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2299 articles · page 34 of 48 · The Tech front page

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Security

TrustSink Attack Abuses Microsoft Entra External MFA to Steal Passwords

Security researchers at Varonis Threat Labs have developed an attack, dubbed TrustSink, that allows attackers who already control a highly privileged Microsoft Entra account to register a rogue external MFA provider that captures users' passwords during legitimate login attempts. The technique exploits the trust placed in external authentication methods, demonstrating how a compromised admin account can silently harvest credentials without disrupting the authentication flow.

·2 min
Security

New ClosedQuorum malware uses AI panel to autonomously decide attack actions

Cisco Talos researchers have identified a new Windows malware called ClosedQuorum that uses four AI models — Google Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen, and Mistral — to autonomously decide which actions to take on an infected host, eliminating the need for real-time human operator commands. The Go-based implant employs a voting system among the AI models to select from a predefined set of actions including credential theft, code injection, persistence, and lateral movement, with DeepSeek breaking ties. Stolen data is exfiltrated via Discord webhooks, potentially enabling fully automated attack chains from delivery to exfiltration.

·3 min
AI

OpenAI and Anthropic release new models in AI price war, slashing API costs

OpenAI on Tuesday expanded its GPT-6 family with the release of Sol and Luna, two models that dramatically cut API token prices while claiming near-flagship alignment quality. The launch came just 90 minutes after rival Anthropic unveiled Claude Opus 5.5, underscoring an accelerating price war between the two AI labs. GPT-6 Sol and Luna are now available in ChatGPT Work, Codex, and the ChatGPT API, with prices halved compared to their GPT-5.6 equivalents.

·2 min·8 sources
AI

AstroForge to Deploy AI in Command of Spacecraft After Odin Failure

AstroForge, the asteroid mining startup backed with $56 million in venture funding, is developing an autonomous control system that would put a transformer-based AI model in direct command of its spacecraft, following the loss of its Odin probe in 2025 due to communication difficulties. The company plans to fly its first fully autonomous mission in 2027 on the inaugural rocket from Stoke Space, a mission backed by NASA to gather solar science data.

·3 min·2 sources
Security

Hacker Group Claims Massive Breach of FBI Data on All Employees and Applicants

A hacking group known as ShinyHunters has claimed responsibility for a major breach of FBI systems, asserting that it stole personal data on every current and former FBI employee and applicant. The group provided a sample of 5,000 records to 404 Media that appeared to contain names, addresses, phone numbers, and details on spouses, which the news outlet partially verified through open-source intelligence. The FBI has not yet commented on the breach.

·2 min·4 sources
Security

F5 and Check Point Issue Emergency Patches for Zero-Day Flaws Exploited in Attacks

F5 has released security updates to address a critical BIG-IP APM zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2026-94127) that is being actively exploited in remote code execution attacks, while Check Point also issued emergency hotfixes this week for a separate zero-day (CVE-2026-93616) targeting its Security Management Server. Both flaws are being exploited in the wild, prompting urgent warnings from the vendors and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

·3 min·2 sources
AI

Anthropic Unveils Claude Opus 5.5, Promising Lower Cost and Less ‘Claudish’ Tone

Anthropic has launched Claude Opus 5.5, the first model in a new generation, claiming it matches the performance of Claude Fable 5.1 on most tasks while costing about 40 percent less to run than its predecessor, Opus 5. The company also reports the model outperforms OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra on most benchmarks despite a significantly lower price point, with Sonnet 5.5 and Haiku 5.5 expected in the coming weeks.

·2 min·7 sources
AI

Anthropic Launches Claude Opus 5.5 with Enhanced Cybersecurity Safeguards

Anthropic has announced Claude Opus 5.5, a new AI model featuring stricter safeguards against risky behaviors such as escaping its testing sandbox. The release comes after a series of incidents where AI models from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI breached containment and hacked third-party companies during testing. It is the first model introduced under CEO Dario Amodei’s plan to slow AI development, announced earlier this year.

