Latest posts

  • Britons warned about Russian hackers targeting internet routers for espionage

    Expert stresses importance of staying alert for unusual activity, as hackers could ‘take you to fake sites’ UK politics live – latest updates Russian hackers are exploiting commonly sold internet routers to harvest information for espionage purposes, the UK’s cybersecurity agency has said. The hack could allow attackers to obtain users’ credentials, redirect them to…

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  • Children in UK report online sextortion attempts in record numbers

    Exclusive: Call for nudity-detection tech on phones as number of under-18s reporting blackmail attempts rises by 34% • ‘I felt ashamed and scared’: how an online friendship became a sextortion nightmare Children are reporting online sextortion attempts in record numbers in the UK, as campaigners urge tech companies to do more to stamp out the…

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  • An AI bot invited me to its party in Manchester. It was a pretty good night

    After forgetting the nibbles, refusing my costume requests and emailing GCHQ, ‘Gaskell’ did at least get us to show up Two weeks ago, an AI bot invited me to a party it was organising in Manchester. It then promptly lied to dozens of potential sponsors that I’d agreed to cover the event, and misled me…

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  • UK’s leading AI research institute told to make ‘significant’ changes

    Alan Turing Institute told by funder to offer better strategy and more value for money after board was reminded of legal duties by watchdog The UK’s leading AI research institute has been told to make “significant” changes by its main source of taxpayer funding. The Guardian revealed last week that the board of the Alan…

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  • UK social media users less active on tech platforms due to rise of video apps

    Ofcom research shows people also concerned old posts could affect personal or professional life Social media users in the UK are becoming less active on tech platforms due to the rise of video apps and fears that posts could come back to haunt them, according to the communications watchdog. Ofcom said just under half of…

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  • World’s oldest tortoise caught in viral crypto death scam

    Fake X account posing as his vet sparked global false reports of Jonathan’s death while soliciting crypto donations At 194 years old, Jonathan the giant tortoise was a youngster when Queen Victoria ascended to the throne – and has now lived long enough to fall victim to a crypto scam. News outlets including the BBC,…

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  • Palantir’s UK boss criticises ‘ideological’ groups as ministers move to scrap NHS contract

    Louis Mosley says government should resist calls to trigger break clause in £330m deal with US analytics company UK politics live – latest updates Palantir’s UK boss has urged the government not to give in to “ideologically motivated campaigners” as government ministers explore a way out of a £330m NHS contract with the tech company.…

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  • Keir Starmer says UK will ‘have to act’ to curb addictive features of social media

    In his strongest intervention yet, PM says some features ‘shouldn’t be permitted’, while education secretary says things ‘are going to change’ Keir Starmer has backed banning addictive social media features in his strongest intervention yet on curbs that could be placed on tech companies, saying the features “shouldn’t be permitted”. The prime minister said the…

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  • ‘Soon publishers won’t stand a chance’: literary world in struggle to detect AI-written books

    US release of horror novel Shy Girl cancelled and UK book discontinued after suspected AI use, as publishers feel ‘cold shiver’ Recently, the literary agent Kate Nash started noticing that the submission letters she was receiving from authors were becoming more thorough – albeit also more formulaic. “I took it as a rise in diligence,”…

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  • ‘Our assumptions are broken’: how fraudulent church data revealed AI’s threat to polling

    Experts say paid participants are using automated tools to generate unreliable survey responses at scale If you had been keeping tabs on the news about church attendance in Britain lately, you would be forgiven for thinking the country was in the midst of a Christian revival. Stories of swelling congregations, filled with young people returning…

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