Looking forthe most recentMini Crossword answer?Click here for today's Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.If you know your skirt lengths, you'll do OK on the NYT Mini Crosswordtoday. Helps to know a French painter, an NBA team and a famous Christmas movie too. Need some more help with today's Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times' games collection. If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visitCNET's NYT puzzle hints page.Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini CrosswordLet's get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers. The completed NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for Feb. 5, 2025. NYT/Screenshot by CNETMini across clues and answers1A clue: Facebook's parent companyAnswer: META5A clue: Full-length skirts ... and a morning hour read backwardAnswer: MAXIS6A clue: Written with penAnswer: ININK7A clue: N.B.A. team that nearly renamed itself the Swamp Dragons in the 1990sAnswer: NETS8A clue: "___ a Wonderful Life"Answer: ITSMini down clues and answers1D clue: French modernist painter and a morning hour read backwardAnswer: MANET2D clue: What lighted signs mark in theatersAnswer: EXITS3D clue: Altoids containersAnswer: TINS4D clue: Pose a questionAnswer: ASK5D clue: Short skirtAnswer: MINIHow to play more Mini CrosswordsThe New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day's Mini Crossword for free, but you'll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Learning about your genetics and ancestry is easier than ever. All you need to do is choose from the many DNA ancestry tests available online, receive your kit and send back the required DNA samples. The last step is a short wait for your results to arrive digitally. A DNA test allows you to learn more about your heritage, health, genetic conditions, family history and potential genetic matches that may connect you with long-lost relatives.We tested popular DNA testing services, paying close attention to their prices, reputations, privacy policies, methodologies and the information the results offer. Here are the best DNA tests you can try from the comfort of your own home. Watch this: Here's how genetic genealogist CeCe Moore finds potential criminal suspects 07:39 Editor's note: Since this article was published, 23andMe has experienced a data breach, subsequent lawsuit, board members resigning and layoffs amidst financial struggles, but you can delete your account and data. You can also read more about the brand's current privacy and security policy here. Our Picks Best DNA test for historical research AncestryDNA View details $99 at Ancestry View details Best DNA test for intermediate users FamilyTreeDNA View details $79 at FamilyTreeDNA View details Best DNA test for beginners 23andMe View details $199 at 23andMe View details Table of Contents What is the best DNA test overall?Since DNA testing is personal to everyone, the best test overall will depend on your preferences and reason for wanting a DNA test. We evaluated the following tests based on price, offerings, methodologies and more, but it's important to do your due diligence to research a company's current policies to make sure they align with your needs.Read more: Ancestry vs. 23andMe: Which DNA Testing Kit is Best for Tracing Your Family History? Best DNA tests of 2025 Photo Gallery 1/1 $99 at Ancestry $99 at Amazon Pros Access to genetic counseling resources Next-generation sequencing service for screening for heart disease, some cancers and blood disorders You can download your full DNA results profile You can upload the raw data into other tools Partnership with FamilySearch.org, a genealogical records site run by the Mormon church Cons Privacy information not as granular as others The results aren't diagnostic Not FDA approved $99 at Ancestry $99 at Amazon AncestryDNA's service is particularly well suited for leveraging an introductory DNA analysis into deep historical research to build out a family tree. The basic DNA kit serviceprovides you with an "ethnicity estimate" derived from its proprietary sequencing techniques. It's noteworthy that the company's genetic testing, which is outsourced to Quest Diagnostics, is distinct from that of most other companies, which use paternal Y chromosome and/or maternal mitochondrial DNA methodologies, and less is known about the particular criteria it uses.AncestryDNA says its database contains more than 18 million profiles, making it the largest of all the DNA test kit services. The company also maintains a powerful tool for searching through hundreds of historical document databases, but any substantive research will quickly bring you to a paywall.An entry-level membership provides access to more than 6 billion records in the US and includes a free two-week trial. The World Explorer membership broadens your access to the company's 27 billion international records. The All Access tier includes unlimited access to Ancestry's historical and contemporary database of more than 15,000 newspapers and military records from around the world. $79 at FamilyTreeDNA FamilyTreeDNA offers all three types of DNA tests: autosomal DNA, Y-DNA and mtDNA. It's the sole company to own and operate its own testing facility, The Houston-based Gene-by-Gene genetic lab.The user interface is a bit more complicated than what you'll find on other sites, but FamilyTreeDNA provides the most complete suite of introductory tools of any provider we tested. For each type of test, you're presented with matches, a chromosome browser, migration maps, haplogroups and connections to ancestral reference populations, information about mutations and a link that lets you download your raw data.The company's entry-level Family Finder package costs $79. The test results provide information about your ethnic and geographic origins, identify potential relatives and offer access to the company's massive DNA database. There is also a Maternal Ancestry test for $159, Paternal Ancestry for $199 and a Paternal Ancestry in Great Detail package for $449.

