Category: Security

Deepfake songs are exploding, but a new tool shuts them down Artificial intelligence models can now clone a voice with just a few seconds of audio, fueling a surge of deepfake songs online and creating a growing crisis for musicians who don’t want their voices hijacked. Beyond the obvious intellectual property rights issue, this can…

From Anthropic to Iran: Who sets the limits on AI’s use in war and surveillance? Anthropic, a leading AI company, recently refused to sign a Pentagon contract that would allow the United States military “unrestricted access” to its technology for “all lawful purposes.” To sign, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei required two clear exceptions: no mass…

Your car’s tire sensors could be used to track you Researchers at IMDEA Networks Institute, together with European partners, have found that tire pressure sensors in modern cars can unintentionally expose drivers to tracking. Over a ten-week study, they collected signals from more than 20,000 vehicles, revealing a hidden privacy risk and highlighting the need…

Jailbreaking the matrix: How researchers are bypassing AI guardrails to make them safer A paper written by University of Florida Computer & Information Science & Engineering, or CISE, Professor Sumit Kumar Jha, Ph.D., contains so many science fiction terms, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a Hollywood script: Nullspace steering. Red teaming. Jailbreaking the matrix.…

AI model edits can leak sensitive data via update ‘fingerprints’ Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are now widely used by millions of people worldwide, as tools to source information or tackle specific tasks more rapidly and efficiently. Today, some of the most used are large language models (LLMs), computational models trained on large collections of texts…

AI ‘blind spot’ could allow attackers to hijack self-driving vehicles A newly discovered vulnerability could allow cybercriminals to silently hijack the artificial intelligence (AI) systems in self-driving cars, raising concerns about the security of autonomous systems increasingly used on public roads. Georgia Tech cybersecurity researchers discovered the vulnerability, dubbed VillainNet, and found it can remain…

Amazon’s Ring wanted to track your pets. It revealed the future of surveillance As a career counterintelligence officer for the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Defense Intelligence Agency, I worked inside a fully integrated intelligence system. Signals intelligence from the National Security Agency guided investigations. Satellite imagery from the National Reconnaissance Office provided…

Cybersecurity spending may pay off: Study links readiness to stronger returns The infamous Target data breach during the 2013 holiday shopping season, which cost the company more than $200 million in damages, has since been hailed as a landmark case in cybersecurity. Exposure to these threats has only increased as businesses continue to expand their…

Why the future of AI depends on trust, safety, and system quality When Daniel Graham, an associate professor in the University of Virginia School of Data Science, talks about the future of intelligent systems, he does not begin with the usual vocabulary of cybersecurity or threat mitigation. Instead, he focuses on quality assurance and on…

The next generation of disinformation: AI swarms can threaten democracy by manufacturing fake public consensus An international research team involving Konstanz scientist David Garcia warns that the next generation of influence operations may not look like obvious “copy-paste bots,” but like coordinated communities: fleets of AI-driven personas that can adapt in real time, infiltrate groups,…

Research reveals a surprising line of defense against cyber attacks: Accountants When Optus, Medibank and non-bank lender Latitude Financial were hit by separate cyber attacks in the past few years, millions of Australians felt the fallout: stolen personal data, disrupted services and weeks of uncertainty. Each breach raised the same uncomfortable question: how can this…

Ransomware: What it is and why it’s your problem Ransomware is a type of malicious software that makes a victim’s data, system or device inaccessible. It locks the target or encrypts it (converting text into an unreadable form) until the victim pays a ransom to the attacker. Go to techxplore

Forensic system cuts IoT attack analysis time by three-quarters A new forensic framework designed specifically for the Internet of Things (IoT) is discussed in the International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics. This deep learning-driven system offers benefits over earlier approaches in detecting and reconstructing cyberattacks on components of the vast network of connected…

What can technology do to stop AI-generated sexualized images? The global outcry over the sexualization and nudification of photographs—including of children—by Grok, the chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI, has led to urgent discussions about how such technology should be more strictly regulated. Go to techxplore

