News
- AI tools are more popular than ever - but so are the security risks
- Top tools are being leveraged by cybercriminals with malicious intent
- Grok and Mixtral were both found being used by crimianls
New research has warned top AI tools are powering 'WormGPT' variants, malicious GenAI tools which are generating malicious code, social engineering attacks, and even providing hacking tutorials.
With Large Language Models (LLMs) now widely used alongside tools like Mistral AI’s Mixtral and xAI's Grok, experts from Cato CTRL found this isn't always in the way they’re intended to be used.
“The emergence of WormGPT spurred the development and promotion of other uncensored LLMs, indicating a growing market for such tools within cybercrime. FraudGPT (also known as FraudBot) quickly rose as a prominent alternative and advertised with a broader array of malicious capabilities,” the researchers noted.
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WormGPTWormGPT is a broader name for ‘uncensored’ LLMs that are leveraged by threat actors, and the researchers identified different strains with different capabilities and purposes.
For example, keanu-WormGPT, an uncensored assistant was able to create phishing emails when prompted. When researchers dug further, the LLM disclosed it was powered by Grok, but the platform's security features had been circumnavigated.
After this was revealed, the creator then added prompt-based guardrails to ensure this information was not disclosed to users, but other WormGPT variants were found to be based on Mixtral AI, so legitimate LLMs are clearly being jailbroken and leveraged by hackers.
“Beyond malicious LLMs, the trend of threat actors attempting to jailbreak legitimate LLMs like ChatGPT and Google Bard / Gemini to circumvent their safety measures also gained traction," the researchers noted.
"Furthermore, there are indications that threat actors are actively recruiting AI experts to develop their own custom uncensored LLMs tailored to specific needs and attack vectors.“
Most in the cybersecurity field will be familiar with the idea that AI is ‘lowering the barriers of entry’ for cybercriminals, which can certainly be seen here.
If all it takes is asking a pre-existing chatbot a few well-phrased questions, then it’s pretty safe to assume that cybercrime might become a lot more common in the coming months and years.
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News has surfaced from China that Geely is poised to release the world’s first range-extender hybrid vehicle that is also compatible with the country’s growing network of battery-swapping stations.
Badged the Haoyue R7, Car News China says that it is essentially a rebadged version of the Geely Livan 7 all-electric flagship SUV, which was among the first Geely models to support battery swap.
The process of driving into a dedicated facility and having a robot autonomously replace the entire battery pack has been pushed by CATL, China’s largest EV battery maker, and the electric vehicle brand Nio, which has even started to introduce facilities to parts of Europe.
It is reported that the upcoming Haoyue R7 will be compatible with CATL’s battery swap technology, allowing owners to either juice-up from home, use the much faster public charging network, or take advantage of battery-swapping stations.
What’s more, the 1.5-liter, naturally-aspirated petrol engine can act as a generator to charge the onboard battery packs for longer journeys.
No official range figures have been released as of yet, but even the smallest battery pack on the Livan 7 can manage almost 280 miles on a single charge, so when you factor in the range extender, it could easily manage double that.
Although very much a niche powertrain in the Chinese market, it will offer customers an unparalleled choice of how they get around, opening up the idea of electric vehicles to more and attempting to prove that range anxiety should no longer be an issue.
Analysis: The more methods, the merrier(Image credit: Nio)According to a recent report by the BBC, Nio has now built over 3,300 battery swap stations in China, with the company looking to expand across the country over the next few years.
Currently, a number of taxis, buses and heavy-duty trucks are making use of battery-swap technology in China, as these vehicles tend to have more predictable movement patterns that make the entire process a lot easier to manage.
But through advances in software, it is also becoming far simpler for electric vehicle brands to manage entire EV fleets, with the ability to work out which vehicle needs its batteries brimmed and what the most effective way to do this is.
Tesla, for example, pioneered a “connected” Supercharger network that helps point drivers towards the most accessible and fastest charger in the vicinity, pre-conditioning the battery for the most efficient top-ups.
Battery swap stations are not just another quick method to get drivers moving again (the process takes around five minutes), it can also drastically reduce the initial cost of a new vehicle.
