security

The Pentagon labeled Anthropic a national security risk. So Anthropic is suing the Pentagon

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The soap opera between Anthropic and the Pentagon has a new chapter (and now they are going…). After the push and pull of the last few weeks, Anthropic stood and that ended up causing The US put the company on the blacklist. Anthropic was not amused. what has happened. Anthropic has sued the US Department of Defense (or War), calling the decision to blacklist them “unprecedented and illegal” and arguing that it will cause irreparable harm to the company. . In statements to Fortunean Anthropic spokesperson has assured that they remain committed to protecting national security and want to find a solution, but that “it is a necessary step to protect our business, our customers and our partners.” The administration has not commented on this lawsuit. A lot of money at stake. By blacklisting Anthropic, the government prevents defense contractors and suppliers from using Claude in their Pentagon-related activities. Additionally, Trump ordered the entire government to stop using Anthropic’s AI. The company says government contracts are already being canceled and other private contracts are in jeopardy. Anthropic’s commercial director, Paul Smith, has assured that there is a client who already Claude has been swapped for another generative AI. This contract alone will make them lose at least 100 million dollars. Doubts about legality. Anthropic says the government’s move is not legal. Are they right? According to legal experts at Lawfarethe “supply chain risk” label will not withstand judicial scrutiny. The main reason is that this designation is intended for foreign adversaries, as happened with Huawei. The law’s definition is “the risk that an adversary could sabotage or subvert a covered system,” it says nothing about using it as punishment to a national company for a disagreement. According to Lawfare, the statements by Trump and the defense secretary “frame the action as ideological punishment of a political enemy.” The disagreement. The origin of this escalation is in the red lines that Anthropic put Basically, the company refused to allow its model to be used for mass surveillance of citizens and especially the development of lethal weapons without human supervision. The concern is justified: a soldier can refuse to carry out an illegal order, an AI cannot. The Pentagon does not like red lines (from others, of course) and demanded to be able to use their technology without limits. In Trump’s words in a Truth Social post: “We will decide the fate of our country, NOT an out-of-control radical left-wing AI company run by people who have no idea what the real world is like.” Meanwhile OpenAI… Shortly after Anthropic was blacklisted, the government found a new candidate to carry out your plans: OpenAI. According to the company by Sam Altman, its development has more safeguards and hey, calm down, it’s not that big of a deal. What has followed is an image crisis for ChatGPT, with resignations and mass uninstalls of users who have switched to Claude. But let’s not fool ourselves, although Anthropic has won the battle of public opinion, if the US keeps up, the future looks pretty bleak for Amodei’s side. In Xataka | Anthropic has become the Apple of our era and OpenAI our Microsoft: a story of love and hate Image | Anthropic (edited)

What is this network traffic analyzer and how to use it to detect Internet problems or security flaws

