The Silent Ransom Group extortion gang is actively targeting U.S. law firms and professional services organizations in social engineering attacks that often lead to data theft within hours of initial contact, according to a new report by cybersecurity firm Mandiant.

The report follows an FBI FLASH advisory published last week warning that the Silent Ransom Group was targeting U.S. law firms in social engineering and even in-person data theft attacks, with Mandiant now providing additional technical details about how the intrusions are conducted.

Mandiant says the threat group, tracked as UNC3753, Luna Moth, and Chatty Spider, targeted dozens of organizations across the legal, financial, and professional services sectors between January and May 2026. 

Mandiant warned that legal firms remain especially attractive targets because they store large volumes of highly sensitive client information and may feel pressured to resolve extortion incidents to avoid reputational and regulatory damage.

“Legal services firms represent high-value targets for extortion actors. They maintain concentrated repositories of extremely sensitive client transaction files, merger and acquisition plans, client trade secrets, and corporate regulatory reports,” explains Mandiant. 

“Threat groups recognize that legal entities are subject to heavy reputational and regulatory exposure and may be highly motivated to resolve extortion situations quietly to protect their professional standing.”

The researchers say the attacks begin with invoice-themed phishing emails from consumer email accounts. These emails do not contain malicious links or attachments and instead serve as a precursor for follow-up phone calls from attackers impersonating corporate IT staff.

Conducting attacks via voice calls has been an ongoing tactic by these threat actors for years, which they previously used in BazarCall social engineering campaigns tied to Ryuk and Conti ransomware attacks. A callback phishing attack is when threat actors send benign-looking phishing emails containing alarming or IT-related lures that prompt the recipient to call them back at an enclosed phone number.

In the current campaign, the Silent Ransom Group impersonates IT help desks and convinces employees to join remote support sessions via Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Quick Assist, or Microsoft Terminal Services.

During these sessions, the threat actors trick the target into installing remote monitoring and management tools such as AnyDesk, Zoho Assist, Bomgar, or SuperOps, thereby granting them initial access to the corporate network.

Mandiant also discovered phishing domains tied to the campaign that impersonate internal IT portals using naming patterns such as:

-itdesk[.]com
-it[.]com
-helpdesk[.]com

The researchers say the threat actors also use privnote[.]com, a self-destructing messaging service, to share installation links and commands with targets during remote support sessions. According to Mandiant, this tactic helps reduce forensic artifacts left in browser histories or corporate chat logs.

Once inside a network, the group searches for sensitive legal and financial documents, including contracts, tax records, Social Security numbers, and merger or acquisition files. The attackers commonly target document management platforms and cloud storage repositories before exfiltrating the data using tools such as WinSCP or Rclone.

Mandiant says the extortion operation is highly aggressive, with ransom demands often arriving within 30 minutes of the attackers leaving the victim environment. 

“These highly aggressive extortion letters give organizations a three-day deadline to respond and initiate ransom negotiations. If the victim organization is unresponsive, the threat actors declare they will call and email target employees and external clients directly to alert them of the data breach,” reports Mandiant.

“The extortion letters explicitly emphasize that the leak will compromise client trust, invite substantial regulatory fines, and suggest that external clients sue the victim organization for data mishandling.”

The report also references the FBI’s recent advisory in which law enforcement warned that the Silent Ransom Group was targeting U.S. law firms with in-person data theft attacks.

According to the FBI, attackers impersonate internal IT staff over phone calls and emails, then attempt to gain remote access or physically visit offices to “image” computers or create backups while secretly stealing files.

While Mandiant said there was limited forensic evidence, the researchers believe these in-person attacks are likely linked to UNC3753 based on similarities in targeting, timelines, and operational behavior.

The Silent Ransom Group has been active since at least 2022, when it was part of the Ryuk and Conti cybercrime syndicate. 

As previously reported by BleepingComputer, the threat actors were previously linked to BazarCall callback phishing campaigns that provided initial access in Conti and Ryuk ransomware attacks.

After the Conti syndicate shut down in 2022, the group shifted to standalone data theft and extortion operations under the Silent Ransom Group branding.

Researchers say the group no longer relies on traditional ransomware encryption and instead focuses entirely on data-theft extortion, in which they steal sensitive data and pressure victims into paying to prevent leaks.

A separate report released this week by Resecurity found that the gang is also operating fast-flux infrastructure to hide and protect its data-leak platforms.

DNS fast flux is a method where attackers constantly rotate a domain’s IP addresses through a large pool of compromised devices to hide their infrastructure and make takedowns or blocking far more difficult.