Geely says the Haoyue R7 will be offered without the battery pack, giving customers the opportunity to pay a small monthly fee to rent the batteries and take advantage of the CATL battery swap network.
This has proven extremely popular with Taiwanese company Gogoro’s battery swap network, which uses much smaller packs to power two-wheel scooters, mopeds and smaller capacity motorcycles in a number of global markets.
Not only is the cost of the motorcycle in question far less expensive to purchase outright – even when paired with partner Yamaha’s products – it’s also more convenient, with users able to pull up to a station, swap batteries out by hand (there’s no need for robots, as the packs are so small) and get on their way.
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- Microsoft has launched a wizard to help Windows 10 devices stay secure
- It’s only intended as a temporary solution, though
- Windows 10 support ends later this year
Windows 10 has been around for almost a decade now, but official support is due to end on October 14 this year. Yet that doesn’t have to be the end of the road, as Microsoft has just announced a new process for anyone who needs a little more time to switch to Windows 11.
The updates are part of Microsoft’s Extended Security Updates (ESU) program, which brings monthly critical and important security patches to Windows 10 users for one year after official support ends. Microsoft says this is only meant to be a short-term solution, as it doesn’t include non-security updates or new features.
With today’s change, there are now a few new ways to get started. For individuals, there’s a new enrollment wizard that will give you three options: use Windows Backup to sync all your settings to the cloud; redeem 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points to get started; or pay a one-off fee of $30.
After you’ve picked an option and followed the instructions, your Windows 10 PC will be enrolled. ESU coverage for personal computers lasts from October 15, 2025 until October 13, 2026. The enrollment wizard is currently available in the Windows Insider Program, made available to regular Windows 10 users in July, and will roll out on a wider basis in mid-August.
Time to upgrade(Image credit: Foxy burrow / Shutterstock / Microsoft)The ESU changes aren’t just coming to individual Windows 10 users. Commercial organizations can pay $61 per device to subscribe to the ESU program for a year. This can be renewed annually for up to three years, although Microsoft warns that the cost will increase each year. Businesses can sign up today via the Microsoft Volume Licensing Program, while Cloud Service Providers will begin offering enrollment starting September 1.
As for Windows 10 devices that are accessing Windows 11 Cloud PCs via Windows 365 and virtual machines, these will be granted access to ESU free of charge and will receive security updates automatically, with no extra actions required.
In a way, Microsoft’s announcement highlights the struggles the company has had with getting people to upgrade to Windows 11. Microsoft first announced that it would kill off Windows 10 way back in June 2021, and yet there are still people and organizations that have not made the switch, despite many years of prompts and warnings.
For some people – especially those with mission-critical devices or large fleets of computers – upgrading to Windows 11 might be a herculean task. But if you’re able to make the switch, you really should do so to ensure you keep getting all the latest updates. We’ve even got a guide on upgrading to Windows 11 to help you through the process.
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- AMD’s MI400 GPU expected to offer 432GB HBM4 across 12 memory stacks
- 256-core EPYC Venice CPU to debut with PCIe Gen6 and 2nm process
- AMD’s Helios rack aims for 10x performance with double-wide AI architecture
AMD recently revealed its Instinct MI350 series of GPUs, but the bigger news is what the chip giant has planned for 2026.
The company is preparing a next-generation AI platform which includes the Instinct MI400 GPU, EPYC "Venice" CPU, and a major shift in rack design with its Helios infrastructure, an expansive, double-wide configuration aimed at scaling performance and bandwidth.
The MI400 GPU is expected to ship with up to 432GB of HBM4 memory, built using 12 stacks of 36GB HBM4, based on numbers shared by Micron and memory per-GPU estimates from AMD's rack capacity.
A direct response to NvidiaThis would be a considerable jump from the current MI350’s 8-stack setup, putting it on track to rival Nvidia’s upcoming Vera Rubin platform.
Alongside the MI400, AMD plans to debut its 256-core EPYC "Venice" server CPU, built on a 2nm process with PCIe Gen6 support and up to 1.6TB/s of memory bandwidth.
The platform will also feature the Vulcano 800G NIC and support open standards like UALink and Ultra Ethernet for improved scale-out connectivity.