Image: NintendoNintendo has released its first update for the battle royale Switch Online racer F-Zero 99. This bumps the game up to Version 1.5.6 and comes with a whole host of fixes and improvements. Here's the full rundown, courtesy of Nintendo's support page:Latest update: Ver. 1.5.6 (Released February 4, 2025)Fixed shortcuts that utilized a bugFixed the following issues for MUTE CITY II, WHITE LAND II, MIRROR WHITE LAND II, MIRROR MUTE CITY III, and DEATH WIND + WHITE LAND Secret Track.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube795kWatch on YouTube Fixed an issue where a player was considered to have finished the race if their machine went off course on the final lap and crashed out near the finish line.Fixed an issue that allowed a player to skip a lap if they went off course near the finish line and used Super Boost just before landing on the ground off course.Fixed an issue where Pilot Cards were not correctly showing number of winsFixed an issue where the number of wins displayed on the Pilot Card before the race started was actually lower than the "99+" number that should have been displayed.This was a display issue only. Actual number of wins was being saved correctly.Fixed an issue where the FIRE STINGRAY machine disappearsFixed an issue where the FIRE STINGRAY machine disappears when you set both the decal obtainable with Finish the Mirror Queen League and the machine color obtainable with Race in 10 F-ZERO 99 races with any machine and press the L Button during the race.Fixed an issue where weekend events continue past their durationFixed an issue that caused weekend events to continue past their duration if the software was not closed.Other IssuesFixed issues to make for a more pleasant gaming experience.This latest update follows on from an update in December last year, which added the Frozen Tour event and more: Return to the track in the 'Frozen Tour'Will you be checking out this latest update? Let us know in the comments.[source en-americas-support.nintendo.com]Related GamesSee AlsoShare:00 Liam is a news writer and reviewer for Nintendo Life and Pure Xbox. He's been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of Mario and Master Chief. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesEx-PlayStation Boss On Switch 2's Name: Nintendo Created So Much "Brand Value""Why would you mess with that?"Nintendo Reconfirms Release Windows For Major Upcoming Switch Games... and the Switch 2!Rumour: Switch 2 Game Cases Might Take Up More Space On Your ShelfHere's how they could compare to the current Switch casesJapan's Switch eShop Will Soon No Longer Accept Overseas Payment MethodsChange will come into effect in March

Hitachi Ventures secured $400 million for a fourth fund, the firm exclusively told TechCrunch.The size of the new fund is a vote of confidence in a range of deep tech verticals. The corporate VCs sprawling portfolio mimics that of its limited partners, including energy, manufacturing, biotech, and AI.We are open to other breakthrough opportunities, said managing director and CEO Stefan Gabriel. Theres a lot around quantum, nuclear, life science, space tech. Not too broad we have a clear view on what excites us in these areas.Hitachi Ventures will continue to focus on Series A investments. That is still the sweet spot, said partner Gayathri Radhakrishnan. Its first investments in a company will average around $5 million, and the fund is reserving around 55% of its capital for follow-on opportunities, partner and CFO Wolfgang Seibold said.Though it takes its name from the Japanese conglomerate, Munich-based Hitachi Ventures is a bit of an outlier in the corporate VC world. Its structured more like a typical venture fund, Gabriel said, with Hitachi serving as the solo LP. The investment committee is made up of the firms partners, and they do not have to run possible investments past its corporate affiliate, said Pete Bastien, partner and president of the firms U.S. operations.But the fund still works closely with Hitachi, he added, in part to help portfolio companies understand what a potential future customer is looking for. Like other CVCs, Hitachi Ventures doesnt promise that it can land deals for portfolio companies, but it can make key introductions.We can put you in front of Hitachi, but your product needs to sell itself, Radhakrishnan said.And like other CVCs, Hitachi Ventures serves as a scout, Radhakrishnan said, scouring through pitches to find smaller companies and technologies that fits its corporate partners businesses.Hitachi Ventures previous investments span a range of verticals. On the energy side, it has invested in battery recycler Ascend Elements, fusion startup Thea Energy, and Wase, a wastewater-to-energy company. Its AI investments have tended toward workplace applications, including Ema, which focuses on enterprise workflows; Strikeready, which covers cybersecurity; and Makersite, which uses AI to improve supply chains.

