Business
Hacking has an evil twin! What is vibe hacking? Here’s how cyber frauds are misusing AI – The Times of India
As if cyber frauds were not enough, you will now have to deal with another evil of the AI era, vibe hacking!Cybersecurity experts are warning that AI is increasingly being misused by criminals to launch sophisticated cyberattacks. What started as “vibe coding,” a way to harness AI for productive tasks, now has a darker side: “vibe hacking.”AI developer Anthropic reported that its coding model, Claude Code, was recently exploited to steal personal data from 17 organisations, with hackers demanding nearly $500,000 from each victim, according to an ET report.Dark web forums now offer ready-made AI tools, called “Evil LLMs,” for as little as $100. Examples include FraudGPT and WormGPT, designed specifically for cybercrime. These tools can bypass safety measures and trick AI into leaking sensitive information or producing harmful content.A new AI agent called PromptLock can generate code on demand and decide which files to copy, encrypt, or access, raising the stakes even further.“Generative AI has lowered the barrier of entry for cybercriminals,” Huzefa Motiwala, senior director at Palo Alto Networks told ET. “We’ve seen how easily attackers can use mainstream AI services to generate convincing phishing emails, write malicious code, or obfuscate malware.”In simulations, Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 team demonstrated that AI could carry out a full ransomware attack in just 25 minutes, which is a whopping 100 times faster than traditional methods. Prompt injection, where carefully crafted inputs hijack a model’s goals, allows attackers to override security rules or expose sensitive data.Motiwala explained, “Attacks don’t only come from direct user prompts, but also from poisoned data in retrieval systems or even embedded instructions inside documents and images that models later process.”Research by Unit 42 found that certain prompt attacks succeed against commercial models 88% of the time.“AI has become a cybercrime enabler, and the Claude Code incident marks a turning point,” said Sundareshwar Krishnamurthy, partner at PwC India. “Cybercriminals are actively misusing off-the-shelf AI tools, essentially chatbots modelled on generative AI systems but stripped of safety guardrails and sold on dark web forums,” ET further quoted Krishnamurthy.Authorities in Gujarat have also cautioned that AI kits are being sold via encrypted messaging apps.“These tools automate everything from crafting highly convincing phishing emails to writing polymorphic malware and orchestrating social-engineering campaigns at scale,” said Tarun Wig, CEO of Innefu Labs. “Attackers can generate deepfake audio or video, customise ransomware, and even fine-tune exploits against specific targets.”Autonomous AI agents make the threat worse by remembering tasks, reasoning independently, and acting without direct human input.Vrajesh Bhavsar, CEO of Operant AI, pointed to risks from open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. “We’re seeing vectors like tool poisoning and context poisoning, where malicious code embedded in open repositories can compromise sensitive API keys or data,” he said. “Even zero-click attacks are rising, where malicious prompts are baked into shared files.”Experts say AI developers, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Google, must do more to prevent misuse.“They must implement stronger safeguards, continuous monitoring, and rigorous red teaming,” said Wig. “Much like pharmaceuticals undergo safety trials, AI models need structured safety assessments before wide release.”
Business
Has Govt Proposed Measure To Force Smartphone Manufacturers To Share Their Source Code? Check Truth Behind The Claim
New Delhi: The government has refuted media report that said the center is proposing to force smartphone makers to share source code with the government.
A Reuters report has said that India has proposed to force smartphone manufacturers to share their source code as part of a security overhaul.
Fact-checking agency PIB has refuted the media claim. PIB has stated that the claim being made in this post is misleading.
A news report by @Reuters claims that India proposes forcing smartphone manufacturers to share their source code as part of a security overhaul.
_ This claim is #FAKE
__ The Government of India has NOT proposed any measure to force smartphone manufacturers to_ pic.twitter.com/0bnw0KQL9Q
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) January 11, 2026
“This claim is FAKE. The Government of India has NOT proposed any measure to force smartphone manufacturers to share their source code,” PIB has tweeted.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has started the process of stakeholders’ consultations to devise the most appropriate regulatory framework for mobile security. This is a part of regular and routine consultations with the industry for any safety or security standards. Once a stakeholder consultation is done, then various aspects of security standards are discussed with the industry.
No final regulations have been framed, and any future framework will be formulated only after due consultations, it added.