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Let’s explain to you what it is and how to take advantage wireshark from the point of view of an ordinary user. I say this because it is a very advanced tool that analyzes all the traffic on your network, and that of all the devices connected to it. When you run this appyou’ll see a series of lines of data that you may not understand. But by knowing a little about what information is going to appear, you can also find ways to diagnose failures in your connection or whether an application or device is spying on you by sending data when you are not using it, or to unknown servers. What is Wireshark Wireshark is a network protocol analyzerwhat in English is called packet sniffer. What it does is capture, isolate and transmit each of the packets that are sent and received through our Internet connection, whether we are connected via WiFi or Ethernet, and it does all this in real time. This is a free and open source programwhich means that any developer can look at how it works inside. This makes it reliable and safe, because if it did things that were not appropriate, users would have already reported it. It has versions for Windows, macOS and Ubuntubeing able to download them at wireshark.org. When it comes to giving you information about the traffic that passes through your network, shows you very important datasuch as the IP and Mac addresses of the person sending or receiving the data, the sending protocol, the content (showing text or images if they are not encrypted), and connection healthwith the exact time it takes to load each piece of information. The operation of this tool is based on three fundamental pillars. First the capture one, because it puts your network card in a mode where it can see all the traffic that reaches it. This includes both information that your operating system displays and information that it does not display. It also has a color code to help you distinguish the packages. As a general rule, green is usually standard TCP traffic, blue is DNS or UDP, and black and red usually indicate problems. That’s why, you can identify that you are having errors or problems quite visually, just by seeing that there are many red or black lines. The app also has a top bar where you can type commands to filter information. This is already quite advanced if you don’t know how networks work, but you can, for example, use “ip.addr == IP Address” changing the address to that of a specific device to see its movements, or type “http” to see only web traffic. In short, it is a fairly complex and advanced tool, so it is not for all users. It is more aimed at system administrators, to detect attacks or bottlenecks. However, If you know where to look you can also take advantage of it as a home user. How you can take advantage of it Although it is an advanced tool, it can be useful for normal users in some contexts as well. We are going to give you some ideas so that you know the type of information you can obtain: If your online games cause problems: A speed test may tell you that your Ping is good, but the experience is different when playing. Therefore, this application can tell you if packets are being lost along the way that are making everything slower. If you are concerned about privacy: You will be able to see what data your devices send to the cloud and the Internet, and if it is not encrypted you will see your content. This can help you be more aware of your privacy, and detect if a device is sending more data than it should. You will also be able to see if a device connects to servers of dubious origin. If you have technical problems: If a website does not load or a printer disappears from the network, this application can show you at what point communication is being cut off. If you want to do lag tests: If in this tool you filter by the appropriate protocol, such as UDP for games, you will be able to find if there are black lines that indicate that the information you send is “out of order” because it never arrived at the destination or did so late. With this you can see that if you have lag it is not a matter of your bandwidth, but perhaps of your network signal or a saturated node of your operator. If you want to know what the devices on your network are doing: As we have more and more connected devices at home, with this you can audit what each one does. You can even isolate the IP of a cell phone or a security camera to know if it is connecting, what data it is sending, or if, for example, it sends data to other servers from time to time. In any case, what you should know is that this tool is going to show you all the traffic that your home network has. It shows all the raw traffic, and doesn’t hide anything, meaning you can have a lot of fun looking at everything that’s happening on your network and learning how to take advantage of it to understand everything. In Xataka Basics | Internet does not work at home: five alternatives to connect without using your router

does not produce 13 minerals critical for economic security

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For years, the so-called critical minerals have remained out of the focus of public debate, despite the fact that entire industries and a good part of the economic security of countries depend on them. Its relevance does not respond only to a technological issue, but also to geopolitical tensions, fragile supply chains and strategic decisions that today condition industrial development. In that context, Mexico has begun to put figuresnames and concrete limits to their own exposure, opening a conversation that goes far beyond mining and reaches directly to their productive future. What exactly is considered a critical mineral. These are elements present in nature whose demand is high while their availability is limited, either due to geological restrictions inherent to finite resources or due to external factors such as geopolitical tensions and trade blockades. That combination of scarcity and dependence makes them sensitive pieces for contemporary industry. They not only intervene in everyday electronic devices, they also determine energy efficiency, component durability and thermal stability in multiple technologies. Image shared by the Government of Mexico The concrete photography of Mexico. The Mexican Geological Service has defined which materials are scarce or directly non-existent in the national territory, or without technical and economic conditions today to produce them viably, a diagnosis that allows foreign dependence to be measured with sufficient precision. The list is not small and concentrates a good part of the inputs associated with electronics, energy and various advanced industrial chains. These are the 13 minerals classified as scarce or non-existent resources in the country: Aluminum Cadmium Cobalt Chrome Germanium Iridium Lithium Nickel Palladium Platinum Tantalum Titanium Vanadium The reverse of the diagnosis. Mexico has a relevant mining base in certain materials where there are not only reserves, but also extraction and processing capacity, which allows it to sustain its own industrial chains and participate in international markets. This dimension is key to avoiding a reading solely focused on external dependence and understanding that the resource map combines shortcomings with operational strengths. According to the Mexican Geological Service, the minerals that the country concentrates or processes are the following: Baryta Copper Fluorite Graphite Magnesium Manganese Silver Lead Zinc The diplomatic channel and the geopolitical board. The diagnosis of available resources has not remained internal. Mexico has brought the issue of critical minerals to the field of international politics with a specific goal: to ensure access to materials that are necessary for its present and future industry. This is how Marcelo Ebrard explained itSecretary of Economy, when detailing the country’s participation in different forums and coordination spaces, including areas linked to the United Nations. The strategy, as he stressed, does not seek to offer its own reserves, but rather to be part of the decisions that will determine how these supplies are guaranteed in an increasingly competitive environment. Coordination with the northern neighbor. The United States Trade Office (USTR) announced that Its ambassador, Jamieson Greer, and Marcelo Ebrard agreed on an action plan aimed at building a preferential trade scheme for critical minerals, which includes everything from the identification of priority materials to the exploration of adjusted minimum border prices for imports and consultation on how to incorporate these minimum prices into a binding plurilateral agreement. The cooperation seeks to respond to global market distortions that have left North American critical mineral supply chains vulnerable to disruption. The initial calendar, it should be noted, establishes a work horizon of two months to analyze measures before defining subsequent steps. Lithium. State ownership and pending viability. Among the minerals that explain the Mexican position, lithium occupies a unique place. The Constitution establishes that only the State can exploit it, a decision that reinforces its strategic nature but, at the same time, coexists with technical and economic limits. As President Claudia Sheinbaum notedthere is already a technology developed at the Mexican Petroleum Institute to obtain lithium in clays, although “today it is not economically viable, it is very expensive.” This combination of state control and production difficulty illustrates why guaranteeing access to critical materials remains an open question for the national industry. In conclusion. The image that emerges is not that of a country without resources, but of an economy that must precisely manage its material dependencies in an increasingly demanding international environment. Mexico has relevant mining capabilities and, at the same time, faces clear limits on essential inputs for the technology and energy industry. Between both extremes is a strategy that combines internal diagnosis, diplomatic action and technological development still in process. The result does not close the debate, but it does define the context in which the country must work. Images | Dominic Vanyi + Nano Banana In Xataka | What are rare earths, the elements that move the technological world and separate China from the West