Customers wait for orders at Guming (Good Me) milk tea store in Fuzhou, Fujian Province.Chen Xiaoke/VCG via Getty ImagesWang Yunan, the 38-year-old founder of Chinese bubble tea maker Guming Holdings, is on the cusp of becoming a billionaire as his company prepares for an initial public offering in Hong Kong that may value the firm above HK$20 billion ($2.6 billion). But analysts warn that Guming may struggle to sustain growth amid intense competition.Wang, who is the companys chairman and CEO, now has a net worth of $964 million mostly based on a stake in the Taizhou, Zhejiang-headquartered Guming, according to Forbes estimates. The company intends to raise up to HK$1.6 billion by selling 158.6 million shares in a range of HK$8.68 to HK$9.94 apiece, according to a Tuesday stock exchange filing.At the top end of that range, the share sale will value Guming at HK$23.2 billion. Wang will have a stake of over 40%. Five cornerstone investors including Chinese web giant Tencent and private equity firm LVC have agreed to acquire 63.7 million shares, or 40.2% of the IPO. Public trading of Guming shares is expected to start on Feb 12, according to its prospectus.The company plans to use the proceeds to digitalize its business, invest in its supply chain and boost marketing.But Kenny Ng, a Hong Kong-based securities strategist at Everbright Securities, sounded a note of caution over the forthcoming share sale. Investors are likely to be aware of the struggles of fellow milk tea companies ChaPanda and Naixue, he says in messages sent via WeChat.Both companies are listed in Hong Kong and their performances have been hurt by cut-throat competition in Chinas bubble tea market. ChaPandas shares plunged nearly 30% on the companys first trading day in April 2024. The milk tea maker has been trading below its IPO price ever since.Gumings expansion strategy is similar to ChaPandas. Also using a franchise model, the company operates a network of almost 10,000 stores across China, hoping to grab consumer attention with as many storefronts as possible, according to its prospectus. Like its competitors, Gumings Good Me brand sells beverages such as bubble tea with chewy tapioca balls or freshly brewed tea mixed with fruit. It prices them between 10 yuan ($1.40) to 20 yuan per cup, the prospectus shows.Many milk tea makers rely on opening new stores for future growth, Ng says. This reflects fierce competition in the industry. Plus, amid fluctuations in the overall economy, the market isnt giving the milk tea sector high valuations.Guming didnt respond to emailed requests for comment.After graduating from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University with a bachelors degree in engineering, Wang opened the first Good Me store in his hometown of Daxi in Zhejiang Province in 2010, according to local media reports.He initially struggled in the business and thought about closing the store, the local media reported. But after changing recipes and renovating the storefront, customers finally came. In mid 2011, Wang started to find franchisees. Together with them, he expanded across southern China.In 2020, Guming raised its only known external financing. Investors including HongShan (formerly known as Sequoia China) and American investment firm Coatue Management put in 674 million yuan in exchange for a combined 13.2% stake, according to its prospectus.Today, the company has a stronghold in Zhejiang, which accounts for over one fifth of its store network, according to the prospectus. In the first nine months of 2024, or the latest financial results available, Gumings revenues grew 15.6% year-on-year to 6.4 billion yuan. Its profit was 1.1 billion yuan, up 11.8% from the same period a year earlier, the prospectus shows.The company has acknowledged potential growth worries.A recent general industry slowdown and increased industry competition has slowed the pace of our new store openings and led to the decreases of some of our stores operating metrics, Guming writes in its prospectus. The company says it still intends to grow by opening more stores and boosting the density of its store network in China.

