Security teams log 54% of successful attacks and alert on just 14%. The rest move through your environment unseen.
The Picus whitepaper shows how breach and attack simulation tests your SIEM and EDR rules so threats stop slipping by detection.
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Russian hackers now target Signal backup recovery keys
The FBI and CISA are warning that a phishing campaign targeting Signal users tied to Russian intelligence services has evolved to steal Signal Backup Recovery Keys, allowing attackers to access victims’ historical messages.
The updated public service announcement is an update to a March 2026 advisory that warned the threat actors were targeting users of commercial messaging applications, particularly Signal, through phishing campaigns designed to hijack accounts rather than break end-to-end encryption.
“RIS cyber threat actors continue to masquerade as automated CMA support accounts in updated phishing messages but have evolved their tactics to attempt to elicit victims’ Backup Recovery Keys,” warns an FBI PSA published today.
According to the FBI, the campaign continues to target individuals of high intelligence value, including current and former US and international government officials, military personnel, political figures, journalists, and key officials located in Ukraine.
The agencies attribute the activity to Russian Intelligence Services (RIS), including officers embedded with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Border Guards and other actors working on behalf of the Russian military. The campaign is publicly tracked as UNC5792 and UNC4221.
New phishing tactic targets Signal backups
While the original advisory focused on phishing messages that attempted to steal verification codes or account PINs, or to trick users into linking attacker-controlled devices to their Signal accounts, the updated alert says the attackers have evolved their tactics.
The FBI says the threat actors continue to impersonate Signal support teams, sending phishing messages that falsely claim Signal is introducing mandatory two-factor verification following an alleged wave of attacks by hackers from Iran and post-Soviet countries.
“Recently, attempts to hack users of our messenger with the connection of third-party devices to the account have become more frequent,” reads the initial phishing message.
“An investigation conducted jointly with the US government and European partners revealed that the attacks on accounts were carried out by hackers from Iran and post-Soviet countries. In this regard, Signal updates Terms of Service & Privacy Policy, and introduces Mandatory Two-factor Verification for users.”
“Not to lose your messages and media, set up your Signal Backup (Settings -> Backups -> Enable backups -> View recovery key -> Copy to clipboard -> Next -> Enter the recovery key -> Next -> Continue -> Choose your backup plan). Click the “Accept” button in the pop-up and stay tuned for security updates on our messenger.”
When a target follows these instructions, their Signal messages are backed up using Signal’s Secure Backups feature, which stores encrypted copies of conversations on Signal’s cloud servers.
The data is end-to-end encrypted using the recovery key created in the steps above and should never be given to anyone else, as anyone with the key can use it to recover the backed-up data on their own devices.
The threat actors later send a second phishing message, still posing as Signal support, warning that your data is at risk of loss due to a synchronization issue.
“Your Signal Account data (messages and media) is at risk of permanent loss due to a sync issue,” reads the second Signal message.
The threat actors then prompt you to go into the Backup settings, copy your recovery key to the clipboard, and paste it into the message to prevent the loss of your stored data.
However, once you provide your recovery key, they can restore the backup to their own devices and gain access to the victim’s historical messages, including private and group conversations.
The updated advisory also warns of a recovery scenario that users may miss after their account was compromised.
The FBI warns that if an attacker obtains a user’s Backup Recovery Key, creating a new Signal account using the same phone number does not invalidate the old stolen key.
Instead, users must generate a new Backup Recovery Key through Signal’s backup settings, which invalidates the previous key for future backup downloads.
However, the agencies warn that generating a new recovery key will not prevent attackers from accessing backups they already downloaded using the compromised key.
The updated advisory reminds users that legitimate messaging application support teams only communicate through official company email addresses, never request verification codes within the application, and do not send links asking users to verify or restore their accounts.
Anyone who believes they have fallen victim to the campaign is encouraged to report the incident to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a local FBI field office, or CISA.
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On Wednesday, Chinese cybersecurity firm 360 reportedly unveiled Tulongfeng, an AI tool it says can go head-to-head with Anthropic’s Mythos. That’s the cybersecurity-focused AI model that is reportedly so powerful, the Trump Administration has currently banned it and its more restricted version, Fable 5, from the hands of non-Americans.
Earlier the same week Sakana AI, a Tokyo-based AI startup launched Fugu, a model named after the Japanese word for blowfish. The company says this frontier AI model “stands shoulder-to-shoulder with leading models like Anthropic’s Fable 5 and Mythos Preview.” It is also designed for agents, with an ability to orchestrate access to other models though their APIs.
The two new Asian model products come as the U.S. government’s ban drags on. It’s order that prevents Anthropic from global access to Mythos and Fable occurred two weeks ago.
