Aggregator

spatwei shares a report from SC Media: Just as it had at BSides Las Vegas earlier in the week, the risks of artificial intelligence dominated the Black Hat USA 2025 security conference on Aug. 6 and 7. We couldn't see all the AI-related talks, but we did catch three of the most promising ones, plus an off-site panel discussion about AI presented by 1Password. The upshot: Large language models and AI agents are far too easy to successfully attack, and many of the security lessons of the past 25 years have been forgotten in the current rush to develop, use and profit from AI. We -- not just the cybersecurity industry, but any organization bringing AI into its processes -- need to understand the risks of AI and develop ways to mitigate them before we fall victim to the same sorts of vulnerabilities we faced when Bill Clinton was president. "AI agents are like a toddler. You have to follow them around and make sure they don't do dumb things," said Wendy Nather, senior research initiatives director at 1Password and a well-respected cybersecurity veteran. "We're also getting a whole new crop of people coming in and making the same dumb mistakes we made years ago." Her fellow panelist Joseph Carson, chief security evangelist and advisory CISO at Segura, had an appropriately retro analogy for the benefits of using AI. "It's like getting the mushroom in Super Mario Kart," he said. "It makes you go faster, but it doesn't make you a better driver." Many of the AI security flaws resemble early web-era SQL injection risks. "Why are all these old vulnerabilities surfacing again? Because the GenAI space is full of security bad practices," said Nathan Hamiel, senior director of research and lead prototyping engineer at Kudelski Security. "When you deploy these tools, you increase your attack surface. You're creating vulnerabilities where there weren't any." "Generative AI is over-scoped. The same AI that answers questions about Shakespeare is helping you develop code. This over-generalization leads you to an increased attack surface." He added: "Don't treat AI agents as highly sophisticated, super-intelligent systems. Treat them like drunk robots."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The researchers discovered that toothpaste made from human hair can repair damaged teeth better than fluoride-based products - and even completely halt the early stages of decay.

If you ever wanted to know what the warning lights flashing red on the economy look like: this is it. Unemployment up for the tenth month in a row.

Nicole Scherzinger has failed to help make any money for the producers of Sunset Blvd on Broadway.

Meta's Threads has surpassed 400 million monthly active users, adding 50 million in the last quarter and closing the gap with rival X in mobile daily usage. "As of a few weeks ago [there are] more than 400 million people active on Threads every month," said Instagram head Adam Mosseri. "It's been quite the ride over the last two years. This started as a zany idea to compete with Twitter, and has evolved into a meaningful platform that fosters the open exchange of perspectives. I'm grateful to all of you for making this place what it is today. There's so much work to do from our side, more to come." TechCrunch reports: X, meanwhile, has north of 600 million monthly active users, according to previous statements made by its former CEO, Linda Yaccarino. Recent data from market intelligence provider Similarweb showed that Threads is nearing X's daily app users on mobile devices. In June 2025, Threads' mobile app for iOS and Android saw 115.1 million daily active users, marking a 127.8% increase compared to the previous year. On the other hand, X reached 132 million daily active users, reflecting a 15.2% year-over-year decline. However, Similarweb found that X's worldwide daily web visits are well ahead of Threads, as the [...] social network saw 145.8 million average daily web visits worldwide in June, while Threads had just 6.9 million.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Succession actor Brian Cox has snubbed his homeland for the launch of his latest film, even though it was handed cash by the Scottish Government.

Anna Wintour is reportedly eyeing someone already within the Vogue family to take over one of the most high-profile jobs in fashion media.

Lauren Sanchez is feeling 'heartbroken' but 'proud' as she marked an emotional milestone with son Evan.