Anthropic’s security manager leaves the company to write poetry

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In a movement more typical of “nihilistic penguin“that the head of security for one of the main protagonists in the development of AI, Mrinank Sharma, head of artificial intelligence security at Anthropic, has announced his resignation with a public letter in your X profile and he will dedicate his life to writing poetry. In his statement, Sharma not only explained why he is leaving the company that develops the models of Claudebut instead described the current state of AI development, with language that mixes alarm with personal reflection. “The world is in danger,” said the former director of Anthropic. The context: who he is and what he did at Anthropic. Mrinank Sharma headed the Safeguards Research Team from Anthropic, a research group focused on studying the risks associated with AI systems. Within Anthropic, Sharma’s work included developing defenses against risks such as AI-assisted bioterrorism and studying phenomena such as sycophancy (the tendency of AI models to user adulation), as well as investigate how AI can influence human perception and change cultural behaviors. He leaves, but leaves a message. The almost cryptic letter that Sharma published in X It quickly went viral due to the messages it contained. In it, he expressed his concerns in a tone that transcends the technical. One of the quotes that has attracted the most attention: “The world is in danger. And not only because of AI, or biological weapons, but because of a series of interconnected crises that are developing at this very moment.” Beyond the almost apocalyptic literalism, Sharma warned that humanity was approaching a critical point in which the development of AI was facing ethical dilemmas for those who develop it “our wisdom must grow at the same rate as our ability to affect the world, otherwise we will face the consequences.” Work to stay out of work. Sharma is not the only one who faces this ethical dilemma. According to sources of The Telegraphother Anthropic employees have expressed concern about the huge evolutionary leap in the latest AI models. “I feel like I come to work every day to stay out of work“one of the employees acknowledged to the British media. In a way this is true, since these employees are working on the development of a technology that, in all likelihood, change nature of his work, and that of millions of peoplea few years away. Is that good or bad? A first reading of the letter leaves the feeling that these workers are developing the weapon that will destroy humanity. However, a reading between the lines leaves Anthropic in a pioneering situation compared to its rivals from OpenAI, Microsoft or xAI: they are achieving advance at a pace which overwhelms even its developers. A sensation that does not seem to occur in the templates of other companies. Could it be that their models are not at that point of evolution? “Throughout my time here, I have seen repeatedly how difficult it is to allow our values ​​to guide our actions. We constantly face pressure to let go of what matters most,” Sharma wrote. The poetic turn. In addition to reflecting on the global risks he perceives, Sharma announced that his next professional step will be very different from the one he had until now. In his letter he mentioned his intention to devote time to what he called “the practice of courageous speech” through poetry. This change of lA for poetry has been interpreted as a sign of dissatisfaction with the pace and focus prevailing in the AI ​​technology industry. Like Sharma, in recent weeks other key figures in Anthropic’s AI development have announced their resignation. Harsh Mehta and Behnam Neyshabur They also announced a few days ago that they were leaving the company. However, in these cases, the exit announcement was made and, immediately afterwards, a new AI project was announced. That is to say, far from the ethical postulates that Sharma proposed, his intention was more along the lines of digging into his own gold mine and not that of others. In Xataka | Daniela Amodei, co-founder of Anthropic: “studying humanities will be more important than ever” Image | mrinank sharmaAnthropic