Everything from air fryers to TVs suck up our personal data. Here’s how to give gadgets that respect privacy this Xmas Smart gadgets collect vast amounts of our personal data through their apps. It’s usually unclear why the manufacturers need this information or what they do with it. And I don’t just mean smartphones. All…

We built AI friends but forgot the safeguards Recently, a popular AI Companion company made headlines by announcing it would ban users under 18 from open-ended chats with its AI characters, with the full restriction to taking effect on 25 November 2025. Go to techxplore

New insight into why LLMs are not great at cracking passwords Large language models (LLMs), such as the model underpinning the functioning of OpenAI’s conversational platform ChatGPT, have proved to perform well on various language-related and coding tasks. Some computer scientists have recently been exploring the possibility that these models could also be used by…

French soccer federation hit by cyber-attack, member data stolen The French soccer federation has been hit by a cyber-attack that resulted in the theft of data relating to members, it said on Thursday. Go to techxplore

Beer giant Asahi not engaging with hackers after cyberattack Japanese beer giant Asahi said on Thursday it had not received any specific demand from the hackers behind a “sophisticated and cunning” cyberattack that could have leaked the data of around two million people. Go to techxplore

Stress and a toxic workplace culture can cause insider cybersecurity threats While most organizations address cybersecurity issues with technology and surveillance, Emmanuel Anti’s research argues that empathy may be a more effective defense. His doctoral dissertation at the University of Vaasa explores insider deviance, and how understanding the human elements related to it can lead…

Integrated approach to cybersecurity key to reducing critical infrastructure vulnerability As our society becomes more digital and interconnected, the systems that keep it running face growing vulnerability to cyber threats. Bahaa Eltahawy’s doctoral dissertation at the University of Vaasa, Finland, shows that safeguarding these networks requires a holistic approach. Go to techxplore

An AI lab says Chinese-backed bots are running cyber espionage attacks. Experts have questions Over the past weekend, the US AI lab Anthropic published a report about its discovery of the “first reported AI-orchestrated cyber espionage campaign.” Go to techxplore

Lay intuition as effective at jailbreaking AI chatbots as technical methods, research suggests It doesn’t take technical expertise to work around the built-in guardrails of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini, which are intended to ensure that the chatbots operate within a set of legal and ethical boundaries and do not discriminate against…

Researchers advance cross-modality smart security with transformer model A research team led by Professor Wang Hongqiang from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed a Global-Local Alignment Attention (GLAA) model based on an Asymmetric Siamese Transformer (AST), which markedly enhances the performance of Visible-X-ray cross-modality package re-identification tasks. Go…

What’s the difference between passwords and passkeys? It’s not just the protection they provide Passwords are the keys to our digital lives—think how many times you log in to websites and other systems. But just like physical keys, they can be lost, duplicated and stolen. Go to techxplore

There is little evidence AI chatbots are ‘bullying kids’—but this doesn’t mean these tools are safe Over the weekend, Education Minister Jason Clare sounded the alarm about “AI chatbots bullying kids”. Go to techxplore

Federated learning AI developed for hospitals and banks without personal information sharing Federated learning was devised to solve the problem of difficulty in aggregating personal data, such as patient medical records or financial data, in one place. However, during the process where each institution optimizes the collaboratively trained AI to suit its own environment, a…

Australian airline Qantas says millions of customers’ data leaked online Australian airline Qantas said Sunday that data from 5.7 million customers stolen in a major cyberattack this year had been shared online, part of a leak affecting dozens of firms. Go to techxplore

AI could make it easier to create bioweapons that bypass current security protocols Artificial intelligence is transforming biology and medicine by accelerating the discovery of new drugs and proteins and making it easier to design and manipulate DNA, the building blocks of life. But as with most new technologies, there is a potential downside. The…

A new guide to tackle tech abuse of older people A new guide has been launched to help tackle the growing threat of domestic abusers using technology, like smart doorbells and mobiles, against older people. Go to techxplore

British department store Harrods warns customers that some personal details taken in data breach Harrods, the luxury British department store, has warned some customers that their personal data may have been taken in a breach of its online systems. Go to techxplore