In the 20-second clip, books on Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ai Weiwei, Ellsworth Kelly and Mark Rothko are clearly visible, as well as another on the designer Ruth Asawa.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Beijing has urged local companies to avoid using Nvidia's H20 processors, particularly for government-related purposes, complicating the chipmaker's return to China after the Trump administration reversed an effective US ban on such sales. Over the past few weeks, Chinese authorities have sent notices to a range of firms discouraging use of the less-advanced semiconductors, people familiar with the matter said. The guidance was particularly strong against the use of H20s for any government or national security-related work by state enterprises or private companies, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is sensitive. The letters didn't, however, constitute an outright ban on H20 use, according to the people. Industry analysts broadly agree that Chinese companies still covet those chips, which perform quite well in certain crucial AI applications. President Donald Trump said Monday that the processor "still has a market" in the Asian country despite also calling it "obsolete." Beijing's stance could limit Trump's ability to turn his export control about-face into a windfall for government coffers, a deal that highlighted his administration's transactional approach to national security policies long treated as nonnegotiable. Still, Chinese companies may not be ready to jump ship to local semiconductors. "Chips from domestic manufacturers are improving dramatically in quality, but they might not be as versatile for specific workloads that China's domestic AI industry hopes to focus on," said Homin Lee, a senior macro strategist at Lombard Odier in Singapore. Lee added that he anticipates "strong" demand for the chips the Trump administration is allowing Nvidia and AMD to sell. Rosenblatt Securities analyst Kevin Cassidy said he doesn't anticipate that Nvidia's processor sales to China will be affected because "Chinese companies are going to want to use the best chips available." Nvidia and AMD's chips are superior to local alternatives, he said. Beijing asked companies about that issue in some of its letters, according to one of the people, posing questions such as why they buy Nvidia H20 chips over local versions, whether that's a necessary choice given domestic options, and whether they've found any security concerns in the Nvidia hardware. The notices coincide with state media reports that cast doubt on the security and reliability of H20 processors. Chinese regulators have raised those concerns directly with Nvidia, which has repeatedly denied that its chips contain such vulnerabilities. The Financial Times reported that some Chinese companies are planning to decrease orders of Nvidia chips in response to the letters. Right now, the people said, China's most stringent chip guidance is limited to sensitive applications, a situation that bears similarities to the way Beijing restricted Tesla vehicles and Apple iPhones in certain institutions and locations over security concerns. China's government also at one point barred the use of Micron Technology Inc. chips in critical infrastructure. It's possible that Beijing may extend its heavier-handed Nvidia and AMD guidance to a wider range of settings, according to one person with direct knowledge of the deliberations, who said that those conversations are in early stages.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

'If you come to this country and commit a crime, we will deport you as soon as possible,' declares Starmer, in what is meant to be a manly tone. Hmmm. Note that qualifier, 'as soon as possible'.

According to an insider, Bryan Kohberger is being driven 'crazy' by his other inmates inside the notorious Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna.

Could the most popular browser change hands?

AI search biz Perplexity has offered to pay about twice as much as it is worth to acquire Chrome from Google.…

An anonymous reader shares a report: Can deleting old emails and photos help the UK tackle ongoing drought this year? That's the hope, according to recommendations for the public included in a press release today from the National Drought Group. There are far bigger steps companies and policymakers can take to conserve water of course, but drought has gotten bad enough for officials to urge the average person to consider how their habits might help or hurt the situation. And the proliferation of data centers is raising concerns about how much water it takes to power servers and keep them cool. "Simple, everyday choices -- such as turning off a tap or deleting old emails -- also really helps the collective effort to reduce demand and help preserve the health of our rivers and wildlife," Helen Wakeham, Environment Agency Director of Water, said in the press release.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

He was found to have been under the influence of drugs

I can tell you the best places to find manta rays and whale sharks. And I can point you towards the country's best beaches, buzziest bars and the most generous food packages.

Wayne Lineker's daughter Tia has shared the first glimpse of her lavish Mallorca wedding on Instagram as she tied the knot with husband Harry Agombar on Sunday.

And yes, there’s the usual credit monitoring

Global staffing firm Manpower confirmed ransomware criminals broke into its Lansing, Michigan franchise's network and stole personal information belonging to 144,189 people, months after the extortionists claimed that they pilfered "all of [the company's] confidential data." …

Support for authoritarianism is strongest among young Reform UK voters with half preferring a leader who could make decisions quickly at the cost of some 'democratic freedoms'.

A seven-year-old boy was found sweating profusely inside a hot car in Heber, Utah on August 4. Police rescued the 'sluggish' boy and found out his mom, Eliana Suaza Argote, 34, was inside the DMV.