There are bales of straw hanging from the Thames bridges. It is not a coincidence, it is a centuries-old security system

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If you visit London, you may have seen that a huge bale of straw hangs from some bridges that cross the River Thames. Nobody has left it there by mistake, it is a signaling system that dates back to the 18th century. Notice to sailors. The reason for hanging a bale of straw from the bridges that cross the Thames comes from an old regulation of the port of London. Clause 36.2 of the statutes indicates that a straw bale must be hung “when the free height of an arch or the span of a bridge is reduced with respect to its usual limits”, that is, it is a signal so that no boat hits the bridge. Dubious effectiveness. When the law was first enforced it made sense to use some physical element as a warning that a bridge was lower than usual. At that time, the Thames was the main access route for goods to the city and it was very busyso it was necessary to use signage. What is striking is that it has been maintained over the centuries, especially considering that there are more effective methods to mark it, especially at night when the bullet may not be clearly visible. Recent cases. It is not a rarity, the system is applied religiously whenever there is any work that reduces the height of a bridge even a little. Happened in 2023 on the Millenium pedestrian bridgein 2024 in the East India Dock Road Bridgein 2025 in the Barnes Railway Bridge and in the Charing Cross Bridge. Those responsible for hanging the straw bale are the contractors who carry out the corresponding work. If they don’t, they face fines of up to £5,000. A very English custom. There are more quaint laws still in force in the United Kingdom, such as the one that states that certain species of fish are property of the crown (whales, dolphins or sturgeons) or the ‘Salmon Act’, which establishes as a crime the “suspicious handling of a salmon”, in reference to poaching. There are others that for whatever reason do not continue to apply, such as Licensing Act of 1872 that prohibited being drunk in a public place. Images | Wikipedia In Xataka | The pioneer of modern surgery today would be considered a danger: Robert Liston, “the fastest knife in London”

Barcelona believes it has a night security problem. So you’re going to leave the Christmas lights on all year long

