Latest news with #getty
Toronto Star
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Trump announces more trade deals as deadline looms for higher tariffs on Canada
US President Donald Trump speaks alongside Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2025. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS AFP via getty images flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false :
Forbes
a day ago
- Forbes
Password Hack Warning As New Threat Jumps From Your Laptop To Phone
Scanception password attack magically jumps from laptop to smartphone. getty Update, July 22, 2025: This story, originally published on July 20, has been updated with an expert counterpoint to the idea that it's the delivery mechanism being what's important in the latest password hack attack analysis. Your passwords are under attack. It really is as simple as that. I mean, it's not surprising when 98.5% fail the most basic password hacking test, and cross-service password reuse just adds fuel to the credentials attack fire. Behind much of this barrage of threat actor activity lies one tactic: phishing. One newly analysed and ongoing password hacking campaign, given the name Scanception by security researchers, uses a transitional tactic to switch the attack from your laptop to your smartphone, which is likely to have much less protection. Here's what you need to know. Forbes Microsoft Confirms Global SharePoint Attack — Emergency Update Issued By Davey Winder At the heart of the Scanception password hack campaign, as analyzed by the Cyble Research & Intelligence Labs team, is an old friend of the Forbes cybersecurity section, quishing. Oh my goodness, I just used that awful word, didn't I? QR code phishing, to be a little longer-winded but much less cheesy, is where the scanning of a QR code takes the unsuspecting user to a malicious site where harm can be done. That might be by way of malware downloads, including infostealers, or more straightforward credential theft involving a cloned account login page. 'The attack chain typically begins with a phishing email containing a PDF lure that urges recipients to scan an embedded QR code,' the Cyble report said, noting this technique 'effectively bypasses traditional email security and endpoint protection controls by shifting the attack surface to unmanaged personal mobile devices.' In the space of just 12 short weeks, the threat actors behind the Scanception campaign, which is very much still active, ongoing and evolving, have used at least 600 unique PDF document lures, and Cyble reported that 'nearly 80% of the quishing PDFs we observed had zero detections on VirusTotal.' The attack has so far targeted a broad sweep of users across North America, EMEA and APAC regions, and high-value industries appear to be favored by the threat actors behind the campaign. These include tech, healthcare, manufacturing and financial sectors. Rather cleverly, the attackers have embedded the malicious QR code at the very end of a four-page PDF that appears legitimate. No doubt intended to evade those detection methods that only scan the start of a document, rather than the whole thing. To scan the QR code and access the further information it promises, the user must use their smartphone camera, thereby shifting the attack from the laptop to the phone. Forbes Amazon Ring Doorbell May 28 Mass Hacking Claim Goes Viral By Davey Winder The Cyble Research & Intelligence Labs team recommended the following mitigation measures: The deployment of email security solutions that are able to inspect both attachments and, importantly, embedded QR codes. Expanding security protections beyond the network perimeter. Monitoring for malicious domains and URLs. Emphasizing the dangers of QR-based attacks to staff. Clever New QR Code Password Hack Or Same Phishing Playbook That's Been Used For 20 Years? Not everyone, it has to be said, agrees with the idea that the latest QR code password hack attack campaign is anything new or sophisticated. I don't disagree with this opinion, in as far as QR phishing is, after all, just phishing when all is said and done. What's more, such 'quishing' attacks are not new either. I did think that the delivery mechanism, especially the way that the code itself was left to the end of the PDF to evade detection mechanism, was worth highlighting. 'This is not new,' Paul Walsh, CEO at MetaCert, messaged me to argue, 'This is not sophisticated. It is the same impersonation playbook used for 20 years. Scan. Click. Trust. Regret.' Walsh does, of course, have skin in the game as his company revolves around a technology to verify links before any user has the chance to try and decide if they are trustworthy or not. That said, the counterpoint was strong enough to warrant an outing here. 'Instead of asking why security software still fails to detect phishing links,' Walsh said, 'we focus on sensational terms, like quishing or scanception, that just add noise.' The delivery method, in other words, is just a distraction, and it's the entry point where the focus should sit. Walsh argued that the quote 'Effectively bypasses traditional email security and endpoint protection controls by shifting the attack surface to unmanaged personal mobile devices,' is misleading. 'The attack does not shift anything,' Walsh explained, 'it just delivers the same type of phishing link in a different wrapper.' Forbes Amazon Warns 220 Million Customers Of Prime Account Attacks By Davey Winder Walsh also took umbrage with the mitigation advice of deploying email security solutions able to inspect both attachments and embedded QR codes. 'This is not bad advice,' Walsh said, 'but it solves the wrong problem.' What Walsh is getting at is that the QR code itself isn't dangerous, it's just a code after all. It's the link that is dangerous and if that link is already verified before loading then 'it doesn't matter whether it was delivered by QR code, email, SMS or a pigeon.' Again, I'm not going to say that Walsh is wrong, that would be disingenuous of me. However, I can't agree that he is 100% correct either. At least not in the real world where the vast majority of people don't have access to his MetaCert system either through using the app or web browser extension or, and I know it's something that is being worked on, by way of the service or network provider licensing it in the background. Until such a time, if it ever does gain that critical momentum, we have to work with what we've got — and that means fighting phishing, including this latest QR-driven password hack attack, using all the techniques, no matter how imperfect, that we already have available to us.
