https://techxplore.com/rss-feed/security-news/ en-us The latest news on cyber security, network security, software vulnerabilities, data leaks, malware, and viruses The use of biometric data in personal devices has been popular with consumers for tracking things like heart rate and sleep stages, but it is becoming increasingly common for identification purposes too. Identifying data can be used for device security authentication, secure access control and identity verification for financial transactions, which can make everyday activities like making purchases, using devices or entering your home more convenient, while providing enhanced security. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-earphone-users-heartbeat-authentication.html Hi Tech & Innovation Thu, 21 May 2026 13:50:01 EDT news698589354 Patrick Traynor, Ph.D., has questions. When the professor and interim chair of the University of Florida Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering saw reports in the media positing that scientific literature is increasingly being generated by artificial intelligence, he wondered, "How do they know?" https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-detectors-probe-efficacy-danger-ai.html Security Wed, 20 May 2026 13:20:07 EDT news698500982 A new University of California San Diego study unveils the first empirical evidence that a modern artificial intelligence system can pass the Turing test—a major scientific benchmark that asks whether a machine can imitate human conversation so convincingly that people can't reliably tell it apart from a real person. In a series of experiments, people were often unable to tell the difference between humans and advanced large language models (LLMs). https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-ai-human-real-humans-classic.html Security Tue, 19 May 2026 17:40:06 EDT news698430421 It's a choice you may face multiple times a day—and, at this point, your reaction is probably reflexive. Are you going to accept those internet cookies, reject them, or spend a little time customizing your settings? https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-internet-cookies-web.html Internet Mon, 18 May 2026 14:10:01 EDT news698331560 Google said Monday that it had disrupted a criminal group's attempt to use artificial intelligence to exploit another company's previously unknown digital vulnerability, adding to heightened worries across government and private industry about AI's risks for cybersecurity. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-google-disrupts-hackers-ai-exploit.html Security Mon, 11 May 2026 13:00:08 EDT news697722295 A study conducted by researchers at IMDEA Networks Institute has revealed that ChatGPT (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic), Grok, and Perplexity AI use different types of trackers from Meta, Google, TikTok and other companies, potentially exposing data about users' conversations and activity. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-conversations-ai-private.html Security Thu, 07 May 2026 09:40:04 EDT news697365181 Large language models (LLMs), the computational models underpinning the functioning of ChatGPT, Gemini, and similar conversational platforms, are now used daily by many people worldwide. As these models can rapidly answer queries about most topics, many users use them to source information related to their personal and professional lives, sometimes sharing information about themselves. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-ai-personality-traits-chatgpt-history.html Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 05 May 2026 10:00:11 EDT news697193407 A research team led by Virginia Tech cybersecurity expert Bimal Viswanath has found a critical blind spot in today's image protection techniques designed to prevent bad actors from stealing online content for unauthorized artificial intelligence training, style mimicry, and deepfake manipulations. The study is published on the arXiv preprint server. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-digital-content-safe-generative-ai.html Security Mon, 04 May 2026 15:40:03 EDT news697125482 Cybercriminals have been struggling to adopt AI in their work, reports the first-of-its-kind study that analyzed a dataset of 100 million posts from underground cybercrime communities. The study is published on the arXiv preprint server. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-ai-inroads-cybercriminals.html Security Mon, 04 May 2026 15:00:06 EDT news697124462 Evolutionary biology holds clues for the future of AI, argue researchers from the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Eötvös Loránd University, and the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts. In a new Perspective published April 20 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team warn that evolvable AI (eAI) systems that can undergo Darwinian evolution may soon emerge, and they will generate special risks that can be understood, and mitigated, based on insights from evolutionary biology. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-evolving-ai-agi-hard.html Security Wed, 29 Apr 2026 17:20:09 EDT news696701761 As quantum computers advance, they are expected to be able to break tried-and-true security schemes that currently keep most sensitive data secure from attackers. Scientists and policymakers are working to design and implement post-quantum cryptography to defend against these future attacks. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-needle-chip-pacemakers-insulin-quantum.html Hi Tech & Innovation Thu, 23 Apr 2026 15:00:03 EDT news696174481 Using generative AI to design, train, or perform steps within a machine-learning system is risky, argues computer scientist Micheal Lones in a paper appearing in Patterns. Though large language models (LLMs) could expand the capabilities of machine-learning systems and decrease costs and labor needs, Lones warns that using them reduces transparency and control for the people developing and using these systems and increases the risk of malicious cyberattacks, data leaks, and bias against underrepresented groups. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-generative-ai-machine-cyberattacks-leaks.html Security Wed, 22 Apr 2026 11:00:09 EDT news695918949 Conversational AI tools denied blunt requests for harmful content by researchers posing as intimate partner abusers, but these guardrails were easily circumvented when they requested the content under false pretenses, a new Cornell Tech study has found. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-ai-safer-victims-intimate-partner.html Security Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:40:09 EDT news695560863 A cross-institutional research team has developed Co-Located Authentication and Processing (CLAP), a privacy-preserving system that overcomes the trade-off between security and performance in edge computing devices. The study, titled "Privacy-preserving data analysis using a memristor chip with co-located authentication and processing," is published in Science Advances. The team was led by Professor Ngai Wong and Dr. Zhengwu Liu from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), in collaboration with Tsinghua University and the Southern University of Science and Technology. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-memristor-chip-combines-memory-edge.html Hardware Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:20:04 EDT news694695661 A team led by Rutgers University researchers has developed a security system that could change how people log in to virtual and augmented reality platforms by eliminating passwords, personal identification numbers and eye scans and replacing them with something far more seamless. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-vibrations-skull-password.html Hi Tech & Innovation Tue, 31 Mar 2026 06:39:38 EDT news694157757 Researchers from the University of Huddersfield have developed a hybrid AI tool to detect patterns of psychological abuse, including coercive control, in a bid to transform digital forensic investigations and mental health research.This innovation was developed as a primary outcome of Researcher Dhruv Patel's Ph.D. work under the mentorship of senior lecturer Dr. Anju Johnson and is designed to address a bottleneck in modern digital forensic investigations, integrating insights from a broader research team to ensure its real-world application. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-hybrid-ai-tool-unmasks-hidden.html Security Wed, 25 Mar 2026 14:00:08 EDT news693663961 Researchers have discovered a major security leak hiding in plain sight on the internet that could expose the personal data and financial records of millions of people. In a paper published on the arXiv preprint server, Nurullah Demir of Stanford University and colleagues analyzed 10 million websites to see how often API (application programming interfaces) credentials are exposed. These are digital keys or tokens that enable different software programs to communicate and are often used to process bank payments and access cloud storage. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-thousands-websites-accidentally-sensitive.html Internet Wed, 25 Mar 2026 12:40:04 EDT news693658041 Researchers have discovered that some of the elements of AI neural networks that contribute to data-privacy vulnerabilities are also key to the performance of those models. The researchers used this new information to develop a technique that better balances performance and privacy protection in these models. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-ai-privacy-leaks-hinge-high.html Security Tue, 24 Mar 2026 12:00:01 EDT news693570229 AI-generated images and videos pose a threat to democratic processes and undermine trust within society. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now developed chip technology that enables verification of the authenticity of sensor data including images or videos. Their study is published in the journal Nature Electronics. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-sensor-chips-deepfakes-adding-cryptographic.html Hardware Tue, 24 Mar 2026 10:30:10 EDT news693565096 Researchers have identified key components in large language models (LLMs) that play a critical role in ensuring these AI systems provide safe responses to user queries. The researchers used these insights to develop and demonstrate AI training techniques that improve LLM safety while minimizing the "alignment tax," meaning the AI becomes safer without significantly affecting performance. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-neuron-technique-llms-users-unsafe.html Security Mon, 23 Mar 2026 12:10:01 EDT news693484740 Imagine it is two weeks before a major election in a closely contested state. A controversial ballot measure is on the line. Suddenly, a wave of posts floods X, Reddit, and Facebook, all pushing the same narrative, all amplifying each other, all generating the appearance of a massive grassroots movement. Except none of it is real. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-ai-agents-autonomously-propaganda-campaigns.html Security Thu, 12 Mar 2026 14:40:05 EDT news692544181 Consumers, businesses, and institutions may soon have private, secure, and trustworthy generative AI tools for editing and sharing profile photos, ID images, and personal pictures without exposing their private identities to external platforms. Purdue University researchers Vaneet Aggarwal, Dipesh Tamboli, and Vineet Punyamoorty have developed the patent-pending system, which is utilized before and after photos are uploaded to an AI editing platform. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-privacy-tech-identity-leaking-ai.html Security Thu, 12 Mar 2026 14:20:05 EDT news692543641 An AI defense system has successfully detected and neutralized sophisticated 5G cyber-attacks in less than a tenth of a second, paving the way for more secure 5G and future 6G mobile networks, say researchers at the University of Surrey. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-ai-powered-defense-5g-cyber.html Security Tue, 10 Mar 2026 11:20:07 EDT news692359742 Engineers at UNSW Sydney and Monash have developed an innovative way of sending hidden information that's hard to intercept. Using a phenomenon known as "negative luminescence," the system works by making signals blend perfectly into the background of natural heat radiation, such as can be seen with a thermal camera. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-negative-technology-plain-sight.html Telecom Mon, 09 Mar 2026 11:00:03 EDT news692270762 A dubious link from a friend. A headline too sensational to be true. A video that seems fake but you can't be sure. As online misinformation grows harder to detect, new artificial-intelligence tools promise to help us separate fact from fiction. But do they actually work? https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-ai-fake-news-detectors-accurate.html Security Mon, 09 Mar 2026 08:20:01 EDT news692262086 The internet is rife with anonymous accounts as users adopt pseudonyms, sometimes for genuine reasons like speaking freely, and other times for nefarious ones. But this era of online privacy could be coming to a close. In a study available on the arXiv preprint server, researchers demonstrate that large language models (LLMs) can identify the people behind these accounts at scale. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-ai-online-anonymity.html Security Wed, 04 Mar 2026 12:40:04 EST news691850205 Artificial intelligence models can now clone a voice with just a few seconds of audio, fueling a surge of deepfake songs online and creating a growing crisis for musicians who don't want their voices hijacked. Beyond the obvious intellectual property rights issue, this can lead to lost revenue and take an emotional toll on artists who put their heart and soul into their songs. But researchers now have a solution. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-deepfake-songs-tool.html Security Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:20:10 EST news691780081 There are some things perhaps we might not want artificial intelligence to handle, at least for the time being. When leading chatbots were put through war-game simulations, they opted for nuclear signaling or escalation in 95% of cases. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-ai-escalates-nuclear-action-war.html Security Mon, 02 Mar 2026 13:20:03 EST news691678634 Researchers at IMDEA Networks Institute, together with European partners, have found that tire pressure sensors in modern cars can unintentionally expose drivers to tracking. Over a ten-week study, they collected signals from more than 20,000 vehicles, revealing a hidden privacy risk and highlighting the need for stronger security measures in future vehicle sensor systems. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-02-car-sensors-track.html Security Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:00:05 EST news691252054 A paper written by University of Florida Computer & Information Science & Engineering, or CISE, Professor Sumit Kumar Jha, Ph.D., contains so many science fiction terms, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's a Hollywood script: Nullspace steering. Red teaming. Jailbreaking the matrix. But Jha's work is decidedly focused on real life, most notably strengthening the security measures built into AI tools to ensure they are safe for all to use. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-02-jailbreaking-matrix-bypassing-ai-guardrails.html Security Sun, 22 Feb 2026 12:00:01 EST news690803473