The Social Security Administration (SSA) payment system has more than 60 million lines of COBOL code. That makes it one of the worlds largest, not to mention oldest, codebases. Everyone agrees it needs to be updated. But, sorry, theres no way it can be updated in mere months.Nevertheless, Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) claim they canconvert the ancient SSA code to Java or some other modern language in only a few months. Reminder DOGE isnt a real department and that modernization effort isnt likely to happen anytime soon.Seriously, Ive seen this rodeo before. For example, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has beentrying to replace the 200,000-line assembly language Individual Master File (IMF) with Java for decades. Hasnt happened. The latest plan was toreplace the IMF by 2028. I say was because President Donald J. Trump, Musk, and DOGE havecut the IRS modernization funds to zilch.As for SSA,it was going to replace COBOL with Java in 2017, a code translation expected to take five years; it failed. (Thats why were having this conversation now.) Part of the problem was due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But, as Ernst & Young noted, the agency also didnt have a real plan for modernizing its legacy IT systems, nor one to identify and track the systems.Guess what? Theres no real plan today, either. All we know is thatMusk, yes-man Steve Davis and nine kid software engineers, and some undefined AI program will miraculously transform the code into Java.I doubt any of them can even read COBOL code. This is, after all, the same crew who thought there were hordes of 150-year-old fraudsters ripping off Social Security. What they didnt realize was thatCOBOL doesnt have a standardized way of dealing with dates, which led to records for numerous century-old-plus people who were not I repeat- not getting an unfair penny of government funds.Why should they know? Over a decade ago,fewer than one in four colleges offered COBOL classes.Thinking of dates, thats not the only data in that codebase kept in formats incompatible with modern languages. Converting this data accurately is crucial and fraught with risks. Any errors during the conversion process could result in data loss or corruption, which would have catastrophic consequences for the millions of Americans who rely on Social Security benefits.Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick believes that if Social Security checks didnt go out one month, hismother-in-law wouldnt call and complain.Maybe she wouldnt after all, she has a billionaire son-in-law. I dont. I bet the vast majority of the 73 million other Americans who depend on it dont have billionaires in the family either.Even if these youngsters did grok the language, knowing COBOL is only part of the problem. You see, COBOL is more than just a coding language. It also incorporates organizational processes and policies. Thats not an approach modern developers deal with.In addition, COBOL systems were not designed to integrate seamlessly with modern technologies. A migration requires extensive customization to ensure compatibility with newer software and hardware, which is both costly and complex. This integration challenge was exacerbated by the need to maintain the systems functionality during thetransition, a delicate balancing act that demands meticulous planning and execution.Meticulous is not the word Id use for Musk and his move-fast and break-things bunch.As Waldo Jaquith, former director of technology acquisition for the Inflation Reduction Act, said on Bluesky about the scheme, Im an expert in modernizing legacy government software systems.This is profoundly stupid and will definitely fail, and its just a question of whether our social security system fails along with it.I cannot think of a single legitimate reason for DOGE to perform such a modernization, especially on such a time scale.Jason Fichtner, a former SSA deputy commissioner, told CNBC: If you startmessing with the systems code, that could impact those who are currently getting benefits now, and thats a new front-and-center concern.You cant just flip a switch one night and expect to be able to upgrade. It takes due diligence, and you have to understand the complexity of the programs, he added.In light of DOGEs employee cuts at the agency, Fichtner and Kathleen Romig, director of Social Security and Disability Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, warned in a column: IfSocial Securitys computer systems experience an outage, which has happened twice in recent years, the agency may lack the expertise to resolve it.Unless Congress acts soon to block DOGEs misguided technology plans, Social Security, which has never missed a payment in its nearly 90 years, might finally not deliver American workers hard-earned retirement checks. Yes, legacy systems should be replaced and upgraded. No ones arguing they shouldnt be. But waving a magic AI wand powered up by a political agenda isnt the way to do it.