How a SIM farm like the one found near the UN threatens telecom networks The U.S. Secret Service has found and is quietly dismantling a massive network of “SIM farms” across the New York area just as world leaders gather for meetings at the United Nations. Go to techxplore

Airport cyberattack disrupts more flights across Europe Fallout from a cyberattack that disrupted check-in systems at several European airports extended into a second full day on Sunday, as passengers faced dozens of canceled and delayed flights—and the impact poised to worsen for at least one major airport. Go to techxplore

Cyberattack hits European airports Major European airports including Brussels, Berlin and London’s Heathrow were Saturday hit by a cyberattack on check-in systems that caused cancellations and long delays for thousands of passengers. Go to techxplore

Study finds that school-based online surveillance companies monitor students 24/7 A recent study by researchers at the University of California San Diego is the first detailed assessment of companies offering school-based online surveillance services such as social media monitoring, student communications monitoring and online activity monitoring to middle and high schools. Schools pay for the…

Tea app takes messaging system offline after second security issue reported Tea, a dating discussion app that recently suffered a high-profile cybersecurity breach, announced late Monday that some direct messages were also accessed in the incident. Go to techxplore

Cyberattack on Russian airline Aeroflot causes the cancellation of more than 100 flights A cyberattack on Russian state-owned flagship carrier Aeroflot caused a mass outage to the company’s computer systems on Monday, Russia’s prosecutor’s office said, forcing the airline to cancel more than 100 flights and delay others. Go to techxplore

Allianz Life confirms data breach affecting majority of 1.4M US customers Hackers gained access to personal data on the majority of the 1.4 million customers of Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, the company confirmed Saturday. Go to techxplore

The Tea app was intended to help women date safely. Then it got hacked Tea, a provocative dating app designed to let women anonymously ask or warn each other about men they’d encountered, rocketed to the top spot on the U.S. Apple App Store this week. On Friday, the company behind the app confirmed it…

China urges global consensus on balancing AI development, security China’s Premier Li Qiang warned Saturday that artificial intelligence development must be weighed against the security risks, saying global consensus was urgently needed even as the tech race between Beijing and Washington shows no sign of abating. Go to techxplore

Two-factor authentication just got easier A new, simpler version of two-factor authentication could broaden its protection to many smart devices that currently cannot support it. Go to techxplore

Ukrainian security services arrest suspected administrator of Russian-language cybercrime platform Ukrainian security services backed by French police have arrested the suspected administrator of a Russian-language cybercrime platform that served as a marketplace for stolen data, hacking tools and illicit services, law enforcement authorities said Wednesday. Go to techxplore

What to know about a vulnerability being exploited on Microsoft SharePoint servers Microsoft has issued an emergency fix to close off a vulnerability in Microsoft’s widely-used SharePoint software that hackers have exploited to carry out widespread attacks on businesses and at least some U.S. government agencies. Go to techxplore

Singapore military helps battle cyberattack: minister Units in Singapore’s military have been called in to help combat a cyberattack against critical infrastructure, the country’s defense minister said Saturday—a hack attempt attributed to an espionage group experts have linked to China. Go to techxplore

Conversations between LLMs could automate the creation of exploits, study shows As computers and software become increasingly sophisticated, hackers need to rapidly adapt to the latest developments and devise new strategies to plan and execute cyberattacks. One common strategy to maliciously infiltrate computer systems is known as software exploitation. Go to techxplore

Singapore facing ‘serious’ cyberattack, says minister Singapore announced it was battling a “serious” cyberattack against its critical infrastructure, attributing the hack to an espionage group that experts have linked to China. Go to techxplore

Police in Brazil arrest a suspect over $100M banking hack Police in Brazil arrested a suspect in connection with a cyberattack that diverted more than 540 million Brazilian reais (about $100 million) from the country’s banking systems, authorities said Friday. Go to techxplore

RisingAttacK: New technique can make AI ‘see’ whatever you want Researchers have demonstrated a new way of attacking artificial intelligence computer vision systems, allowing them to control what the AI “sees.” The research shows that the new technique, called RisingAttacK, is effective at manipulating all of the most widely used AI computer vision systems. Go…

