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Security researchers have identified a critical flaw in Fortinet firewalls that hackers have been actively exploiting to infiltrate corporate and enterprise networks. Fortinet confirmed the issue, tracked as CVE-2024-55591, in an advisory released on Tuesday. This vulnerability, rated as critical, has reportedly been exploited as a zero-day vulnerability—meaning hackers leveraged it before Fortinet was even aware or able to issue a fix. The exploitation has been ongoing since December, according to experts. Fortinet has since released patches to address the flaw, but the damage may already be significant. This development follows closely on the heels of another reported zero-day vulnerability…

Bluesky, the social media platform positioned as a competitor to X, has seen a noticeable decline in its growth rate in December after a rapid surge in user numbers. Between September and November, the platform’s user base grew significantly from over 9 million to more than 20 million users. However, recent data from Similarweb, which analyzes web traffic and app usage, indicates that growth slowed to less than 10% in December, compared to a 189% increase in November. The number of daily active users of the Bluesky app in the U.S. also grew at a much slower pace in December,…

Google is assembling a new team to create advanced AI models capable of simulating the physical world, a step aimed at revolutionizing interactive media and real-time simulations. Tim Brooks, previously co-lead of OpenAI’s Sora video generator and now with Google DeepMind, shared the announcement on X (formerly Twitter). Brooks, who joined DeepMind in October, will lead this initiative under the umbrella of Google’s AI research division. “DeepMind has bold plans to develop generative models that replicate the real world,” Brooks wrote on Monday. “I’m building a team dedicated to this mission.” The new team will collaborate with Google’s existing AI…

The state of Washington has filed a lawsuit against T-Mobile, accusing the telecommunications giant of failing to protect the personal data of millions of residents before a significant data breach in August 2021. This cyberattack compromised the sensitive information of over 79 million customers across the U.S. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced the legal action, stating that T-Mobile had long been aware of vulnerabilities in its cybersecurity systems but did not take sufficient action to address them. The lawsuit seeks financial penalties under Washington’s consumer protection laws and aims to mandate stronger cybersecurity measures at T-Mobile. The 2021 breach…

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman disclosed on Sunday that the company is incurring significant losses on its $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro subscription, as user demand has exceeded their expectations. In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Altman explained, “I personally decided on the price and assumed it would generate some profit.” ChatGPT Pro, introduced late last year, offers users access to an enhanced version of OpenAI’s o1 reasoning model, known as o1 pro mode. The plan also removes rate limits on other tools, including the Sora video generator, making it an appealing option for heavy users. However, the pricing of…

The U.S. government has imposed sanctions on a cybersecurity company based in Beijing, accusing it of involvement with the Chinese state-backed hacking group known as Flax Typhoon. On Friday, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against the Integrity Technology Group for its alleged role in “numerous computer intrusion incidents targeting U.S. entities,” including critical infrastructure. The move comes months after the U.S. accused Integrity Technology, also referred to as Yongxin Zhicheng, of operating a botnet linked to Flax Typhoon. This botnet, dismantled by the FBI in September during a court-authorized operation, reportedly consisted of over…

Several widely used VPN applications, including Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1, have been removed from India’s Apple App Store and Google Play Store at the direction of government authorities. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs reportedly issued takedown orders for these apps, as per documents reviewed and a disclosure from Google to Lumen, Harvard University’s database that monitors government-led content removal requests worldwide. Among the affected VPNs are Hide.me and PrivadoVPN. Apple, in a communication to one of the developers, referenced a directive from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, a division of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The notice claimed that the…

India has lifted restrictions on WhatsApp’s payment service, marking a major win for Meta as it strives to establish itself in the country’s competitive fintech space. With over 500 million users in India, WhatsApp now has the green light to expand its payment offerings to all users. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the governing body for the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), announced the decision on Tuesday. This move eliminates the previous limit of 100 million users for WhatsApp Pay, signaling a shift in the regulatory stance toward the service’s broader adoption. Since its initial rollout in 2020, WhatsApp…

The U.S. Treasury Department disclosed to lawmakers that it suffered a significant cyberattack earlier in December, which has been attributed to hackers linked to the Chinese government. In a letter addressed to senior U.S. House lawmakers, the Treasury revealed that attackers remotely accessed employee workstations and unclassified documents, describing the incident as a “major cybersecurity breach.” The attack came to light on December 8 when BeyondTrust, a provider of identity access and remote support tools for organizations and government agencies, alerted the Treasury to the compromise. The attackers reportedly obtained a key used by BeyondTrust for remote technical support, though…

Encode, a nonprofit organization that previously backed California’s SB 1047 AI safety legislation, has requested court approval to file an amicus brief supporting Elon Musk’s effort to stop OpenAI from transitioning to a for-profit entity. In a brief submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Encode argued that OpenAI’s planned restructuring would undermine its original mission of creating transformative technology that benefits the public. The brief highlighted concerns over the potential shift in priorities, emphasizing that such advanced AI development should remain guided by safety and public welfare rather than profit motives. Encode’s founder and…