Ubisoft Leamington has now closedA small number of staff in Leamington Spa has been retained remotely News by Samuel Roberts Editorial Director Published on April 4, 2025 Ubisoft Leamington has closed its doors, following January's news that the UK-based studio was caught in the publisher's latest round of layoffs.The news was shared on the developer's LinkedIn page. "After many incredible years, we want to share the news that Ubisoft Leamington has officially closed its doors."We are beyond grateful to our talented team, whose creativity, passion and dedication have left a lasting mark on the games weve created, the memories weve shared and the community weve built in Leamington."The post points out that some of the studio's remaining team will still be seen around local industry events in Leamington Spa. Back in January, Ubisoft confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that a "small number" of staff would be moved onto remote contracts.Around 100 jobs were lost across Ubisoft Leamington and Ubisoft Reflections in Newcastle. The reason given by Ubisoft was to "prioritise projects and reduce costs that ensure long-term stability".Formerly known as FreeStyleGames and responsible for the DJ Hero series before Ubisoft acquired it in 2017, the studio supported larger Ubisoft projects like Tom Clancy's The Division and Star Wars: Outlaws over the past few years.The studio was working on an unannounced new IP before its closure, according to old job listings and social media posts.

Inzoi reaches 1m sales in first week of early access | News-in-briefLaunched on April 4, 2025, the life simulation game achieves fastest sales milestone for title published by KraftonImage credit: Inzoi Studio/Krafton News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on April 4, 2025 This is a News-in-brief article, our short format linking to an official source for more information. Read more about this story by following the link below:Inzoi reaches 1m sales in first week of early access

Despite Nintendos official UK preorders not starting until April 8 (and April 9 in the US), major retailers including Amazon, EE, Argos, Currys (in-store), and Smyths have already gone live with preorders for the Nintendo Switch 2. Amazon UK, which had previously been accepting invite requests, has now started sending out its first wave of invitations, giving select customers the chance to secure a console ahead of launch. If youve registered your interest, now is the time to check your inbox. We've left handy links to find the console preorders below; otherwise, ensure you're also following @IGNUKDeals on Twitter/X for instant notifications for more news.Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World429.99 at AmazonNintendo Switch 2395.99 at AmazonNintendo Switch 2 Console Black Pre-Order395.99 at ArgosNintendo Switch 2 Console and Mario World Bundle Pre-Order429.99 at ArgosAmazon is still accepting preorder requests for Switch 2 and the Switch 2 Mario Kart World Bundle, and will continue to send out invitations until June 5. Unlike Nintendos own system, Amazons invites arent based on playtime, and not all requests will be approved. Any invite link sent out will also expire after 22 hours, so securing a preorder quickly is crucial. It's also worth noting with Amazon that the retailer doesn't charge until dispatch, so you won't pay a penny for your preorder until June. Moreover, some preorders are coming back with a June 7 delivery, but Amazon support has reassured concerned users that this is just an automated system error and delivery will still be for Switch 2's launch day on June 5. Some Switch 2 accessories are also already up for preorder, including the Switch 2 Pro Controller (74.99) (out of stock), and Hori's Switch 2 compatible Piranha Plant Camera (34.99). Both are available from ShopTo, even with a slight 5% off discount today using code SPRING. That brings the Pro Controller down to 71.10, and the camera to 33.10. There's also a Switch 2 screen protector that's 50% off right now.Switch 2: Accessories Available NowSwitch 2 Pro Controller (OOS) - 71.10 (was 74.99): Use Promo Code: SPRINGSwitch 2 Hori Piranha Plant Camera - 33.10 (was 34.99): Use Promo Code: SPRINGamFilm Tempered Glass Switch 2 Screen Protector x2: 3.99 (was 79.99)Lexar microSD Express 256GB: 79.99SanDisk microSD Express 128GB: 37.99Score Score 35% Off NSO Expansion Pack MembershipsGameCube games coming exclusively to the Switch 2's exclusive online library is one of the best features of the new console. To make those membership costs just that little bit easier, UK retailer ShopTo has NSO at 35% off right now, and there's an extra 5% when you use code SPRING at