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Vigo risks losing his position as “city of lights” (from Spain). Although the Galician City Council usually displays its Christmas decorations already in July and boasts every year of the millions and millions of LEDs that adorn its streets for almost two months, from November to January, there is another city that is about to raise the stakes: Barcelona. There the Consistory has decided maintain part of the lighting for the festivities Old City during the remainder of winter. Their reasons actually have little to do with Christmas. Lights, lights and more lights. Christmas may be over, but in Spain it is becoming common for us to talk about its lights for months and months. In Vigo they do it because the City Council begins to hang them in the middle of Julywith the thermometer flirting with 30º and the city full of tourists in shorts and flip-flops. Now they will do it too in Barcelonaalthough for other reasons. What do they want to do there? The news I advanced it on Monday The Vanguard: Barcelona is finalizing a plan to improve the lighting of some of the narrowest (and darkest) streets of Ciutat Vella, taking advantage of part of the decoration that was installed there this Christmas. That is to say, in the absence of traditional streetlights, garlands strung between facades are good. Although Jaume Collboni’s team has not yet revealed the details of the initiative, the idea does seem clear: it is not so much about neighbors, merchants and tourists continuing to walk for months under decorations of Santa Clauses, Three Wise Men and Christmas trees, but rather about maintaining the most ‘timeless’ designs. Walking under light bulbs. The key is therefore to take advantage of decoration that does not clash with the rest of the winter. To reinforce it, the municipal government also proposes maintaining the garlands that the merchants themselves have placed. In the Gòtic there are businesses that have been hanging decorative lights on their own, although as these were private initiatives they encountered challenges such as the passage of garbage trucks or some parades. Where, when and how. While waiting for the City Council to provide more details about where, when and how the initiative will be deployed, The Vanguard has advanced some keys: the measure will focus on points in Ciutat Vella, Gótic and Sant Pere streets, Santa Caterina and Ribera that aspire to improve their lighting. Regarding the calendar, councilor Albert Batlle explains that the Consistory proposes keeping the lights for several months: “The will is that the measure be implemented, now and in the future, during the winter time period, approximately between the last weekend of October and the last weekend of March.” Two keys: trade and security. Batlle too confirm that the measure pursues two objectives: to favor the businesses and residents of the area and to put an end to alleys in which pickpockets find refuge. “We want to improve the lighting of some small streets in Gòtic and Sant Pere, Santa Caterina and la Ribera to promote commercial, cultural and social revitalization, and also to improve the feeling of security, especially on days with fewer hours of daylight,” he adds. “We are working on the formula to enhance this network.” “They give them more qualms”. The measure appears to have had good reception among the businesses in the area, which even proposed expanding the list of roads that were initially going to benefit from the lights. “If the streets are more illuminated, walking becomes safer and commerce will benefit,” recognize to The Newspaper David González, from the Via Laietana Merchants Association. Proof of how convincing the measure is is that at the time some businessmen from Born they already started to hang garlands at your own risk. “People go along Paseo del Born very happy because the promenade and the streets are usually well lit. But the dark alleys make them hesitant.” The idea has also been found with detractors who consider it a patch. But… Does it work? Although he has achieved reduce your crimeBarcelona usually appears in the area highest of the rankings about the cities insecure from Spain. The key is whether more public lighting will translate into greater real safety, a question that has generated debate in recent years. What they do seem to confirm cases like that of Vigo is that a good commitment to street lighting (even if it is seasonal) serves to attract thousands of visitors. Images | Barcelona City Council (X) and Núria (Flickr) In Xataka | The upper area of ​​Barcelona no longer interests the rich: the Eixample has become fashionable and its neighbors tremble because of the prices

The US electrical grid depends on Chinese devices. And that worries their national security