MLB The Show 25Credit: Sony San DiegoThe official reveal trailer for MLB The Show 25 has landed, along with a ton of details surrounding its features. Based on what we learned on Tuesday, almost everything I wrote about a few weeks ago proved to be accurate.At least two of the legends Id heard about were confirmed, and were hopeful to see more. Road to the Show was indeed given some much-needed love, and were also seeing some under-the-hood improvements to Franchise Mode.Here is a breakdown of whats new, but lets start with the three legends confirmed for the game.MLB The Show 25: 3 New Legends ConfirmedAs you can see from the image above, Boston Red Sox legend Manny Ramirez has been added as an official legend.MORE FOR YOUIn the trailer, which you can see below, Red Sox, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, and Houston Astros legend Roger Clemens is also being added.Pitcher Roger Clemens of the New York Yankess during the Major League Baseball American League East ... [+] game against the Detroit Tigers on 10th April 1999 at Yankee Stadium, New York, New York, United States. The Yankees won the game 5 - 0. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)Getty ImagesRamirez and Clemens inclusion is huge for legends from the segment of baseball often referred to as the Steroid Era. Both Ramirez and Clemens had not been included in the game for years.With their inclusionalong with Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in MLB The Show 23there is hope well see Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Jose Canseco, and Nomar Garciaparra in as well.In addition to Clemens and Ramirez, Negro League legend James Cool Papa Bell was also confirmed, though many who are unfamiliar with him may not have recognized the brief cameo at the end of the trailer.These three new legends will add value to Diamond Dynasty and offline modes, but it feels like this is just the beginning of the new classic players added to the game.MLB The Show 25 Feature UpdatesHeres a breakdown of each feature per the games official page on PlayStation.com along with a touch of commentary on each. Road To The Show Begin your Road To The Show journey by playing two to three games in High School, and play three to four College games in The Amateur Years. Build the Road To The Show ballplayer you want, the way you want to. Utilize a revamped attribute progression system for more control over your players development. Including craft Perks to your liking and utilize a revamped attribute progression system for full control of your players development. Hear authentic High School and College audio hear the clank of metal bats and the rattle of chain link fences! RTTS/Player Lock will feature a variety of all new Impact Plays and Quick Time Events for all positions and baserunners.Its great to see The Show adding some depth to RTTS. Having your player start their journey in high school will allow users to become more attached to their ballplayers, enhancing the overall experience.Hopefully, the narrative remains strong even after you make the minors and major leagues. Franchise Mode This year in the Franchise mode, choices matter, consequences are real, and time is precious as a revitalized Free Agency system adds risk/reward elements, strategy, and excitement to the pursuit of the top free agents each offseason.The Franchise Mode bullet point isnt extensive, but improvements to free agent logic are a huge deal. Hopefully, we will see other Franchise Mode improvements that didnt make the back-of-the-box listings and can be further explored on February 25 during the features deep dive. Expanded Diamond Dynasty And More Sets and Seasons will not be returning in MLB The Show 25! Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show 25 offers two new places to play: Diamond Quest, a risk-and-reward board game-like mode and a highly competitive multiplayer mode in Weekend Classic featuring some of the best rewards! Speaking of rewards, fans will be able to earn top rewards in their favorite modes at various points in the year, and new Team Affinity Programs will be the go-to place for fans to unlock items and players unique to their favorite MLB team.I checked out of Diamond Dynasty earlier this past year than I have since I started playing the mode. The elimination of Seasons will help, and Im excited to see how Diamond Quest works. Will it simply replace Conquest, or will it be added to the overall feature set?The Weekend Classic is also intriguing, as it could be delivering another ranked competitive option. Gameplay Improvements And Expansion With ShowTech Hundreds of new animations for extreme realism across the whole game, including all new Rob HRs, Hot Shot catches, on the run catches and tags and much much more! G.O.A.T. difficulty new this year will give you the ultimate challenge! All-New ambush hitting for a more realistic plan of attack at the plate. New Reaction Time System on defense.The aspect of this that seems most interesting is the new user-controlled sliding animations. I will be watching to see how intuitive that part of the game is for users. Negro Leagues Season 3 Celebrate baseballs rich history with Storylines play as famous and forgotten legends of the Negro Leagues while learning all about their incredible journeys. This season will be extra Cool! Storylines Season 3 will once again be narrated by Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick with a whole new roster of some of the greatest players youve likely never heard of.I love the Negro Leagues inclusion and hope it never goes away.That said, I would like to see another layer added to the experience beyond simply bringing in new Storylines that function as they have the last two years.Be on the lookout for more information on MLB The Show 25 as we move closer to launch and the various feature reveals before the release date, which is March 18 (or March 14 for early access).

