Tag Archives: Biz & IT

Feds charge 16 Russians allegedly tied to botnets used in cyberattacks and spying

The hacker ecosystem in Russia, more than perhaps anywhere else in the world, has long blurred the lines between cybercrime, state-sponsored cyberwarfare, and espionage. Now an indictment of a group of Russian nationals and the takedown of their sprawling botnet offers the clearest example in years of how a single malware operation allegedly enabled hacking… Read More »

Researchers cause GitLab AI developer assistant to turn safe code malicious

Marketers promote AI-assisted developer tools as workhorses that are essential for today’s software engineer. Developer platform GitLab, for instance, claims its Duo chatbot can “instantly generate a to-do list” that eliminates the burden of “wading through weeks of commits.” What these companies don’t say is that these tools are, by temperament if not default, easily… Read More »

Google’s Will Smith double is better at eating AI spaghetti … but it’s crunchy?

On Tuesday, Google launched Veo 3, a new AI video synthesis model that can do something no major AI video generator has been able to do before: create a synchronized audio track. While from 2022 to 2024, we saw early steps in AI video generation, each video was silent and usually very short in duration.… Read More »

Report calls for regulation of “legally and ethically flawed” VMware

ECCO also expressed concern about Broadcom’s ongoing changes to its partner program, including “reassessing incentives, requirements, and tiering structures,” as announced earlier this month. “Urgent measures” ECCO’s report lists numerous “minimum urgent measures” that it believes Broadcom should take in order to make its VMware business model ethical, including guaranteeing at least “six months’ notice… Read More »

New Claude 4 AI model refactored code for 7 hours straight

On Thursday, Anthropic released Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4, marking the company’s return to larger model releases after primarily focusing on mid-range Sonnet variants since June of last year. The new models represent what the company calls its most capable coding models yet, with Opus 4 designed for complex, long-running tasks that can… Read More »

Authorities carry out global takedown of infostealer used by cybercriminals

“Based on what we see, there is a wide range of cybercriminals admitting they are using Lumma, such as actors involved in credit card fraud, initial access sales, cryptocurrency theft, and more,” Kivilevich says. Among other tools, the Scattered Spider hacking group—which has attacked Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts International, and other victims—has been spotted using… Read More »

“Microsoft has simply given us no other option,” Signal says as it blocks Windows Recall

But the changes go only so far in limiting the risks Recall poses. As I pointed out, when Recall is turned on, it indexes Zoom meetings, emails, photos, medical conditions, and—yes—Signal conversations, not just with the user, but anyone interacting with that user, without their knowledge or consent. Researcher Kevin Beaumont performed his own deep-dive… Read More »

Apple legend Jony Ive takes control of OpenAI’s design future

On Wednesday, OpenAI announced that former Apple design chief Jony Ive and his design firm LoveFrom will take over creative and design control at OpenAI. The deal makes Ive responsible for shaping the future look and feel of AI products at the chatbot creator, extending across all of the company’s ventures, including ChatGPT. Ive was… Read More »

Windows 11’s most important new feature is post-quantum cryptography. Here’s why.

Microsoft is updating Windows 11 with a set of new encryption algorithms that can withstand future attacks from quantum computers in a move aimed at jump-starting what’s likely to be the most formidable and important technology transition in modern history. Computers that are based on the physics of quantum mechanics don’t yet exist outside of… Read More »