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Iranian-linked hackers are targeting Internet-exposed Rockwell/Allen-Bradley programmable logic controllers (PLCs) on the networks of U.S. critical infrastructure organizations. [...]

Bots are now firmly in the toolbox, helping crooks scale old scams

Crims are taking advantage of AI to sharpen old scams. The FBI reported Monday that cybercrime losses hit a record $20.87 billion in 2025, with help from bots.…

Pokud vás omrzely klasické e-mailové schránky, zkuste alternativy • Zavádějí šifrování nebo třeba anonymní adresy • Ze záhrobí se ozývá ukončený Inbox od Googlu

Do českých kin po loňské premiéře na karlovarském festivalu přichází drsný vhled do války na Ukrajině. Dokumentární film 2000 metrů do Andrijivky (2000 Meters to Andriivka) kombinuje civilní pojetí s heroickým vyzněním a výsledkem je znepokojivý pohled na jednu neuspokojivě zakončenou misi.

Hackers are exploiting a maximum-severity vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-59528, in the open-source platform Flowise for building custom LLM apps and agentic systems to execute arbitrary code. [...]

200 orgs and 5,000 devices compromised so far in Vlad's latest intelligence grab, Microsoft reckons

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued a fresh warning about Russia's ongoing targeting of routers to steal passwords and other secrets.…

The Russia-linked threat actor known as APT28 (aka Forest Blizzard) has been linked to a new campaign that has compromised insecure MikroTik and TP-Link routers and modified their settings to turn them into malicious infrastructure under their control as part of a cyber espionage campaign since at least May 2025. The large-scale exploitation campaign has been codenamed Ravie Lakshmananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]

Televizory zlevňují a velké úhlopříčky už dávno nejsou luxus. Přesto má smysl připlatit si za vyšší střední a prémiovou třídu. Vybrali jsme 13 modelů, které dnes dávají smysl – od absolutní špičky až po nejlepší poměr cena/výkon.

In the rapid evolution of the 2026 threat landscape, a frustrating paradox has emerged for CISOs and security leaders: Identity programs are maturing, yet the risk is actually increasing. According to new research from the Ponemon Institute, hundreds of applications within the typical enterprise remain disconnected from centralized identity systems. These "[email protected]

The Common Unix Printing System (CUPS) still sits on millions of Linux systems, usually in the background, rarely monitored, and often trusted more than it should be. We saw a wake-up call in late 2024 when a series of vulnerabilities revealed how printer auto-discovery could be abused to enable remote code execution.

OpenAI has released a new policy paper outlining several proposals to address the economic consequences of rapid AI development. The document comes amid growing concerns that AI could quickly take over job roles and fundamentally transform entire industries.

Among the proposals is a public wealth fund, in which the government and AI companies would invest in assets linked to the AI boom, according to Business Insider. The returns would then be distributed directly to citizens.

OpenAI also called for modernizing the tax system, with a greater focus on corporate profits and capital rather than earned income. In the same vein, ideas about special taxes on automated work — sometimes called a “robot tax” — were also raised.

The company also wants governments to encourage companies to test a four-day workweek without pay cuts, where productivity gains from AI are used to the benefit of employees.

An international operation from law enforcement authorities in partnership with private companies has disrupted FrostArmada, an APT28 campaign hijacking local traffic from MikroTik and TP-Link routers to steal Microsoft account credentials. [...]

Když se NASA v úterý odpoledne pochlubila prvními snímky obletu Měsíce z palubní zrcadlovky, sociální sítě se zaplnily komentáři typu: „A fakt to není ilustrace z AI?“ Některé záběry totiž vypadají opravdu až surrealisticky a Měsíc místy spíše jako CGI. NASA je ale federální agentura, která musí ...

A high-severity security vulnerability has been disclosed in Docker Engine that could permit an attacker to bypass authorization plugins (AuthZ) under specific circumstances. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-34040 (CVSS score: 8.8), stems from an incomplete fix for CVE-2024-41110, a maximum-severity vulnerability in the same component that came to light in July 2024. "Ravie Lakshmananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]

Google na webu vids.new zpřístupnil svůj generátor videí i bezplatným účtům. Kdokoliv si může každý měsíc vytvořit až deset osmisekundových klipů v rozlišení 720p a se stereo zvukem. Novinka funguje na nejpokročilejším modelu Veo 3.1 a video vytvoří čistě podle textového zadání, případně může ...

Automated pentesting tools deliver strong early results, then quickly plateau. Picus Security explains how the "PoC cliff" leaves major attack surfaces untested and creates a dangerous validation gap. [...]

An AI system unearthed a trove of CRISPR-like proteins in minutes instead of weeks or months.

CRISPR is a breakthrough technology with humble origins. Scientists first discovered the powerful gene editor in bacteria that were using it as a weapon against invading viruses called phages. Phages can wipe out up to a quarter of a bacterial population in a day. Under assault, bacteria have evolved a hefty arsenal of defenses in a relentless arms race.

These bacterial immune systems often chop up the DNA or RNA of invading viruses and are relatively easy to manufacture, making them alluring targets for scientists developing genetic engineering tools. CRISPR is just one example. There are many more. But traditional methods of searching for them are slow and labor-intensive, leaving most CRISPR-like proteins unexplored.

Now, MIT scientists have released an AI called DefensePredictor that can root out new bacterial defense systems in five minutes, instead of weeks or months. As proof of concept, DefensePredictor churned through hundreds of thousands of proteins in multiple strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli). Over 600 proteins not previously linked to immune defense popped up. Added to a vulnerable strain of bacteria, a subset of these protected them against attack.

