An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: A hacker broke into more than 100 websites using an army of AI agents that mostly operated on their own, according to findings from the AI security firm Norforge. Though Norforge doesn't name the targets, Reuters reports that the victims included companies like John Deere, SharkNinja, and Cummins.
[...] Researchers at Norforge uncovered the attacks through exposed work on Cairn, an open-source AI platform that describes itself as a "general-purpose problem-solving engine." With Cairn, users set a start and end point for the AI agents, which document their progress as they move forward with the task. However, as noted by Norforge, hackers can also use the tool to orchestrate cyberattacks using AI agents.
The hacker who broke into more than 100 sites was the "most active" among the exposed Cairn instances discovered by Norforge, waging attacks on companies based in the US, Canada, Australia, and Japan, as reported by Reuters. This attacker laid out "preferred intrusion tactics" using fewer than 100 Chinese characters, with successful breaches taking about 23 hours, according to Reuters. Overall, Nordforge found more than 20 exposed Cairn instances that are "likely malicious." A John Deere spokesperson said there is "no indication that sensitive information was accessed" as a result of the attack, while Cummins said it's "investigating the report of a potential cyber-attack on a website operated by one of our third-party vendors."
Meanwhile, SharkNinja says the breach impacted a standalone site with product support information, and that it has contained the threat.
Florida's DMV says a September 4 breach exposed driver's license and motor vehicle records after attackers obtained credentials that a local law-enforcement employee had "improperly stored on an electronic device." The ShinyHunters group has been linked to the intrusion. Ars Technica reports: In a notice posted Friday, [Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV)] confirmed that it took "immediate steps" after discovering that "a malicious actor accessed certain department records on September 4, 2026, using compromised credentials." There's "no evidence" that data has yet been misused, the department said, but law enforcement "determined the information potentially affected includes driver license and motor vehicle data, to include document images, and other personal information."
[...] On a webpage describing the security incident, FLHSMV confirmed that an "international cybercriminal organization" was behind the breach but did not specify which group or how long they had access. Instead, officials claimed to have "promptly mitigated the breach, launched an investigation, and issued required notification to state authorities." Mitigations included "blocking unauthorized access, resetting relevant user credentials, engaging cybersecurity professionals, and implementing additional safeguards to protect sensitive information," FLHSMV said. Florida's investigation is "ongoing," officials said, but a cybercriminal group called ShinyHunters -- which recently claimed credit for hacking the FBI -- may have stolen the data. Florida residents affected by the breach will receive a letter offering one year of free credit monitoring through Sontiq, Inc. Those whose contact information is outdated can email the FLHSMV at customerinquiry@flhsmv.gov to determine whether their data was compromised.
Following its October 13 HomeView launch, Apple is gearing up for its second hardware event of the month. The event is scheduled for October 28 in Los Angeles and carries the tagline "Pro and tell." 9to5Mac reports: Rumors say Apple has a slew of new products to announce at its next event, headlining by its first MacBook Pro with a touchscreen and OLED. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, here's what's on the docket:
- New 14-inch and 16-inch touchscreen MacBook Pro models with OLED displays. They will also have a Dynamic Island for the first time and will be "significantly lighter" than the current models. The new MacBook Pro models are expected to be powered by the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips.
- A revamped iPad mini with an OLED screen, a "revamped speaker system," and a relocated FaceTime camera
- New iMac and entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro models powered by the M6 chip, which will "look like their current versions."
Donald Trump and JD Vance deployed a familiar US playbook on Europe, claiming that immigrants were responsible for rioting in France that began as student protests against crumbling schools and the high cost of living.
The nationwide protests on Saturday were called over rising fuel prices and falling purchasing power, and in several cities they escalated into clashes with police that left a historic town hall torched and led to 1,800 arrests. On Monday, overnight curfews were issued for a number of French cities, including parts of Paris.
System can estimate a person’s biological age and predict chances of cancer survival from a single photograph
Doctors have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can predict a cancer patient’s chances of survival from a single photograph of their face.
The AI system was custom-built by experts at Mass General Brigham, a nonprofit, integrated academic healthcare system in Massachusetts, to estimate biological age and directly predict survival outcomes in patients diagnosed with cancer.
Roberto De Zerbi said that Tottenham are playing with more togetherness after holding a clear-the-air meeting before their recent game with Manchester United.
Spurs went on to draw 1-1 with 10 men against United and are out of the bottom three after beating Coventry 3-1 at home on Monday night. De Zerbi felt the performance against Coventry could have been better but was happy with his side’s attitude as they claimed their first Premier League win of the season.
Elk, bear, frogs and other animals have used the overpass, which connects 39,000 acres of habitat, since its completion
Colorado officials have tracked herds of elk, bears, pronghorn and even northern leopard frogs ambling across its new wildlife overpass. According to a newly released report, the overpass, which acts as a bridge over a busy stretch of interstate, has cut wildlife-vehicle collisions by 91% since its completion 10 months ago.