checkout. As you get your Nintendo Switch 2 preorders in, this is an absolute bonus bargain to consider.While some Nintendo Classics catalogues are unlocked with the base online subscription, you'll also need the Expansion Pack to play GameCube titles on Nintendo Switch 2. What's more, while you can subscribe to a monthly model for just Nintendo Switch Online, the Expansion Pack is only available on the 12-month plan, so make a note when purchasing. So, if you're the only Nintendo Switch players in your household, you can buy the individual Online + Expansion Pack plan for 24.55 or the Family Membership for 43.55 with the promo code SPRING.Nintendo Switch Online 12 Month + Expansion Pack 365 Days Membership Download (UK - EU)More Switch 2 Preorder NewsArgos had plenty of Switch 2 stock available to preorder on April 3, but is now temporarily out of stock and pausing orders. There's still a chance of the retailer being allocated more, so if you don't get your invite in through Amazon, stay tuned for more updates. Otherwise, ensure you're also following @IGNUKDeals on Twitter/X for instant notifications.As for the games, you can immediately preorder the physical version of Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza right now at Smythsalongside accessories like the Nintendo Switch 2 camera & Stealth Travel Kit case.On each product Amazon page, you'll be able to quickly register your interest before quickly getting a confirmation email. From then, you can be invited to purchase a Nintendo Switch 2 from Amazon UK anytime within the next three monthscovering you for the system's 5th of June, 2025 release date.The link to purchase that Amazon will send to you will last for 22 hours, so be sure to keep checking your emails so you don't miss out. Amazon hasn't provided an exact day and time as to when the first round of pre-orders will start, but we're assuming the first invites could be sent out as soon as Tuesday, the April 8, as that's when preorders will be open on the UK Nintendo store.PlayYou can also go to Currys in store to preorder a Nintendo Switch 2, just like you can with Smyths, though preorders for games and accessories don't seem to be available just yet. It hasn't provided any further information on when invites will be sent out either, but Currys & Smyths are both solid retailers to have as a back-up if you don't get an Argos pre-order in or an Amazon invite right away.Compared to the Nintendo Store, however, Amazon's, Currys', and Smyths conditions appear to be a lot more relaxed for sending Switch 2 preorder invites.For example, the Nintendo store will only send initial invitees to those based on conditions like being a Nintendo Switch Online player for a continuous two years before 31/3/2025, having higher playtimes with purchased/paid Nintendo Switch games (not free-to-play games like Fortnite, it seems), and opting in to share usage information with Nintendo.Nintendo Switch 2 System and Accessories GalleryOn Amazon's side, it merely seems to be a ballot system where invitees are selected at random. With Currys and Smyths, it looks like it will simply be a case of sending out an email when pre-orders are opened, followed by a queued ordering system. This was the method Currys used when taking PS5 pre-orders, and it worked without any site crashes at least.This means you could be in for a longer wait from these alternative retailers, but it's a lot less frustrating if you're certain you don't meet the strict requirements to order from Nintendo directly.On the other hand, if you weren't planning to have the funds for your Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order taken until near-dispatch in Junewhich is usually the case for retailers like AmazonArgos may not be the best option for you since we have confirmed you'll need to pay right away.Still, if you've already got the money necessary, Argos is currently the best option to secure your pre-order immediately.Nintendo Switch Online 12 Month + Expansion Pack 365 Days Membership Download (UK - EU)Nintendo Switch Online 12 Month Family Membership + Expansion Pack 365 Days Download (UK - EU)While you're keeping an eye out for pre-orders on the console, you can already get a deal on the online membership & GameCube games. Over at ShopTo, you can get up to 35% off a Nintendo Switch Online membership & Expansion Pass for one year.That means, on Nintendo Switch 2, you'll be able to play online and play GameCube classics like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker & Pokmon Colosseum for only 25.85.Ben Williams IGN freelance contributor with over 10 years of experience covering gaming, tech, film, TV, and anime. Follow him on Twitter/X @BenLevelTen.