AMD says the Helios rack and MI450 GPU will offer up to 10x the performance of the MI355X, positioning it as a direct response to Nvidia’s accelerated roadmap.
Sam Altman appeared on stage at the company's recent Advancing AI event alongside AMD's CEO Lisa Su to emphasize OpenAI’s early interest in the new platform, saying “I think it’s going to be an amazing thing.”
Although the hardware won’t arrive until 2026, AMD’s preview sets the tone for what could be a fierce race with Nvidia.
The Helios rack might not have an official name yet, but it’s clear AMD is thinking bigger - and wider! - as it moves toward next-gen AI infrastructure.
Via ServeTheHome
You may also like- Malware-ridden apps are sneaking on to official app stores
- SparkKitty will steal photos to crack into your crypto wallet
- One infected app was downloaded over 10,000 times
A dangerous new malware strain targeting smartphone users has managed to sneak on to both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store without being detected, experts have warned.
SparkKitty was first spotted by cybersecurity experts at Kaspersky in January 2025, and uses optical character recognition to scan through your photos and harvest cryptocurrency wallet recovery phrases.
Most crypto currency exchanges will tell a user to write down a memorable phrase when creating an account for recovery purposes, but many users will simply screenshot their memorable phrase - making it super easy for SparkKitty to steal.
Snooping through photos and stealing cryptoKaspersky says the SparkKitty malware has been actively distributed across both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store since February 2024, and has also been distributed through unofficial means as well.
The infected apps have since been removed from both app stores.
In many cases, the apps appeared to be legitimate and were designed for numerous purposes. One infected app called SOEX was downloaded over 10,000 times on the Google Play Store, and appeared to be a messaging app with cryptocurrency trading and exchange features - the perfect disguise for a malware designed to target cryptocurrency wallets.
Once installed on a user's device, the app will ask for permission to access and modify the image library on both iOS and Android devices. After being granted access, the app then scans the image library and will re-scan if it detects modifications being made to the image library, such as new images being added or deleted.
Obviously, outside of the threat to crypto wallets there is the threat of users being extorted using other images that could be found in their image library, but there is no evidence of this happening so far.
Hackers are constantly developing new tactics to hide their malware on applications that can be distributed through trusted platforms such as the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Always remember to double check that the application you are downloading is made by a trusted developer, is definitely the authentic version of the app you are looking for, and has trustworthy reviews. If in doubt, don’t download it.
Also be wary of apps that ask for more permissions than they actually need, or apps that request permission to create new configuration profiles and certificates. Finally, when creating a memorable phrase for recovering an account, don’t keep it stored where it can be easily stolen.
Many of the best cloud storage services and best password managers offer encrypted storage vaults for storing important phrases.
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- Built in California, powered by Linux, the Liberty Phone says no to tech giants
- With no Android or iOS, it’s the loneliest smartphone on the market today
- It costs more, does less, and still claims to be the best smartphone for privacy
Despite rising political pressure to bring tech manufacturing back to the US, building a premium smartphone domestically remains a costly and technically difficult challenge.
The Liberty Phone by Purism, priced at $1,999, offers a rare example of how close a company can get to building an America-made device, but it comes with significant trade-offs in performance and practicality.
Unlike the widely promoted but questionable $499 Trump Phone, the Liberty Phone is at least verifiably assembled in the US, although it lacks flagship-level features.
Still not 100% "Made In USA!"Todd Weaver, Purism’s founder, is upfront about the limitations, noting, “Someone who needs a wicked-strong camera is not our audience.”
Weaver estimates the Liberty Phone costs around $650 to produce, higher than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which TechInsights says costs about $550 to build in China.
This discrepancy is driven largely by US labor costs, with savings made by using lower-spec components such as a basic camera and a low-resolution screen.
This may suit its core user base, including security geeks, older users, kids, and those who want to distance themselves from major tech brands, but it is nowhere near mainstream Android alternatives - for anyone expecting the best smartphone for business or multimedia tasks, the Liberty Phone is unlikely to compete.
Part of Purism’s appeal lies in its transparent and partially domestic supply chain - the motherboard is built at the company's California site, the chip is sourced from NXP’s Austin, Texas, facility, and the final assembly is local.
But some critical components, like the camera from South Korea and the display and battery from China, still depend on global sourcing.
