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Tech (100)
Serving the Technologist since 1998. News, reviews, and analysis.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-30 20:57:49
Mexican drug cartel hacked FBI official’s phone to track informant, report says
Official was connected to FBI probe of cartel Kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-26 23:52:42
Actively exploited vulnerability gives extraordinary control over server fleets
AMI MegaRAC used in servers from AMD, ARM, Fujitsu, Gigabyte, Supermicro, and Qualcomm.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-26 21:33:20
Anthropic summons the spirit of Flash games for the AI age
AI chatbot codes browser-based apps from plain English with classic web vibes.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-26 21:17:54
VMware perpetual license holder receives audit letter from Broadcom
"Our management thought it was a bluff..."
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-25 21:00:03
Anthropic destroyed millions of print books to build its AI models
Company hired Google's book-scanning chief to cut up and digitize "all the books in the world."
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-25 20:39:19
Ubuntu disables Intel GPU security mitigations, promises 20% performance boost
Overtime defenses for Spectre-based attacks have taken their toll.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-24 18:25:41
The résumé is dying, and AI is holding the smoking gun
As thousands of applications flood job posts, 'hiring slop' is kicking off an AI arms race.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-23 20:21:42
Canadian telecom hacked by suspected China state group
Maximum-security Cisco vulnerability was patched Oct. 2023 and exploited Feb. 2025.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-20 20:04:22
Record DDoS pummels site with once-unimaginable 7.3Tbps of junk traffic
Attacker rained down the equivalent of 9,300 full-length HD movies in just 45 seconds.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-19 15:40:45
Israel-tied Predatory Sparrow hackers are waging cyberwar on Iran’s financial system
The hacker group has destroyed more than $90 million held at an Iranian crypto exchange.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-18 22:10:45
Tech support scammers inject malicious phone numbers into big-name websites
Microsoft, Apple, Bank of America, and many more sites all targeted.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-18 12:15:46
Scientists once hoarded pre-nuclear steel, and now we’re hoarding pre-AI content
Newly-announced catalog collects pre-2022 sources untouched by ChatGPT and AI contamination.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-17 22:33:01
Cybersecurity takes a big hit in new Trump executive order
Provisions on secure software, quantum–resistant crypto, and more are scrapped.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-17 17:26:28
OpenAI weighs “nuclear option” of antitrust complaint against Microsoft
WSJ report says OpenAI mulling federal complaint as Microsoft stalls restructuring plan.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-16 21:15:18
Vandals cut fiber-optic lines, causing outage for Spectrum Internet subscribers
The soaring price of copper makes networks tempting targets for thieves.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-12 21:26:28
Coming to Apple OSes: A seamless, secure way to import and export passkeys
Apple OSes will soon transfer passkeys seamlessly and securely across platforms.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-11 19:58:22
Hollywood studios target AI image generator in copyright lawsuit
Multiple-studio complaint cites AI image outputs as evidence of "bottomless pit of plagiarism."
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-11 17:58:43
With the launch of o3-pro, let’s talk about what AI “reasoning” actually does
New studies reveal pattern-matching reality behind the AI industry's reasoning claims.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-10 20:00:34
Found in the wild: 2 Secure Boot exploits. Microsoft is patching only 1 of them.
