The security & privacy stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
Fake Claude install guides sit on the real claude.ai site and are promoted through Google ads. Following them can put spying software on a Windows PC.
Read more: Fake Claude install guides are hosted on Claude's real websiteA UK report says scams took about £3.2 billion from victims in one year, and fake celebrity romances and an ATM trick are among the methods named.
Read more: Scams in the UK reportedly cost victims £3.2bn in one yearA Ukrainian man who used Nefilim and Hive ransomware against hospitals and companies got 70 months in a US prison. Here is what his case shows.
Read more: Hacker who locked up hospitals and firms gets nearly 6 years in prisonAI is changing how people find and buy products faster than it is changing how card payments work, and that matters for shoppers and store owners.
Read more: AI is changing how people shop more than how they payThe FBI took over the website of Virtualine, a web host accused of serving scammers and hosting abuse material. Here is what it means for the threats you face online.
Read more: FBI shuts down website of hosting firm that served criminalsAnthropic says an unreleased AI model linked software flaws into working attacks on Chrome, Safari, Windows and Linux. All are patched, but updates matter.
Read more: Anthropic's unreleased AI built working hacks for Chrome, Safari and moreSymantec captured an attack tool that takes over unprotected AI systems and makes their owners pay for the work. Here is what it does and how to protect your own tools.
Read more: Hackers built an AI agent that hijacks other people's AI systemsGMO Internet Group is offering up to $1 million for tips on the hackers who hit its trading cloud service and demanded $50 million. Stored logins may be at risk.
Read more: Japanese tech firm offers $1 million to catch hackers who hit trading serviceTailscale fixed flaws in its built-in SSH feature that could let one hacked device take root control of other servers. Self-hosted headscale users are still exposed.
Read more: Tailscale fixes security holes that could give hackers full control of serversUS officials say attackers are exploiting flaws in Adobe Commerce, Magento and the Brotli tool, and hundreds of online stores have already been breached.
Read more: Hackers breach hundreds of online stores running Adobe CommerceHackers hid malware in 42 real GitHub projects. Opening one in Claude, Gemini, Cursor or VS Code could run it, putting passwords and business accounts at risk.
Read more: Hackers hide malware in 42 real code projects to hit AI tool usersA new report says 81% of Hong Kong respondents met a scam last year and 21% lost money. Most scammers reach people by phone, text and WhatsApp.
Read more: Over 80% of people in Hong Kong met a scammer last yearExperts are rethinking how to protect the digital locks behind banking and messaging, because AI is getting better at maths and security plans focused on quantum computers.
Read more: AI is getting better at maths, and that could threaten online privacyVisa has launched tools that check suppliers and cap each business card payment, and some are live now. Others are still in testing until 2027.
Read more: Visa adds new tools to stop fake invoices and bad paymentsSheriff's officials say a phone scam in Clay County, Florida cost victims nearly $70,000 in about two weeks. Callers tell people to hide cash in cereal boxes.
Read more: Phone scammers ask victims to hide cash in cereal boxesESET says its security software will now check links and code in ChatGPT replies, and a free tool will vet AI add-ons before you install them.
Read more: ESET adds tools to check AI chatbot links and add-ons for safetyScammers phoned about 1,600 people in Hong Kong using real airline and online shop details, which made fake refund and cancellation stories sound believable.
Read more: Scam callers used leaked airline and shop data to target 1,600 peoplePolice in Perak arrested 36 people across three raids on scams that used fake hospital calls, chat-app investments and loans that demanded ATM cards and PINs.
Read more: Police in Malaysia arrest 36 over fake hospital, investment and loan scamsPaytm, the Indian payments app, posted a profit of Rs 225 crore for the quarter, up from Rs 21 crore a year ago, as payments, loans and AI savings add up.
Read more: Paytm's profit jumps tenfold to about $27 million in three monthsKaspersky says Lazarus, a North Korea-linked group, used required banking security software and fake résumé sites to break into South Korean companies.
Read more: North Korean hackers hide malware in South Korea's bank security softwareA leak says Apple's next budget iPhone keeps a 60Hz screen and adds little else, which matters if you plan to buy a cheaper iPhone.
Read more: Leak suggests Apple's cheaper iPhone 18e will change littleRobo-advisers charged a median 0.25% of assets in 2024, versus about 1% for human advisers, but they fit simple needs best.
Read more: Robo-Advisers Charge Far Less Than Human Advisers, but Have LimitsVisa says the number of AI partners it works with will double soon, and trust is the hurdle before software can safely shop and pay for you.
Read more: Visa is getting ready for AI software that shops and pays for youWarp, a popular AI coding tool, says attackers got into a vendor and exposed activity logs for some users. Here is who should worry and what is still unknown.
Read more: Warp, a coding tool, says hackers got into AI activity logs
