UK business leaders are warning that rising shoplifting, fraud, and cyber-attacks are becoming a significant obstacle to economic growth. The British Chambers of Commerce reports two-fifths of companies experienced crime in the past year, urging government action.
Fears over a natural disaster or cyber attack are pushing households into contingency planning, Link survey showsMillions of Britons are “prepping” for a potential “major disruptive event” by keeping a stash of cash at home, stockpiling tinned goods or ensuring they have a battery-powered torch close to hand, new data suggests.With war raging in the Middle East and Ukraine, extreme weather becoming more frequent, and warnings that the UK’s critical infrastructure is at risk from cyber-attacks and power outages, many people feel the world has become a more dangerous and chaotic place. Continue reading...
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsClimate campaigners attack Shell over ‘windfall’ profits from Iran warThe Danish shipping giant Maersk has maintained its profit guidance for the year, even as it reported a spike in fuel costs and warned that traffic through the strait of Hormuz “remains at a near standstill”.The company, which transports goods around the world via sea, road, rail and air, said demand for shipping containers remained strong, but that war in the Middle East was ramping up costs.“The reopening of the strait of Hormuz, whether it happens in the days to come or the months to come, will have limited impact on cargo flows.What really are the most important factors to consider: first is our ability to mitigate the cost increases we have been suddenly faced with. And I would say so far we have been successful with both our cost measures and the revenue, the commercial measures that we have put in place to mitigate the impact of these increases to our financials.”“The secondary effect from this is actually whether these increased costs are eventually going to lead to inflation and demand destruction as a result, which could create a softened market environment in the second half of the year.” Continue reading...
Cyber-attacks, disinformation and blockading of supplies. This is what living in a war zone can look like nowWe are at war. Four words that sound ludicrously melodramatic on a sunny spring day, when all may not be exactly right with the world – but when you can still shut your eyes to a lot of it just by switching off the news and cracking on with life. No bombs are falling, no bullets flying, no sirens sounding. Though the idea that Britain is already under a form of hybrid attack is commonplace in defence circles, politicians still mostly skirt around it; and it was jolting at first to hear the Labour MP (and former RAF wing commander) Calvin Bailey make the case for conflict being our new reality at a conference hosted by the Good Growth Foundation thinktank last week in London. But then he started to unpack his reasoning for why war is no longer what you think it is.If war can be considered an assault on five fronts – against a country’s political leadership, critical infrastructure, essentials such as food or fuel supplies, civilian population and armed forces – then Britain is arguably now being attacked on the first four without a shot being fired. Think of rampant, Russian-generated political disinformation on social media and attempts to bribe British politicians; of Russian submarine surveillance of the British undersea cables carrying most of our internet traffic, or the four “nationally significant” cyber-attacks recorded every week; of the blockading of food and fuel supplies through the strait of Hormuz. Think, too, of Keir Starmer’s warning in the Sunday Times last week of conflict with Iran coming home to British civilians via “the use of proxies in this country”. He didn’t elaborate, but counter-terrorism police say they are investigating whether a spate of arson attacks on synagogues, Jewish-owned businesses and Iranians living in Britain may have been sponsored by Tehran – a thugs-for-hire tactic familiar from the Russian playbook for sowing division and hate.Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnistGuardian Newsroom: Can Labour come back from the brink? On Thursday 30 April, join Gaby Hinsliff, Zoe Williams, Polly Toynbee and Rafael Behr as they discuss how much of a threat Labour faces from the Green party and Reform UK – and whether Keir Starmer can survive as leader. Book tickets here or at guardian.live Continue reading...
Anthropic unveiled Claude Mythos, an AI model capable of finding and exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities in operating systems and browsers. The company refused public release, comparing it to giving burglars keys to every building. Forty US organizations are partnered in Project Glasswing to patch vulnerabilities before exploitation. Britain tested the model through its AI Security Institute, with ministers warning most businesses remain unprepared. Mozilla's test on Firefox found 10 times more flaws than conventional methods, though none were undetectable by humans. The Pentagon had previously deemed Anthropic a security risk before inviting it back into government cooperation.
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre and agencies in nine other countries have warned British businesses to step up vigilance against China-linked hacking ploys that exploit everyday devices like wifi routers for espionage. The advisory warns of a major shift in Chinese tactics using so-called covert networks or botnets to obscure attack origins, with the NCSC believing the majority of China-nexus threat actors are using these networks. In one example, a Chinese business created a covert network infecting 200,000 devices worldwide.
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre and agencies in nine other countries have warned of persistent attempts by Beijing-backed hacking groups to exploit vulnerable everyday devices such as wifi routers, printers and web cameras to launch cyber-attacks. The advisory warns of a major shift in Chinese tactics to using internet-connected devices to obscure attack origins, with the NCSC believing the majority of China-nexus threat actors are now using these covert networks or botnets.
‘Handful’ of people allegedly gain unauthorised access to model adept at detecting cybersecurity vulnerabilitiesBusiness live – latest updatesThe AI developer Anthropic has confirmed it is investigating a report that unauthorised users have gained access to its Mythos model, which it has warned poses risks to cybersecurity.The US startup made the statement after Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that a small group of people had accessed the model, which has not been released to the public because of its ability to enable cyber-attacks. Continue reading...
Anthropic has unveiled 'Claude Mythos', an AI model with advanced cybersecurity and hacking capabilities. While being shared with tech giants to patch vulnerabilities, the model's potential for misuse and the lack of regulation raise alarms about global digital infrastructure security.