“One of the most heartwarming moments for me was when [Colorado department of transportation] sent me a picture of an elk mama taking her calf under [Interstate-25],” Brandon Marette, a wildlife biologist for Colorado parks and wildlife, told CBS News. “All came to fruition in that one moment. That elk with her calf was just standing there in safety.”
Victorian independent MP Helen Haines was at the opening of a dog park in Mansfield on Monday, out and about the sprawling northern Victorian electorate, talking to locals and moving freely.
Later in the afternoon, at 3.35pm, she was unpacking a car outside her electorate office when a man understood to be known to authorities struck her with his car. He allegedly completed a U-turn when he saw Haines.
Tottenham are level with Beyoncé at last. Progress is represented in Roberto De Zerbi’s side earning only their sixth home win in the Premier League since November 2024. Cynics will point out that this spectacular stadium has hosted as many Beyoncé gigs during that time, but Spurs are finally singing a happier tune after dragging themselves out of the bottom three thanks to a messy but gritty 3-1 win over Coventry.
It was not especially convincing. Coventry raged at the second Spurs goal, delivered when Omar Marmoush responded to Jack Rudoni’s equaliser for the visitors with a vicious effort in the 59th minute. Relief poured out of Marmoush after his first goal since joining on loan from Manchester City, but should it have stood? The Egyptian forward, who otherwise had a quiet game, was fortunate not to be penalised for an elbow on Milan van Ewijk.
I always enjoy winter photography in Australia better than summer. Not only less chance of sunburn but with the sun in the northern sky, the light is more manageable all day. This shot was taken looking north from Victoria Point. The coastline south of Brisbane in the City of Redlands has great opportunities for maritime type shots.
The midday sun is highlighting the various boats lapping in the quiet waves.
A group of Texans believe they’ve discovered evidence that the state’s environmental regulatory agency has continued to issue permits to data centers despite Governor Greg Abbott’s call for it to stop.
The nonprofits Public Citizen and FracTracker Alliance, working with local activists in Texas, looked through the public database of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and discovered that the organization has worked on multiple permits for data center projects since Abbott called for a pause in the process on September 21. Abbott’s office denied approving any new permits in a statement to 404 Media.
According to Public Citizen and the FracTracker Alliance, which cite documents publicly available on the TCEQ’s website, the agency has reviewed documents and assigned engineers related to more than a dozen permits related to data center projects in the state. Public Citizen listed more than 15 and the Fractracker Alliance found 35. The same day the nonprofits announced their findings, The Texas Tribune published a report that Abbott had received $9 million in donations from developers and owners of data centers.
According to the documents reviewed by 404 Media, TCEQ issued air-emission limit certificates to a large data center in Houston; approved the construction of stormwater coverage for data centers in Abilene, Barstow, and Royse City; and fast tracked gas power plants for more than a dozen data center projects.
“The TCEQ’s own data indicates that it’s business as usual for data centers and affected communities were promised a freeze. And instead what they’re getting is another reason to distrust the TCEQ and ultimately ineffective attempts to govern by press release,” Kathryn Guerra of Public Citizen said during a press conference on Monday about the findings. “Absent any comprehensive guardrails imposed by the Texas legislature, the industry will continue to move forward as fast as it can, and the TCEQ may let it.”
"They're still putting in that power plant, and there ain't nothing me and my people can do about it. We're just going to have to keep that boot on our neck. It ain’t right.”
Texas is poised to be the data center capital of the world. Three hundred already operate in the state, 100 are under construction, and 200 more are being planned. The projects include Big Tech companies like Meta — which is constructing a $14 billion data center in El Paso — smaller scale local projects like one in Taylor that would be built on land meant for a public park, and massive startups like the nuclear-powered Fermi data center in Amarillo.
In general, people hate data centers and it’s become a major political issue for voters in Texas. On September 21, Abbott directed the TCEQ to “halt all permits sought by data centers.” Abbott said he’d told the state’s water and electric utility agencies to audit all the projects and directed “the TCEQ to pause the issuance of all permits related to data center projects until [the Electric Reliability Council of Texas] completes its review.”
Abbott’s order is broad and data centers are large and complicated construction projects with a lot of moving parts that require dozens of permits and plans. It’s possible that some of the permits uncovered by the nonprofits were filed before Abbott’s September 21 pause.
Many, however, were clearly issued afterward. Twelve of the 14 applications for gas plants and generators were filed in October. TCEQ used an expedited review process for eight of them. One was an air permit for engines and turbines that would power a data center in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas. The builder submitted the permit for expedited review on October 6 and a TCEQ engineer completed the initial review two days later, according to publicly available documents reviewed by 404 Media.
“No permits have been approved,” Governor Abbot’s press secretary Andrew Mahaleris told 404 Media. “In line with the Governor’s directive, TCEQ has not taken and will not take any proactive actions related to the approval of data center permits. Likewise, no other state agency will approve data center-related permits until the Public Utility Commission, ERCOT, and the Water Development Board have the information they need to make informed decisions. Texans must come first.”
