Sci/Tech News for the World
Google: China's APT31 used Gemini to plan cyberattacks against US orgs
12 February 2026 @ 7:00 am
Meanwhile, IP-stealing 'distillation attacks' on the rise A Chinese government hacking group that has been sanctioned for targeting America's critical infrastructure used Google's AI chatbot, Gemini, to auto-analyze vulnerabilities and plan cyberattacks against US organizations, the company says.…
Starlink speeds past terrestrial networks – and regulators
12 February 2026 @ 6:03 am
Low-earth orbit broadband is a no-brainer for remote area connectivity, but a brain teaser for lawmakers and networkers APRICOT 2026 Starlink can sometimes shift data more quickly than is possible on terrestrial networks, and improves connectivity in remote areas. But the space broadband service also presents new technical and regulatory challenges, according to speakers who took to the stage on Tuesday at the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operational Technologies (APRICOT) in Jakarta, Indonesia.…
Cisco hikes prices to cover memory cost rises, says you don’t much care
12 February 2026 @ 4:45 am
Switchzilla is only getting a small slice of the AI boom, but sees a campus refresh wave cresting Cisco has increased the prices for its hardware to cover the increased cost of memory and says the resulting bigger bills are not changing customers’ buying habits.…
Microsoft warns that poisoned AI buttons and links may betray your trust
12 February 2026 @ 1:07 am
Businesses are embedding prompts that produce content they want you to read, not the stuff AI makes if left to its own devices Amid its ongoing promotion of AI’s wonders, Microsoft has warned customers it has found many instances of a technique that manipulates the technology to produce biased advice.…
Anthropic promises its datacenters totally won't drive up your utility bill
12 February 2026 @ 12:47 am
Compute it leases from Amazon, MIcrosoft, and Google... that's another story Model-maker and SaaS-y AI outfit Anthropic has committed to covering any increases in energy prices paid by consumers caused by its power-hungry datacenters.…
Devilish devs spawn 287 Chrome extensions to flog your browser history to data brokers
11 February 2026 @ 9:23 pm
Add-ons with 37M installs leak visited URLs to 30+ recipients, researcher says They know where you've been and they're going to share it. A security researcher has identified 287 Chrome extensions that allegedly exfiltrate browsing history data for an estimated 37.4 million installations.…
Meta will let users tweak Threads algorithms as long as they ask nicely
11 February 2026 @ 8:50 pm
Only for three days, though, then it's back to the misery feed Meta has decided to let Threads users make custom tweaks to its all-important algorithm, but don't expect your preferences to stick and do expect to bring your best manners.…
Lawmakers demand great wall to keep advanced chipmaking gear out of China
11 February 2026 @ 8:09 pm
Allies that don’t align on chip controls could face US component curbs, they argue Banning sales to Chinese-government-affiliated companies, apparently, is not enough. A bipartisan group of American lawmakers this week called on the Trump administration to enact a blanket ban on the sale of equipment used in the production of advanced semiconductors to all of China.…
AI spurs employees to work harder, faster, and with fewer breaks, study finds
11 February 2026 @ 7:51 pm
Like a puppy, a fun new toy soon turns into an unrelenting taskmaster A Harvard Business Review study is answering the question ‘what will employees do if AI saves them time at work?’ The answer: more work.…
T-Mobile announces its network is now full of AI by rolling out real-time translation
11 February 2026 @ 7:28 pm
This AI is so network native, the telco tells us, that it all works on existing hardware - no datacenters involved T-Mobile is claiming it's now the first wireless carrier to integrate generative AI "directly into a wireless network," and it's rolling out real-time call translation as the first feature delivered on top of its new AI-filled cellular network. …