The big picture: As President Donald Trump enacts long-promised tariffs against Chinese products, duties against other international goods, including semiconductors from Taiwan, loom on the horizon. Recent reports indicate that TSMC plans to respond by passing costs onto consumers, likely dragging end products further away from the Moore's Law curve. Commercial Times reports that TSMC might increase the prices of its most advanced semiconductor wafers by up to 15 percent this year. Rising production costs and potential US tariffs are the primary factors behind the prediction. Previously, analysts expected wafer prices to rise by five to 10 percent in 2025. The new forecast indicates that incoming tariffs may accelerate the increasing costs and blunted performance gains of recent products.Taiwan's silicon giant is expected to raise prices for smaller nodes starting at 7nm. That relatively mature but still advanced node costs around $10,000 per wafer. Apple, TSMC's most privileged customer, currently pays $18,000 per 3nm wafter. Depending on the buyer, tariffs could increase 3nm prices to roughly $20,000 to $23,000 per wafer.More expensive wafers compared to offerings from the previous decade have already resulted in pricier devices with less impressive performance improvements. Recent iPhone chips don't leapfrog their immediate predecessors as dramatically as before, and Nvidia's newly released RTX 50 series is one of the most disappointing graphics card generations in recent memory.Analyzing specs across historical GPU lineups reveals a solid case for blaming the lukewarm performance uplifts on Nvidia's greed. However, rising semiconductor costs and the fact that RTX 50 uses the same node as RTX 40 also play a role.While semiconductors from companies like TSMC and Samsung aren't facing tariffs yet, President Trump's recently enacted 10 percent tariff on Chinese products still impacts the products they power. Chinese companies still assemble crucial components and provide rare-earth metals for many modern electronics. // Related StoriesAn additional round of tariffs is projected for February 18, affecting TSMC and other companies providing computer chips, aluminum, copper, and other items. The President believes the tariffs will convince foreign companies to build manufacturing plants in the US. However, establishing a new semiconductor fab takes several years, so any meaningful response from TSMC wouldn't bear fruit within Trump's term.To that end, TSMC plans to begin manufacturing 4nm chips in Arizona this year, with more advanced nodes like 3nm and 2nm following through the rest of the decade. However, these semiconductors will lag behind the most advanced nodes produced in Taiwan. Recent rumors suggest that TSMC will construct a 1nm Giga-Fab in Tainan City, Taiwan.