With Mario Kart World cruising its way onto store shelves at $80, Nintendo fans who were otherwise stoked about the promise of the Nintendo Switch 2 have spent the last 24 hours balking at the prospect of doling out that many coins, even for a game they feel is a must-have.We wrote earlier today about why Mario Kart World, as well as the Nintendo Switch 2 itself and many of its accessories, are so dang expensive. But knowing the why of it doesnt really ease the pain on the wallet. Whats more, we learned just this morning that a number of Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games, including The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, will also be $80. And with the AAA game price increase from $60 to $70 still firmly within recent memory, fans are now worried that more and more games, Nintendo or otherwise, are going to start getting more and more and more expensive.So what does the future hold? Are $80 games the new Nintendo normal?As usual, rather than speculate ourselves, we went and found some expert analysts to tell us what they think is going to happen.PlayA New Nintendo NormalNYU Stern professor and author of SuperJoost Playlist, Joost van Dreunen, believes Nintendo is using Mario Kart World as a test case for premium pricing, and will evaluate consumer response before applying this more broadly. Spoilers: the response hasnt been great so far! But sentiment is not the same as sales, and Nintendo will likely measure success by how well Mario Kart World actually sells.If the $80 price point succeeds, Nintendo will likely extend it selectively to their most valuable franchises rather than making it standard across their first-party lineup. Franchises that could potentially justify the premium pricing include:The Legend of Zelda - the next mainline entry following Tears of the Kingdom could command $80 given the series' prestige and the expansive scope these games typically offer.New 3D Mario adventures - for major releases in the vein of Super Mario Odyssey, Nintendo could position these as premium products.Super Smash Bros. - the next installment of this franchise would be a strong candidate for premium pricing due to its extensive roster and competitive staying power.Games that likely wouldn't justify the premium price include smaller-scale entries, remasters, and series with more niche appeal. Nintendo will probably maintain a tiered pricing strategy, with their tent-pole franchises at $80, mid-tier releases at $60-70, and smaller titles at traditional price points.Nintendo Switch 2 Game BoxesRhys Elliott, games analyst at Alinea Analytics, had a similar take, pointing to the top 10 best-selling Nintendo Switch games as a guide for what we might see get an $80 price tag in the future. I could see Nintendo pricing mainline Pokmon games, mainline Zelda games, and the inevitably imminent 3D Mario and Animal Crossing games at $80 physical (but $70 digital still).And James McWhirter, analyst at Omdia, added a suggested hypothetical Splatoon 4 to the list of possibilities, along with another thought on future monetization:For titles that do not adopt the $80 base price, Nintendo could lean in more heavily in alternative forms of monetisation, including those it has so far refrained from using, such as tying paid early access to higher value editions of its games.Grand Theft, Grand Price?That covers Nintendo, but what about other games? Earlier this year, we covered a flurry of speculation on one specifically: Grand Theft Auto 6. At the time, we were responding to rumors and discussion that Take-Two might price the sequel to the over 200 million selling blockbuster at $80, $90, or even $100. Analysts suggested that the high end of this was rather unlikely, but what about now? Will Grand Theft Auto 6 cost $80... or even more?Tiago Reis, market analyst at Newzoo, certainly thinks so. For sure. Big hits that are highly anticipated (e.g., GTA 6, new CODs) can get away with it due to franchise recognition. Most people are not going to stop buying these games because they are $10 more expensive. If consumers are willing to wait, they can get it at a discount a couple of months after release. But by then, these companies have already extracted max value/price from the people who are less price sensitive.Reis colleague Lauren Universe, client services manager at Newzoo, added: Frankly, I expect base GTA to be at least $80, with multiple options of various increased prices (like Civ 7) that include expansions, DLCs, and early access.PlayDr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games, agreed, and even expanded on who might be interested in raising prices beyond just Take-Two. I do believe there is a chance that companies like Microsoft or Sony could feel encouraged to raise their prices now. Would you be shocked if Take-Two now thought to themselves: If Nintendo can charge $80 for a Mario Kart game, we can do the same for GTA 6 - a title thousands of people have been working on for 12 years?Nuno Domingues Marques, also a market analyst at Newzoo, similarly brought up Sony and Microsoft as possible candidates for price hikes. I am unsure if Sony/Xbox