The Irish Sun
16-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
Outback killer commits evil last act before his death as Brit victim Peter Falconio's grieving dad reveals his heartache
OUTBACK killer John Bradley Murdoch who was convicted of murdering Brit Peter Falconio committed an evil final act before dying of cancer. Tragic Falconio's grieving dad has now expressed his heartbreak after Murdoch, Advertisement 7 Bradley Murdoch was convicted of killing British backpacker Peter Falconio in the Australian Outback in 2001 Credit: Getty 7 Peter Falconio's remains have yet to be found Credit: Getty 7 Bradley Murdoch has died at the age of 67 Credit: getty Murdoch in 2005 was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for murdering Falconio in the remote area of Australia 's Northern Territory. But the killer was Falconio's death shocked the world after grisly details emerged revealing how Murdoch pulled off the fatal attack. His Advertisement read more on the case Northern Territory Police Force said Murdoch did not provide any fresh information about the location of Falconio's remains before his death. Dad Luciano Falconio revealed his heartbreak as he said he wished that Murdoch had "left something" to help him recover his son's body. He added: "I don't wish anybody dead because you have only got one life and I think if you've been given that gift of life... I don't even know what to say. "I tell you what I think, I wish he [Murdoch] left something for me to find him." Advertisement Most read in The Sun The Northern Territory Police Force said in a statement: "It is deeply regrettable that Murdoch has died without, as far as we are aware, ever disclosing the location of Peter Falconio's remains. "His silence has denied the Falconio family the closure they have so long deserved." Manhunt for missing 'killer' dad Travis Decker underway following fresh 'sighting' – weeks after 'murdering his 3 kids' Murdoch is said to have flagged down a van driven by the young Brit before shooting him in the head in front of his girlfriend Joanne Lees. Murdoch would then tie up the terrified woman with cable ties and try to abduct her. Advertisement Ms Lees miraculously managed to escape and hid in a bush for five hours in the boiling Outback. She was later able to help convict Murdoch by identifying him as the murderer. During the trial, prosecutors argued that Murdoch was likely to have disposed of the backpacker's body somewhere in the vast, remote expanse of desert between Alice Springs and Broome, covering more than 1,200 miles. 7 Peter, 28, and his girlfriend Joanne Lees before his brutal murder Credit: Getty Advertisement 7 The Kombi camper van belonging to Joanne Lees and Peter Falconio Credit: Getty - Pool 7 The couple pictured in the van Credit: PA 7 Murdoch was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2019 Despite repeated searches, Mr Falconio's body has never been found. Advertisement Ms Lees, who returned to the UK, told Australian current affairs programme 60 Minutes in 2017 that she still wanted to "bring him home". "Pete lost his life on that night, but I lost mine too," she said at the time. "I'll never be fully at peace if Pete's not found, but I accept that that is a possibility." News surfaced on February 17, 2023, that police had found some bones near Alice Springs that were being tested to see if they were the remains of Peter Falconio. Advertisement The 'Current media reports are factually incorrect.' Peter Falconio case timeline PETER Falconio was shot dead in the Australian outback while travelling with girlfriend Joanne Lees in July 2001. He was 28 years old when he was tragically shot by a man who flagged down the van he was driving. The man was 43-year-old drug smuggler Bradley John Murdoch. Murdoch shot Falconio in the head before bundling Lees into his car and binding her with cable ties. She managed to escape and hide in bushes for five hours, before she ran into the road and waved down a passing truck. Lees soon became a prime suspect in her boyfriend's murder after claims she appeared "emotionless" after the incident. But it was later revealed she had taken the sedative Valium to help her handle her horror ordeal. Police were never able to locate Falconio's remains. Reports in February 2023 detailed that police had found some bones near Alice Springs that were being tested to see if they were the remains of Peter Falconio. The reports were later rubbished with authorities stating: 'No human remains have been located by Northern Territory Police, and a search is not currently being conducted." Murdoch had launched several appeals against his conviction, but he remained in prison in the Northern Territory until his death.