The publicly available exploits provide a near-universal way to bypass key protections.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-10 19:27:48
OpenAI signs surprise deal with Google Cloud despite fierce AI rivalry
Report: Deal marks shift from exclusive Microsoft partnership as AI compute needs soar.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-10 17:38:56
After AI setbacks, Meta bets billions on undefined “superintelligence”
Zuckerberg seeks new AI direction under sci-fi banner that some experts say is arbitrary.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-09 16:36:15
FAA to retire floppy disks and Windows 95 amid air traffic control overhaul
Agency seeks contractors to modernize decades-old systems within four years.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-06 22:12:17
Anthropic releases custom AI chatbot for classified spy work
"Claude Gov" is already handling classified information for the US government.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-06 20:15:28
Millions of low-cost Android devices turn home networks into crime platforms
BadBox malware has been menacing low-cost Android devices for nearly a decade.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-05 15:35:15
“In 10 years, all bets are off”—Anthropic CEO opposes decadelong freeze on state AI laws
Amodei says AI "too fast" for blanket law ban; sees fundamental world change in 2 years.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-04 12:20:37
Two certificate authorities booted from the good graces of Chrome
Chunghwa Telecom and Netlock customers must look elsewhere for new certificates.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-03 13:00:48
Meta and Yandex are de-anonymizing Android users’ web browsing identifiers
Abuse allows Meta and Yandex to attach persistent identifiers to detailed browsing histories.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-03 13:00:48
Meta and Yandex are de-anonymizing Android users’ web browsing identifiers
Abuse allows Meta and Yandex to attach persistent identifiers to detailed browsing histories.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-06-02 22:43:04
Broadcom ends business with VMware’s lowest-tier channel partners
Broadcom claims many eliminated partners weren't doing any VMware business.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-31 14:32:08
Ransomware kingpin “Stern” apparently IDed by German law enforcement
BSA names Vitaly Nikolaevich Kovalev is "Stern," the leader of Trickbot.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-29 18:58:09
AI video just took a startling leap in realism. Are we doomed?
Google's Veo 3 delivers AI videos of realistic people with sound and music. We put it to the test.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-28 23:12:07
Thousands of Asus routers are being hit with stealthy, persistent backdoors
Backdoor giving full administrative control can survive reboots and firmware updates.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-26 12:30:50
Where hyperscale hardware goes to retire: Ars visits a very big ITAD site
Watching memory DIMMs get sorted like Wonka children inside SK TES' facility.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-23 20:56:45
Feds charge 16 Russians allegedly tied to botnets used in cyberattacks and spying
An example of how a single malware operation can enable both criminal and state-sponsored hacking.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-23 20:06:59
Researchers cause GitLab AI developer assistant to turn safe code malicious
AI assistants can't be trusted to produce safe code.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-23 18:57:13
Google’s Will Smith double is better at eating AI spaghetti … but it’s crunchy?
Veo 3 is a major leap in AI video synthesis, but the sound effects need more cooking time.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-22 20:15:27
Destructive malware available in NPM repo went unnoticed for 2 years
Payloads were set to spontaneously detonate on specific dates with no warning.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-22 18:19:21
Report calls for regulation of “legally and ethically flawed” VMware
"Broadcom is unlikely to make any voluntary changes to its new commercial terms."
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-22 17:45:45
New Claude 4 AI model refactored code for 7 hours straight
Anthropic says Claude 4 beats Gemini on coding benchmarks; works autonomously for hours.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-22 17:00:03
Authorities carry out global takedown of infostealer used by cybercriminals
Authorities, along with tech companies including Microsoft and Cloudflare, say they’ve disrupted Lumma.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-21 21:21:39
“Microsoft has simply given us no other option,” Signal says as it blocks Windows Recall
Even after its refurbishing, Recall provides few ways to exclude specific apps.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-21 20:21:51
Apple legend Jony Ive takes control of OpenAI’s design future
$6.5B acquisition of Ive's firm puts him in charge of moving OpenAI "beyond screens."
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-20 19:48:54
Windows 11’s most important new feature is post-quantum cryptography. Here’s why.