will wait for their next generation to make the push or if they will adjust post-Switch launch, but certainly, it seems like the way forward. Third-party publishers will jump on it as soon as they feel it is justified, which is likely ASAP. Not all exclusive games will cost $80, in my opinion though. Games like Ratchet & Clank or other smaller niche experiences are likely to keep lower price points.But Elliott pushed back a bit on the idea that Mario Kart World could have opened a higher pricing floodgate. He pointed out that at least in the UK and Europe (U.S. price discrepancies are still unconfirmed), Nintendo is charging more for the physical edition of Mario Kart World than digital in an effort to push more consumers toward the digital edition. But he suspects that because the other two console platforms are far more digitally-oriented than Nintendo (something he discussed in more detail in our other piece on the Switch 2 pricing), this would be a tougher sell for other publishers.While I believe Take Two could charge over $70 for GTA 6, I maintain that it is a bad idea.While I believe Take Two could charge over $70 for GTA 6, I maintain that it is a bad idea for three reasons. [One,] the real cash cow is GTA Online and its recurring revenues, so limiting the total addressable audience at launch wouldn't be smart. Theres also a cost-of-living crisis happening globally and GTA appeals to everyone rich and less fortunate."[Two,] Rockstar needs to move players from GTA 5, and a higher floor for the switching cost would limit the GTA 5-to-GTA 6 player acquisition. Players not budging from GTA 5 is probably one of GTA 6's biggest threats, one GTA hasn't really faced before. After all, live services are mostly zero-sum in today's oversaturated attention economy. GTA 6 isn't just competing against competitors' games, it's competing with TikTok, Netflix, and even its predecessor."[Three,] Rockstar can easily charge $100 or more for an edition of GTA 6 with a week of early access, maybe with a shark card thrown in. Players with disposable income will pay for it. This is the best of both worlds for Take-Two. This is pretty much the norm for AAA games these days.Elliott concluded that even with all that in mind, GTA 6 nonetheless stands a better chance than any other game at withstanding a price hike with its consumer base intact. So ultimately, the question of GTA 6s pricing remains an impossible one to answer up to the point where Take-Two finally announces it.Living in Interesting TimesIll end on a hopeful note, though, which I got from both Mat Piscatella, analyst at Circana, and a couple of analysts at Newzoo. These folks told me that while were likely to keep seeing games get more expensive (and, as Piscatella points out, have already been for a while via Collectors Editions and similar), we may also see them get cheaper in certain ways. Other Nintendo games will certainly follow suit, said Brett Hunt, market analyst at Newzoo. It could, however, open the door for Nintendo to have an adjusted discounting strategy for the Switch 2.Marques agreed. Maybe we will see a bigger window of pricing as well, as seen from the Donkey Kong game. Creation of space for multiple different-sized games; games that cost $49.99, $59.99, etc., having distinct content depth and breadth expectations. I agree that maybe a new discounting strategy is coming from Nintendo.And as Piscatella put it, Nintendo may not be the only company that sees the need to break with $70 convention in more than just one way. We certainly could see other publishers try and establish even higher base prices for some of their new games. But we could also see more significant price promotion and discounting as well."With all of the uncertainty in the market, we're at a point where both publishers and consumers will have to figure out where things go next. These are, after all, interesting times."Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Apr 04, 2025Ravie LakshmananThreat Intelligence / MalwareA novice cybercrime actor has been observed leveraging the services of a Russian bulletproof hosting (BPH) provider called Proton66 to facilitate their operations.The findings come from DomainTools, which detected the activity after it discovered a phony website named cybersecureprotect[.]com hosted on Proton66 that masqueraded as an antivirus service.The threat intelligence firm said it identified an operational security (OPSEC) failure in the domain that left its malicious infrastructure exposed, thereby revealing the malicious payloads staged on the server. "This revelation led us down a rabbit hole into the operations of an emerging threat actor known as Coquettte an amateur cybercriminal leveraging Proton66's bulletproof hosting to distribute malware and engage in other illicit activities," it said in a report shared with The Hacker News.Proton66, also linked to another BPH service known as PROSPERO, has been attributed to several campaigns distributing desktop and Android malware like GootLoader, Matanbuchus, SpyNote, Coper (aka Octo), and SocGholish. Phishing pages hosted on the service have been propagated via SMS