Forbes
11-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Agentic AI: Driving Autonomy In Asset-Intensive Industries
Vivek Ahuja, VP-IT at rSTAR , spearheading business and IT transformation with a focus on manufacturing, energy/utilities and construction. getty I've previously discussed the new frontier in AI: agentic AI. It's the next evolution in the AI timeline. However, is it hype, or will it be a game changer—especially for asset-intensive industries? If agentic AI is a game changer, how can companies get started using it? Agentic AI continues the progression of AI. What began as rudimentary chatbots programmed to respond to queries based on keywords eventually evolved into GenAI. Using large language models and machine learning, GenAI platforms moved beyond the responses of chatbots to evolve and grow ("learn") from their interactions with people. Agentic AI takes GenAI another step further by adding an autonomous dimension to the agentic agent. Depending on how the agentic AI agent is programmed, it can act autonomously within specific parameters or guardrails. In other words, it can take action on its own. For example, it can interact with multiple systems, such as email and instant messaging platforms, and send customers messages based on a predetermined schedule. When integrated into your company's enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and other systems, agentic AI can assist with workflows, communications and tasks. Agentic AI Use Cases For Asset-Intensive Industries Asset-intensive industries often have many complex workflows. A utility, for example, has many workflows related to field service, asset management, outage resolution and so on. In manufacturing, complex workflows include case management, support services, efficiency and compliance. In a utility environment, outage resolution is one of the more complex workflows. It touches everything from SCADA systems and customer complaints to field dispatch, asset lookup and compliance. Today, much of this is still manual, disconnected and dependent on individual know-how. Agentic AI acts like an intelligent coordinator, detecting issues early, planning and dispatching the right crews based on real-time availability, pulling up asset history from different systems and even guiding field techs through mobile assistants. It also keeps customers updated automatically and ensures compliance checks are in place. The real value is in how it brings everything together, reduces response time and creates a smoother, more efficient experience for the utility and the customer. Before you rush to add agentic AI to your technology stack, consider your company's overall technical maturity. The launch of successful agents depends heavily on system integration. Agentic AI can provide insights, but it cannot take meaningful workflow actions until it integrates with core systems. As with all AI projects, ensuring the system has plentiful, clean data is necessary. Governance and standards must be in place to ensure boundaries around AI use. Steps To Get Started If you are interested in exploring agentic AI, here are some best practices to get started. 1. Choose a small pilot project to get started. Focus on projects with clear, tangible metrics and ROI to assess the benefits. 2. Focus on a narrow use case to reduce the risk of scope creep. It helps focus the project on specific, measurable uses. 3. Ensure systems are integrated before adopting agentic AI. 4. Follow a replicable pattern for the project, beginning with a clear, written proof of concept, a pilot project and then the production of the agentic AI. Include measurable results to assess project success. 5. Build governance into the project. Don't tack it on as an afterthought. Too many companies build AI models and try to apply governance later, which runs the risk of project delays and problems. Agentic AI: Your Personal Assistant Agentic AI won't replace workers. Instead, it extends their abilities through autonomous, guided actions. It offers efficiency in many industries but can be especially advantageous for asset-intensive industries such as energy and utilities and manufacturing. To achieve AI project goals, companies must ensure they have the right building blocks in place: clean data, an identifiable and narrow use case, system integration and governance built into the project from its inception. With the right items in place, agentic AI can be a powerful force for change. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Forbes
10-07-2025
- Forbes
Road Trip Hacks To Make Your Summer Drive Smoother
