok. The algorithm is controversial because of US concerns that ByteDance, TikTok's original Chinese owner, could be forced by the Chinese government to use those recommendations in overtly political ways, directed against the US.

Under the new TikTok deal, the algorithm will be retrained on US user data. 

What this means for TikTok users

For TikTok users in the US, the deal could preserve access to an app that has become a cultural mainstay here, eliminating the looming threat of a shutdown or spinoff app. 

As part of the new arrangement, TikTok's US user data will remain stored domestically and managed by a dedicated oversight board, which may appease those with concerns about data privacy. 

Trump and Xi will meet again in Korea on Thursday, which means a TikTok deal could be announced by the end of this week. However, implementing the deal and changing ownership will likely take months. 

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison is a personal friend of Trump, and some users fear his role with TikTok could mean the algorithm pushes right-wing political content to users. A recent NPR story reported that analysts say this could happen, but they will also need to refrain from alienating the existing audience.

A possible ban on TP-Link routers -- one of the most popular router brands in the US -- is gaining momentum, as more than half a dozen federal departments and agencies back the proposal, according to a Washington Post report on Thursday.

The news first broke in December of last year, when The Wall Street Journal reported that investigators at the Departments of Commerce, Defense and Justice had all opened probes into the company due to national security risks stemming from its ties to China. (Learn how to protect yourself below.) Since then, news on the TP-Link front has been relatively quiet.

Now, the proposal has gained interagency approval.

"Commerce officials concluded TP-Link Systems products pose a risk because the US-based company's products handle sensitive American data and because the officials believe it remains subject to jurisdiction or influence by the Chinese government," the Washington Post reports. 

TP-Link's ties to the Chinese government are only allegations. The company -- technically called TP-Link Systems -- has strenuously denied to me in the past that it's a Chinese company. 

"As an independent US company, no foreign country or government, including China, has access to or control over the design and production of our products," a TP-Link spokesperson told CNET.

TP-Link was founded in Shenzhen, China, in 1996 by two brothers, Jeffrey (Jianjun) Chao and Jiaxing Zhao. In October 2024, two months after members of the House Select Committee called for an investigation into TP-Link routers, the company split into two: TP-Link Technologies and  TP-Link Systems.

The latter is headquartered in Irvine, California, and has approximately 500 employees in the US and 11,000 in China, according to the Washington Post report. TP-Link Systems is owned by Chao and his wife. 

"TP-Link's unusual degree of vulnerabilities and required compliance with [Chinese] law are in and of themselves disconcerting," the lawmakers wrote in October 2024. "When combined with the [Chinese] government's common use of [home office] routers like TP-Link to perpetrate extensive cyberattacks in the United States, it becomes significantly alarming."

The company has become a dominant force in the US router market since the pandemic. According to the Journal report, it grew from 20% of total router sales in 2019 to around 65% this year. TP-Link disputed these numbers to CNET, and a separate analysis from the IT platform Lansweeper found that 12% of home routers currently used in the US are made by TP-Link. More than 300 internet providers issue TP-Link routers to their customers, according to the Wall Street Journal report. 

Separately, the Department of Justice's antitrust division is investigating whether TP-Link engaged in predatory pricing tactics by artificially lowering its prices to muscle out competitors. 

CNET has several TP-Link models on our lists of the best Wi-Fi routers and will monitor this story closely to see if we need to reevaluate those choices. 

"We do not sell products below cost. Our pricing is not only above cost but contributes a healthy profit to the business," a TP-Link spokesperson told CNET. 

The potential ban has been through an interagency review and is currently in the hands of the Department of Commerce. According to the Washington Post report, sources familiar with the details of the ban said the Trump administration's ongoing negotiations with China have made the chances of a ban less likely in the near future. 

"Any concerns the government may have about TP-Link are fully resolvable by a common-sense mix of measures like onshoring development functions, investing in cybersecurity, and being transparent," the spokesperson said. "TP-Link will continue to work with the US Department of Commerce to ensure we understand and can respond to any concerns the government has."

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How worried should you be about your TP-Link router?

I wrote a few months ago that I wasn't in any rush to replace my own TP-Link router, and that's essentially how I still feel today. 

When the news first broke last December, I asked four cybersecurity experts whether they would still use a TP-Link router. One gave a strong "no." Another said there is "risk for a consumer." And two declined to answer the question directly. 

Itay Cohen was one of the authors of a 2023 report that identified a firmware implant in TP-Link routers linked to a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group. He told me in a previous interview that similar implants have been found on other router brands manufactured all over the world.

"I don't think there's enough public evidence to support avoiding routers from China outright," Cohen said. "The vulnerabilities and risks associated with routers are largely systemic and apply to a wide range of brands, including those manufactured in the US."

I heard a version of that from every cybersecurity expert I spoke with. TP-Link has security flaws, but so do all routers, and I couldn't point to any that showed collaboration with the Chinese government specifically. 

"We've analyzed an astonishing amount of TP-Link firmware. We find stuff, but we find stuff in everything," said Thomas Pace, CEO of cybersecurity firm NetRise and former security contractor for the Department of Energy.

That said, it's entirely possible that the government is aware of vulnerabilities that the public is not.

For now, I'm still comfortable using a TP-Link router knowing I follow some basic best practices for network security, but my risk tolerance may be higher than it is for others. 