According to the company, the infrastructure uses residential IP addresses across multiple countries and ISPs to make takedowns more difficult.

Resecurity said the group’s “business-data-leaks[.]com” leak site and related infrastructure rely on residential proxy networks spread across Latin America, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Asia. The researchers also linked the infrastructure to other cybercrime-related services and domains.

To defend against the attacks, both Mandiant and the FBI recommend implementing strict verification procedures for IT support interactions, limiting remote access tools, enforcing MFA, restricting USB storage devices, and training employees to recognize voice phishing attempts.

For organizations looking to defend against phishing, BEC, and account takeover attacks, BleepingComputer is hosting a webinar with Abnormal titled “Stop chasing alerts: Automating email security with behavioral AI.“

The webinar will explore how behavioral AI can help security teams detect and respond to modern phishing attacks, automate investigations and remediation, and reduce the operational burden caused by alert fatigue and increasingly sophisticated social engineering campaigns.

Security teams log 54% of successful attacks and alert on just 14%. The rest move through your environment unseen.

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Here’s the thing. I’ve reviewed loads of the best PS5 controllers, including a bunch of those at the premium price level, including the Razer Raiju V3 Pro, DualSense Edge, and the Victrix Pro BFG Reloaded. The Scuf Omega hasn’t outshone any of them in my testing, even though, on paper, it should win out with its feature set and customization options.

So, where has Scuf gone wrong? Much of it comes down to build quality. While it’s solid enough in the hands – and actually very comfortable – most individual parts can be removed, like the faceplate, touchpad plate, d-pad, face buttons, and the thumbsticks. In isolation, these parts (and the accessories included in the box, like button and paddle blanks and optional long-shaft thumbsticks) feel cheap and flimsy.

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I’m also not at all a fan of the optional paddle buttons on the sides of the controller. These are far too easy to press accidentally, and because they come pre-mapped out of the box, even gently tapping one mid-game can feel like the video game equivalent of stepping on a Lego brick.

After years of forcing Bing into nearly every corner of Windows Search, Microsoft may finally be giving users a way out. The company is reportedly testing changes in Windows 11 that would allow people to completely disable Bing-powered web results from the operating system’s built-in Search experience.

For many PC users, this is a long-overdue change. Windows Search has spent years blending local file searches with Bing suggestions, online results, news links, and Microsoft services – often frustrating users who simply wanted to find an app, document, or system setting on their computer.

According to a report by PCMag, Microsoft is now introducing options that separate local Windows search functionality from Bing’s web integration. That means users could eventually type into the Start menu or taskbar and receive only local PC results instead of being pushed toward online Bing content.

The shift appears connected to the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which is forcing major technology companies to provide users with greater control over bundled services and platform defaults. Microsoft has already begun making several Europe-specific Windows changes, including easier browser switching and fewer prompts pushing Edge and Bing.

Windows Search may finally become simpler again

For years, Windows users criticized Microsoft for aggressively integrating Bing into Windows Search, even when it reduced usability. Searching for local files could surface unrelated web links, online recommendations, or Bing-powered suggestions that many users never wanted in the first place.

The frustration became even more noticeable after Microsoft began integrating AI-powered Bing and Copilot features directly into Windows 11. While the company positioned those additions as productivity enhancements, many users felt Windows Search became increasingly cluttered and less focused on core desktop functionality.

The reported update could significantly improve the experience for people who mainly use Search to launch apps, locate files, or navigate Windows settings. Removing Bing integration may also improve responsiveness and reduce unnecessary online queries happening in the background.

For Microsoft, however, the move represents something larger than just a settings toggle. Bing has long been a strategic part of the company’s ecosystem push, helping drive users toward Microsoft services, search advertising, Edge, and now AI-powered Copilot experiences.

Allowing users to disable Bing more freely suggests regulators are having a measurable impact on how Microsoft designs Windows.

Microsoft still wants AI everywhere in Windows

Even with the potential Bing removal option, Microsoft is not stepping away from AI or online integrations inside Windows 11. The company continues investing heavily in Copilot and AI-powered productivity tools, which remain central to its long-term strategy for Windows.

That means the upcoming changes are less about abandoning Bing entirely and more about giving users additional control over how deeply Microsoft services are integrated into the desktop experience.

The bigger question now is whether these Bing-removal features remain limited to Europe due to DMA compliance or eventually expand worldwide. If Microsoft rolls the option out globally, it could become one of the most user-friendly Windows Search changes in years.

