Russia-linked UAC-0050 targeted a European financial institution using a spoofed Ukrainian domain to deploy RMS remote access malware.
Category: finance
Quantum reservoir computing peaks at the edge of many-body chaos, study suggests
Reservoir computing is a promising machine learning-based approach for the analysis of data that changes over time, such as weather patterns, recorded speech or stock market trends. Classical reservoir computing techniques are known to perform best at the “edge of chaos,” or in simpler terms, at a “sweet spot” in which the behavior of systems is neither entirely predictable (i.e., order) nor completely unpredictable (i.e., chaos).
In recent years, some physicists and quantum engineers have been exploring the possibility of realizing a quantum equivalent of classical reservoir computing, known as quantum reservoir computing (QRC). These approaches enable the processing of temporal data and the prediction of events unfolding over time, leveraging high-dimensional quantum states.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo carried out a study investigating how QRC would behave when applied to complex quantum many-body systems, which consist of several interacting quantum particles. Their paper, published in Physical Review Letters, introduces a physics-based framework that could inform the future development of QRC systems.
FBI: Over $20 million stolen in surge of ATM malware attacks in 2025
The FBI warned that Americans lost more than $20 million last year amid a massive surge in ATM “jackpotting” attacks, in which criminals use malware to force cash machines to dispense money.
According to a Thursday FBI flash alert, more than 700 ATM jackpotting incidents were reported last year alone in a significant spike compared to the roughly 1,900 total incidents reported across the United States since 2020.
These attacks can be carried out in minutes and target the software layer controlling an ATM’s physical hardware, using malicious tools such as the Ploutus malware. Most often, they go undetected by financial institutions and ATM operators until the cash is already gone.
Hackers target Microsoft Entra accounts in device code vishing attacks
Threat actors are targeting technology, manufacturing, and financial organizations in campaigns that combine device code phishing and voice phishing (vishing) to abuse the OAuth 2.0 Device Authorization flow and compromise Microsoft Entra accounts.
Unlike previous attacks that utilized malicious OAuth applications to compromise accounts, these campaigns instead leverage legitimate Microsoft OAuth client IDs and the device authorization flow to trick victims into authenticating.
This provides attackers with valid authentication tokens that can be used to access the victim’s account without relying on regular phishing sites that steal passwords or intercept multi-factor authentication codes.
Police arrests 651 suspects in African cybercrime crackdown
African law enforcement agencies arrested 651 suspects and recovered over $4.3 million in a joint operation targeting investment fraud, mobile money scams, and fake loan applications.
As INTERPOL revealed on Wednesday, Operation Red Card 2.0 identified 1,247 victims between December 8 and January 30 while targeting cybercrime operations linked to over $45 million in financial losses.
Authorities across 16 countries also seized 2,341 devices and took down 1,442 malicious websites, domains, and servers during this joint action coordinated by the African Joint Operation against Cybercrime (AFJOC).
The Deflationary Singularity: Why Everything is Going to ZERO w/ Salim Ismail
The rapid advancement of technologies, particularly AI, is driving the world towards an economic singularity where the marginal cost of essentials approaches zero, leading to a deflationary future and a potential transformation of traditional systems and societies ##
## Questions to inspire discussion.
Education Transformation.
🎓 Q: How will AI reduce education time while improving effectiveness?
A: AI will customize education to each child’s learning style, reducing daily learning time to 1 hour per day while delivering 5 times more effective learning compared to traditional methods, with costs falling to zero within 3–5 years and breaking the university industry that currently creates massive student debt.
Healthcare Revolution.
Dario Amodei — “We are near the end of the exponential”
Predicts significant advancements in AI capabilities within the next decade, which will have a profound impact on society, economy, and individuals, and emphasizes the need for careful governance, equitable distribution of benefits, and responsible development to mitigate risks and maximize benefits ## ## Questions to inspire discussion.
AI Scaling and Progress.
Q: What are the key factors driving AI progress according to the scaling hypothesis?
A: Compute, data quantity and quality, training duration, and objective functions that can scale massively drive AI progress, per Dario Amodei’s “Big Blob of Compute Hypothesis” from 2017.
Q: Why do AI models trained on broad data distributions perform better?
A: Models like GPT-2 generalize better when trained on wide variety of internet text rather than narrow datasets like fanfiction, leading to superior performance on diverse tasks.
Overtime with Bill Maher: Jonathan Haidt, Stephanie Ruhle, H.R. McMaster (HBO)
Artificial intelligence is rapidly advancing to the point where it may be able to write its own code, potentially leading to significant job displacement, societal problems, and concerns about unregulated use in areas like warfare.
## Questions to inspire discussion.
Career Adaptation.
🎯 Q: How should workers prepare for AI’s impact on employment? A: 20% of jobs including coders, medical, consulting, finance, and accounting roles will be affected in the next 5 years, requiring workers to actively learn and use large language models to enhance productivity or risk being left behind in the competitive landscape.
Economic Policy.
📊 Q: What systemic response is needed for AI-driven job displacement? A: Government planning is essential to manage massive economic transitions and job losses as AI’s exponential growth reaches a tipping point, extending beyond manufacturing into white-collar professions across multiple sectors.