US cybersecurity officials have issued an emergency directive after hackers breached a federal agency by exploiting critical flaws in Cisco appliances. CISA warned the campaign poses a severe risk to government networks.
Experts told CNN they believe the hackers are state-backed and operating out of China, raising alarm among officials. Hundreds of compromised devices are reportedly in use across the federal government, CISA stated, issuing a directive to rapidly assess the scope of this major breach.
Cisco confirmed it was urgently alerted to the breaches by US government agencies in May and quickly assigned a specialised team to investigate. The company provided advanced detection tools, worked intensely to analyse compromised environments, and examined firmware from infected devices.
Cisco stated that the attackers exploited multiple zero-day flaws and employed advanced evasion techniques. It suspects a link to the ArcaneDoor campaign reported in early 2024.
CISA has withheld details about which agencies were affected or the precise nature of the breaches, underscoring the gravity of the situation. Investigations are currently underway to contain the ongoing threat and prevent further exploitation.
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Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is recovering from a disruptive cyberattack, gradually bringing its systems back online. The company is focused on rebuilding its operations, aiming to restore confidence and momentum as key digital functions are restored.
JLR said it has boosted its IT processing capacity for invoicing to clear its payment backlog. The Global Parts Logistics Centre is also resuming full operations, restoring parts distribution to retailers.
The financial system used for processing vehicle wholesales has been restored, allowing the company to resume car sales and registration. JLR is collaborating with the UK’s NCSC and law enforcement to ensure a secure restart of operations.
Production remains suspended at JLR’s three UK factories in Halewood, Solihull, and Wolverhampton. The company typically produces around 1,000 cars a day, but staff have been instructed to stay at home since the August cyberattack.
The government is considering support packages for the company’s suppliers, some of whom are under financial pressure. A group identifying itself as Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters has claimed responsibility for the incident.
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LinkedIn will use member profile data to train its AI systems by default from 3 November 2025. The policy, already in place in the US and select markets, will now extend to more regions, mainly for 18+ users who prefer not to share their information and must opt out manually via account settings.
According to LinkedIn, the types of data that may be used include account details, email addresses, payment and subscription information, and service-related data such as IP addresses, device IDs, and location information.
Once disabled, profiles will no longer be added to AI training, although information collected earlier may remain in the system. Users can request the removal of past data through a Data Processing Objection Form.
Meta and X have already adopted similar practices in the US, allowing their platforms to use user-generated posts for AI training. LinkedIn insists its approach complies with privacy rules but leaves the choice in members’ hands.
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Cloudflare has announced the launch of its Content Signals Policy, a new extension to robots.txt that allows websites to express their preferences for how their data is used after access. The policy is designed to help creators maintain open content while preventing misuse by data scrapers and AI trainers.
The new tool enables website owners to specify, in a machine-readable format, whether they permit search indexing, AI input, or AI model training. Operators can set each signal to ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ or leave it blank to indicate no stated preference, providing them with fine-grained control over their responses.
Cloudflare says the policy tackles the free-rider problem, where scraped content is reused without credit. With bot traffic set to surpass human traffic by 2029, it calls for clear, standard rules to protect creators and keep the web open.
Customers already using Cloudflare’s managed robots.txt will have the policy automatically applied, with a default setting that allows search but blocks AI training. Sites without a robots.txt file can opt in to publish the human-readable policy text and add their own preferences when ready.
Cloudflare emphasises that content signals are not enforcement mechanisms but a means of communicating expectations. It is releasing the policy under a CC0 licence to encourage broad adoption and is working with standards bodies to ensure the rules are recognised across the industry.
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HSBC and IBM have reported the first empirical evidence of the value of quantum computers in solving real-world problems in bond trading. Their joint trial showed a 34% improvement in predicting the likelihood of a trade being filled at a quoted price compared to classical-only techniques.
The trial used a hybrid approach that combined quantum and classical computing to optimise quote requests in over-the-counter bond markets. Production-scale trading data from the European corporate bond market was run on IBM quantum computers to predict winning probabilities.
The results demonstrate how quantum techniques can outperform standard methods in addressing the complex and dynamic factors in algorithmic bond trading. HSBC said the findings offer a competitive edge and could redefine how the financial industry prices customer inquiries.
Philip Intallura, HSBC Group Head of Quantum Technologies, called the trial ‘a ground-breaking world-first in bond trading’. He said the results show that quantum computing is on the cusp of delivering near-term value for financial services.
IBM’s latest Heron processor played a key role in the workflow, augmenting classical computation to uncover hidden pricing signals in noisy data. IBM said such work helps unlock new algorithms and applications that could transform industries as quantum systems scale.
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The Dutch privacy watchdog, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP), is warning LinkedIn users in the Netherlands to review their settings to prevent their data from being used for AI training.
LinkedIn plans to use names, job titles, education history, locations, skills, photos, and public posts from European users to train its systems. Private messages will not be included; however, the sharing option is enabled by default.