“There are just some parts that don’t yet have a supply chain,” says Weaver. “We’re gonna keep incrementing there until we can get to that point.”
It runs PureOS, a Linux-based operating system that supports basic tasks like calling, texting, and web browsing, but without support for Android or iOS apps, it’s a hard sell for anyone needing a broad app ecosystem or high-end performance.
Nonetheless, Weaver believes a niche market exists and claims that about half of Purism’s customers are US government agencies.
Even though tariffs might someday narrow the cost gap, the continuity of this project is not certain.
“We don’t have factories here building application processors, high-end displays or most of the other things in your smartphone,” said Jeff Fieldhack of Counterpoint Research, showing his skepticism.
At the moment, the Liberty Phone is more of a philosophical gesture than a practical solution, and only Americans or those loyal to the US will give it a second look.
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When we wrote our XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro review, which led to it being crowned as our favorite budget option among the best portable projectors, we noted three flaws: it didn't have a built-in battery, the speakers were weak, and it couldn't hold up well in bright conditions.
The last of these isn't unique to the MoGo series, and you have to pay a lot more for brightness that can stand up to sunlight, so that's fair enough.
The other two, however, are solvable problems – and in the MoGo 4, XGIMI has not only fixed them, it's made a better, tighter portable projector all around, based on my time with it so far.
This is far from a full review, but the improvements to the MoGo 4 were obvious to see just from my early time testing it. This is such an impressive portable entertainment device for its $499 / £509 / AU$1,299 price.
I pulled the MoGo 4 out of its box at home, and because of its new built-in battery, it was up and running within a handful of seconds, pointing at a convenient white wall. The design is actually even slicker than the last version, but still with the same smart 'fold-away' cylinder shape that protects the lens when you're not using it – and this is all despite adding the battery.
XGIMI says the battery should last for about 2.5 hours, and I haven't put this fully to the test yet (obviously, we'll check for our full review), but one thing I noted immediately is that being on battery power doesn't diminish the performance.
(Image credit: Future)Sometimes with high-power devices that switch to batteries, you see some slow-down in the smart TV software or in other areas – but one of the elements that impressed me early here is how slick its Google TV integration is.
It responds instantly to every button press on the remote, so scrolling around is completely frustration-free – and there are some expensive options among the best TVs that I can't say that about.
During setup, the automatic keystone correction and focus didn't seem to kick in right away. Instead I had to hit the focus button on the remote early on to make the setup screens look clear, and the keystone fixing started working suddenly when I got to a certain point in the process.
After that, the keystone correction activated every time I moved the projector – even if I just wobbled it a bit too much. This again worked incredibly quickly – in under a second each time, it had a stable new picture.
(Image credit: Future)The other element I noticed during this time, even before getting anything playing on it, was that the sound seemed to be massively improved. And once I fired up some movie images, it was clear that this is the case – the MoGo 4 sounds ridiculously good for speakers built into a small projector frame.
I tested the MoGo 4 in my spare room, where I have a TV with a Sonos Ray soundbar set up – my partner was confused about the type of projector it was, because she was convinced I must have connected it to the Sonos Ray given the sound she was hearing from downstairs.
The sound is full, it's wide, it's bass rich, and dialogue remains clear. Obviously, it still has the potential problem that if it's behind you, it'll sound behind you – but I had it in front and to the side of me, and I felt like I was getting a satisfying movie experience just by taking this thing out of its box, pointing it at the wall, and firing something up. No extra equipment, not a single cable involved.
(Image credit: Future)The picture quality itself is very similar to the MoGo 3 Pro, and capable of producing really rich colors, good detail (though this is an HD projector, not 4K), and enough brightness to be clearly watchable even with a decent amount of ambient light – I had a (not particularly bright, but still normal) light on in the room, and it was perfectly watchable overall.
As you'd expect, dark tones are the problem, especially when projected onto a wall instead of a screen that can help with it. With ambient light, it's not really capable of anything you'd call 'black' – in the image below, the jellyfish is supposed to be on a black background, not a see-through one – but I don't hold this against it, because it's a problem with all portable projectors.