A spokesperson at Sakana AI told TechCrunch that release of its new model was “entirely coincidental,” yet that hasn’t stopped it from capitalizing on the moment. It’s website advertises “delivering frontier capability without the risk of export controls.”
“Sakana Fugu is something we have been building since last year — the research behind it was presented at ICLR this spring, and it reflects an approach that is central to how we deliver frontier-level value at Sakana AI. We were confident in the product on its own merits; the timing simply happened to coincide with a moment that brought it more attention than we expected,” the spokesperson said about launching during the Mythos/Fable export ban.
Sakana, co-founded in 2023 by former Google researchers Ren Ito, Llion Jones and David Ha, makes affordable generative AI models that work well with small datasets and are optimized for the Japanese language and culture.
While the company is targeting Fugu at Japanese businesses and government agencies looking to reduce their exposure to tightening export controls, it isn’t yet proclaiming a lasting shift away from U.S. AI in Asia.
“U.S. models remain important to Asia,” the spokesperson said, a view consistent with remarks co-founder Ren Ito made at the G7 summit in Evian last week, where AI access and export controls were one of the central topics. “We’d characterize the current moment in those terms rather than as a permanent realignment toward any one set of players.”
Sakana co-founder Ren Ito elaborated on that view in an op-ed published in the Project Syndicate last week. He urged the US federal government, that consider that its “first priority should be to preserve access,” for America’s closest allies, and argued that “AI should not become a technology that is hoarded; it should be one that is developed together.”
David Ha, co-founder and CEO of Sakana, described Fugu as more than just a land grab during a vulnerable moment for a US competitors. It is designed to coordinate agent usage among many models.
“Orchestration Models are the next frontier, beyond bigger models,” he wrote on X. Relying on a single provider for national infrastructure, he argued, is a risk the recent export controls made impossible to ignore.
“Access to top models can disappear overnight,” he wrote. “Collective intelligence is the practical hedge against this concentration of power.”
While Tokyo-based Sakana positioned Fugu as a hedge strategy, a way to preserve access to frontier AI, not replace it, China’s 360 wasn’t hedging.
The Chinese firm reportedly unveiled two AI security tools. Tulongfeng is designed to automatically discover software vulnerabilities, and Yitianzhen is built to automate cyber defence and incident response.
The product launch, however, came with a message. According to Reuters, 360’s founder Zhou Hongyi described vulnerability-finding AI as a national strategic asset, and flagged what he called the risk of “one-way transparency”, a situation in which some actors could access advanced vulnerability-detection capabilities while others could not.
Anthropic had been on a historic growth trajectory. The US AI lab said its run-rate revenue crossed $47 billion in May 2026. How much of that depends on Asian enterprise customers is not publicly known.
But in the weeks since the export order took effect, at least two companies, one in Tokyo, one in Beijing, have stepped into the space it left behind. Even if US companies could win back trust should this ban ever end, local alternatives, trained to better understand local language and nuance, are already filling the gap.
360 did not respond to a request for comment.
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How to decide which of these surround sound formats is best for your home theater.
If you’ve been down the rabbit hole of home theater audio, you’ve likely encountered the world of surround sound audio formats. The two main players, Dolby and DTS, can be found in some of the best home audio gear and each offer multiple standards, and the differences can be opaque at first blush. So, what are the differences between Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos, and what makes DTS:X unique compared to DTS?
DTS (short for Digital Theater Systems, the name of the company which owns the technology) has been a longtime competitor to Dolby formats, with Dolby first throwing down the gauntlet with Dolby Digital during the early days of home theater surround sound, and now with Atmos as spatial audio takes the cutting edge. Emerging with the move from analog to digital home video, both Dolby Digital and DTS aimed to deliver theater-style surround sound to the living room. DVDs were able to deliver channel-mixed sound using either format, a major boon for those who had invested in home theater systems.
Those early versions are now outdated. With the rise of 3D, object-based mixing, in which each individual sound within a mix can be tracked spatially rather than directed to channels (adding a Z-axis to the previously 2D mix), we now have Dolby Atmos competing against DTS:X. But while both technologies aim to deliver a similar audio experience, they have different pros and cons, as well as different levels of support that can affect which one is the better choice for you.
Dolby and DTS both offer multiple formats
The holy grail of tech is a single specification to rule them all. But in practice, that almost never happens. To accommodate different use cases, both Dolby and DTS offer multiple formats, and differentiating between them isn’t simple. Spatial formats aside (covered further down), the main differences come down to the way each codec compresses the audio stream.
Beginning with traditional, 5.1 and 7.1-channel surround sound, Dolby offers Digital and Digital Plus, respectively. These are both lossy formats, meaning they drop some detail compared to the original audio master. Dolby Digital Plus is the baseline audio format for many streaming services. DTS Digital Surround competes against these, and is also lossy, though slightly less so.
DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD are a step up. Both are bit-perfect, lossless formats, which makes them quite a bit more data-intensive. As a consequence, they are typically included on 4K Blu-Ray discs but not streaming services (this is why audiophiles with expensive home theater setups tend to prefer physical media over streaming). Even so, DTS-HD Master audio is technically more detailed, delivered at up to 24.5 megabits per-second (Mbps) with a sample rate of 96 kHz at 24 bits of depth compared to Dolby TrueHD, which maxes out at 18 Mbps with a sample rate of 96 kHz and 24 bits of depth when in an 8-channel configuration or 192 kHz and 24-bits when in a 6-channel setup. You should not give a single hoot about these differences unless you’ve invested enough money into your home theater sound system to fund a small startup, but if that’s you, DTS-HD is worth pursuing.
Dolby Atmos has strict requirements, while DTS:X adapts
Dolby Atmos has strict technical requirements that can make porting it from a theater to your home challenging. When installing a proper Dolby Atmos speaker setup, you need to mount some of them on the ceiling in order to properly hear the Z-axis of the spatial mix. You’ll need at least two and up to four top-mounted speakers for full height imaging. Soundbars with Atmos from companies like Samsung attempt to circumnavigate that requirement by firing some of their sound toward the ceiling and bouncing the audio waves back down to the listener. But as many have found out the hard way, this requires very flat ceilings without any lighting fixtures, and even then, it can disappoint because your soundbar doesn’t know how high your ceiling is. Ultimately, Dolby Atmos is the best choice for those who can invest in a fully custom multi-channel speaker arrangement configured to Dolby’s precise specifications.
DTS:X is contrastingly adaptable to your needs, partially because it runs on the multi-dimensional audio (MDA) open-source standard —despite itself being a proprietary format. Rather than requiring a specific configuration of speakers, it uses whatever you’re already working with and uses an automatic calibration process to map spatial objects within your existing speaker setup. Additionally, it is not as reliant on overhead sound, and can mix down to a 5.1 or 7.1 setup. This can make it a better choice for unconventionally shaped rooms or for those who cannot afford a full 7.1.4 system. It also theoretically supports unlimited audio objects compared to Atmos’s 128-object limit. While this all makes it sound like DTS:X is the no-brainer choice, we haven’t yet talked about compatibility.
How many speakers do you need for Dolby and DTS formats?
We should briefly touch on speaker configurations, but in general, you can feel free to choose a number of speakers that makes the most sense for you. Both DTS and Dolby formats are highly configurable, though, as alluded to above, Dolby Atmos has relatively stringent requirements. Channel configurations are numerically represented as X.Y.Z, where X represents the number of primary speakers, Y stands for the number of subwoofers, and Z denotes top-mounted height channels. For example, 7.1.4 configurations have seven main speakers, one subwoofer, and four overhead speakers.
Dolby Digital, Digital Plus, and TrueHD are configurable with mono and stereo speakers, as well as 5.1 and 7.1-channel setups. The same goes for DTS and DTS-HD Master Audio.
Dolby Atmos needs at least 3.1.2 channels, which is what you’ll get with most Atmos soundbars (covered below in more depth). For a full speaker array, the most common layouts are 5.1.2 and 7.1.4. However, Atmos is configurable up to a whopping 11.1.8 setup, which will map each object in the mix with maximum precision. There are many other supported speaker configurations for Atmos, so head to Dolby’s speaker setup guide page to see each of those options.
As mentioned above, DTS:X is channel-agnostic, and can adapt to any speaker arrangement you happen to have. If you want both Atmos and DTS:X, prioritize dialing in your perfect Atmos setup, then configure DTS:X after the fact.
Soundbars, surround sound, and you
The technical differences between Dolby and DTS formats pertain mainly to multi-channel speaker setups. However, soundbars are far more popular, since you can simply plop them on your TV console and plug them into your HDMI port. Many soundbars market themselves as supporting Dolby and DTS formats, and there’s a solid chance you clicked on this article hoping to determine whether you’re actually getting the capabilities advertised on the box.
It is self-evidently impossible for a single soundbar to deliver the full-fat experience of being surrounded by speakers, especially when some are supposed to be overhead. Instead, most Dolby Atmos or DTS:X-capable soundbars have a number of drivers which point upward at an angle. In combination with an onboard processor, it blasts sound toward your ceiling, bouncing it back down toward you. It’s a clever workaround, but the spatial effect can be fragile.
Object-based audio from a soundbar with Dolby Atmos or DTS:X requires very flat ceilings without any lighting fixtures, and even then, it can disappoint because your soundbar doesn’t know how high your ceiling is. If your room has flat ceilings with an average height of around 12 feet and no lights or other fixtures to get in the way, soundbars can deliver much more impressive spatial audio than you might assume. But if you’ve got vaulted ceilings, ceiling fans, or hanging lamps, you’ll struggle to hear the immersive effect. Even a popcorn ceiling can cause the sound waves to disperse rather than reflecting back into your ear. If your room is suitable, position the soundbar so that nothing is above it to block the top-firing drivers, and position your couch the same distance from the soundbar as the soundbar is from the ceiling.