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United States national security has always been measured on aircraft carriers, missiles and satellites. Today, however, a growing part of that security depends on something much more everyday: electricity. The grid that powers homes, hospitals, data centers and military bases is going through —despite political resistance from the Trump administration— an accelerated transformation towards renewable sources. But that transition, key to the country’s energy future, has introduced a silent vulnerability. The back door open. The expansion of solar energy has made the US electrical grid depend massively of inverters made in China, essential devices for converting solar energy into electricity usable by the grid. They are not simple pieces of hardware: they are digital systems, connected, with software, remote communication capabilities and, in many cases, manufactured by companies with direct or indirect links to Beijing. For years, this dependency was seen as an industrial or commercial problem. Today, for those responsible for national security, it has become something very different. The agency notice. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), the National Security Agency (NSA) and the FBI published a joint notice in which they alleged that cyber actors sponsored by the People’s Republic of China had compromised and maintained persistent access to critical US infrastructure. The identified group, known as Volt Typhoonhad managed to infiltrate organizations in key sectors such as energy, water, transportation and communications. The objective was not to steal data or obtain financial benefits. According to the security agencies documentthe behavior detected “is not consistent with traditional espionage” and points, with “high confidence”, to a different strategy: enter critical systems, remain hidden for long periods and wait. Wait for a crisis or conflict scenario in which those same infrastructures may be interrupted or degraded. It’s exactly the scenario that FBI Director Christopher Wray has described before Congress warning that China is positioning itself to attack American civilian infrastructure as part of its strategic planning. From stealing secrets to preparing chaos. For years, cyber activities attributed to China focused on the theft of intellectual property and trade secrets. Today, according to security officialsthe objective is different: to create the ability to cause internal chaos in the United States and limit its room for maneuver in a conflict, especially in the Indo-Pacific. The systems attacked by Volt Typhoon—such as ports, regional power grids, or water utilities—have no immediate economic or political value. Precisely for this reason, experts conclude that the only reason to infiltrate them is to be able to sabotage them later. It is not necessarily about causing a national blackout. As government sources explainselective interruptions, cascading failures or highly visible incidents would be enough to generate social panic, put pressure on policy makers and condition decision-making. Towards the transition. The U.S. power grid is increasingly reliant on solar inverters and storage systems—so-called investor-based resources— which are not simple pieces of hardware. They are digital, connected systems that regulate the flow of energy, stabilize the frequency and constantly communicate with other elements of the network. According to the In Broad Daylight reportprepared by Strider Technologies, since 2015 China has exported nearly 2.68 billion kilograms of inverters to the United States, dominating two-thirds of the world market. To understand the scale of the phenomenon: 86% of electricity companies analyzed by Striderwhich represent about 12% of the installed capacity in the United States, use at least one Chinese supplier considered risky. Together, these devices are present in 5,400 megawatts of solar capacity spread across 22 states, enough electricity to keep more than a million homes powered for a year. The concern is not trivial. A Chinese manufacturer remotely disabled inverters installed in the United States and other countries amid a contract dispute, demonstrating that manufacturers retain operational control on already deployed equipment. Furthermore, research cited by The Washington Post reveal the existence of undocumented communication components in some inverters, capable of connecting to external networks without the operators’ knowledge. According to Striderthe problem is compounded because Chinese academic and military institutions have produced thousands of studies on foreign power grid vulnerabilities, many of them focused on deliberate disruption scenarios. China has come forward against the accusations. A spokesman for its embassy in Washington responded to Reuters and Washington Post rejecting that there is a security problem and denouncing what he described as a “generalization” of the concept of national security to discredit Chinese advances in energy infrastructure. Beijing has not announced technical reviews, external audits or changes to the control mechanisms of these devices. A dilemma without a simple solution. In the short term, US authorities have ordered electric companies to limit or monitor external communications from these devices. However, as officials recognizethe fragmentation of the electricity sector—with thousands of operators and unequal standards—makes a uniform response difficult. In the medium term, the dilemma is more complex. A massive recall of Chinese hardware could put energy supplies at risk at a time of strong demand growth. Maintaining it implies accepting a strategic vulnerability. In the long term, the consensus among analysts is clear: energy is no longer just an economic or climate issue, but a matter of national security. As Strider’s report concludesensuring the transition to clean energy without creating new strategic dependencies has become a defensive priority. The new dimension of national security. The US power grid does not need to be attacked tomorrow to become a pressure tool today. The vulnerability already exists, integrated in the form of everyday devices, invisible to the end user but critical to the functioning of the country. The question raised by the official documents themselves is not whether that capacity will be used, but in what context and for what purpose. Because, in the strategic competition of the 21st century, the control of energy can be as decisive as the control of territory. Image | Unsplash and freepik Xataka | The US and China are involved in a controversy over renewable devices: what we know (and, above all, what we do not know) so far

One of the most downloaded apps for iPhone pays for recording calls to train AI models. It is a security disaster

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The sale of personal data is not a hypothesis, it is an expanding reality. Just look at Spotify: Recently a service appeared that paid those who delivered their profile and their listening summaries to resell them to technology companies. The approach was as simple as disturbing, because it became something as innocent as our musical habits. Neon Repeat the scheme, but transfers it to a much more sensitive land, telephone calls, where intimacy becomes the product. We are talking about an app that decided to convert phone calls into the new digital gold. His proposal is direct: “Speak, record and charge.” It promises users to win “hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year” simply allowing their conversations to transform into training material for artificial intelligence systems. The hook worked. In a matter of days he went from irrelevance to place Within the top three positions In the Social Networks category in the United States App Store. How neon works. The neon mechanism is designed for each call to translate into money. It promises to pay 30 cents per minute when two users of the app talked to each other, 15 cents if the call is with someone external and establishes a stop of 30 dollars daily. To this adds a referral system that offers 30 dollars for each new user. The recording, According to your policyalways affect the sender and, when both used neon, to both parties. Conditions of use. Beyond payments, the true neon reach is in its Terms of service. There the users give the company a “world, exclusive, irrevocable and transferable” license on their recordings. This permit includes rights to sell, modify, create derived works and distribute the audio in any format, present or future. To this is added a section of functions in beta, without guarantees or responsibility in case of failures. The amplitude of that assignment makes it difficult to foresee how far the use of the recordings can go. Where is available and how popular it is. Neon’s initial success was as fast as unexpected. At the time of writing this article, it is number 2 of the most downloaded social applications in the United States App Store. The application, however, seems restricted to that market: in tests carried out from Spain is not among those available or allows its download. The security failure. The story took an unexpected turn when a technical analysis revealed that Neon did not protect the information of its own users. As Techcrunch discoveredjust create an account and review network traffic with a tool like Burp Suite to access others. Shortly after the notice, the founder closed the servers and sent an email announcing a pause ‘for security’, not to mention the filtration. What was exposed was especially delicate: Telephone numbers associated with accounts Public links to audio recordings Complete call transcripts Metadata with duration, date and payments obtained Telephone numbers, recordings and transcripts are not accessible is not a minor failure. With this data, private conversations could be rebuilt and associated with specific people. The risks range from attempts to impersonate identity to the creation of synthetic voices. What Neon says in front of what we know, Neon defends that their processes protect users: anonymity of conversations, elimination of personal information and sale only to reviewed companies. However, the ruling showed that these systems are not infallible. The official communication after temporary closure spoke of “adding extra security layers”, but omits to recognize the filtration. Neon’s fall does not erase the background question: what price does our intimacy have when artificial intelligence demands more and more data? The model to pay for calls can reappear in other forms and other markets, because the need to train systems will continue to grow. What happened in the United States is an early warning that we are not talking about science fiction, but about real proposals that already touch the user’s door. The decision, ultimately, is personal. Images | Xataka with Gemini 2.5 | Screen capture | Neon In Xataka | A new generation of robots promises precision and efficiency. It also opens the door to cyberspage risks