For the first time, new quantum-safe algorithms can be invoked using standard Windows APIs.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-20 15:52:35
Chicago Sun-Times prints summer reading list full of fake books
Reading list in advertorial supplement contains 66% made up books by real authors.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-16 20:25:41
The empire strikes back with F-bombs: AI Darth Vader goes rogue with profanity, slurs
Fortnite AI voice trained on James Earl Jones spoke curse words and insults before patch.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-15 13:18:49
Spies hack high-value mail servers using an exploit from yesteryear
Attacks spilled contacts and emails from targeted accounts.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-14 23:16:14
OpenAI adds GPT-4.1 to ChatGPT amid complaints over confusing model lineup
Two new AI models join 7 others, leaving some paid users wondering which one is best.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-13 21:31:11
Google introduces Advanced Protection mode for its most at-risk Android users
A single flip of a settings button enables a host of defenses against hacking.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-13 15:58:26
GOP sneaks decade-long AI regulation ban into spending bill
Sweeping provision would halt all local oversight of AI by US states.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-13 14:00:17
New attack can steal cryptocurrency by planting false memories in AI chatbots
Malicious "context manipulation" technique causes bot to send payments to attacker's wallet.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-12 18:04:20
New pope chose his name based on AI’s threats to “human dignity”
Pope Leo XIV warns AI could threaten workers as industrial revolution did in the 1800s.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-09 22:29:02
New Lego-building AI creates models that actually stand up in real life
Carnegie Mellon "LegoGPT" system uses physics checks to ensure models don't collapse.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-08 21:23:21
AI use damages professional reputation, study suggests
New Duke study says workers judge others for AI use—and hide its use, fearing stigma.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-08 19:45:20
Fidji Simo joins OpenAI as new CEO of Applications
Simo will oversee business operations while Altman focuses on research and compute.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-08 19:27:52
DOGE software engineer’s computer infected by info-stealing malware
The presence of credentials in leaked "stealer logs" indicates his device was infected.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-08 15:37:38
Trump admin to roll back Biden’s AI chip restrictions
Officials call previous framework "unenforceable" as May 15 deadline looms.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-07 23:04:58
WhatsApp provides no cryptographic management for group messages
The weakness creates the possibility of an insider or hacker adding rogue members.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-07 19:08:58
VMware perpetual license holders receive cease-and-desist letters from Broadcom
Broadcom says it may audit VMware users.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-07 01:26:14
Jury orders NSO to pay $167 million for hacking WhatsApp users
The verdict is a major victory for opponents of exploit sellers.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-06 14:26:37
Data centers say Trump’s crackdown on renewables bad for business, AI
Without renewables, it's nearly impossible to meet growing power demand from AI.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-06 01:05:55
Man pleads guilty to using malicious AI software to hack Disney employee
Fake image-generating app allowed man to download 1.1TB of Disney-owned data.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-05 22:37:21
Signal clone used by Trump official stops operations after report it was hacked
Mike Waltz needs to find a new app.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-05 21:18:31
OpenAI scraps controversial plan to become for-profit after mounting pressure
The nonprofit board will retain control, but now investor billions hang in the balance.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-05 20:05:13
Hundreds of e-commerce sites hacked in supply-chain attack
Attack that started in April and remains ongoing runs malicious code on visitors' devices.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-02 21:14:58
Microsoft’s new “passwordless by default” is great but comes at a cost
The move is part of an industry-wide push for users to adopt passkeys.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-02 17:39:26
Claude’s AI research mode now runs for up to 45 minutes before delivering reports
New feature searches hundreds of sources to build a document—but is it accurate?
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-01 22:32:27
Time saved by AI offset by new work created, study suggests
Survey of 2023–2024 data finds that AI created more tasks for 8.4 percent of workers.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-05-01 22:00:02
Why MFA is getting easer to bypass and what to do about it
Why multifactor authentication based on one-time-passwords and push notifications fails.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-30 19:36:26
Windows RDP lets you log in using revoked passwords. Microsoft is OK with that.
Researchers say the behavior amounts to a persistent backdoor.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-30 18:52:06
Millions of Apple Airplay-enabled devices can be hacked via Wi-Fi
Hackers can run their code on AirPlay devices thanks to a collection of bugs known as AirBorne.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-30 12:30:40
The end of an AI that shocked the world: OpenAI retires GPT-4
A look back at GPT-4's legacy as OpenAI pulls the pioneering 2023 AI model from ChatGPT.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-29 19:03:46
Trump admin lashes out as Amazon considers displaying tariff costs on its sites
"This was never approved and is not going to happen," says Amazon.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-29 12:15:43
AI-generated code could be a disaster for the software supply chain. Here’s why.