messages to trick users into entering their banking credentials and credit card information.Coquettte is one such threat actor leveraging the benefits offered by the Proton66 ecosystem to distribute malware under the guise of legitimate antivirus tools.This takes the form of a ZIP archive ("CyberSecure Pro.zip") that contains a Windows installer that then downloads a second-stage malware from a remote server responsible for delivering secondary payloads from a command-and-control (C2) server ("cia[.]tf").The second-stage is a loader classified as Rugmi (aka Penguish), which has been used in the past to deploy information stealers like Lumma, Vidar, and Raccoon.Further analysis of Coquettte's digital footprints uncovered a personal website on which they claim to be a "19 year old software engineer, pursuing a degree in Software Development."What's more, the cia[.]tf domain has been registered with the email address "root@coquettte[.]com," confirming that the threat actor controlled the C2 server and operated the fake cybersecurity site as a malware distribution hub."This suggests that Coquettte is a young individual, possibly a student, which aligns with the amateurish mistakes (like the open directory) in their cybercrime endeavors," DomainTools said.The threat actor's ventures are not limited to malware, for they have also been running other websites that sell guides for manufacturing illegal substances and weapons. Coquettte is believed to be loosely tied to a broader hacking group that goes by the name Horrid."The pattern of overlapping infrastructure suggests that the individuals behind these sites may refer to themselves as 'Horrid,' with Coquettte being an alias of one of the members rather than a lone actor," the company said."The group's affiliation with multiple domains tied to cybercrime and illicit content suggests that it functions as an incubator for inspiring or amateur cybercriminals, providing resources and infrastructure to those looking to establish themselves in underground hacking circles."Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

Agents are the talk of the AI industrytheyre capable of planning, reasoning, and executing complex tasks like scheduling meetings, ordering groceries, or even taking over your computer to change settings on your behalf. But the same sophisticated abilities that make agents helpful assistants could also make them powerful tools for conducting cyberattacks. They could readily be used to identify vulnerable targets, hijack their systems, and steal valuable data from unsuspecting victims. At present, cybercriminals are not deploying AI agents to hack at scale. But researchers have demonstrated that agents are capable of executing complex attacks (Anthropic, for example, observed its Claude LLM successfully replicating an attack designed to steal sensitive information), and cybersecurity experts warn that we should expect to start seeing these types of attacks spilling over into the real world. I think ultimately were going to live in a world where the majority of cyberattacks are carried out by agents, says Mark Stockley, a security expert at the cybersecurity company Malwarebytes. Its really only a question of how quickly we get there. While we have a good sense of the kinds of threats AI agents could present to cybersecurity, whats less clear is how to detect them in the real world. The AI research organization Palisade Research has built a system called LLM Agent Honeypot in the hopes of doing exactly this. It has set up vulnerable servers that masquerade as sites for valuable government and military information to attract and try to catch AI agents attempting to hack in. The team behind it hopes that by tracking these attempts in the real world, the project will act as an early warning system and help experts develop effective defenses against AI threat actors by the time they become a serious issue.Our intention was to try and ground the theoretical concerns people have, says Dmitrii Volkov, research lead at Palisade. Were looking out for a sharp uptick, and when that happens, well know that the security landscape has changed. In the next few years, I expect to see autonomous hacking agents being told: This is your target. Go and hack it. AI agents represent an attractive prospect to cybercriminals. Theyre much cheaper than hiring the services of professional hackers and could orchestrate attacks more quickly and at a far larger scale than humans could. While cybersecurity experts believe that ransomware attacksthe most lucrative kindare relatively rare because they require considerable human expertise, those attacks could be outsourced to agents in the future, says Stockley. If you can delegate the work of target selection to an agent, then suddenly you can scale ransomware in a way that just isnt possible at the moment, he says. If I can reproduce it once, then its just a matter of money for me to reproduce it 100 times. Agents are also significantly smarter than the kinds of bots that are typically used to hack into systems. Bots are simple automated programs that run through scripts, so they struggle to adapt to