Hide and seek: Uncovering new ways to detect vault apps on smartphones Researchers have discovered a modern solution to detect vault applications (apps) on smartphones, which could be a game-changer for law enforcement. The paper is published in the journal Future Internet. Go to techxplore

Semantic watermarks for AI image recognition can be easily manipulated Images generated by artificial intelligence (AI) are often almost indistinguishable from real images to the human eye. Watermarks—visible or invisible markers embedded in image files—may be the key to verifying whether an image was generated by AI. So-called semantic watermarks, which are embedded deep within…

Using AI to improve flagging of internal threats within the US Army Research published in the International Journal of Applied Decision Sciences describes how artificial intelligence could be used to root out internal threats in the U.S. Army. The research centers on the Army’s Insider Threat Hub, a facility that assesses the danger posed by…

AI strategies promise smarter systems without sacrificing personal privacy Every time you open an app, visit the doctor, or make an online purchase, you’re generating data. That data feeds the artificial intelligence (AI) systems that help businesses improve services, doctors detect diseases faster, and governments make informed decisions. Go to techxplore

Paris kidnap bid highlights crypto data security risks New regulations threaten the security of the personal data of cryptocurrency users and may expose them to “physical danger,” the platform at the center of last week’s Paris kidnapping attempt has claimed. Go to techxplore

Ransomware attacks drive majority of US health data breaches, analysis shows A new study led by researchers from Michigan State University, Yale University and Johns Hopkins University reveals that ransomware attacks—which involve a hacker putting encryption controls into a file and then demanding a ransom to unlock the files—have become the primary driver of health…

Oregon agency won’t say if hackers stole data in cyberattack Oregon’s environmental agency won’t say if a group of hackers stole data in a cyberattack that was first announced earlier this month. Go to techxplore

‘Poisoned’ AI models can unleash real-world chaos; study shows how these attacks could be prevented An unrelenting, ravenous appetite for more and more data may be artificial intelligence’s fatal flaw; or at least the fastest way for “poison” to seep in. Go to techxplore

AI-powered intrusion detection system outperforms traditional methods in securing IoT networks As Internet of Things (IoT) devices proliferate in sectors like smart cities, health care, and industrial systems, they have become prime targets for cyberattacks such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), ransomware, and botnets. However, traditional security methods struggle to cope with these attacks…

Lightweight AI model facilitates high-quality image generation without direct transmission of sensitive data A new ultra-lightweight artificial intelligence (AI) model has been developed that assists in generating high-quality images without directly sending sensitive data to servers. This technological advancement paves the way for the safe utilization of high-performance generative AI in environments where privacy is…

Hackers breach Morocco’s social security database in an unprecedented cyberattack Morocco’s social security agency said troves of data were stolen from its systems in a cyberattack this week that resulted in personal information being leaked on the messaging app Telegram. Go to techxplore

Hackers have hit major super funds—a cyber expert explains how to stop it from happening again Several of Australia’s biggest superannuation funds have suffered a suspected coordinated cyberattack, with scammers stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars of members’ retirement savings. Go to techxplore

Encryption breakthrough lays groundwork for privacy-preserving AI models In an era where data privacy concerns loom large, a new approach in artificial intelligence (AI) could reshape how sensitive information is processed. Go to techxplore

Report warns of ‘cyberwashing’ in digital security claims A new Monash University report highlights the growing problem of organizations resorting to “cyberwashing” to mislead the public about their data privacy practices and recommends measures to build a genuine culture of cybersecurity. Go to techxplore

Security veins: Advanced biometric authentication through AI and infrared Hyperspectral imaging is a technology that detects slight differences in color to pinpoint the characteristics and conditions of an object. While a normal camera creates images using red, green, and blue, a hyperspectral camera can obtain over 100 images in the visible to near-infrared light range…

Study shines headlights on consumer driverless vehicle safety deficiencies For the first time, researchers at the University of California, Irvine have demonstrated that multicolored stickers applied to stop or speed limit signs on the roadside can confuse self-driving vehicles, causing unpredictable and possibly hazardous operations. Go to techxplore