For longtime Windows users, though, the update already feels symbolic. After years of Microsoft insisting Bing belonged inside Windows Search, users may finally get the choice they have been requesting all along: the ability to search their PC without Microsoft’s search engine constantly getting in the way.

The Poke app will give Siri even more competition, as it lets you send emails, set reminders, generate images, and more, right from the Apple Messages app.

WWDC 2026 is right around the corner, and it’s been rumored that Apple is working on improving support for third-party AI utilities in iOS 27. We may just have gotten a better idea of what the future of iOS might entail, as the iPhone now supports AI agents in the Messages app

Following its public launch in March 2026, the proactive AI assistant Poke has now become the first third-party AI agent officially available via iMessage. It’s offered via the Apple Messages for Business platform, originally designed to let companies reach customers via Apple Messages for Business.

The Interaction Company of California, the startup that created Poke, posted a video on X detailing what its AI agent can do via the Apple Messages app.

Say hi to the new Poke!

Now officially approved by Apple to text on Apple Messages.

As the first and only AI agent. Chat now: https://t.co/VIWYU64dUI pic.twitter.com/AtZxupI2Ji

— Poke (@interaction) June 4, 2026

In essence, Poke can help you respond to emails, including those about potential events. If someone wants to schedule dinner with you, for instance, Poke can help you select the date, time, type of food, restaurant, and more. It can also schedule reminders for you.

Additionally, Poke can conduct web searches, generate and edit images, set up automations, check you in for domestic flights, track flight deals, and a lot more. The Poke service is also capable of generating QR codes, YouTube video summaries in transcript form, and controlling Philips Hue smart lights and Sonos speakers.

Compatibility with other third-party services and products, like the Oura smart Ring, Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, GitHub, Strava, and Navan, is also built in.

While it might not be as impressive as the Google Gemini features previewed in May 2026, Poke’s Apple Messages for Business integration represents a welcome addition to the iPhone.

How to set up Poke

As for what Poke costs users, the service’s FAQ page says that “Poke sets pricing through negotiation with you, so keep chatting until you agree on a price!” In essence, Poke will conduct light actions, process manual prompts, and do background tasks for free, but any intensive requests will require payment.

To use Poke, you will need to create an account with your phone number or Telegram. More detailed descriptions of Poke’s features and capabilities are available via the Poke.com website.

Aside from Siri and its built-in ChatGPT integration, iPhone users now have even more options when it comes to AI agents on iOS. Poke is likely the first of many AI agents that will be available via the Apple Messages app going forward.

The upcoming iOS 27 update might allow for even greater freedom of choice, giving iOS users the option to select AI agents with integration and capabilities rivaling the Apple-designed Siri.

At High-End Vienna, Bowers & Wilkins took the wraps off its flagship 800 Series loudspeakers, which it says are its most “advanced” loudspeakers yet.

The new D5 range marks the fifth generation of Bowers’ 800 series, and its first major loudspeaker launch after Sound United was acquired by Harman.

The new 800 Series Diamond range is made up of seven models, which are:

• Two-way 805 D5 stand-mount
• Three-way 804 D5, 805 D5, 802 D5, 801 D5 floorstanders
• HTM81 D5 and HTM82 D5 centre channels for home theatre use

Bowers & Wilkins describes the new 800 Series Diamond as fusing “acoustic and mechanical excellence with elegant and meaningful design”. The design has been optimised with a new top plate, spine,and plinth, as well as revised drive unit, pods, tweeter body, trim rings and grilles.

All of these design changes are complemented by new finishes, including an all-new dark walnut finish that replaces the option of the satin rosenut in the D5 range, and was inspired by the limited production 801 Abbey Road Limited Edition. Other options include stealth black and warm white.

Acoustic changes are significant. The Space Frame Bracing stiffens the enclosure to reduce unwanted vibration and resonance within the cabinet. All floorstanding models feature a revised aluminium plinth that aims to improve performance to resist unwanted vibration.

The aluminium top plate features thicker aluminium ribbing sections for “greater stiffness” and more mechanical location points to optimise “coupling to the top of the enclosure and revised decoupling mounts to support the Turbine Head or Solid-Body-Tweeter assembly,” improving the mechanical behaviour at the top of each cabinet.

The grille meshes for the Diamond Dome tweeters have designed to be more acoustically transparent, improving off-axis performance and upping the resolution of the sound. Every midrange, bass/midrange and bass drive unit has been given an upgraded with the introduction of lower distortion motor systems for a cleaner, more accurate sound, with better “resolution, transient response and dynamics.”