How to get messages fact-checked by PIB
If you get any such suspicious message, you can always know its authenticity and check if the news is for real or it is a fake news. For that, you need to send the message to https://factcheck.pib.gov.in. Alternatively you can send a WhatsApp message to +918799711259 for fact check. You can also send your message to pibfactcheck@gmail.com. The fact check information is also available on https://pib.gov.in.
Business
‘They’re playing cute’: Trump ‘inclined’ to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela — here’s why – The Times of India
US President Donald Trump said that he may bar ExxonMobil from operating in Venezuela, criticising the oil giant after its leadership questioned the viability of investing in the country after the capture of former president Nicolas Maduro by US forces. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday as he departed West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said he was unhappy with the company’s stance. “I didn’t like Exxon’s response,” he said. “They’re playing too cute.” The remarks came days after Trump met oil executives on Friday in an effort to calm industry concerns about Venezuela. During the meeting, he told companies that any engagement would be handled directly with the United States rather than through the Venezuelan government. However, not all executives were reassured. Darren Woods, chief executive of ExxonMobil, described the current situation in stark terms. “If we look at the commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela, today it’s uninvestable,” he said. On the same day, Trump also signed an executive order aimed at protecting Venezuelan oil revenues from being used in judicial proceedings. The order, released publicly on Saturday, warned that allowing such funds to be seized could “undermine critical US efforts to ensure economic and political stability in Venezuela.” The country has long faced state asset seizures, US sanctions and prolonged political uncertainty. Securing investment from US oil companies to help rebuild Venezuela’s infrastructure has become a key objective of the Trump administration following Maduro’s capture. The White House has presented the approach as an economic strategy, with Trump already having seized tankers transporting Venezuelan oil, announced that the US is taking control of the sale of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned crude, and stated plans to oversee those sales globally on an indefinite basis.
Two thirds of UK adults believe the next generation will suffer poorer health due to ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and 39% would like to see them banned, a survey suggests.
Some 59% of adults believe UPFs are “impossible to avoid” when shopping on a budget, the study for retailer Lakeland found.
Two thirds (66%) are worried about their effects on public health and 68% believe the Government should do more to protect people from them.
Two thirds (66%) also think supermarkets should take more responsibility for the UPFs they sell, and 77% want clear warning labels on food containing ultra-processed ingredients.
Three quarters (74%) say children should be taught at school about the dangers of UPFs and the importance of home cooking.
The survey found a quarter of adults (24%) do not know how to recognise the presence of UPFs in food products.
It found 31% have been cooking from scratch more in the last year, with 35% more in the last two years, and 44% in the last five years.
A fifth (19%) are cooking from scratch more regularly to avoid UPFs, while 25% are cooking from scratch more to save money and 26% for other health benefits.
However 44% say they do not have time to cook from scratch, 16% believe it is too complicated and 19% they think it would cost too much.
Wendy Miranda, customer brand ambassador at Lakeland, said: “There are clear benefits to cooking from scratch and knowing exactly what is going into the food we eat.
“We encourage our customers to think of the benefits, from nutrition to mindfulness to improving overall energy levels and simply feeling a sense of personal achievement with each cooking creation.”
The survey follows global experts warning that UPFs are a leading cause of the “chronic disease pandemic” linked to diet, with food firms putting profit above all else.
Writing in The Lancet medical journal in November, 43 scientists and researchers joined forces to argue that UPFs are “displacing” fresh foods and meals, worsening diet quality, and are linked to multiple chronic diseases.
Philip Toscano, including an increased risk of obesity, heart disease, cancer and early death.
Examples of UPFs include ice cream, processed meats, crisps, mass-produced bread, some breakfast cereals, biscuits, many ready meals and fizzy drinks.
UPFs often contain high levels of saturated fat, salt, sugar and additives, which experts say leaves less room in people’s diets for more nutritious foods.
UPFs also tend to include additives and ingredients that are not used when people cook from scratch, such as preservatives, emulsifiers and artificial colours and flavours.
The dietary share of UPFs remains below 25% in countries such as Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and across Asia, but it is 50% in the US and UK, the research said.
Mortar Research surveyed 2,000 UK adults in January.
Has Govt Proposed Measure To Force Smartphone Manufacturers To Share Their Source Code? Check Truth Behind The Claim
‘They’re playing cute’: Trump ‘inclined’ to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela — here’s why – The Times of India
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