Grieving daughter left suffering nightmares of 'the bodies found in Auschwitz' after discovering father's body was still in horror funeral parlour
Robert Bush, 48, is being sentenced for 67 offences related to preventing the lawful and decent burial of 30 bodies and defrauding grieving families who had paid for funeral services.
Home Office may have used 'bogus' information obtained by 'AI hallucination' in asylum case, tribunal hears
The supposed evidence related to a document about conditions in Morocco, which officials said was safe for a woman and her children to be returned.
South Sudanese asylum seeker jailed after turning up outside school with arsenal of weapons and petrol can, aiming to 'start a fire'
Both Douk Deng, 21, was carrying a hatchet, a hammer and a seven-inch kitchen knife when he was stopped by police.
Anthropic AI Model Finds Flaws in Tough-to-Crack Encryption Algorithms
Anthropic's Claude Mythos Preview has "found flaws in a weakened version of a digital encryption standard that is in pervasive use throughout the internet," reports The New York Times. Researchers said the model discovered novel attacks against weakened versions of AES and the experimental post-quantum HAWK system, including one that was 200 to 1,000 times faster than previous human-developed methods. From the report: The flaws identified do not concern a cryptographic standard currently in use today, which means that modern banking and communication systems are not subject to immediate potential intrusions from A.I. Instead, Anthropic's technology cracked a watered-down version of an algorithm for Advanced Encryption Standard, or A.E.S., a ubiquitous protocol that safeguards web traffic, wireless networks, data storage and more. It is common to perform tests on weaker versions of encryption algorithms to understand whether more powerful computers could someday crack the actual standards, akin to solving a simpler math problem to identify whether patterns may exist for a more complicated one. In the testing, Mythos was able to break the weaker version of Advanced Encryption Standard in a way that Anthropic said made an assault 200 to 1,000 times faster than what previous human research had managed to do. While the immediate ramifications are minimal, the long-term implications could be significant. In previous tests, large-language models seemingly could not match or best what humans can do in the mathematically dense field of cryptographic research, but their rapid advances could suggest a future in which top models can surmount traditional internet security protections that are foundational to just about everything that takes place on the internet.
[...] In addition to the attack on the encryption standard, Mythos also orchestrated another improved attack against a different digital cryptographic system known as HAWK that is designed to be bulletproof against both traditional and quantum computers. HAWK is not currently in use, but under consideration by the National Institute of Standards and Technology to become a new standard. The HAWK attack was validated by its authors, and independent cryptographers reviewed the Advanced Encryption Standard attack, Anthropic said, adding that it had shared its findings with the U.S. government and industry partners ahead of publication. Mythos devised the cryptographic attack on A.E.S. almost entirely autonomously, Anthropic said, but only after first refusing to contemplate the problem because it believed it was impossible to improve on existing methods of analysis. But after some coaxing, the chatbot sat with the puzzle for about a week before engineering its novel attack. Two human researchers then worked for nearly a month to verify that the method appeared correct. "Given that we are constantly underestimating the power and time of availability of future models, are we really comfortable that two years from now strong encryption won't be threatened?" said Glenn S. Gerstell, the former general counsel at the National Security Agency.
"Mathematicians would tell you that it shouldn't be possible given current computing powers to break strong encryption in any meaningful time," added Mr. Gerstell, who helped write a report on cryptology in 2022. "But I don't think the capabilities of future models in the medium term -- before quantum computing or quantum-proof cryptography -- should be dismissed as trivial in this context."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
'What are you going to do, kill me?': What mother of four said to estranged husband before he cut her throat with a craft knife, court hears
Tania Williams, 49, was found by neighbours in a pool of blood outside her home. Her husband Raymond, 61, denies murdering her.
Trump reveals why Israel would have been wiped off the face of the Earth had he not been re-elected president
Trump, 80, made the claim during a marathon phone call with Fox News Tuesday morning.
Selena Gomez flaunts toned bikini body as she kisses shirtless husband Benny Blanco on romantic yacht break
She swapped her character's iconic mustard yellow fur jacket for something much more comfortable as she took in the ocean breeze with her spouse, 38.
War machines can run amok with AI in control
Tour of the AI kill chain maps the risks of ubiquitous surveillance and flawed algorithms
Burnham is accused of 'being out of touch' as fresh images of migrants heading for the UK surface - hours after PM declared 'the plan is working' on stopping small boats
Dozens of migrants scrambled through the surf on Tuesday to board a traffickers' dinghy at Hardelot-Plage, south of Boulogne, despite Andy Burnham insisting 'the plan is working' on small boats.