All the stereo models in the range feature a crossover assembly that’s housed on an all-aluminium plate construction, rigidly coupled into the cabinet and Space Frame Bracing, increasing the stiffness of the cabinet.

Pricing for the new 800 Series Diamond is as follows. Be sure to check you bank account first.

• 801 D5 | £43,000 / $65,000 / €50,000
• 802 D5 | £32,500 / $45,000 / €37,000
• 803 D5 | £25,500 / $35,000 / €30,000
• 804 D5 | £16,000 / $25,000 / €18,000
• 805 D5 | £10,000 / $15,000 / €12,000
• HTM81 D5 | £10,000 / $15,000 / €12,000
• HTM82 D5 | £8,000 / $12,000 / €10,000
• FS-805 D5 | £1,600 / $2,000 / €1,800
• FS-HTM D5 | £1,100 / $1,500 / €1,300

You’ll have to wait a while until you can hear the new series, with availability starting September 9th. If you are at High End Vienna, you’ll be able to at least see them there.

OpenAI is reportedly preparing a major transformation of ChatGPT that could fundamentally change how people interact with artificial intelligence. Instead of remaining primarily a conversational chatbot, the company now wants ChatGPT to evolve into a “super app” powered by AI agents capable of managing tasks across both personal and professional life.

According to a report by the Financial Times, OpenAI executives increasingly believe the future of AI lies not in chatbots that simply answer questions, but in intelligent systems that actively complete tasks for users. The company’s long-term vision reportedly includes AI agents capable of organizing schedules, booking travel, writing software, generating content, and managing workflows across multiple services and platforms.

OpenAI executive Thibault Sottiaux reportedly described the goal as creating a “personal agent” that can help users “across everything in your life.” That vision would allow users to interact with ChatGPT through smartphones, desktops, websites, and potentially even vehicles, turning the platform into a much broader digital assistant ecosystem.

OpenAI is betting big on AI agents and enterprise growth

A major part of the strategy revolves around Codex, OpenAI’s coding-focused platform, which has reportedly grown to more than five million weekly active users. Internally, OpenAI appears increasingly convinced that coding tools and AI agents capable of taking actions on behalf of users could become far more valuable than traditional chatbot interactions.

To support that shift, the company is reportedly redesigning ChatGPT’s mobile and web interfaces to highlight coding, image generation, and integrations with third-party services. Partner applications from companies like Canva and Booking.com may also become more deeply integrated into the ChatGPT experience as OpenAI pushes toward a more connected AI ecosystem.

The changes also reflect mounting pressure inside the AI industry. Competition has intensified rapidly as rivals, including Anthropic, Microsoft, and Google, continue expanding their own AI-powered products and enterprise offerings. While ChatGPT remains one of the world’s most recognizable AI products, OpenAI is under increasing pressure to prove long-term profitability and diversify revenue streams beyond free chatbot usage.

Enterprise customers are becoming especially important to that effort. Reports suggest business-focused products already account for a significant portion of OpenAI’s revenue, and the company is reorganizing internal teams to prioritize enterprise growth over some consumer-oriented initiatives.

ChatGPT may eventually become much more than a chatbot

The broader implication is that OpenAI no longer sees ChatGPT as just a messaging interface. Instead, the company appears to be positioning it as a central operating layer for future AI-powered computing experiences.

If successful, the shift could reshape how users interact with software entirely. Rather than opening separate apps for productivity, communication, coding, travel, scheduling, and search, people may increasingly rely on a single AI assistant capable of handling multiple tasks conversationally and autonomously.

At the same time, OpenAI is also strengthening relationships with policymakers and regulators as AI becomes more politically and economically significant. Reports indicate the company plans to provide the U.S. government with early access to some AI models under a voluntary framework introduced by President Donald Trump. Discussions around potential government stakes in AI companies have also reportedly involved OpenAI CEO Sam Altman as officials explore ways to distribute AI-driven economic gains more broadly.

The overhaul of ChatGPT is reportedly expected to roll out gradually through updates to the app and website in the coming months. If OpenAI succeeds, ChatGPT may soon evolve from a chatbot people occasionally visit into a constantly present AI assistant woven into everyday life.

At 37.7 pounds, it’s just a few pounds heavier than my traditional mountain bike. And yet, with a motor capable of providing 350 watts of assistance expertly hidden in the bottom bracket, the new eElja is anything but a traditional bike.