House in Akiyoshidai / OHArchitectureSave this picture! Atsushi ShiotaniHouses, RenovationOtsu, JapanArchitects: OHArchitectureAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:89 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2022 PhotographsPhotographs:Atsushi ShiotaniMore SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. This is a renovation of a room in an apartment house facing Chausuyama Park in Otsu City. With a frame frontage of over 8 meters, the unit has wider frontage proportions than typical apartment buildings these days. From the main openings, one can see the abundant greenery of Chausuyama Park in the near distance and the Omi Basin, centering on the water system that converges from Lake Biwa to the Seta River, in the far distance. And on the other side, there are two openings in the building. When I dismantled the building and visited the site, I felt a pleasant breeze that was blowing through the building toward the landscape.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!To maximize the appeal of the units that can feel the external environment, we decided not to divide the units into multiple rooms as much as possible. A communal house, another way of calling it a housing complex, means that it is built in a group of dwelling units. Each dwelling unit is sometimes felt to be nothing more than a collection of rooms. Rather than calling it a "dwelling unit," it might be more appropriate to call it a "group of rooms.Save this picture!In this project, instead of planning rooms with independent functions for each family member, we considered how to maximize the enrichment of family life within the dwelling unit. In doing so, we eliminated the idea of the individual (one person) in all aspects of the design and adopted a method of designing purely for the functions and places necessary for living.Save this picture!By abandoning the concept of a room and eliminating unnecessary partitions and fittings, we created not a small room, a desk for one person, a single bed, and a closet for one person, but a large space, a long desk, a large bed, and a large-capacity closet, creating a shared lifestyle that could not occur in an independent room. Eating, sleeping, playing, studying, working, cooking, laundry, and other activities will interfere with each other within the dwelling unit, and the place of residence will change fluidly, creating an open and airy living environment for both the family and the environment.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officeOHArchitectureOfficePublished on February 05, 2025Cite: "House in Akiyoshidai / OHArchitecture" 05 Feb 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026154/house-in-akiyoshidai-oharchitecture&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

Bots Now Dominate the Web, and Thats a Problem CopyBy John P. Mello Jr.February 4, 2025 10:09 PM PT ADVERTISEMENTEngage with IT decision makers and key influencers. TechNewsWorld's B2B marketing services deliver sales-ready leads that shorten your sales process. Fill your funnel and grow revenue with our lead gen expertise. Get Started Today. Nearly half the traffic on the internet is generated by automated entities called bots, and a large portion of them pose threats to consumers and businesses on the web.[B]ots can help in creating phishing scams by gaining users trust and exploiting it for scammers. These scams can have serious implications for the victim, some of which include financial loss, identity theft, and the spread of malware, Christoph C. Cemper, founder of AIPRM, an AI prompt engineering and management company, in Wilmington, Del., said in a statement provided to TechNewsWorld.Unfortunately, this is not the only security threat posed by bots, he continued. They can also damage brand reputations, especially for brands and businesses with popular social media profiles and high engagement rates. By associating a brand with fraudulent and unethical practices, bots can tarnish a brands reputation and reduce consumer loyalty.According to the Imperva 2024 Bad Bot Report, bad bot traffic levels have risen for the fifth consecutive year, indicating an alarming trend. It noted the increase is partly driven by the increasing popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) and large learning models (LLMs).In 2023, bad bots accounted for 32% of all internet traffic a 1.8% increase from 2022, the report explained. The portion of good bot traffic also increased, albeit slightly less significantly, from 17.3% of all internet traffic in 2022 to 17.6% in 2023. Combined, 49.6% of all internet traffic in 2023 wasnt human, as human traffic levels decreased to 50.4% of all traffic.Good bots help index the web for search engines, automate cybersecurity monitoring, and assist customer service through chatbots, explained James McQuiggan, a security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, a security awareness training provider in Clearwater, Fla.They assist with detecting vulnerabilities, improving IT workflows, and streamlining procedures online, he told TechNewsWorld. The trick is knowing whats valuable automation and whats nefarious activity.Ticket Scalping at ScaleAutomation and success are driving the growth trends for botnet traffic, explained Thomas Richards, network and red team practice director at Black Duck Software, an applications security company in Burlington, Mass.Being able to scale up allows malicious actors to achieve their goals, he told TechNewsWorld. AI is having an impact by allowing these malicious actors to act more human and automate coding and other tasks. Google, for example, has