Which surround sound format is best for you?
When it comes to choosing between DTS and Dolby formats, high-resolution physical formats like 4K Blu-Ray often use Dolby Atmos mixing but sometimes use DTS:X. However, if you’re primarily streaming movies, you’ll be getting Dolby Atmos in most cases. With the exception of Disney+, which supports both formats, major streaming services have almost exclusively embraced Dolby Atmos. That includes Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, HBO Max, Netflix, and even Paramount+. In theaters, you’ll find Dolby Atmos in auditoriums with Dolby Cinema, versus Imax, which uses DTS sound for home video releases through its Imax Enhanced program (although Imax sound in theaters uses Imax’s proprietary audio format).
If you must choose for whatever reason, prioritize Dolby Atmos support in your audio setup for the broadest possible compatibility. The good news is that most consumers do not need to choose between Dolby and DTS formats. The vast majority of audio receivers and soundbars can handle both.
Ultimately, Dolby Atmos reigns supreme due to its hold over the industry. When assembled to Dolby’s specifications, Atmos can create a magical experience that makes you feel like you’re inside the action, but that illusion can quickly fall apart if you do not or cannot meet its exacting requirements. DTS:X has more limited support but can be much easier to adapt to your room and speaker configuration.
AYANEO launched the Pocket MICRO 2 this morning and the first batch of pre-orders disappeared almost immediately from the company store. The new model keeps the horizontal compact shape that defined the original while adding a much stronger processor, a larger battery, refined controls, and active cooling. Those changes turn an already capable mini device into something that handles a broader range of emulation without forcing users to reach for a larger handheld.
AYANEO used the same premium metal body that gave the original Pocket Micro a solid feel. It measures 162 by 67.8 by 18 millimeters and weighs 248 grams. The controls showed the most noticeable improvement. Dual TMR joysticks are recessed into the body, making them less likely to grip onto fabric during transportation. Each stick has an RGB LED ring for visual feedback. Shoulder buttons now feature a split layout, with higher L2 and R2 triggers that distinguish them from the L1 and R1 pairs, reducing accidental pushes during extended sessions. The major face buttons have grown somewhat larger, with improved travel and tactility. Start and Select are located on the left, with an AYA quick-launch button and a home button on the right. The metal borders feature additional remappable keys, and the power button has a fingerprint sensor for quick unlocking.
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The screen is 3.5 inches and has a resolution of 960 by 640 in a 3:2 aspect ratio. Color coverage is 100 percent sRGB, and the panel supports smooth 4x integer scaling, which pixel-art purists appreciate. The biggest update is in performance, with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 replacing the previous model’s Helio G99. According to AYANEO, this switch increases total performance by almost 220 percent. The upgrade enables smoother gameplay on PlayStation 2 and GameCube titles, as well as Dreamcast, PSP, and prior systems that the original handled well. Instead of allowing thermal throttling to ruin the experience, an active cooling fan helps to maintain higher clock speeds for longer gaming sessions.
The battery capacity rose to 3,950 mAh, a 52% increase over the original Pocket Micro. The larger battery, paired with a more efficient chipset and Android 13 optimization, enables longer charging times. USB-C supports Power Delivery (PD), which enables reasonably quick recharges when needed. A pair of chambered stereo speakers are used for audio, while an x-axis linear motor offers haptic feedback. A traditional 3.5 millimeter headphone jack is still present for private listening. Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, and a full-featured USB 3.1 Type-C connection are available for data transmission, charging, and video output. Storage starts at 128 GB or 256 GB, depending on the edition, and may be expanded using a microSD card slot. A gyroscope provides motion control capabilities to games and emulators that use it.
The handheld is preinstalled with Android 13 and AYANEO’s custom UI layer, which includes quick settings and emulator-friendly shortcuts. Side buttons and remappable keys give users additional control over mapping frequently used functions without having to visit on-screen menus.
Pricing begins at $239 for the early-bird 6GB RAM and 128GB storage option in Frosty White or Midnight Black. The 8GB RAM and 256GB storage variant started at $279 in the same colors. The Stardust Purple finish was only available on the higher-spec vehicle, but all models are $30 lower during pre-order than the eventual retail levels of $269 for the base configuration and $309 dollars for the enhanced variant.
[Source]
CEO Sam Altman reportedly does not want OpenAI to be valued at less than $1trn at IPO.
OpenAI is reportedly mulling over delaying its initial public offering (IPO) to 2027, after a strong SpaceX debut was followed by a drop in share value.
