Tycoon phishing kit uses sneaky new techniques to hide malicious links
Phishing emails often feature malicious links (URLs) that lead victims to fake websites
where they are infected with harmful software or tricked into giving away personal
information.
There’s a constant battle between security tools getting better at identifying bad links and attackers trying to hide them more effectively. Barracuda has uncovered some of the latest approaches its researchers are seeing in attacks involving the advanced phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) kit, Tycoon.
Securing Kubernetes in the enterprise [Q&A]
As more organizations scale up containerized workloads they’re also facing increasing security and compliance challenges.
Kim McMahon part of the leadership team at Sidero Labs to discuss the vulnerabilities enterprises are encountering when scaling up Kubernetes on traditional operating systems and what they can do to counter them.
Over half of UK SMEs set to adopt AI in the next year
A new report shows that 52 percent of UK SMEs are already using or plan to adopt AI tools within the next 12 months.
The study, from fintech company SumUp, is based on a survey of 750 business owners and decision makers within small UK businesses and finds that 27 percent see AI mostly as an opportunity, highlighting its potential to drive growth or increase efficiency.
New fully open and transparent large language model launches -- it’s Swiss, of course
The Swiss have something of a reputation for being methodical -- particularly when it comes to things like banking -- so it’s no surprise that they take a similar approach to creating a large language model.
EPFL, ETH Zurich and the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) have today released Apertus, a large-scale, open, multilingual LLM. Apertus -- Latin for ‘open’ -- the name highlights its distinctive feature, that the entire development process, including its architecture, model weights, and training data and recipes, is openly accessible and fully documented.
Do Americans dream of AI?
Artificial intelligence is making its way into more and more areas of our lives and it seems that includes our dreams.
New research from Amerisleep.com, shows that one in five Americans have dreamed about AI and 16 percent are doing so several times a month. While these dreams may reflect curiosity, some reveal anxieties about the role of technology.
Why one-time security assessments are no longer sufficient [Q&A]
With cyber threats becoming more numerous and ever more sophisticated, it’s becoming more critical than ever for organizations to prioritize targeted threats, optimize their existing defensive capabilities and proactively reduce their exposure.
One-time security assessments are looking increasingly inadequate. We spoke to CyberProof CEO Tony Velleca to discuss how organizations can effectively implement a Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) strategy to improve their protection.
How much is your privacy at risk from wearable devices?
Wearable devices have brought us numerous benefits in recent years, allowing us to understand our health and fitness level better and encouraging a more active lifestyle. But are they also putting our privacy at risk?
A new report from vpnMentor takes a look into what information wearable devices are collecting. It also investigates how that data is being used, shared and, in some cases, monetized.
The passwords most likely to get you hacked
Even as we shift to other forms of authentication, passwords aren't going away anytime soon. New research from Peec AI has analyzed over 100 million leaked passwords to uncover the most common words and phrases used, which also of course are the ones most likely to get your account compromised.
There are some interesting findings. Names are still a popular choice with ‘Michael’ one of the most commonly used as a password, included in 107,678 of those analyzed. ‘Daniel’ is the second most used name, with a count of 99,399 passwords. Other popular choices include ‘Ashley’, ‘Jessica’, ‘Charlie’, ‘Jordan’ and ‘Michelle’.
Why the traditional SOC model needs to evolve [Q&A]
The security operations center (SOC) has long relied on traditional SOAR platforms to manage incidents, but today’s threat landscape is moving too fast for rigid, static approaches. As attackers use AI to evolve their tactics, security teams need smarter, more adaptive systems to keep up.
We spoke to Tom Findling, co-founder and CEO of Conifers.ai, about how AI-powered SOC platforms are helping organizations scale their defenses, improve threat detection, and move from reactive alert management to proactive risk reduction.
Concealing cyberattacks risks penalties and harms trust
Last month Bitdefender revealed that 70 percent of UK CISO have faced pressure to conceal security incidents, cyberattacks and breaches.
But compliance training specialist Skillcast is warning that this could risk regulatory penalties and erode trust. The concern is heightened by escalating threats, with 612,000 UK businesses and 61,000 UK charities reporting a cyber breach or attack in the past year, with the average cost of the most disruptive breach reaching £3,550 ($4,790) for businesses and £8,690 ($11,730) for charities.
More than half of developers think AI codes better than humans
A survey of 800 senior developers has 75 percent of respondents saying they expect AI to significantly transform the industry within the next five years. What’s more 53 percent say they believe large language models can already code better than most humans.
The survey, from Clutch, reveals that AI has already become a daily tool for many software teams. 49 percent of senior developers and team leads say they use AI tools every day. Another 29 percent use them most days, meaning 78 percent rely on AI regularly.
Proton introduces emergency access to accounts
Imagine the scenario, you’re suddenly hospitalized or incapacitated following an accident but access to important information like insurance details is locked up in your computer and online accounts which no one else can access.
For this and other emergency situations Proton is launching an Emergency Access feature so that passwords and logins, documents and files will be recoverable by trusted individuals in case of an emergency.
CISOs under pressure to keep data secure during AI rollouts without harming growth
IT leaders are optimistic about the value AI can deliver, but readiness is low. Many organizations still lack the security, governance and alignment needed to deploy AI responsibly.
A new study by the Ponemon Institute for OpenText finds 57 percent of CIOs, CISOs, and other IT leaders rate AI adoption as a top priority, and 54 percent are confident they can demonstrate ROI from AI initiatives. However, 53 percent say it is ‘very difficult’ or ‘extremely difficult’ to reduce AI security and legal risks.
Students expect tougher digital identity protection
As students head back to university and college and engage with more digital platforms than ever, new research shows today’s tech-savvy demographic is sounding the alarm on digital identity protection as AI-generated scams surge.
The 2025 Online Identity Study from Jumio shows students globally are both early adopters of generative AI, with 70 percent using AI to create or modify images, but also the group most exposed to its risks.
DDoS attacks dominate threats to critical infrastructure
New research from NETSCOUT looking at the DDoS attack landscape shows that this method has evolved into a precision-guided weapon of geopolitical influence capable of destabilizing critical infrastructure.
Based on monitoring of more than eight million DDoS attacks globally in the first half of 2025, the study shows hacktivist groups like NoName057(16) have orchestrated hundreds of coordinated strikes each month, targeting the communications, transportation, energy, and defence sectors.
Ian's Bio
Ian spent almost 20 years working with computers before he discovered that writing about them was easier than fixing them. Since then he's written for a number of computer magazines and is a former editor of PC Utilities. Follow him on Mastodon
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