(Image credit: Future)Watching brighter scenes, I was totally pulled in by the combination of the solid colors and rich sound, on a 65-inch-ish screen that I'd just instantly thrown up from about six feet away.
Given the quality of the viewing experience, and the convenience of the battery-packing design and elements such as having a full-size HDMI port, and a mini-remote that's attached to it (so you can leave the regular Google TV remote at home), I think this looks like a real winner for the price.
There is a more expensive laser version coming too, which is about 25% brighter, and that XGIMI says it's the most compact laser projector to date. I'm looking forward to seeing what that can do.
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- A team of Chinese researchers has achieved a 1Gbps data transmission from a satellite
- The satellite operates 22,807 miles above Earth, while Starlink satellites are at around 341 miles
- This kind of speed could be revolutionary for internet connections in remote areas on Earth, but also in space
It's no secret that getting a stable, reasonably fast internet connection in non-urban areas is still a challenge (and even those of us living in cities sometimes struggle). Elon Musk's satellite internet service, Starlink, goes a long way toward making internet more accessible all around the globe – but it just got majorly overshadowed by a small team of Chinese scientists.
This new breakthrough in satellite internet technology (via Interesting Engineering) was achieved by Liu Chao from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor Wu Jian of Peking University of Posts and Telecommunications. The scientists developed a new method of combating the biggest hurdle faced by satellite laser connections: atmospheric turbulence.
Combining two already established technologies and using them in synergy resulted in shockingly fast data transmission. But this isn't just about speed (although that's arguably the best part for us, internet users). It's also about the distance to the satellite and the laughably low wattage of the laser used by the Chinese researchers.
Super-fast satellite speeds with a surprisingly low error rateA key benefit of this method lies in the relatively low error rate during data transmission, increasing the chance of achieving usable signals by nearly 20% (previously 72%, now 91.1%). As we all know, speeds are just one part of the equation when it comes to internet connections, and anyone who's ever had to deal with an unreliable ISP knows that stable is often better than faster.
Still, the Chinese researchers were reportedly able to achieve both through a mix of Adaptive Optics (AO) and Mode Diversity Reception (MDR). The former sharpens distorted light, and the latter captures scattered signals. Only when combined did these two separate methods achieve 1Gbps in data transmission, though, and the scientists praise this method for successfully avoiding drops in communication quality.
(Image credit: T-Mobile)They carried out the test at the Lijiang observatory in China, using a 5.9-foot telescope that contains hundreds of tiny mirrors – that's the adaptive optics system in play. These mirrors reshape incoming laser light to account for atmospheric turbulence. Speaking of lasers: the team used a two-watt laser for this experiment, which can be compared to a nightlight. Of course, this refers to laser power and not the satellite’s total energy use.
Once processed and extracted, the light splits into eight base-mode channels, and finally, a special algorithm decides which of these channels is the most promising, in real-time. Choosing the top three signals out of eight gave the researchers a major boost in signal strength, all the while dramatically outpacing Starlink’s downlink speeds – especially impressive given the much greater orbital distance.
This could be good news for internet users worldwide (and beyond)(Image credit: Unsplash / Evgeny Opanasenko)Comparing this new breakthrough to Starlink reveals a few key differences. First, data transmission speeds reaching up to 1Gbps are not something that Starlink can currently achieve; in our Starlink review, we found that the average for downloads sat at 71Mbps, and Starlink itself promises to deliver between 25 to 100 Mbps on the Standard plan. Second, signal strength and reduced errors in data transmission, despite the massive distance to the satellite, are both promising.
Cutting back on errors and snags in the connection is crucial for users who want to stream videos or send larger files. If this technology is ever made mainstream, we might be able to use the internet even in remote areas without having to compromise on what we can or cannot do. Goodbye, waiting for five minutes for that text to come through – we really wouldn't miss you.
But the implications here are huge, even if you think bigger than just having a reliable connection everywhere. Boosting signal speed, distance, and strength through this method of laser communication could spell great news for satellite navigation. It could even impact the ability to connect with space missions, such as with the ISS, more seamlessly and without delays.
Right now, this is just a proof of concept – an interesting achievement described in the Acta Optica Sinica journal. Let's hope that this picks up and gives Starlink a serious run for its money.
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