The ChatGPT parent filed to go public earlier this month, but said that it could be a “while” before it ceases to be a private company. Sources told The New York Times (NYT) that the company was aiming for a debut in the third or the fourth quarter of this year.
SpaceX – which raised a record-breaking $85.7bn in its IPO listing this month – is considered to be a litmus test for giant AI businesses, as both industry and individual consumers continue to drive up demand for their services.
AI search start-up Perplexity’s CEO recently warned of “ripple effects” if blockbuster IPOs of AI companies fail to meet expectations. The SpaceX IPO “will definitely be like a leading indicator to how Anthropic or OpenAI will go out,” he said.
Anthropic is expected to be valuated at more than $1trn following its debut, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly wants the same for his AI start-up.
Advisers, however, have told Altman that an IPO in 2026 could value the company at less than $1trn, and instead offered the option of waiting until 2027, NYT reported yesterday (25 June).
One source said that any changes to the $1trn valuation was a “nonstarter” for the CEO. OpenAI was last valued at $852bn following a $122bn raise in late March.
Concerns arose for OpenAI after a stellar SpaceX debut, which raised the Elon Musk company to a valuation of more than $1.7trn, was followed by a slump in shares. At their peak, SpaceX shares were valued at nearly $202 apiece, but have now dropped to $153 per share as of market close yesterday.
Prices have further dropped marginally in after-hours trading, but remain higher than its debut price of $135 a share.
Technology stocks are also tumbling over doubts around whether AI would make good on promised returns. Chip stocks, meanwhile, are gaining as businesses spend hundreds of billions on their AI stack to meet demand.
Despite hopes to be valued at more than $1trn, OpenAI is far from being profitable. The AI start-up made around $13bn in revenue last year and plans to spend about $600bn on computing capacity by 2030. It generates around $2bn in revenue a month.
Sources told CNBC earlier this year that the company projects its total revenue for 2030 to be more than $280bn – around 20-times its 2025 earnings.
Meanwhile, after years of sharp growth in ChatGPT users, OpenAI finds its user base hovering around 900m.
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have built a pixel that handles two jobs in one small package. It can push out light to form images on a surface, while also taking in light and extracting detailed information about what it sees. No previous pixel has managed both tasks at the same time.
Regular pixels have traditionally operated in isolation, with those in screens adjusting brightness and color to bring images to life and those in camera sensors simply soaking up light to record what they see. However, this new version combines those activities into a nice package. It all begins with a fundamental aspect of light: it travels in waves, and when those waves meet, they can either add to or cancel each other out, depending on the timing and direction. The ETH team takes advantage of this, carving small wave-like patterns onto the surface of a tiny chip with nanometer-level precision. These designs turn ordinary light into surface waves, which simply slide across the device before scattering again.
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To form an image, light must enter the carved portion of the pixel, causing a surface wave as it travels. The wave then bounces back out as conventional light from another location on the same pixel. The team can select the exact geometry of the pattern so that the outgoing waves overlap exactly. Bright spots form when the waves collide, whereas dark spots form when they cancel each other out. Fourier analysis, a fundamental mathematical tool, can then turn your chosen image into the precise pattern you need to carve in, with no trial and error required.
This works equally well in reverse for sensing, as incoming light generates surface waves that mix with the chip’s existing continuous reference wave. The pattern generated by this is recorded, and the same math as previously tells you not only how bright the light is, but also when the peaks and valleys occur and in which direction the wave vibrates. Standard camera pixels cannot capture that level of detail.
They even conducted a test in which they built a miniature version of the ETH Zurich logo, a millimetre-tall letter E. They could even make it seem in different hues based on how they tested it, such as green one minute and red the next. Doctoral student Yannik Glauser pointed out that the pixels can shape and read polarization as well as brightness, while postdoctoral researcher Sander Vonk stated that the concept of interference works equally well in both cases. The Optical Materials Engineering Lab’s director, Professor David Norris, sees a wide range of practical applications for this light-related research.
[Source}
from the congress-making-a-mess-of-things-again dept
Within the next week, Congress is preparing to vote on the KIDS Act, a sprawling package of legislation that seeks to control Americans’ web browsing and private messaging. The package includes a revised version of the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, combined with a collection of other internet bills, study bills, reporting requirements, and new regulations. Instead of debating any of these proposals on their merits, lawmakers are attempting to move them all at once under an ultra-expedited process.
The package of cobbled-together bills is a mess, with different age-gating schemes for different services, using different standards. It’s a lot of complexity, and a lot of legal risk. Faced with that, many companies will conclude that the safest option is restrictive age-checking practices across their entire platforms.