404 Media asked Abbott’s office why there are multiple data center related stormwater construction projects listed as “approved” and was told to talk to TCEQ, which did not respond.
💡
Do you know anything else about this story? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at +1 347 762-9212 or send me an email at matthew@404media.co.
Sam Law, a researcher and manager of communications at FracTracker Alliance, told 404 Media that TCEQ gave him “a more exacting interpretation of their own situation,” he said. “Which is that they are accepting applications, but not moving forward with reviewing them. That was shown to not be true.”
Law also noted that the stormwater construction permits that read as “approved” in the TCEQ system are the result of a regulatory loophole. “The state has just approved a generic construction stormwater permit, and then to get onto that permit, people file a notice of intent and then they add them to a pre-existing permit,” Law said.
The stormwater construction permit is required to raise and level ground. “It’s often the final approval needed to move forward to prepare the site to actually build the physical structure," he added. In areas where there’s no zoning restrictions or the city is unincorporated, then that permit is all a company needs to start building.
“The Caldwell Technology Park [...] the Stargate facility, and a bunch of other very large hyperscale facilities have gotten regulatory approvals in the form of this notice of intent, so it's not like a real pause,” he said.
Law said he believes Abbott is trying to project opposition to data centers without doing the real regulatory work. “If the point of the pause is to stop the sort of approvals of data centers, that's not what's been happening,” he said.
Multiple data center projects are underway in Abilene, Texas — including OpenAI’s Stargate project. According to TCEQ’s records, it issued a water quality permit for the Abilene data center on September 23. “We are, in fact, going to get a massive gas turbine plant right to people’s houses,” Abilene resident and Democratic state senate candidate Riley Rodriquez said during Public Citizen’s press conference.
Rodriquez said that residents had gotten letters from TCEQ about the incoming gas plant and how it might affect air quality in the region. The people of Abilene have fought and won the right to testify at upcoming public hearings.
“At the end of the day they’re going to flip that switch. Doesn't matter what we have to say at that public hearing, and I know that is a doom and gloom way to look at this. But that's the fact,” Rodriquez said. “The fact of the matter is, we can go to that. We can have the best comments. We can have the best information [...] and I could have 500,000 people behind me, and it doesn't matter because they're going to flip that switch because they put the money on it anyways. And we got to live with that — with those consequences.”
Rodriquez said the people of the region found out about Stargate too late to do anything about it. “We're in a unique situation for us because we didn't have a chance to do any of the things that these great people are doing. We didn't have a chance to do any of that. ‘It was built, concrete's poured, generators are going in, boys. Sorry,’” he said.
“So Abbott made his announcement. That's really great, that's really awesome,” Rodriquez said. “Guess what? They're still putting in that power plant, and there ain't nothing me and my people can do about it. We're just going to have to keep that boot on our neck. It ain’t right.”
In his September 21 letter, Abbott said he’d ordered the pause because “the goal is to put Texans first.”
CANBERRA (ANP/AFP) - De Australische parlementariër die vermoedelijk expres werd aangereden, verkeert nog altijd in kritieke toestand, verklaarde premier Anthony Albanese. Helen Haines is inmiddels geopereerd en ligt nog in het ziekenhuis.
Albanese omschreef de aanrijding als een "gewelddadige aanval". Hij sprak met de man van Haines en benadrukte dat "de gedachten van alle Australiërs" bij de familie en vrienden van het slachtoffer zijn.
De aanval vormt volgens de premier een karaktertest voor Australië. Hij wil dat mensen op een respectvolle manier hun meningsverschillen uiten en dat de Australische democratie "sterk blijft".
Mes
De 65-jarige Haines is een onafhankelijk parlementariër. Ze wordt geprezen voor haar inzet voor transparantie in de politiek en tegen corruptie.
De 43-jarige automobilist die op haar was ingereden, werd overmeesterd door burgers en is gearresteerd. In zijn auto bleek een mes te liggen.
ROTTERDAM (ANP) - Turnster Naomi Visser (25) heeft zich bij de WK in Rotterdam geplaatst voor de meerkamp- en brugfinale. Visser was in Rotterdam de enige Nederlandse vrouw die zich voor de finales wist te plaatsen.
Met de Nederlandse ploeg, die verder bestond uit Sanne Wevers, Sanna Veerman, Vera Ubbink en Vera van Pol, liep Visser de landenfinale mis. Nederland eindigde als elfde (158,029 punten), terwijl China (164,996) zich als eerste plaatste voor de eindstrijd met de acht beste teams.
Visser plaatste zich aan de brug als gedeeld vierde (14,466) voor de finale waarin de beste acht turnsters in actie komen. Olympisch kampioene Kayla Nemour uit Algerije was de beste in de kwalificaties aan de brug (14,933).
In de meerkamp plaatste Visser zich met een totaal van 53,965 punten als achtste voor de finale met de beste 24 turnsters. Ook daar was Nemour de beste (55,999). Wevers kwam op balk ruim tekort voor een plek in de balkfinale en kondigde na afloop van de kwalificatie haar afscheid aan.