LLM-based web application scanner recognizes tasks and workflows A new automated web application scanner autonomously understands and executes tasks and workflows on web applications. The tool named YuraScanner harnesses the world knowledge stored in large language models (LLMs) to navigate through web applications in the same way a human user would. It is capable of…

Estonians plead guilty to US charges in $577 mn crypto scheme Two Estonian nationals have pleaded guilty to defrauding hundreds of thousands of people around the world in a $577 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, the Justice Department said Thursday. Go to techxplore

Is DOGE a cybersecurity threat? A security expert explains the dangers of violating protocols and regulations The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), President Donald Trump’s special commission tasked with slashing federal spending, continues to disrupt Washington and the federal bureaucracy. According to published reports, its teams are dropping into federal agencies with a practically unlimited…

UK government must show that its AI plan can be trusted to deal with serious risks when it comes to health data The UK government’s new plan to foster innovation through artificial intelligence (AI) is ambitious. Its goals rely on the better use of public data, including renewed efforts to maximize the value of health…

Q&A: Unpacking DeepSeek—distillation, ethics and national security Since the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek released its powerful large language model R1, it has sent ripples through Silicon Valley and the U.S. stock market, sparking widespread discussion and debate. Go to techxplore

Fired IT worker partly shuts down British Museum The British Museum said it had closed a number of exhibits after a fired IT contractor “shut down” some of its systems, in one of several unrelated incidents targeting European museums on Saturday. Go to techxplore

Cyber safety board axed: Implications for US security Before the end of its first full day of operations, the new Trump administration gutted all advisory panels for the Department of Homeland Security. Among these was the well-respected Cyber Safety Review Board, or CSRB. Go to techxplore

Tesla data helped police after Las Vegas truck explosion, but experts have wider privacy concerns Your car is spying on you. That is one takeaway from the fast, detailed data that Tesla collected on the driver of one of its Cybertrucks that exploded in Las Vegas earlier this week. Privacy data experts say the deep…

Japan Airlines was hit by a cyberattack, delaying flights during the year-end holiday season Japan Airlines said it was hit by a cyberattack Thursday, causing delays to more than 20 domestic flights but the carrier said it was able to stop the onslaught and restore its systems hours later. There was no impact on flight…

3D-printed guns, like the one Luigi Mangione allegedly used, are a growing threat Police investigating the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024, have announced that the suspected assailant had used a 3D-printed gun. Several high-profile crimes in recent years have involved this kind of homemade, or partially homemade, weapon. Go to…

AI system reveals hidden drug dark jargon unknown even to police officers Drug trafficking and other criminal activities on social media have become a growing social concern. To evade detection by law enforcement and automated monitoring systems, offenders use dark jargons, often combining multiple common words to form “dark jargon”—covert dark jargons that are difficult…

Five cybersecurity tips to protect yourself from scams and deepfakes In an age when misinformation and deepfakes blur the lines between fact and fiction, identifying scams has never been more challenging. Falling for a scam can have devastating social, financial, and personal consequences. Over the past year, victims of cybercrime reported losing an average of…

US offers $10 mn reward for wanted Chinese hacker The United States offered a $10 million reward on Tuesday for information leading to the arrest of a Chinese man and co-conspirators wanted for hacking computer firewalls. Go to techxplore

Employee visits to adult or gambling sites doubles risk of infection by malware, cybersecurity study finds Malware (malicious software) is a worldwide threat to network security for organizations. Individual users within those networks may inadvertently download or interact with malware like viruses and ransomware by browsing unsafe websites, downloading software, or clicking on phishing links…

Interconnected devices and security: Designing systems to guarantee integrity, data security from Internet of Things The progress of new technologies has allowed many of the devices and appliances in homes, offices, industries and streets to be connected to the network through the Internet of Things (IoT), improving and streamlining processes, jobs and even people’s quality…

Microsoft announced Thursday it has seized 240 fraudulent websites tied to an Egyptian cybercrime operation that sold do-it-yourself phishing kits used to steal user credentials and bypass security measures.