revealed that Gemini has been used to create malicious things.We see this in other everyday experiences as well, he continued, like the struggle in recent years to get concert tickets to popular events. Scalpers find ways to create users or use compromised accounts to buy tickets faster than a human ever could. They make money by reselling the tickets at a much higher price.Its easy and profitable to deploy automated attacks, added Stephen Kowski, field CTO at SlashNext, a computer and network security company in Pleasanton, Calif. Criminals are using sophisticated tools to bypass traditional security measures, he told TechNewsWorld. AI-powered systems make bots more convincing and harder to detect, enabling them to mimic human behavior better and adapt to defensive measures.The combination of readily available AI tools and the increasing value of stolen data creates perfect conditions for even more advanced bot attacks in the future, he said.Why Bad Bots Are a Serious ThreatDavid Brauchler, technical director and head of AI and ML security at the NCC Group, a global cybersecurity consultancy, expects non-human internet traffic to continue to grow.As more devices become internet-connected, SaaS platforms add interconnected functionality, and new vulnerable devices enter the scene, bot-related traffic has had the opportunity to continue increasing its share of network bandwidth, he told TechNewsWorld.Brauchler added that bad bots are capable of causing great harm. Bots have been used to trigger mass outages by overwhelming network resources to deny access to systems and services, he said.With the advent of generative AI, bots can also be used to impersonate realistic user activity on online platforms, increasing spam risk and fraud, he explained. They can also scan for and exploit security vulnerabilities in computer systems.He contended that the biggest risk from AI is the proliferation of spam. Theres no strong technical solution to identifying and blocking this type of content online, he explained. Users have taken to calling this phenomenon AI slop, and it risks drowning out the signal of legitimate online interactions in the noise of artificial content.He cautioned, however, that the industry should be very careful when it considers the best solution to this problem. Many potential remedies can create more harm, especially those that risk attacking online privacy, he said.How to Identify Malicious BotsBrauchler acknowledged that it can be difficult for humans to detect a malicious bot. The overwhelming majority of bots dont operate in any fashion that humans can detect, he said. They contact internet-exposed systems directly, querying for data or interacting with services.The category of bot that most humans are concerned with are autonomous AI agents that can masquerade as humans in an attempt to defraud people online, he continued. Many AI chatbots use predictable speech patterns that users can learn to recognize by interacting with AI text generators online. Similarly, AI-generated imagery has a number of tells that users can learn to look for, including broken patterns, such as hands and clocks being misaligned, edges of objects melting into other objects, and muddled backgrounds, he said.AI voices also have unusual inflections and expressions of tone that users can learn to pick up on, he added.Malicious bots are often used on social media platforms to gain trusted access to individuals or groups. Watch for telltale signs like unusual patterns in friend requests, generic or stolen profile pictures, and accounts that post at inhuman speeds or frequencies, Kowski cautioned.He also advised to be wary of profiles with limited personal information, suspicious engagement patterns, or pushing specific agendas through automated responses.In the enterprise, he continued, real-time behavioral analysis can spot automated actions that dont match natural human patterns, such as impossibly fast clicks or form fills.Threat to BusinessesMalicious bots can be a significant threat to enterprises, noted Ken Dunham, director of the threat research unit at Qualys, a provider of cloud-based IT, security, and compliance solutions in Foster City, Calif.Once amassed by a threat actor, they can be weaponized, he told TechNewsWorld. Bots have incredible resources and capabilities to perform anonymous, distributed, asynchronous attacks against targets of choice, such as brute force credential attacks, distributed denial of service attacks, vulnerability scans, attempted exploitation, and more.Malicious bots can also target login portals, API endpoints, and public-facing systems, which creates risks for organizations as the bad actors probe for weaknesses to find a way to gain access to the internal infrastructure and data, added McQuiggan.Without bot mitigation strategies, companies can be vulnerable to automated threats, he said.To mitigate threats from bad bots, he recommended deploying multi-factor authentication, technological bot detection solutions, and monitoring traffic for anomalies.He also recommended blocking old user agents, utilizing Captchas, and limiting interactions, where possible, to reduce success rates.Through security awareness education and human risk management, an employees knowledge of bot-driven phishing and fraud attempts can ensure a healthy security culture and reduce the risk of a successful bot attack, he advised.John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John.Leave a CommentClick here to cancel reply. Please sign in to post or reply to a comment. New users create a free account.More by John P. Mello Jr.view allMore in Cybersecurity