AP Deputy Chair Monique Verdier said the move poses significant risks. She warned that once personal data is used to train a model, it cannot be removed, and its future uses are unpredictable.
LinkedIn, headquartered in Dublin, falls under the jurisdiction of the Data Protection Commission in Ireland, which will determine whether the plan can proceed. The AP said it is working with Irish and EU counterparts and has already received complaints.
Users must opt out by 3 November if they do not wish to have their data used. They can disable the setting via the AP’s link or manually in LinkedIn under ‘settings & privacy’ → ‘data privacy’ → ‘data for improving generative AI’.
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US tech giant Apple has called for the repeal of the EU’s Digital Markets Act, claiming the rules undermine user privacy, disrupt services, and erode product quality.
The company urged the Commission to replace the legislation with a ‘fit for purpose’ framework, or hand enforcement to an independent agency insulated from political influence.
Apple argued that the Act’s interoperability requirements had delayed the rollout of features in the EU, including Live Translation on AirPods and iPhone mirroring. Additionally, the firm accused the Commission of adopting extreme interpretations that created user vulnerabilities instead of protecting them.
Brussels has dismissed those claims. A Commission spokesperson stressed that DMA compliance is an obligation, not an option, and said the rules guarantee fair competition by forcing dominant platforms to open access to rivals.
A dispute that intensifies long-running friction between US tech firms and the EU regulators.
Apple has already appealed to the courts, with a public hearing scheduled in October, while Washington has criticised the bloc’s wider digital policy.
A clash has deepened transatlantic trade tensions, with the White House recently threatening tariffs after fresh fines against another American tech company.
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Autonomous logistics firm Gatik is set to expand its partnership with Loblaw, deploying 50 new self-driving trucks across North America over the next year. The move marks the largest autonomous truck deployment in the region to date.
The slow rollout of self-driving technology has frustrated supply chain watchers, with most firms still testing limited fleets. Gatik’s large-scale deployment signals a shift toward commercial adoption, with 20 trucks to be added by the end of 2025 and an additional 30 by 2026.
The partnership was enabled by Ontario’s Autonomous Commercial Motor Vehicle Pilot Program, a ten-year initiative allowing approved operators to test automated commercial trucks on public roads. Officials hope it will boost road safety and support the trucking sector.
Industry analysts note that North America’s truck driver shortage is one of the most pressing logistics challenges facing the region. Nearly 70% of logistics firms report that driver shortages hinder their ability to meet freight demand, making automation a viable solution to address this issue.
Gatik, operating in the US and Canada, says the deployment could ease labour pressure and improve efficiency, but safety remains a key concern. Experts caution that striking a balance between rapid rollout and robust oversight will be crucial for establishing trust in autonomous freight operations.
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ByteDance has unveiled Seedream 4.0, its latest AI-powered image generation model, which it claims outperforms Google DeepMind’s Gemini 2.5 Flash Image. The launch signals ByteDance’s bid to rival leading creative AI tools.
Developed by ByteDance’s Seed division, the model combines advanced text-to-image generation with fast, precise image editing. Internal testing reportedly showed superior prompt accuracy, image alignment, and visual quality compared to US-developed DeepMind’s system.
Artificial Analysis, an independent AI benchmarking firm, called Seedream 4.0 a significant step forward. The model integrates Seedream 3.0’s generation capability with SeedEdit 3.0’s editing tools while maintaining a price of US$30 per 1,000 generations.
ByteDance claims that Seedream 4.0 runs over 10 times faster than earlier versions, enhancing the user experience with near-instant image inference. Early users have praised its ability to make quick, text-prompted edits with high accuracy.
The tool is now available to users in China through Jimeng and Doubao AI apps and businesses via Volcano Engine, ByteDance’s cloud platform. A formal technical report supporting the company’s claims has not yet been released.
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The European Commission is collaborating with the EU capitals to narrow the list of proposals for large AI training hubs, known as AI Gigafactories. The €20 billion plan will be funded by the Commission (17%), the EU countries (17%), and industry (66%) to boost computing capacity for European developers.
The first call drew 76 proposals from 16 countries, far exceeding the initially planned four or five facilities. Most submissions must be merged or dropped, with Poland already seeking a joint bid with the Baltic states as talks continue.
Some EU members will inevitably lose out, with Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, hinting that priority could be given to countries already hosting AI Factories. That could benefit Finland, whose Lumi supercomputer is part of a Nokia-led bid to scale up into a Gigafactory.
The plan has raised concerns that Europe’s efforts come too late, as US tech giants invest heavily in larger AI hubs. Still, Brussels hopes its initiative will allow EU developers to compete globally while maintaining control over critical AI infrastructure.
A formal call for proposals is expected by the end of the year, once the legal framework is finalised. Selection criteria and funding conditions will be set to launch construction as early as 2026.
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