unexpected scenarios. Agents, on the other hand, are able not only to adapt the way they engage with a hacking target but also to avoid detectionboth of which are beyond the capabilities of limited, scripted programs, says Volkov. They can look at a target and guess the best ways to penetrate it, he says. That kind of thing is out of reach of, like, dumb scripted bots. Since LLM Agent Honeypot went live in October of last year, it has logged more than 11 million attempts to access itthe vast majority of which were from curious humans and bots. But among these, the researchers have detected eight potential AI agents, two of which they have confirmed are agents that appear to originate from Hong Kong and Singapore, respectively. We would guess that these confirmed agents were experiments directly launched by humans with the agenda of something like Go out into the internet and try and hack something interesting for me, says Volkov. The team plans to expand its honeypot into social media platforms, websites, and databases to attract and capture a broader range of attackers, including spam bots and phishing agents, to analyze future threats. To determine which visitors to the vulnerable servers were LLM-powered agents, the researchers embedded prompt-injection techniques into the honeypot. These attacks are designed to change the behavior of AI agents by issuing them new instructions and asking questions that require humanlike intelligence. This approach wouldnt work on standard bots. For example, one of the injected prompts asked the visitor to return the command cat8193 to gain access. If the visitor correctly complied with the instruction, the researchers checked how long it took to do so, assuming that LLMs are able to respond in much less time than it takes a human to read the request and type out an answertypically in under 1.5 seconds. While the two confirmed AI agents passed both tests, the six others only entered the command but didnt meet the response time that would identify them as AI agents. Experts are still unsure when agent-orchestrated attacks will become more widespread. Stockley, whose company Malwarebytes named agentic AI as a notable new cybersecurity threat in its 2025 State of Malware report, thinks we could be living in a world of agentic attackers as soon as this year. And although regular agentic AI is still at a very early stageand criminal or malicious use of agentic AI even more soits even more of a Wild West than the LLM field was two years ago, says Vincenzo Ciancaglini, a senior threat researcher at the security company Trend Micro. Palisade Researchs approach is brilliant: basically hacking the AI agents that try to hack you first, he says. While in this case were witnessing AI agents trying to do reconnaissance, were not sure when agents will be able to carry out a full attack chain autonomously. Thats what were trying to keep an eye on. And while its possible that malicious agents will be used for intelligence gathering before graduating to simple attacks and eventually complex attacks as the agentic systems themselves become more complex and reliable, its equally possible there will be an unexpected overnight explosion in criminal usage, he says: Thats the weird thing about AI development right now. Those trying to defend against agentic cyberattacks should keep in mind that AI is currently more of an accelerant to existing attack techniques than something that fundamentally changes the nature of attacks, says Chris Betz, chief information security officer at Amazon Web Services. Certain attacks may be simpler to conduct and therefore more numerous; however, the foundation of how to detect and respond to these events remains the same, he says. Agents could also be deployed to detect vulnerabilities and protect against intruders, says Edoardo Debenedetti, a PhD student at ETH Zrich in Switzerland, pointing out that if a friendly agent cannot find any vulnerabilities in a system, its unlikely that a similarly capable agent used by a malicious party is going to be able to find any either. While we know that AIs potential to autonomously conduct cyberattacks is a growing risk and that AI agents are already scanning the internet, one useful next step is to evaluate how good agents are at finding and exploiting these real-world vulnerabilities. Daniel Kang, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and his team have built a benchmark to evaluate this; they have found that current AI agents successfully exploited up to 13% of vulnerabilities for which they had no prior knowledge. Providing the agents with a brief description of the vulnerability pushed the success rate up to 25%, demonstrating how AI systems are able to identify and exploit weaknesses even without training. Basic bots would presumably do much worse. The benchmark provides a standardized way to assess these risks, and Kang hopes it can guide the development of safer AI systems. Im hoping that people start to be more proactive about the potential risks of AI and cybersecurity before it has a ChatGPT moment, he says. Im afraid people wont realize this until it punches them in the face.

