Security researcher Gal Weizman of Forever Security found that a single malicious browser extension could take over AI assistants embedded in Chrome, Edge, Opera Neon, Perplexity Comet and Claude in Chrome, using Chromium's declarativeNetRequest feature to manipulate trusted network traffic without any user interaction. The technique, called BragJack, earned Weizman over $20,000 in bug bounties across the five vendors and generated two CVEs, with Google and Microsoft having already patched the issues.
Intel has stopped its long-running bug bounty program that paid researchers up to $100,000 per vulnerability, replacing it with a new Intigriti-hosted disclosure process that offers no financial rewards. The bounty board remains visible but is marked as suspended, and Intel has not publicly explained the decision. The program had run since 2017 and accounted for roughly 105 of 231 CVEs Intel patched in 2020.
A joint advisory from law enforcement in Japan, the US, Australia and Germany says the North Korean-linked group WaterPlum infected over 30,000 devices across more than 100 countries between December 2025 and July 2026. The hackers drained more than 7,000 cryptocurrency wallets and moved over $10.7 million worth of crypto assets to North Korea, using fake job interviews and malicious code disguised as coding tests or software projects to infect victims.
The FAA is rolling out SMART, an AI tool that analyzes airline schedules, weather, and runway capacity to flag potential conflicts in advance, with an initial deployment in Washington DC's airspace beginning Monday. The project carries a price tag exceeding $875 million, part of a broader Trump administration push to modernize air traffic control following several high-profile aviation incidents.
YouTuber Bits und Bolts repaired a 25-year-old Tualatin-based Intel Celeron 1200 that had lost a critical data pin along with its underlying pad, rendering it unbootable. By carving into the chip's substrate to expose the copper layer, applying solder mask, and transplanting a pin from another broken Tualatin CPU, they restored the chip to working order. The revived processor not only booted successfully but was pushed to run 33% faster than stock speed.
YouTuber Bits und Bolts repaired a 25-year-old Intel Celeron 1200 (Tualatin) chip that had a missing data pin and destroyed pad, which prevented any system from booting with it installed. By exposing underlying copper layers, applying solder mask, and grafting a donor pin from a separate broken Tualatin chip, the creator restored full function to the CPU. After the repair, the chip was successfully overclocked by 33%.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest consumer price index shows grocery costs climbed 2.7% between August 2025 and August 2026. Over a longer stretch, the same basket of food items now costs 33% more than it did in August 2019, reflecting a sustained multi-year rise in food expenses.
Android Authority's Paul Jones argues that despite the $350 Moto Watch Ultra's strong feature set—LTE eSIM, Wear OS 6, a 1.5-inch pOLED screen and Polar health tracking—its weaker processor and limited two-generation OS upgrade path make it a risky buy. Instead, he recommends five alternatives including the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025), Google Pixel Watch 4, Samsung Galaxy Watch 9, Garmin Venu 4 and Amazfit Balance 2. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025, now around $330 on Amazon, is highlighted as the top pick for Samsung phone owners thanks to its rugged sapphire-glass build, 64GB storage, multi-day battery and four years of promised software updates.
California lawmakers passed AB 1661, directing $5 million in penalty funds from oil wells near Inglewood toward direct cash payments for up to 1,000 households affected by respiratory or reproductive health issues linked to nearby drilling. The bill, authored by Assemblymember Isaac G. Bryan, would offer eligible households as much as $5,000 each and awaits Governor Gavin Newsom's signature, expected by October. The funding draws from a state repair and reinvestment account meant for communities closest to the oil field, which sits near predominantly Black neighborhoods like Ladera Heights and Baldwin Hills.
MIT researchers released a report on education finding that many students increasingly rely on AI chatbots to complete coursework, sometimes offloading thinking entirely rather than just seeking assistance. The study links this overreliance to declining critical thinking, weaker memory, reduced confidence, and diminished mastery of course material, with some students unable to engage in class discussions.
WIRED is organizing the WIRED World Fair, a single-day event on November 4 at the Sacred Space venue in Miami's Wynwood district. The gathering will feature talks with figures from biotech, politics, and AI, plus appearances from The Onion, a dolphin-communication researcher, a screening of a Musk documentary, astronaut training simulations, and robots. Additional programming and immersive art installations, including work from Marina Abramović, will be announced as the date approaches.
Court documents in the New York Times' copyright lawsuit against OpenAI, which pulled in Microsoft as OpenAI's top investor, quote Microsoft director Brent Hecht warning that AI systems are undermining the very publishers whose content trains them. CEO Satya Nadella separately acknowledged that chatbot conversations often replace visits to original source websites, cutting off traffic publishers depend on.
GoKawiil