Over the past decade or so, Icelandic brand Lauf became most well known for its innovative front suspension. Rather than the traditional piston style, Lauf created a suspension system that is almost like two forks connected by a series of small glass fiber springs.

These days, Lauf is venturing into complete bikes, recently rolling out the new eElja electric mountain bike in one of two offerings: the high-end Race build, which boasts carbon wheels, upgraded suspension and groupset, and carbon cranks; and the slightly more modest but still amazing Weekend Warrior build, which has alloy wheels, a high-midrange groupset and suspension, and alloy cranks.

I recently spent a week putting the eElja (pronounced “el-ee-yah”) Race model through its paces and was absolutely blown away by just about everything the bike has to offer. Then again, I kind of expect to be blown away by a bike that retails for more than $8,000. Still, given everything I learned about this bike, both through riding and research, I’d say every penny of that list price would be money well spent.

eElja Race model

Photograph: Michael Venutolo-Mantovani

Weight Watcher

The eElja is fast and nimble on descents, and easy and at home on climbs. It’s responsive where it should be and relaxed when it needs to be. It’s also a damn great-looking bike.

Thanks to a beautiful SRAM Eagle groupset that includes wireless SRAM AXS PODS e-shifting and a wireless RockShox Reverb AXS dropper post, the eElja looks super clean, as it only has two cables (one internally routed), which operate the bike’s brakes. The eElja Race comes out of the box with a RockShox Pike Select+ fork, boasting 140 millimeters of travel, and a 130-mm RockShox Deluxe Select shock in the rear. The Race sits on E*thirteen Optimus Carbon Sidekick, tubeless-ready, six-bolt, XD freehub 29-inch wheels wrapped in Goodyear Escape Max Trail Lite 2.6-inch tires. And both the Race and Weekend Warrior models come with a massive 12-speed cassette, ranging from 10 t to 52 t.

And yet, despite all of the sparkly bells and whistles (all of which are things you’d expect on a bike at this price point), the bike’s lightness is its defining feature. With many e-MTBs tipping the scales in excess of 50 pounds, the eElja’s sub-40-pound weight makes it easily maneuverable on the trail. Perhaps just as important, it makes it a breeze to maneuver off the trail as well in those benign moments we often overlook: loading it onto your bike rack, getting it into your workstand, and even putting it away or taking it out of your quiver. Especially if, like me, you store your bikes on wall hangers.

The UK government will offer to buy AI chips directly from British technology companies in a bid to keep them in the country. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall will outline plans for “strategic purchases” of semiconductor equipment from UK-based firms at London Tech Week this week, the Telegraph reported. The initiative includes access to taxpayer-backed funding and investment in skills to retain workforces in Britain.

The announcement is part of a broader AI hardware plan that targets 5% of the global chip market, which would translate to roughly £37 billion in revenue and tens of thousands of jobs. The government has already committed £100 million through ARIA’s scaling compute programme, including £50 million for a scaling inference lab where British startups can test and demonstrate that their hardware works.

The urgency is clear. Britain keeps losing its best chip companies to foreign buyers. SoftBank acquired Graphcore in 2024. Qualcomm bought Alphawave IP for $2.4 billion last year. Arm, the UK’s most valuable chip designer, chose New York for its main listing in 2023. Each departure weakened the case that Britain can retain a semiconductor industry of its own.

“This is far too important a technology to depend entirely on other countries, especially in areas like defence, financial services and health care,” Kendall said in a speech at Bloomberg in January, when she announced £1 billion in funding to expand the UK’s AI research compute capacity by 20-fold.

The chip purchases would make the government a customer, not just a regulator, giving British firms guaranteed demand. Six UK companies have already gained access to government-funded supercomputers to advance their AI models, with the government retaining a right of first refusal for future investments. Fractile, a British inference chip startup that recently raised $220 million and is reportedly in talks with Anthropic, is among the firms the strategy aims to support.

The plans also respond to concerns about foreign dependency in government procurement. A recent parliamentary report warned that US firm Palantir should not play such a significant role in the UK public sector, and flagged a growing reliance on Microsoft and AWS. The HMRC’s £175 million AI contract with London-based Quantexa was an early signal of the government’s preference for domestic providers.

Whether strategic purchases alone can prevent the next Graphcore from being sold abroad remains an open question. Britain has the engineering talent and the research base. What it has lacked is the domestic demand and patient capital to keep companies scaling at home instead of selling to SoftBank or Qualcomm at the first serious offer.