Giulia Scaffino and her team presented "Alba: The Dawn of Scalable Bridges for Blockchains" at the NDSS conference. The research addresses the inefficiencies of existing blockchain bridges that improve interoperability. Existing bridges often relay too much information or demand expensive computation to verify on-chain transactions. The Alba paper introduces "Pay2Chain bridges," capitalizing on off-chain solutions such as payment channels. This innovative approach enables efficient and secure execution of conditional payments and smart contracts on target blockchains. Alba allows for interactions based on off-chain events, offering advantages over conventional bridges. It also enhances the source blockchain's ecosystem by supporting DeFi applications and stateful off-chain computation. The authors provide a formal security analysis using the UC framework and game-theoretic analysis. Scalability metrics are introduced to demonstrate Alba's efficiency compared to standard Ethereum transactions. The NDSS symposium, which published this work, focuses on practical network and distributed system security.

Apple is introducing a new privacy feature that lets users limit the precision of location data shared with cellular networks on some iPhone and iPad models. [...]

As interfaces are types themselves, they too can have type parameters. This idea proves to be surprisingly powerful when it comes to expressing constraints on generic functions and types. In this post, we’ll demonstrate the use of interfaces with type parameters in a couple of common scenarios.

'I did not think it was going to happen to me, but here we are' Nearly every company, from tech giants like Amazon to small startups, has first-hand experience with fake IT workers applying for jobs - and sometimes even being hired. …

There are many factors that go into producing high-quality sound through speakers, headphones, and earbuds. One easy way to quickly improve that sound is via EQ.

My not-so-quick experiment with Ollama taught me a hard lesson.

From the Galaxy S26 Ultra to a new pair of earbuds and maybe smart glasses, here's what we expect Samsung to showcase at its next Unpacked event.

As federal and state governments extend their lists of banned foreign technologies, where is this trend heading next? Is your home network safe for work use?

Here’s an overview of some of last week’s most interesting news, articles, interviews and videos: When open science meets real-world cybersecurity In this Help Net Security interview, Matthew Kwiatkowski, CISO at Fermilab, America’s particle physics and accelerator laboratory, discusses where cybersecurity blind spots emerge, why availability can outweigh confidentiality, and how security teams protect complex, legacy-driven research infrastructure while supporting scientific progress. Inside Microsoft’s veteran-to-tech workforce pipeline In this Help Net Security interview, Chris Cortez, …

Please enjoy this encore of Career Notes. Richard Melick, Director of Threat Reporting for Zimperium, talks about his journey, from working in the military to moving up to the big screens. He shares that he's been in the business of solving unique cybersecurity problems for so long that he has found his own path that works very well for him. He says, "if I go to a unique problem and try to solve it, I find that I'm solving it the same way that I would've solved it five years ago, because I found my pattern." Richard reflects on his time working in the industry, from moving away from the military and into different roles over the years. He notes that giving credit where credit is due, to those who deserve it, is how you keep the audience engaged as a storyteller. We thank Richard for sharing his story.

The HackerNoon Techbeat provides a digest of trending technology stories. The articles cover diverse topics including internet archiving and its complexities. Discussions of Kubernetes outages highlight human factors over platform issues. There's analysis on the potential of political memecoins within the crypto market. AI's impact on data operations and the failures of "good enough" approaches are explored. The adoption rates of SEPA instant payments across Europe are analyzed. Modular skill usage for AI coding and creating causal AI models are shown. The importance of orchestration, observability, and auditability in enterprise AI adoption is also covered. A comparison of Large Language Models (LLMs) for 2026 is provided. Flare's token program conclusion is discussed and the use of local models with Claude Code using Ollama is detailed.

Learn how router/video/enterprise processes video over time—identifying objects, actions, and sequences.

OpenAI previously confirmed that it's testing ads in ChatGPT for free and $8 Go accounts, and now we're seeing early signs of that rollout, at least on Android. [...]

UniVideo combines video comprehension, creation, and editing into a single system built on established components—here’s what it does, what it outputs, and how to test it.

OpenAI has confirmed that it's retiring ChatGPT's most popular model called GPT-4o and several other models, including GPT-5 Instant, GPT-5 Thinking, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and o4-mini. [...]

Blockchain Penetration Testing simulates real-world cyberattacks on blockchain systems to identify vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them.  On September 14, 2021, the Solana blockchain network went offline for 17 hours during the Grape Protocol IDO (Initial DEX Offering) due to a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack.  In distributed blockchain applications, penetration testing frameworks have demonstrated throughput […]

AI-powered penetration testing is an advanced approach to security testing that uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, and autonomous agents to simulate real-world cyberattacks, identify vulnerabilities, and assess exploitability faster and more intelligently than traditional manual testing. According to Mariia Kozlovska et al. in their research “Artificial intelligence in penetration testing: leveraging AI for advanced vulnerability […]

IoT penetration testing is a security assessment of the complete IoT ecosystem, from backend systems and cloud services to mobile devices and hardware. It involves a multi-stage simulated attack on IoT devices and their supporting system to identify security risks before attackers can exploit them. Unpatched firmware is responsible for 60% of IoT security breaches, […]

How Secure is Secrets Encryption in Financial Services? Have you ever wondered how financial services ensure the safety of critical information? The key lies in the sophisticated management of Non-Human Identities (NHIs) and the rigorous approach to secrets encryption. These elements are essential to safeguarding sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands. The Role […]

What is the Role of Agentic AI in DevOps Security? How can organizations ensure the security of machine identities and secrets? A comprehensive security strategy, encompassing Non-Human Identities (NHIs) and Secrets Security Management, is crucial. This necessitates a reimagining of how cybersecurity frameworks can adapt to the rapid advancements in technology, particularly through the integration […]

How Can Least Privilege Transform Secure Cloud Operations? Have you ever pondered the repercussions of over-privileged access in cloud environments? With the rapid adoption of cloud technologies, the concept of least privilege has emerged when a cornerstone for secure cloud operations. This principle, while seemingly simple, significantly influences various sectors, enhancing security and operational efficiency. […]

How Do Non-Human Identities Impact Disaster Recovery and Cybersecurity? When considering disaster recovery and cybersecurity in cloud environments, have you thought about the role of Non-Human Identities (NHIs)? These machine identities—essentially digital passports with their own permissions—play a critical role in modern organizations. NHIs are at the forefront of data management and cybersecurity, providing a […]

We usually think of computer viruses as silent, invisible programs running in the background, but a worrying discovery shows that modern hackers are getting much more personal.

An FBI informant said in 2017 that Jeffrey Epstein had a “personal hacker,” according to a Justice Department document released Friday. An FBI informant said in 2017 that Jeffrey Epstein had a “personal hacker,” according to one of the documents released by the Department of Justice (DoJ) as part of the Epstein Files. The accuracy […]