LLM-produced code could make us much more vulnerable to supply-chain attacks.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-28 23:04:26
ChatGPT goes shopping with new product-browsing feature
ChatGPT will now recommend products to be bought offsite—but no sponsored ads just yet.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-28 22:43:43
Backblaze responds to claims of “sham accounting,” customer backups at risk
Short seller publishes report detailing allegations about Backblaze's financials
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-28 12:00:59
iOS and Android juice jacking defenses have been trivial to bypass for years
New ChoiceJacking attack allows malicious chargers to steal data from phones.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-25 22:43:09
New study shows why simulated reasoning AI models don’t yet live up to their billing
Top AI models excel at math problems but lack reasoning needed for Math Olympiad proofs.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-25 21:38:02
FBI offers $10 million for information about Salt Typhoon members
FBI accepts tips by TOR in likely attempt to woo China-based informants.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-25 12:00:57
In the age of AI, we must protect human creativity as a natural resource
Op-ed: As AI outputs flood the Internet, diverse human perspectives are our most valuable resource.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-24 21:02:40
New Android spyware is targeting Russian military personnel on the front lines
Trojanized mapping app steals users' locations, contacts, and more.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-21 17:22:09
Annoyed ChatGPT users complain about bot’s relentlessly positive tone
Users complain of new "sycophancy" streak where ChatGPT thinks everything is brilliant.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-17 23:42:23
Company apologizes after AI support agent invents policy that causes user uproar
Frustrated software developer believed AI-generated message came from human support rep.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-16 23:21:38
OpenAI releases new simulated reasoning models with full tool access
New o3 model appears "near-genius level," according to one doctor, but it still makes mistakes.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-16 12:15:44
Researchers claim breakthrough in fight against AI’s frustrating security hole
Prompt injections are the Achilles' heel of AI assistants. Google offers a potential fix.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-15 19:43:29
4chan has been down since Monday night after “pretty comprehensive own”
Early info is unreliable, but the site has been mostly unavailable for hours.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-14 21:53:51
When is 4.1 greater than 4.5? When it’s OpenAI’s newest model.
OpenAI's brand new "GPT-4.1" has a funky name but reasonable performance for the price.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-14 16:55:47
Amid Trump tariff chaos, Nvidia launches AI chip production on US soil
New announcement seems aimed at appeasing Trump, signals company shift.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-11 19:45:40
That groan you hear is users’ reaction to Recall going back into Windows
Snapshotting and AI processing a screen every 3 seconds. What could possibly go wrong?
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-11 12:15:59
Researcher uncovers dozens of sketchy Chrome extensions with 4 million installs
Even weirder: why would Google give so many the "Featured" stamp for trustworthiness?
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-10 23:37:13
Researchers concerned to find AI models hiding their true “reasoning” processes
New Anthropic research shows one AI model conceals reasoning shortcuts 75% of the time.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-09 20:32:31
OpenAI helps spammers plaster 80,000 sites with messages that bypassed filters
Company didn't notice its chatbot was being abused for (at least) 4 months.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-09 20:20:07
After months of user complaints, Anthropic debuts new $200/month AI plan
Two-tiered "Claude Max" expands rate limits and offers traffic priority to subscribers.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-08 21:47:23
“The girl should be calling men.” Leak exposes Black Basta’s influence tactics.
Disclosure of tactics, techniques, and procedures provides rare glimpse into secretive group.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-08 19:26:33
Carmack defends AI tools after Quake fan calls Microsoft AI demo “disgusting”
Carmack: "Power tools" like AI are "central to all the progress in computers."
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-07 20:54:47
Meta’s surprise Llama 4 drop exposes the gap between AI ambition and reality
Touted 10M token context proves elusive, while early performance tests disappoint experts.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-04 21:17:13
NSA warns “fast flux” threatens national security. What is fast flux anyway?
Used by nation-states and crime groups, fast flux bypasses many common defenses.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-03 22:16:49
Google unveils end-to-end messages for Gmail. Only thing is: It’s not true E2EE.
Yes, encryption/decryption occurs on end-user devices, but there's a catch.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-02 18:06:06
AI bots strain Wikimedia as bandwidth surges 50%
Automated AI bots seeking training data threaten Wikipedia project stability, foundation says.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-04-01 12:30:47
MCP: The new “USB-C for AI” that’s bringing fierce rivals together
Model context protocol standardizes how AI uses data sources, supported by OpenAI and Anthropic.
From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-03-29 14:08:49
What could possibly go wrong? DOGE to rapidly rebuild Social Security codebase.
A safe and proper rewrite should take years not months.