Author: NCIJ NETWNCIJ NETWORK

The Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD) suffered an AI-driven cyberattack that the organization described as “loud and very, very messy.” Evidence uncovered during the ongoing investigation indicates the attacker exploited a vulnerability, but the attack’s purpose and impact remain unclear at this stage. DIVD is a nonprofit organization of volunteer security researchers that scans the internet for systems affected by known vulnerabilities, notifies their owners, and provides information on how to mitigate the risks. Late last week, the organization said it had been hacked after seven years of uneventful operations, with the intrusion carried out autonomously by an AI…

Veteran trader Peter Brandt called October 4 as the day Bitcoin’s bear market would end, but now he thinks the market beat him to it.“There’s a good possibility we have seen the low and now are entering a new bull market cycle in Bitcoin,” Brandt tells Cointelegraph on the latest episode of Trade Secrets.In July, Brandt warned that prices could fall into the high-$40,000 range. Bitcoin was trading near $64,000 when that interview was published and climbed to almost $85,000 by his latest appearance. With the benefit of hindsight, Bitcoin’s fall to around $58,000 in late June may have already marked…

A satellite no bigger than a small carry on suitcase could help scientists investigate one of the least understood periods in cosmic history: the roughly 150 million years of darkness before the universe’s first stars began to shine. Developed in the UK, the spacecraft is called CosmoCube. An international research team led by the University of Cambridge plans to send it around the Moon, where the lunar far side can block radio interference coming from Earth. In that unusually quiet environment, CosmoCube will listen for an extraordinarily faint signal left behind by the early universe. Listening for a Signal From…

After three years helping Maui wildfire survivors track their health progress, Dr. Martina L. Kamaka is used to seeing high levels of heavy metals in their bodies. A family medicine doctor, Kamaka is one of the physicians helping with the Maui Wildfire Exposure Study, a multi-year effort from the University of Hawai‘i to chronicle the immediate and long-term health impacts of one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history. In the months after the August 2023 fires, Kamaka helped study participants understand their results on a range of medical tests, including urine tests for 24 metals. Many of them far…

As inventories run dry and the Iran war continues to disrupt transit routes, oil has surged back to more than $100 per barrel. Diesel fuel—the workhorse of the agricultural and trucking sectors—has now soared to historic highs, pushing U.S. exports to record levels. With the U.S. midterm elections approaching, Republicans in farm states such as Iowa and Nebraska are demanding relief. In response, U.S. President Donald Trump has endorsed a flawed idea from the 1970s: banning exports. Keeping energy at home to lower prices may seem like common sense, but in reality, this would backfire. If enacted, a diesel export…

“Alaska Legislature Asks Trump to Retain Denali’s Name Instead of Change It to Mount McKinley.” AP News, 7 Feb. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/trump-denali-mount-mckinley-alaska-2fbff88e1845e066a65cbabfa17284ae. Accessed 25 Sept. 2026.Barrett, Amanda. “AP Style Guidance on Gulf of Mexico, Mount McKinley | the Associated Press.” The Associated Press, 11 Feb. 2025, https://www.ap.org/the-definitive-source/announcements/ap-style-guidance-on-gulf-of-mexico-mount-mckinley/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2026.Bauder, David. “AP and Trump Administration Argue Access Case Before Federal Appeals Court.” AP News, 24 Nov. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/ap-trump-media-access-pool-gulf-mexico-america-9a6667aae9743032c51c42c5e4f7dedc. Accessed 25 Sept. 2026.Chia, Osmond. “Trump Super Intelligence: Will the President’s Attempt to Rebrand AI Work?” BBC, 23 Sept. 2026, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqy4z9pv4w0po. Accessed 25 Sept. 2026.Executive Order 14172—Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness.…

One of France’s top generals, former Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour (Légion d’honneur) Benoît Puga was taken into police custody last week as part of a police investigation into whether he received bribes in exchange for putting nominees forward for prestigious national honours. Puga was head of the body that awards the Legion of Honour from 2016 to 2023. The five-star general also served as chief of staff to the president at the Élysée Palace under former French leaders Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande. He was taken into police custody in the morning on September 22 and released the…

D’après la mesure, les ressortissants étrangers de pays tiers (soit hors Union européenne, espace économique européen et Suisse), devront justifier d’un an de résidence régulière dans l’Hexagone avant de pouvoir bénéficier de certaines prestations familiales. Aujourd’hui, les étrangers en situation régulière peuvent bénéficier des prestations familiales, sans durée minimale de résidence, même si des délais existent déjà pour certaines aides comme le RSA (5 ans) ou l’allocation de solidarité aux personnes âgées (10 ans). En plus des allocations familiales, l’article concocté par la direction de la Sécurité sociale et soumis au Conseil d’Etat prévoit que les prestations versées par la…

A water company has been ordered to pay a record fine of almost £8m for hundreds of sewage spills at popular bathing spots and sensitive habitats in Cornwall and Devon.On one occasion, untreated sewage gushed through a harbour wall on a bank holiday weekend but South West Water (SWW) engineers took 10 hours to attend.Sewage was also discharged into the River Camel, which is home to otter and Atlantic salmon and is popular with birdwatchers and sailors.Fining SWW £7,867,733 at Plymouth magistrates court – the largest fine for environmental offences in the region – District Judge Matson said incidents of…

Tech YouTuber Matt Robb says that Muse gave out his home address to a total stranger this weekend, after authorizing the bot to handle his Facebook Marketplace account. That’s despite Meta placing great emphasis on the security features of Muse when it launched the personal AI agent earlier this month as it tries to catch up with competing AI providers like Anthropic and OpenAI.“Just found out it told people my address and agreed a lowball price and then they showed up without it even telling me until late tonight that it messed up,” Robb said on Threads, providing a screenshot…