Mysterious object in NASA Mars photo ignites theories of extraterrestrial life on the Red Planet
A NASA image of Mars has sparked fresh claims of life on the Red Planet after Curiosity captured a mysterious object that some believe is evidence of an alien civilization.
Billionaire mogul accepts defeat and sells mansion for $87m LESS than asking price as millionaires flee California in droves
The sale of the mansion at such a discount comes amidst a broader trend of California's wealthiest fleeing the state, which has proposed a billionaire tax.
Microsoft and Wiz mind-meld agents catch more than 90% of bugs
Secret to their success: Using the right model for the right security job
Amanda Holden, 55, shows off her age-defying figure in a tiny green bikini as she soaks up the sun in Corfu
The presenter, 55, showcased her incredible figure as she posed in a series of sizzling bikini shots on her Instagram on Tuesday.
Ruthless Zelensky's killer instinct impresses Trump during secret Oval Office huddle after Iran blitz - as he makes bold ask
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with President Donald Trump at the Oval Office this morning as their relationship continues to warm.
Helen Flanagan says she 'doesn't like being on her own' as she marks one year of being single - but insists she won't 'settle' for just any relationship
Helen Flanagan was reflecting on a full year of being single as she posted a series of candid thoughts on Instagram on Tuesday.
Alison Hammond faces new blow as Channel 4's Your Song 'looks set to be axed' months after her BBC show Big Weekender is 'shelved'
Alison Hammond's Channel 4 show, Your Song, could be axed, according to reports, after viewers complained it was too similar to The Piano.
Judge Blocks First State Law That Would Have Banned Prediction Markets
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Minnesota, the first US state to prohibit prediction markets, was prevented from enforcing the law by a federal court ruling just days before the ban was scheduled to take effect. But while Minnesota was stopped from enforcing a total ban, the state may ultimately be allowed to prohibit some types of prediction-market wagers. The Trump administration and the two largest prediction markets -- Kalshi and Polymarket -- sued Minnesota after the state enacted the law in May. The cases were consolidated, and a ruling (PDF) issued yesterday imposed a preliminary injunction blocking the law that was scheduled to take effect on August 1.
Minnesota lawmakers saw prediction markets as indistinguishable from gambling, but the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) argues it has exclusive authority to regulate the platforms under federal law. One of the primary legal questions is whether event contracts are "swaps," which are regulated by the CFTC. Swaps are defined broadly in US law to include contracts in which payment "is dependent on the occurrence, nonoccurrence, or the extent of the occurrence of an event or contingency associated with a potential financial, economic, or commercial consequence." US District Judge Katherine Menendez in the District of Minnesota, a Biden appointee, said Minnesota's total ban on prediction markets is likely to violate US law because many trades on Kalshi and Polymarket are swaps.
Menendez wrote: "Specifically, it appears that whether the Minnesota statute is expressly preempted turns on whether the state law attempts to regulate trades in event contracts that qualify as "swaps" within the meaning of the CEA [Commodity Exchange Act]. And there are several examples of event contracts hosted by Kalshi and Polymarket US that fit that definition because they concern the occurrence of events with clear potential economic, financial, or commercial consequences that are neither remote or unattenuated. Kalshi and Polymarket US are designated contract markets, so the CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction to regulate transactions involving those 'swaps.'"
Menendez said the CFTC, Kalshi, and Polymarket met their burden of showing they are likely to succeed on the merits, so she issued "a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of Minnesota's prediction market statute until a final decision on the merits is reached." But she said Minnesota may be able to prohibit some types of event contracts offered on Kalshi and Polymarket because not all of them appear to meet the definition of swaps. For example, Menendez doesn't think prediction-market bets on the outcome of Love Island USA meet the legal definition of swaps. Minnesota could continue litigating the case in district court or ask a federal appeals court to overturn the preliminary injunction.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Village cricket cheating scandal convulses Middle England as 'Clicky Ponting' fielder's trick fools umpires
A village cricket scandal has gone viral after an amateur fielder was accused of tricking umpires by clicking his fingers to imitate the noise of an edge off the bat.
How to avoid a midlife money meltdown: Women in their 50s are losing their jobs to AI and ending up on benefits at a frightening rate. Follow my 8 steps to build a financial buffer NOW - and come out stronger if your worst nightmare happens
For middle-class women of a certain age, redundancy, divorce and illness are the triplet of financial torpedos that can blow up a previously comfortable existence.
Sports Illustrated model Camille Kostek launches scathing attack on body-shamers
Sports Illustrated model and former NFL cheerleader Camille Kostek hit back at nasty body-shamers on social media - and she didn't mince her words.