Buried inside the KIDS Act are provisions that will push online services to verify all users’ ages, require government-directed moderation policies for online speech, and even create new rules about private and encrypted communications. While supporters continue to claim this bill protects minors online, its requirements come at the expense of privacy, free expression, and the ability of people of all ages to use the internet without revealing sensitive data.
The KIDS Act Pressures Platforms to Check Everyone’s Age
Supporters of KOSA have said the bill doesn’t require age verification. And technically, the KOSA section of the bill does say that KOSA shouldn’t be read to require age verification.
But if you read the rest of the bill, that disclaimer starts to look hollow.
Throughout the KOSA section of the legislation, special protections, controls, messaging settings, and parental tools are required whenever a website or app “knows or should have known” a user is a child (defined in the bill as anyone under 13) or a teen (defined as anyone between 13 and 16 years old).
The problem is a website operator doesn’t need actual knowledge that a user is a minor to get in legal trouble. It applies when a platform “knows or should have known” a user’s age—a low, negligence-style standard of knowledge. If an online service gets it wrong, it’s going to be up to courts and regulators to decide, after the fact, if an online service “should” have known a user was 16.
To try to avoid liability, services will have to determine which users are teenagers and which are not. Most won’t be able to simply trust their users. They’ll have to collect more information about age, before any lawsuit or government action arises. Some companies may respond by requesting driver’s licenses or passports. Others will rely on age-estimation systems that attempt to guess users’ ages by looking at existing activity or doing facial scans. Existing estimation systems make mistakes when estimating children’s ages correctly, which is a big problem when that is the population KOSA is trying to protect. And the systems fail more frequently for people of color, people with disabilities, and trans and nonbinary people.
The bill’s authors seem to know this is a problem. On the one hand, the new KOSA section says age verification is not required. On the other, it repeatedly imposes obligations that depend on knowing whether a user is under 17. But a disclaimer doesn’t magically eliminate legal risk, especially for smaller services and startups that can’t afford to defend lawsuits or fight regulators.
KOSA is not the only part of this package that creates age-verification pressure. The SAFE BOTS Act, like KOSA, goes back to the standard that if a service “knows or should have known” that a user is a minor it can’t offer certain chatbot features.
The SCREEN Act requires services that host sexually explicit content to determine whether users are “more likely than not” under the relevant age limit, before allowing access to certain content.
The consequences of this liability will not be limited to minors. If websites and apps are expected to reliably identify teenagers, adults will be asked to prove they are adults. The result is a less private internet for everyone.
The KIDS Act Pressures Platforms To Police Lawful Speech
The new version of KOSA removes the bill’s infamous “duty of care” provision, a significant change. The revised KOSA requires covered platforms to “establish, implement, maintain, and enforce” policies and procedures addressing several categories of content and conduct.
Some categories, such as true threats and sexual exploitation, involve unlawful activity. Others are much broader. The bill specifically requires policies addressing the “sale or use” of narcotic drugs, tobacco products, cannabis products, gambling, and alcohol. It also restricts discussions around financial fraud.
Sounds straightforward enough. Then you remember how people actually talk—online and off. Can teens discuss addiction and recovery? Can a 15-year-old post that she’s worried she has a friend who is drinking too much? Can they seek advice about a parent’s gambling problem, or get help if they or a family member have been scammed? Can they participate in harm-reduction communities or discuss substance abuse treatment? All of these young people would be engaging in lawful speech when discussing topics covered by KOSA’s enumerated harms.
The bill does not directly ban those conversations. But it places platforms under huge pressure to create and enforce moderation policies around broad categories of lawful speech. Faced with legal risk, many services will inevitably choose to remove that speech or restrict those discussions to spaces where they know only adults can participate. We’ve seen this movie before. When legal risk goes up, platforms will take down more speech.
The KIDS Act Regulates Private Messages, Too
Several provisions of the bill create new rules around direct messages, disappearing or “ephemeral” messages, and AI chat services.
The bill includes language stating that certain KOSA requirements should not be construed to override strong encryption. But the protection is incomplete. The carve-out applies to certain features and messaging controls, but doesn’t apply to KOSA’s separate requirement that platforms “address” a list of harms to minors.
The KIDS Act never answers an obvious question: how exactly is a platform supposed to address those activities if they’re inside encrypted communications that it can’t read? That will create pressure for providers to weaken private communications or limit features on encrypted private services.
That approach is especially troubling when it comes to ephemeral messaging. Disappearing messages are not a “loophole” or a dangerous design trick. They are a useful privacy feature that allows online conversations to function more like ordinary real-world conversations, which are not preserved forever in a permanent database.
Like many other parts of the KIDS Act, these private messaging provisions also depend on websites and apps knowing who is a minor and who is not. The result is more age checks, more restrictions, and less privacy online.
Republished from the EFF’s Deeplinks blog.