Islington Councils planning committee refused the scheme, which is backed by Seven Capital, late last month (24 March). The application featured 178 homes designed by GRID and 242 student beds designed by McLaughlin, of which 60 are earmarked for social rent.London Mayor Sadiq Khan will now take a decision on the proposals, City Hall announced this week (31 March), removing the final decision from Islington. A public hearing on the development will now be held.Planning officers at Islington had laid out 14 reasons for refusal of the heavily opposed scheme, which includes a GRID-designed revamp of the locally listed former 19th-century infirmary building on site.AdvertisementFormer Stirling Prize-winner Nall McLaughlin Architects is designing the controversial 82m-tall tower and lower-rise blocks providing affordable homes.In their report, planning officers said that McLaughlins proposed buildings would cause harm to the surrounding conversation area and heritage assets due to the height of the planned tower, as well as the footprint and location of new buildings on the site.The same officers added that the Archway Campus site was not designated for a tall building and that the scheme fails to provide 50 per cent on-site affordable housing without public subsidy or other options. Officers also cited insufficent information on biodiversity net gain or evidence the scheme would meet the highest standards for fire safety. Source:Niall McLaughlinNall McLaughlin and GRID's Archway Campus scheme (October 2024)Around 450 letters of objection were received before Islington rejected the scheme last month. Local Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn had also weighed in on the opposition to the development last year, citing concerns over the scale of the tower and what he said was a lack of provision of homes for social rent.Nall McLaughlin Architects said in planning documents that the tower needed to be around 30 storeys if it is to acquire elegant proportions and sufficiently differentiate itself from its surroundings, which are up to 18 storeys tall.AdvertisementThe team had previously likened the skyscraper to Richard Seiferts Centre Point tower, describing it as a singular object that stands out from its surroundings [which] needs to be significantly higher than nearby buildings to achieve this character.The submitted scheme is eight storeys shorter than proposals for the site put to consultation last year for a 35-storey student accommodation skyscraper.Seven Capital snapped up the site from Peabody in 2021 after plans drawn up by Haworth Tompkins for 400 homes were not progressed.The AJ understands that Historic England is currently assessing the former infirmary for listing.A timeline for the mayors decision is unknown.Seven Capital declined to comment.Site View:

The Danish practice has been chosen to create a new 23,000m natural history museum within the centuries-old Great Forest to the north of Hungarys second-largest city, Debrecen.The second prize was awarded to 3XN and third prize to Hungarian practice Kzplettervez Zrtkren Mkd Rszvnytrsasg.Other teams participating in the competition included Londons Zaha Hadid Architects, Dutch firm Mecanoo, Berlins Sauerbruch Hutton with Gustafson Porter + Bowman, and rising star Lina Ghotmeh Architecture, which recently won the British Museums major upgrade contest.AdvertisementBIGs winning concept (pictured below) proposed three overlapping landscaped ribbons that gently rise from the forest floor to form a new public and scientific destination. The partially sunken structure will feature a charred timber faade.Winner: BIGBjarke Ingels, founder and creative director of BIG said: Natural history is a subject dear to me so dear that I named my eldest son Darwin. To that end, it is a great honour to have been entrusted with the authorship of the Hungarian Natural History Museum in the Great Forest of Debrecen. Our design is conceived as an intersection of paths and lineages.Intersecting ribbons of landscape overlap to produce a series of niches and habitats, halls and galleries, blending the inside and the outside, the intimate and the mastodontic in seamless continuity. The result is a man-made hill in a forest clearing; geometrically clear yet softly organic an appropriate home for the wonders of the natural world.The new museum will replace an existing institution in Budapest and is part of a wider initiative by the Hungarian government to transform Debrecen into a new regional hub for education and culture by 2030.Once complete, the new museum will house permanent and temporary exhibition halls, educational and research facilities, public amenities and back-of-house spaces.AdvertisementThe competition featured a 330,000 prize fund. The appointment comes three years after Grimshaw won an international competition to overhaul and expand Budapests main Nyugati station.

TikTok and Lemon8 are owned by the same parent company, but they offer different experiences.