Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

As AI takes on more security operations center (SOC) workflows to automate threat triage, indicator extraction, and incident report generation, security operations leaders face a persistent question: Does SOC performance depend more on the large language model (LLM) deployed or on the underlying quality of the security data it consumes? Academic studies offer conflicting answers. An original research article from the Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence emphasizes output variation in accuracy, relevance, and clarity across frontier models such as Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Gemini, ChatGPT 4o, and Mistral Large 2. Meanwhile, published work in the Information Systems journal argues that “trustworthy AI…

Bitcoin Core, the top software client for running a Bitcoin node, is scheduled to enter its v32 feature freeze on Thursday, Aug. 20. The deadline shifts the release line to bug fixes and gives new v32 features their final normal window before the project’s October release target.The v32 milestone listed 17 items open and 79 closed on Aug. 17, putting the work at 82% complete. Those 17 entries span feature pull requests, bug reports, build and logging work, a private-broadcast test failure, and the release-schedule ticket itself. GitHub publishes no blocker ranking for the queue, so the raw count says…

As NASA prepares to establish the Moon Base, advancing surface mobility will be key to helping crews and robotic systems travel farther across the lunar surface.  To help advance that capability, the Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge invited public innovators to design and build next-generation lunar rover wheels.  Five teams from 128 submissions and 49 countries advanced to the final phase of the competition, where they tested their prototypes on July 31 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.  The challenge sought lightweight, durable, and scalable wheels that could support longer-duration lunar surface operations. The designs also needed to be compliant enough to absorb impacts, maintain traction at higher speeds, and withstand the harsh…

Coastal communities in Indonesia’s Aceh province have practiced community fish trawling since the time of the Aceh Sultanate, but the tradition today exists in only a handful of communities across the semiautonomous province.The customary panglima laot, a customary fishery lead, at one beach in the Aceh capital Banda Aceh, told Mongabay Indonesia that the customary rules included environmental protections such as requirements not to take threatened species.However, this traditional fishing practice is under threat due to the increasing burden of plastic and other household waste accumulating in nearshore waters and along beaches.For many, the time and cost required to…

With its sights set on higher domestic gas production, Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is pushing to accelerate field development in the Eastern Mediterranean waters, as part of its broader efforts to enable upstream growth and achieve its exploration and production plans through 2030. Karim Badawi, Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, visited the production site of Pharaonic Petroleum Company (PhPC) in Port Said Governorate; Source: Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources While visiting the Pharaonic Petroleum Company (PhPC) production site in Port Said Governorate, Karim Badawi, Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, highlighted the…

Top Democrat slams Trump’s ‘inane, haphazard’ cuts to US-South Korea drillsSenator Jack Reed has slammed “another inane, haphazard decision by President Trump and his chaotic administration” after Trump ordered the Pentagon to scale back “inappropriate and hostile” military drills with South Korea aimed at deterring North Korea.The Democrat, who serves as the ranking member of the Senate armed forces committee, said in a statement that the president’s move amounted to punishing South Korea “for no reason beyond Trump’s ego”, would weaken confidence in US commitments to its allies – and handed a “propaganda victory” to Kim Jong-un.“When President Trump cuts…

POLITICO’s investigation revealed warnings from Egyptian authorities and internal assessments by Rosatom regarding the construction of the El Dabaa nuclear plant. The documents obtained by POLITICO raised concerns ranging from the quality of concrete work to delays and management problems, while an Egyptian agency alleged “deliberate negligence” and violations of “nuclear safety culture.” Nuclear material has yet to be introduced at the site. Rosatom previously defended its safety record at El Dabaa and pointed to regular scrutiny of the project by Egyptian, Russian and International Atomic Energy Agency officials. None of the allegations contained presented to Rosatom by POLITICO, have…

A Labour MP has been suspended from the party after a newspaper report questioned whether he had tried to avoid repaying a government Covid loan.Bayo Alaba referred himself to the Labour Party over the issue and an internal investigation has been launched.The MP for Southend East and Rochford has also had the whip suspended – meaning he will now sit as an independent MP – although it is understood the investigation does not at this stage imply any wrongdoing.A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Bayo Alaba MP has referred himself to the Labour Party so that these matters can be investigated…

As a crumbling truce with Iran officially collapsed on Monday, President Trump signaled his frustration at his inability to resolve a war that he started but cannot seem to end.In an interview with Fox News, the president lashed out at an American ally, Oman, that has been trying to mediate negotiations with Iran.“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Mr. Trump said in a phone interview, according to Fox News’s Trey Yingst.The latest threat toward Oman, which has facilitated talks between the United States and Iran for years and maintains that it is still…

Startup Groq has raised $350 million as it continues to pivot from an AI chipmaker to a neocloud company that provides powerful GPUs and AI infrastructure services.  The new capital, led by investment firm Disruptive with planned participation from Nvidia, values the company at $3.5 billion. That’s down from the $6.9 billion Groq was valued at last September, just a few months before Nvidia hired the startup’s founder and CEO, Jonathan Ross, and other top talent as part of a licensing deal.  A spokesperson for the company told TechCrunch that despite the difference in valuation, the company doesn’t see it…