Filed Under: 1st amendment, age verification, anonymity, congress, encryption, free speech, house, kids act, kosa, protect the kids, safe bots act, screen act
Old iPod Classics still draw people in with their click wheel, physical buttons, and the simple joy of a dedicated music player that never pushes notifications or drains itself on background apps. The hardware holds up surprisingly well decades later, yet the original design shows its age in daily use. Proprietary cables, failing hard drives, and no easy way to connect wireless headphones turn what should feel timeless into something that requires workarounds.
Tito from Macho Nacho Productions embarks on an ambitious quest to make a completely upgraded 5th Generation iPod Classic using the Moonlit Market Classic Connect 2 kit, and he takes us through every step of the process. The final product appears to be straight out of the past, with its vintage interface and respectable sound signature, but then you realize all of the modern technologies that have been added, such as Bluetooth, USB-C, wireless charging, haptic feedback, and a larger battery. What stands out is how simple this build is in comparison to past custom projects. The kit is mostly assembled, making life much easier. It contains a frosted translucent replacement back shell pre-fitted with the larger battery, wireless charging coil, and main board that handles Bluetooth 5.2 and the haptic motor, as well as a tube of B7000 glue to finish the process. Tito uses it with an iM Cory SD card converter board and a microSD card for storage, discarding the old spinning hard drive because it will not fit with the new one.
Opening the iPod requires some pressure from tiny plastic tools to remove the front and back parts without harming the plastic. Tito disconnects the battery and drive connections before removing the old hard drive. He swiftly cuts the small plastic clip above the screen to create space for the new board. The SD adapter is then inserted into the drive bay and connected to its own ribbon.
The Moonlit board is then attached to the iPod’s main circuit board with a few extra connections. Tito gives it a quick test run before using the B7000 adhesive to keep everything together. He runs into a couple of minor snags along the way, both of which are easily fixed, as he replaces his microSD card with one that the adapter prefers and fixes a dead ribbon on the haptic feedback by reseating the connection and reactivating the vibration motor. These little obstacles highlight how straightforward this method is, as no soldering or specialized electronics knowledge is necessary.
When the adhesive has entirely cured, the finished player feels complete. Bluetooth connectivity works easily with any AirPods or existing headphones, and higher-quality codecs do an outstanding job of preserving fine sound detail, which is frequently lost with basic wireless connections. The USB-C connector supports both charging and file transfers via a single interface, eliminating the need for cords.
Even better, you can just place it on a wireless charging pad and it will charge automatically. The haptic feedback adds a pleasant light touch to each click wheel turn and button press, offering some of the tactile input that the original mechanical design did. The new battery cell hidden beneath the new shell delivers much longer runtime. Tito compares the finished product to the Boxy Pixel aluminum-and-glass kit he showed in an earlier video. The Moonlit option foregoes the luxury machining in favor of a much simpler installation and a few more functions from the start, such as wireless charging and haptics. The translucent frosted surface gives the player a unique appearance while yet feeling like an iPod and not an entirely other device.
When we talk about the scourge of anti-vaxxer philosophy within the federal government, we naturally spend a great deal of that time talking about RFK Jr. He’s the Secretary of Health and Human Services and perhaps the most infamous anti-vaxxer on the planet, after all. But if you thought HHS was the only part of the government infected with this dangerous unscientific nonsense, you’d be wrong.
In April of this year, Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Whatever-We’re-Calling-It-Today, rescinded a requirement for America’s fighting forces to be inoculated against influenza. Why? Well, because it just wasn’t necessary, you see. Also, freedom. Probably bald eagles. Perhaps apple pie and baseball are involved. It’s really anyone’s guess these days. Hegseth stated the following publicly on his decision:
“The notion that a flu vaccine must be mandatory for every service member, everywhere, in every circumstance, at all times, is just overly broad and not rational,” the secretary said. “Our new policy is simple: If you, an American warrior entrusted to defend this nation, believe that the flu vaccine is in your best interest, then you are free to take it; you should. But we will not force you.”
“Our men and women in uniform were forced to choose between their conscience and their country, even when those decisions posed no threat to our military readiness,” Hegseth said. “That era of betrayal is over. Under President [Donald J.] Trump, the War Department continues to take decisive action to once again restore freedom and strength to our joint force. We’re seizing this moment to discard any absurd overreaching mandates that only weaken our warfighting capabilities.
So, to summarize, the requirement that soldiers be vaccinated against influenza was as follows:
- Broad and irrational
- A betrayal
- An absurd and overreaching mandate
- Weakened our fighting forces
- Would be ended and soldiers would no longer be forced to be vaccinated
I assume that analysis still holds, other than the last, now that the military is once again mandating the flu vaccine for its soldiers because, and this will shock you, a bunch of soldiers got sick.
