The Sophos Annual Threat Report: Cybercrime on Main Street 2025
Ransomware remains the biggest threat, but old and misconfigured network devices are making it too easy
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Sophos Annual Threat Report appendix: Most frequently encountered malware and abused software
These are the tools of the trade Sophos detected in use by cybercriminals over 2024
4chan Is Down Following What Looks to Be a Major Hack Spurred By Meme War
The notorious imageboard 4chan is down following what appears to be a major hack of its backend. The hackers claim to have exposed code for the site, the emails of moderators, and a list of mod communications. This happened, it seems, as part of a five year long, inter-image board beef between users of 4chan…
Sophos Firewall v21.5: NDR Essentials
How to make the most of the new features in Sophos Firewall v21.5
The AI Tools CBP Is Using to Scan Social Media
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is using various artificial intelligence tools, including ones that can quickly identify people of interest by pulling data from social media, according to documents published by the agency last week and marketing material from the contractors. The documents follow others that 404 Media has previously obtained and published through the…
Google DeepMind Is Hiring a ‘Post-AGI’ Research Scientist
None of the frontier AI research labs have presented any evidence that they are on the brink of achieving artificial general intelligence, no matter how they define that goal, but Google is already planning for a “Post-AGI” world by hiring a scientist for its DeepMind AI lab to research the “profound impact” that technology will…
Inside the Economy of AI Spammers Getting Rich By Exploiting Disasters and Misery
A version of this piece originally ran on DexDigi, Dexter Thomas’s newsletter, and a video version ran on his YouTube. Please consider subscribing to both. The Hollywood sign was on fire; or at least, it was online. Those images and videos were fake and AI-generated. Maybe you already knew this. But people made money off…
I Tested The AI That Calls Your Elderly Parents If You Can’t Be Bothered
An AI startup promises to call your elderly parents for you if you don’t have time, or simply don’t want to, and we tested out the service. Called inTouch, the service uses an AI generated voice so your parent receives a phone call in which they can talk to the AI about, for example, how…
The Ocean Spectacle that Has Entranced Sailors for Centuries
Welcome back to the Abstract! Whatever else you think of this past week, it sure served up some ridiculously good science. I’m talking about a real boffin buffet, with all the fixings. There were studies about trees spying on illegal mines. Or, an eerie rhino graveyard buried in ash 12 million years ago. Or, the…
Behind the Blog: The Economy, Robot Umpires, and Monsters
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 the economy and the state of 404 Media, the need for robot umpires, and bringing on a new regular contributor to the site. EMANUEL: Something that I…