We believed that the iPhone 17 and the Air shone by cameras and design. We have just discovered that they hide an exclusive security function

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For a long time we have lived with the illusion that there are impenetrable computer systems. The reality is less resounding: in security, everything is reduced to how much effort, time and resources it requires to force a lock. Just as it is not the same to open the door of the house as the vault of a bank, in the digital world There are more or less resistant barriers and unexpected shortcuts that avoid brute force. The objective of the defense is not perfection, but to raise the toll to break it is impracticable. From there, the risk never disappears, it is managed. With that practical look, Apple has been adding layers to make every step of the attacker more and reduce its maneuvering margin. According to the Cupertino companythe most sophisticated exploitation chains that have observed against iOS come from the mercenary spyware and rely on memory vulnerabilities. Although they do not explicitly mention it, they surely refer to threats such as Pegasus of the company NSO. And the answer they have raised is a new piece in that wall: a reinforcement that integrates hardware and system to monitor the integrity of memory and cut overwhelms or undue accesses before they thrive. Memory Integrity Enforcement on iPhone 17 and iPhone Air Apple has presented Memory Integrity Enforcement (Mie) as part of the new iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max and iPhone Airan integrated memory defense directly in its hardware and operating system. This development is the result of five years of joint work among their teams of Chips and Software Engineeringwith the aim of drastically raising the cost and complexity of attacks based on memory corruption. Mie promises to act continuously and transparently, covering critical areas such as kernel and more than 70 processes in user space, all this without compromising energy consumption and device performance. The Miene nucleus combines several layers that work in a coordinated manner to reinforce security. The typated memory assigners are systems that organize the data according to their type, as if each object class had a specific drawer. This organization makes it more difficult than an error in a program allows one data to overwrite another. If a failure occurs, the system can detect it before it becomes an attack. On this basis acts the Enhanced Memory Tagging Extension (EMTE), a hardware technology that adds an extra layer of memory control. Emte works by assigning a “secret label” to each memory block. Every time an app or the system wants to access it, you must present the correct label; If it does not coincide, Hardware blocks attempt And the system can close the process. This permanent and synchronized check allows to detect and stop classic attacks such as buffer overflows or use after release (USE-AFTER-FREE), which are usual techniques to take control of a device. The allocators protect the use of large -scale memory, while EMTE provides precision to the smallest blocks, where the software itself does not respond with the same effectiveness. This permanent and synchronized check allows to detect and stop classic attacks such as buffer overflows The bet responds to a landscape of threats where the highest levels against iOS are faces, complex and directed, historically associated with state actors. These chains usually share a common denominator: they exploit interchangeable memory vulnerabilities that have been present throughout the industry. The intention of Mie is cutting the progression in early stages, when the attacker still has little room and depends on chaining multiple fragile steps to gain control. Apple graph showing real exploitation chains and the points where it blocks them The scope of protection includes kernel and extends to key system processes that are usually entry objectives. In addition, Apple makes available to developers the possibility of testing and integrating these defenses through the Enhanced Security option in Xcode, including EMTE capabilities in compatible hardware. That is especially relevant to applications where a user can be direct objective, as messaging or social networkswhich often appear at the beginning of the exploitation chains. To sustain the labeling and synchronous check -up without perceptible impact, Apple redesigned the A19 and A19 Pro allocating CPU area, CPU speed and memory for label storage. The company precisely modeled where and how to deploy emte, so that the hardware meets the demand for checks. The software, on the other hand, takes advantage of the assignments typated to raise the bar of protection against memory corruption, while the hardware assumes fine verification. As we point out above, this should maintain the expected experience in performance and autonomy. The project was evaluated with its offensive research team from 2020 to 2025. First with conceptual exercises, then with practical attacks in simulated environments and, finally, on hardware prototypes. This prolonged collaboration allowed to identify and close complete exploitation strategies Before launch. According to Apple, even trying to rebuild known real chains, they failed to restore them reliably against Mie, because too many steps were neutralized at the base. Even so, Apple remembers that perfect security does not exist. Very rare cases could survive, such as certain overflows within the same allocation. For previous generations without EMTE support, the company promises to continue expanding software -based improvements and safe memory allocatives, with the aim of bringing part of these benefits to previous devices without affecting its stability. Ultimately, Mie does not eliminate riskbut it does redraw the rules of the game by raising the cost and difficulty of memory corruption techniques. For those who buy an iPhone 17 or an iPhone Air, this translates into always active protection and, according to Apple, invisible for the user. Images | Xataka with Gemini 2.5 In Xataka | Or pay or we will use your works to train AI: the threat of hackers to an artist website In Xataka | How to change all our passwords according to three cybersecurity experts