The Army, Navy, and Air Force are once again requiring basic trainees to get vaccinated against influenza after the virus quickly swept through an Air Force base in Texas, sickening at least 222 recruits and hospitalizing four. Last week, news broke of a flu outbreak sweeping through Lackland Air Force Base, part of Joint Base San Antonio in Texas. Two unnamed sources told ABC News that the situation at the base has been worsening.
In addition to the 222 cases and four hospitalizations reported as of Tuesday, one recruit, Keon McDaniel, died. McDaniel was in his sixth week of basic training and suffered a medical emergency on June 12. It’s unclear if his death was related to the outbreak.
ABC News reported that sources think only about 40 percent of the new Air Force trainees at the base were vaccinated and that the outbreak began in early June.
So, according to Hegseth himself mere months ago, sixty percent of the new Air Force trainees at the base are going to be subject to a broad, irrational, absurd, freedom-stealing betrayal mandate to get the flu vaccine? Cool.
It’s absolutely incredible just how shallow the anti-vaxxer mentality can be. Freedom, I am told, is worth fighting and dying for. If a flu vaccine mandate is anti-freedom, why are we letting some illnesses and potential deaths cause us to take actions that are anti-freedom?
The answer is because it isn’t about freedom at all. It’s about placating the dumbest corners of our society just because they happen to be a voting bloc aligned with Donald Trump, a man not exactly known for his incredible good health and fitness.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said that the Pentagon had granted exceptions to Hegseth’s optional flu shot policy to the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Security Agency, and the Defense Health Agency. The exceptions came after a “comprehensive review” and are in line with a standard policy of “adapting force health protection measures to critical operational realities.”
“The decisions were based upon thorough risk assessments and are designed to maximize operational readiness, lethality, and force generation, while safeguarding at-risk populations,” Parnell said.
And that’s any different than the situation three months ago, exactly?
It’s not different at all, of course. Pete Hegseth directly, and of his own accord, managed to get hundreds of soldiers sick, at a minimum. He reduced our war-fighting readiness as a result. And he reversed course the moment the inevitable outcome reared its ugly, feverish, coughing head.
Vaccine mandates are bad when its politically advantageous to say they are, but good when you’re in charge and need to prepare for an invasion of Cuba, or who knows where else.
Filed Under: air force, anti-vaxxers, flu, flu vaccine, pete hegseth, vaccines
LastPass says hackers stole customers’ personal information, support case records, and sales data by breaching market research partner Klue. The password manager told TechCrunch that its own systems and password vaults were unaffected. However, the hackers used their access to obtain “reams of data about LastPass customers,” the report says. From the report: In a blog post that shared information about the incident, LastPass said the hackers took customers’ names, phone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses, as well as customer support case data and sales-related data. It’s not yet known what was in the contents of customer support tickets, although they likely contain fragments of potentially private or sensitive information. Customers typically contact customer service when they are having a billing issue or need assistance in gaining access to their accounts. Past incidents involving customer support tickets have included credentials and government-issued identity documents. The last data breach LastPass reported was in 2022, when hackers stole the company’s entire store of customer password vaults.
OpenAI is making yet another big, visible bet on India. It has appointed former Uber India and South Asia president Prabhjeet Singh as its first managing director for the country to scale its presence in what it has called its second-largest market after the U.S.
Singh, who announced his resignation from Uber on Friday, will join OpenAI in September and report to Kiran Mani, the company’s managing director for Asia Pacific, the company told TechCrunch. He will be responsible for OpenAI’s performance in India across consumer growth, enterprise adoption, partnerships, regulatory engagement, and operations, the company said.
The hire marks OpenAI’s latest investment in India. The company opened its first office in New Delhi last August and earlier this year said it would establish new offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru. In 2024, it hired former Truecaller and Meta executive Pragya Misra to lead public policy and partnerships before expanding her role to head of strategy and global affairs last year. OpenAI had earlier brought on former Twitter India head Rishi Jaitly as a senior adviser to help establish its engagement with the Indian government on AI policy.
Over the past few months, OpenAI struck partnerships in the nation spanning higher education, enterprise payments, AI-powered commerce, and web streaming, while also becoming part of the country’s growing data center build-out. OpenAI has pointed to India’s rapidly growing adoption of ChatGPT as a sign of the market’s importance. Indian conglomerates Reliance and Tata Group are also among its early partners in the market.
The company has simultaneously ramped up hiring in India, with openings including AI deployment engineers, developer experience engineers, a developer marketing lead, a partner director, and solutions engineers.
India has emerged as one of the key battlegrounds for U.S. AI companies, driven by its vast developer base, more than a billion internet users, and surging demand for generative AI. Rival Anthropic opened its India office in Bengaluru in late 2025 and earlier this year named former Microsoft India managing director Irina Ghose as its India head.
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