What happens when a cybersecurity company gets phished?
A Sophos employee was phished, but we countered the threat with an end-to-end defense process
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A Breakthrough Prehistoric Discovery May Rewrite Early Human History
Welcome back to the Abstract! Here are the studies this week that walked the walk, squeezed with ease, and became immortalized in amber. First, ancient artifacts in Turkey might rewrite the history of early human migrations into Europe. Then: a Cretaceous insectarium, badminton in space, a breakthrough in quantum sensing, and block parties for chimps….
Behind the Blog: Debriefing on Two Trips
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss San Diego and Costa Rica reporting trips. SAM: Some weeks I feel like I’ve absorbed way too much internet to be able to formulate any more thoughts…
Contractor Used Classified CIA Systems as ‘His Own Personal Google’
This article was produced in collaboration with Court Watch, an independent outlet that unearths overlooked court records. Subscribe to them here. A former CIA official and contractor, who at the time of his employment dug through classified systems for information he then sold to a U.S. lobbying firm and foreign clients, used access to those…
Union Warns Professors About Posting In the ‘Current Climate’
A union that represents university professors and other academics published a guide on Wednesday tailored to help its members navigate social media during the “current climate.” The advice? Lock down your social media accounts, expect anything you post will be screenshotted, and keep things positive. The document ends with links to union provided trauma counseling…
K-12 schools face cybersecurity risks inside and outside of the classroom
As students return to school, it’s crucial for administrators and IT teams to stay vigilant against opportunistic threat actors.
Librarians Are Being Asked to Find AI-Hallucinated Books
Reference librarian Eddie Kristan said lenders at the library where he works have been asking him to find books that don’t exist without realizing they were hallucinated by AI ever since the release of GPT-3.5 in late 2022. But the problem escalated over the summer after fielding patron requests for the same fake book titles…
GOLD SALEM’s Warlock operation joins busy ransomware landscape
The emerging group demonstrates competent tradecraft using a familiar ransomware playbook and hints of ingenuity
Russian State TV Launches AI-Generated News Satire Show
A television channel run by Russia’s Ministry of Defense is airing a program it claims is AI-generated. According to advertisements for the show, a neural network is picking the topics it wants to discuss, then uses AI to generate that video. It includes putting French President Emmaneul Macron in hair curlers and a pink robe,…
Podcast: The (Hacked) Spy In Your Car
We start this week with Joseph’s investigation into Nexar, a popular dashcam company that was catastrophically hacked. Nexar is also uploading user footage to a publicly available map without some drivers’ knowledge. After the break, Sam tells us about her trip to San Diego to cover the sentencing of someone she has covered for years….