From 2026 Social Security will give you months of contribution by calculating your retirement

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As of January 1, 2026, Social Security will apply important changes in the Retirement pension calculation aimed at improving the situation of those who have had to stop quoting to take care of their children. The objective of the new regulations is to reduce the impact of the raising of children on the calculation of pensions. The Intergenerational Solidarity Observatory esteem that retired women charge an average of 18% less pensions than their male counterparts due to the effect of the Children’s upbringing In his professional career. The reform is collected in the Royal Decree-Law 2/2023which establishes new measures to compensate for periods without contribution in the calculation of bases of Quotation for retirement and will benefit both parents and mothers who have had interruptions in their work career for the care of their children. Integration of contribution lagoons. Social security may compensate for the months in which a person has not quoted “filling” those periods without contributions with a Minimum contribution base (At present, this base is 1,323 euros per month), in order to prevent these periods from significantly criminalize the retirement or disability pension. For Calculate the pension The contribution bases of the last 25 years are considered, and if there are months without quoting, they can be replaced by a minimal contribution base. However, this compensation only applies 100% in a maximum of 48 months in which parental care can be accredited. For additional months, the minimum base is counted only at 50%. Maternity penalizes women more. According to They point from the INEthe employment rates of women between 25 and 49 years with children under 12 are under employment rates of women of the same age without children. With the entry into force of the new review formula for contribution lagoons, women who have had children can benefit from up to 60 months at 100% and 24 months additional to 80% in periods without quotation related to maternity or care. Such and as they highlight from Capmany AbogadosParents may also be accepted to this measure if they meet certain conditions related to the birth or adoption of children and reductions in their contributions. If the son was born or was adopted before 1994, more than 120 days will be necessary without quoting between the previous nine months and three years after birth or adoption. For births or adoptions after 1995, the contributions have been reduced in the 2 years after birth have been reduced by a reduction in working hours, for example) with respect to the previous 2 years. The self -employed stay out. The correction measure will not affect the self -employed professionals that remain Out of this compensation measure for the raising of children. However, from the reform that was applied on March 18, 2023, self -employed can enjoy the integration of lagoons into the contribution by filling the time not quoted with a base of 960.60 euros. The only nuance is that the measure is disconnected from the raising of the children and can only be applied if the lagoons are in the six months after an activity cessation. If during the quoted life there are several cessations of activity and in them there are lagoons, it can be applied to each of them to calculate the retirement pension. In Xataka | Spain has turned paternity into a poverty risk factor: raising a child costs 758 euros per month Image | Unspash (Julian Hochgesang)

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