“E. coli harbors a much broader landscape of antiphage defense than previously realized, expanding the likely number of systems by multiple orders of magnitude,” wrote the team.

These systems might hold secrets about how immunity evolved. And because the proteins may work in different ways, they could be a goldmine for next-generation precision molecular tools.

Unrivaled Success

Around three decades ago, Japanese scientists discovered a curious, repetitive DNA sequence in E. coli. Other researchers soon realized it was widespread across bacterial species and matched viral DNA sequences—suggesting it could be part of the bacteria’s immunity against phages.

The system now known as CRISPR stores snippets of DNA from past infections and uses protein “scissors” to cut apart matching viral DNA during reinfection. Intrigued by its precision, scientists repurposed CRISPR into a variety of gene editing tools and launched a gene therapy revolution.

CRISPR is the most famous, but a range of bacterial defense systems have transformed genetic engineering. One, containing an enzyme that cuts specific sequences of foreign DNA, is widely used to add genetic material into cells. Another encodes a balance of toxins and antitoxins that can trigger bacterial death after phage infection. This one has been adapted into a kill switch to prevent engineered microbes or genetically modified crops from spreading uncontrollably.

Researchers are also exploring the use of newly discovered systems—with video game-like names like Zorya and Thoeris—as molecular sensors and programmable signaling in synthetic biology.

There are likely more undiscovered tools in the universe of bacterial defense, and scientists have ways of hunting them down. Some defense genes are grouped close to one another, so a known gene could guide the discovery of others. Researchers have also found genes by screening libraries of free-floating circular genome fragments across bacterial populations.

Over 250 systems have been painstakingly validated. But plenty more could escape current detection methods if, for example, their components are spread across the genome.

“The full repertoire of antiphage defense systems in bacteria remains unknown,” wrote the team. “We currently lack the tools to systematically identify systems with high speed, sensitivity, and specificity.”

AI Discoverer

The new DefensePredictor algorithm bridges that gap.

At its core is a protein language model called ESM-2. Proteins are made of 20 molecular “letters” that combine into strings and fold into complex 3D shapes. Similar to large language models, algorithms like ESM-2 learn the language of proteins and can predict their structure and purpose based on sequence alone.

ESM-2 and other similar algorithms have already helped scientists decipher mysterious proteins in bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms previously unknown to science. Researchers hope their unique shapes could inspire antibiotics, biofuels, or even be used to build synthetic organisms.

To build their AI, the team first established a training ground. With a previous model, DefenseFinder, they screened roughly 17,000 microbial genomes for genes related—and unrelated—to defense systems. They translated these genes into corresponding proteins and built up a database with some 15,000 antiphage proteins and 186,000 proteins unrelated to defense.

These numbers are far too staggering for a human to tackle, but the AI took the work in stride. Alongside ESM-2, the model used several algorithms to distinguish between defense and non-defense proteins. Eventually DefensePredictor learned some general characteristics that make a protein more likely to be part of the immune system. (Like other language models, it’s hard to fully understand the system’s reasoning, which the team is still trying to unpack.)

When tested on 69 strains of E. coli, DefensePredictor surfaced a treasure trove of over 600 new defense-related proteins, including more than 100 that were different than any yet discovered. Although some were encoded near one another or in circular DNA—like previous findings—nearly half weren’t. They were instead littered across the genome yet may still work together.

To test the results, the team engineered a highly vulnerable E. coli strain to express candidate defense proteins—predicted to work either alone or as part of a system—and exposed them to two dozen aggressive phages. Nearly 45 percent of the proteins offered protection against at least one phage.

Beyond E. coli, the scientists expanded their search to 1,000 more microorganisms and found thousands of potential defense proteins unlike anything seen before. “New immune mechanisms remain to be found,” wrote the team.

The race is on. Also published this week, a Pasteur Institute team combined multiple AI models to look for antiphage systems in protein sequences. Across over 32,000 bacterial genomes, the model predicted nearly 2.4 million antiphage proteins—most previously unknown. They released an atlas of AI-predicted bacterial immunity proteins for others to explore.

“The diversity of antiphage defense systems is vast and largely untapped,” they wrote.

Microorganisms harbor a colossal repertoire of biological tools we’re only just beginning to uncover at scale. More species are constantly found thriving in diverse environments, from pond scum to boiling sulfuric springs to the crushing pressure of the Mariana Trench. Every new genome scientists discover and pick apart, now with AI’s help, could be hiding the next CRISPR.    

The post MIT Mined Bacteria for the Next CRISPR—and Found Hundreds of Potential New Tools appeared first on SingularityHub.

Odborníci z AŽD otestují na Jičínsku upravenou bateriovou vlakotramvaj • Vyřazená brněnská šalina proto projde rozsáhlou přestavbou pro železnici • Tento inovativní projekt nabídne levnější alternativu ke klasickým vlakům

An active campaign has been observed targeting internet-exposed instances running ComfyUI, a popular stable diffusion platform, to enlist them into a cryptocurrency mining and proxy botnet. "A purpose-built Python scanner continuously sweeps major cloud IP ranges for vulnerable targets, automatically installing malicious nodes via ComfyUI-Manager if no exploitable node is already Ravie Lakshmananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]

Robotické vysavače dnes působí skoro chytře. Umějí si zmapovat byt, vyhnout se překážkám a vrátit se přesně do stanice. Přesto je dokážou rozhodit věci, které člověku připadají úplně banální, jako je tmavý koberec nebo velké zrcadlo. Není to tím, že by byly hloupé. Jen svět kolem sebe nevnímají ...