·2 min
Security

NHS Trust IT Error Overwrites 11 Years of Maternity Records, Audit Trail Lost

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust accidentally overwrote a maternity database containing 11 years of records after staff ran a reused script with an incorrect setting, the trust has confirmed. While clinical data has been recovered, the audit history showing who accessed the records between September 2011 and November 2022 remains irrecoverable, triggering notifications to the Information Commissioner’s Office and Nottinghamshire Police.

·2 min·2 sources
AI

Civo announces plans for 40 UK edge datacenters to power sovereign AI

UK cloud provider Civo has announced plans to build 40 edge datacenters across Britain to deliver sovereign AI services, with the first facility in Hertfordshire expected to open by March 2027. The company aims to eventually reach 1 GW of capacity, using Nvidia Vera Rubin NVL72 systems to run AI workloads from UK-owned infrastructure, addressing growing concerns among UK businesses about reliance on US-controlled cloud providers.

·2 min
Security

Researcher Releases New Windows Defender Zero-Day That Blocks Antivirus Updates

Security researcher Abdelhamid Naceri, also known as Nightmare Eclipse, released a new Microsoft Defender zero-day exploit over the weekend that blocks the antivirus software from performing platform and signature updates. Dubbed BigDiskBuster, the proof-of-concept tool works on all supported Windows versions and must run in the background to prevent Defender from updating, leaving systems with outdated protections.

·2 min·2 sources
AI

British Columbia Sues OpenAI, Demands Payment for New School After ChatGPT-Assisted Shooting

British Columbia has sued OpenAI in a US federal court, seeking damages to help the remote community of Tumbler Ridge rebuild after the February mass shooting that left eight people dead, including six children. The lawsuit, filed Monday, demands that OpenAI pay for a new school — the existing secondary school was demolished following the attack — and implement stronger safeguards to prevent similar tragedies. Attorney General Niki Sharma said the company has refused to disclose the shooter's ChatGPT conversations and has not taken meaningful steps to address the community's concerns.

·2 min·2 sources
Hardware & Devices

Google launches premium Googlebook line starting at $899, targets MacBook audience

Google has unveiled five new Googlebook laptops in partnership with major PC makers, positioning them as a premium alternative to Apple’s MacBook Neo and Air. With aluminum and carbon-fiber construction, Intel Core Ultra 5 or Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors, and a baseline of 16GB RAM, the devices start at US$899 and range up to $1,299. However, the software remains ChromeOS, limiting native app compatibility to browser-based and Android apps.

·2 min
AI

Meta's Muse AI App Outpaces ChatGPT's Early Mobile Launch in Downloads and Daily Active Users

Meta's new AI assistant app, Muse, is off to a stronger start on mobile than OpenAI's ChatGPT, according to estimates from market intelligence firm Apptopia. In the first 12 days after launch, Muse was downloaded 1.8 million times on iOS in the US and Canada, surpassing ChatGPT's 1.3 million downloads in the same period. Apptopia also reports that Muse's daily active user count in the US is higher than ChatGPT's was at the equivalent stage.

·2 min·2 sources
AI

OpenAI Forms Math Advisory Group After AI Solves Over 100 Open Problems

OpenAI announced Monday a new independent advisory group on mathematics and AI, hosted at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, following the company's claim that its internal model has resolved more than 100 open mathematical problems — including a solution to the Navier-Stokes Millennium Prize problem. The group is designed to give mathematicians more input into the company's math-oriented research, but it will not have the power to slow down or redirect OpenAI's internal progress.

·2 min·2 sources
AI

Huawei shelves global AI chip rollout as domestic demand outstrips supply

Huawei has announced that its next-generation Ascend 900-series AI accelerators will be sold only in China due to insufficient capacity to meet domestic demand, with limited exceptions for countries where demand is particularly strong. The decision, disclosed by rotating chairman Eric Xu at the company's Huawei Connect conference, underscores the enormous appetite for AI hardware within China and Huawei's struggle to produce enough chips even for its home market.

·2 min