How to protect your network if you have a TP-Link router

If you're one of the millions of Americans who uses a TP-Link router, the news of a potential ban might be unnerving.

A Microsoft report from last year found that TP-Link routers have been used in "password spray attacks" since August 2023, which typically occur when the router is using a default password.

Here's what you can do to protect yourself right now:

Update your login credentials. A shocking amount of router attacks occur because the user never changed the default login credentials set by the router manufacturer. Most routers have an app that lets you update your login credentials, but you can also type your router's IP address into a URL. These credentials are different from your Wi-Fi name and password, which should also be changed every six months or so. As always with passwords, avoid common words and character combinations, longer passwords are better and don't reuse passwords from other accounts. 

Use a VPN. If you're worried about prying eyes from the Chinese government or anyone else, the single best thing you can do to ensure your connection remains private is to use a quality VPN. Privacy-minded folks should look for advanced features like obfuscation, Tor over VPN and a double VPN, which uses a second VPN server for an added layer of encryption. You can even install a VPN on your router directly so that all your traffic is encrypted automatically.

Turn on the firewall and Wi-Fi encryption. These are typically on by default, but now is a good time to make sure they're activated. This will make it harder for hackers to access the data sent between your router and the devices that connect to it. You can also find these settings by logging into your router from its app or website.

Consider buying a new router. I always recommend buying your own router instead of renting one from your internet service provider. This is mostly a cost-saving measure, but if your ISP uses TP-Link equipment, now might be a good time to switch to another brand. The main thing to look for is WPA3 certification -- the most up-to-date security protocol for routers.

Update your firmware. TP-Link's spokesperson told me last year that customers should regularly check for firmware updates to keep their router secure. "To do this, customers with TP-Link Cloud accounts may simply click the 'Check for Updates' button in their product's firmware menu," the spokesperson said. "All other customers can find the latest firmware on their product's Downloads page on TP-Link.com."

Starlink satellite internet has become a popular option for people who cannot otherwise access traditional internet like cable or fiber. It has also been a key tool for crime syndicates in Southeast Asia looking to scam Americans. 

SpaceX, Starlink’s parent company, recently cut access to 2,500 Starlink satellites being used in notorious scam centers in Myanmar, the company said on Oct. 21. 

The news comes a week after a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP) revealed that the Musk-led company is currently under investigation by Congress’s Joint Economic Committee for its role in the scam centers. 

“On the rare occasion we identify a violation, we take appropriate action, including working with law enforcement agencies around the world,” said Lauren Dreyer, SpaceX’s vice president of business operations for Starlink, in a post on X. 

According to the Treasury Department, Americans lost more than $10 billion in 2024 to Southeast Asia-based scam operations, notorious for romance scams known as “pig-butchering.” By some estimates, these syndicates take in as much as $64 billion a year.

“The border region fraud factories are typically run by Chinese criminal syndicates, analysts say, often overseen by Myanmar militias given tacit backing by the Myanmar junta in return for guaranteeing security,” the AFP article says. 

In February, a sweeping crackdown led by China freed as many as 7,000 scam-workers, who the AFP suspects are prisoners, from the Myanmar compounds. At the same time, Thailand cut power and internet services powering the scam centers in neighboring Myanmar. Soon after, the scam centers used thousands of Starlink satellites to fill that void. 

According to the Asian regional internet registry, APNIC, Starlink did not have enough traffic in Myanmar to even make the list of the country’s internet providers before February. But after Thailand cut off other services, it quickly rose to the top. The APNIC data shows that it was the most used internet provider in the country every day from July 3 until Oct. 1. 

This apparently got the attention of Congress. The AFP reports that the Joint Economic Committee opened an investigation into Starlink’s use in Myanmar’s scam centers in July. 

“SpaceX has a responsibility to acknowledge any role that Starlink has played in facilitating scams emanating from Southeast Asia, and to block these criminals from using the service to target Americans,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-NH, in a statement. 

While Starlink is not officially licensed in Myanmar, the service is enabled worldwide by default, says satellite industry consultant Tim Farrar. But where it’s active is a bit of a geopolitical gray area. 

“Starlink has resisted attempts by governments such as Iran, which has complained to the [International Telecommunication Union] seeking to have the service shut off, and in that case SpaceX has received active encouragement from the US government to provide service to dissidents using terminals smuggled into the country,” Farrar told CNET in an email. 

SpaceX did not respond to CNET’s request for comment. 

How to protect yourself from scams

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Be suspicious of unsolicited email, text or social media messages. Pig-butchering scams work by building trust with the target over weeks or even months. If someone reaches out who says they are overseas or can’t meet in person, proceed with caution. 

Never send money to someone you don’t know in real life. No matter what reason they give, always treat someone asking you for money online with skepticism. Scammers may also ask for the key to your cryptocurrency wallet.

Research the person you’re speaking with. Anyone you’ve met online will likely have some sort of online presence. Check out their social media profiles to make sure it doesn’t smell fishy. You can also do a reverse-image search of any photos they provide to see if they check out.   

As always, follow cybersecurity best practices. Take a moment to make sure you have passwords in place, use two-factor authentication and make sure your antivirus software, operating systems and apps are all up to date. 

Report any crimes immediately. If you think you’ve been scammed, report it immediately to the FTC and the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3.