Summer is prime time for road trips thanks to long days and flexible schedules. getty Summer is the season of road trips, and the best road trips aren't just about the destination—they're about how you get there. Whether you're headed to the next state over or crossing the country, here are some hacks and tips to make the ride itself something worth remembering. Here are some tips for a more pleasant ride. Some people prefer to drive during the off hours of the evening to avoid congestion. And fair enough. A strategy like this could save you several grey hairs in high-volume areas, like the northeast. But, the opportunity cost is great. Driving in the dark means no scenery, and no sense of the places you are passing through. And if that doesn't bother you, then why are you driving? If you don't care about the scenery and simply want the fastest route, then save yourself the trouble and take a flight instead. Road trips should take place during the day, when you can take it all in. Nights should be spent enjoying a new place. Get up early. To avoid congestion and make your life easier as the day goes on, get up early. Really early—like 5 a.m. There won't be many cars on the road, and you'll get to watch the day come to life. By mid-day, you'll have already knocked out a lot of driving, giving you flexibility if you want to make an afternoon stop. Don't speed. Ever. As tempted as you will be to make up or make better time by following faster cars, push your luck long enough and you'll be introducing yourself to a state trooper, which should be avoided at all costs. Getting pulled over and receiving a ticket can put a damper on a road trip in a hurry. Avoid major interstates. Taking state and county roads instead of large interstates has many benefits. There are less crowds, more scenery, and since the roads are smaller, there's less temptation (or need) to speed. Snack and Drink Tips Save money and eat better by bringing your own snacks and drinks. A little cooler goes a long way. If your trip is just a couple hours, then loading a cooler with ice may be unnecessary. But on trips longer than 3 hours, it starts to make sense. It's summer, so it's hot, and since you'll want to be careful about what you eat (see below), a cooler can really be useful. Use it to keep snacks fresh and to offer ice-cold drinks as a treat on the go. Having a cooler will also open up more options—you can stop at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere and offer your passengers cold drinks, for example, whereas without a cooler, you'd have to wait until you reach civilization. Even a small, cheap cooler can provide a big boost to morale on hot days. If you don't want to deal with ice, consider a plug-in cooler with a car adapter. America is full of scenic roadways, such as Highway 1 in California. Driving during daytime hours is imperative to take in the views. getty Don't overeat. It may sound smart to eat a big, heavy meal prior to or during a road trip. After all, you've got a long drive ahead of you, and you're not sure what will be available down the road. But I suggest resisting this temptation. Overeating can cause fatigue and/or stomach discomfort, which will be good for neither you nor your fellow passengers. Best to eat small-to-medium sized meals or stick to snacks until dinner. Navigation Hacks Navigating today is easier than ever thanks to modern technology. But a few old-school tricks can improve your trip. Spend some time looking over the route prior to departure. Because GPS works so well these days, it would be easy to just jump in the car, enter the address, and blindly follow the given directions. But take the time to review your route from a bird's eye level, such as on Google Maps. Zoom out to understand the general direction you are traveling, which cities/terrain you expect to go through, and where the halfway point might be. While not necessary for navigation, it will give you a better perspective on where you are traveling (perhaps inspiring some short stops) and can help you mind map things like gas, food, and bathroom breaks. Bring a paper map for backup—and engagement. You probably won't need to use it to navigate, but if you find yourself without service, signal, or battery, it can save a lot of trouble. A simple road atlas will suffice, though themed options, like food and adventure, are also available. Paper maps are great for kids and curious passengers who might want to follow along, helping them connect deeper with the journey. A road trip can be a great experience, whether by yourself or with friends and family. Incorporate these tips and hacks to make your trip smooth and easy.
