Critical infrastructure

Ashford Port Health Authority rolls out AI-powered compliance checks at UK border control

The Ashford Port Health Authority, operated by Ashford Borough Council at the Sevington Border Control Post in Kent, has deployed an AI-enabled system to support import compliance checks.

This technology uses Intelligent Document Processing to automatically extract, structure and evaluate import documentation for agricultural products and other regulated goods, reducing the need for manual review in early screening stages.

Officials describe the system as the first of its kind in the UK to fully automate initial documentary compliance checks for imported goods, including products of animal origin (POAO), high-risk food not of animal origin (HRFNAO) and other regulated consignments.

By mimicking the workflows of human officers, it helps improve productivity, consistency and speed of border controls while allowing staff to focus on frontline services.

The rollout also allows Ashford Borough Council to freeze official control charges for the 2026/27 financial year, as automation gains offset cost pressures. The council emphasises that the AI system augments rather than replaces expert oversight, strengthening compliance without sacrificing professional judgement.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

OpenClaw exploits spark a major security alert

A wave of coordinated attacks has targeted OpenClaw, the autonomous AI framework that gained rapid popularity after its release in January.

Multiple hacking groups have taken advantage of severe vulnerabilities to steal API keys, extract persistent memory data, and push information-stealing malware instead of leaving the platform’s expanding user base unharmed.

Security analysts have linked more than 30,000 compromised instances to campaigns that intercept messages and deploy malicious payloads through channels such as Telegram.

Much of the damage stems from flaws such as the Remote Code Execution vulnerability CVE-2026-25253, supply chain poisoning, and exposed administrative interfaces. Early attacks centred on the ‘ClawHavoc’ campaign, which disguised malware as legitimate installation tools.

Users who downloaded these scripts inadvertently installed stealers capable of full compromise, enabling attackers to move laterally across enterprise systems instead of being confined to a single device.

Further incidents emerged on the OpenClaw marketplace, where backdoored ‘skills’ were published from accounts that appeared reliable. These updates executed remote commands that allowed attackers to siphon OAuth tokens, passwords, and API keys in real time.

A Shodan scan later identified more than 312,000 OpenClaw instances running on a default port with little or no protection, while honeypots recorded hostile activity within minutes of appearing online.

Security researchers argue that the surge in attacks marks a decisive moment for autonomous AI frameworks. As organisations experiment with agents capable of independent decision-making, the absence of security-by-design safeguards is creating opportunities for organised threat groups.

Flare’s advisory urges companies to secure credentials and isolate AI workloads instead of relying on default configurations that expose high-privilege systems to the internet.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!  

EU–US draft data pact allows automated decisions on travellers

A draft data-sharing agreement between the EU and the US Department of Homeland Security would allow automated decisions about European travellers to continue under certain conditions, despite attempts to tighten protections.

The text permits such decisions when authorised under domestic law and relies on safeguards that let individuals request human intervention instead of leaving outcomes entirely to algorithms.

A deal designed to preserve visa-free travel would require national authorities to grant access to biometric databases containing fingerprints and facial scans.

Negotiators are attempting to reconcile the framework with the General Data Protection Regulation, even though the draft states that the new rules would supplement and supersede earlier bilateral arrangements.

Sensitive information, including political views, trade union membership and biometric identifiers, could be transferred as long as protective conditions are applied.

EU countries face a deadline at the end of 2026 to conclude individual agreements, and failure to do so could result in suspension from the US Visa Waiver Program.

A separate clause keeps disputes firmly outside judicial scrutiny by requiring disagreements to be resolved through a Joint Committee instead of national or international courts.

The draft also restricts onward sharing, obliging US authorities to seek explicit consent before passing European-supplied data to third parties.

Further negotiations are expected, with the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs preparing to hold a closed-door review of the talks.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!  

MWC 2026 to spotlight SK Telecom’s AI infrastructure vision

SK Telecom will present its end-to-end AI capabilities at MWC 2026, taking place from 2 to 5 March in Barcelona. Under the theme ‘AI for Infinite Possibilities’, the company will highlight AI infrastructure, models, and telecom applications.

The South Korea-based operator will showcase its AI data centre expertise, including infrastructure for a major Ulsan project and a high-performance GPU cluster. Its AI Data Center Infrastructure Manager will demonstrate real-time monitoring across integrated systems.

GPU-as-a-service solutions will also include the Petasus AI Cloud platform, AI Cloud Manager for resource optimisation, and the GAIA monitoring system. SK Telecom will introduce its AI Inference Factory, designed to integrate hardware and software into a unified stack for inference workloads.

In the telecom infrastructure space, the company will outline its AI-native network strategy, spanning embedded AI agents, AI-enabled RAN base stations, and on-device antenna tuning. Integrated sensing and communication technologies will preview autonomous networks and early 6G capabilities.

The booth will also feature SK Telecom’s 519-billion-parameter A.X K1 large language model and open-source variants. Applications for physical AI, including digital twins and robot-training platforms that link virtual and physical environments, will be demonstrated.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Cloudflare outage causes global internet disruption after an internal error

A major outage on 20 February disrupted global internet traffic after an internal configuration failure at Cloudflare caused the unintended withdrawal of customer BGP routes.

The incident lasted just over six hours and left numerous services unreachable, despite early fears of a cyberattack. An internal update led to the systematic deletion of more than a thousand Bring Your Own IP prefixes, which pushed many connections into BGP path hunting instead of stable routing.

Engineers traced the disruption to an error in the company’s Addressing API, introduced during an automated cleanup task under the Code Orange resilience programme.

A flawed query interpreted an empty value as an instruction to delete all returned prefixes, removing essential bindings for hundreds of customers. Some users restored connectivity through the dashboard, while others required manual reconstruction carried out across the edge network.

An outage that affected a series of core offerings, including content delivery, security layers, dedicated egress and network protection services. Restoration took several hours because the withdrawn prefixes varied in severity, demanding different recovery methods instead of a uniform reinstatement process.

The error triggered widespread timeouts on dependent websites and applications, along with 403 responses on the 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver.

Cloudflare plans to introduce stricter API validation, circuit breakers for abnormal deletion patterns, and improved configuration separation. It has also issued a public apology for a failure that undermined its assurances of network resilience.

An event that reaffirmed the risks posed by internal automation faults when they interact with critical internet infrastructure.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!  

Secure quantum-safe optical transport strengthens Japan’s AI data center infrastructure

Nokia and KDDI Corporation demonstrated quantum-safe optical transport at Sakai Data Center, supporting advanced AI workloads. The network aims to deliver secure, uninterrupted data transfer while protecting sensitive AI operations.

The demonstration showcases KDDI’s scalable AI-ready infrastructure for real-time training, inference, and analytics. Quantum-safe encryption and resilient transport protect customer data and critical infrastructure across Japan’s distributed data centres.

Using Nokia’s 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) and 1830 Security Management Server (SMS), the partners validated high-capacity, secure optical connectivity. The solution delivers privacy, reliability, and fast quantum-safe encryption for modern AI workloads.

Executives from both companies emphasised the importance of secure, scalable networks in enabling AI-driven services. Nokia and KDDI will continue advancing quantum-safe data centre connectivity, supporting Japan’s digital infrastructure and key enterprise applications.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot! 

Strict ban on crypto references introduced by OpenClaw

OpenClaw has introduced a firm community rule prohibiting any reference to Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies on its Discord server, according to its creator, Peter Steinberger.

Enforcement drew attention after a user was removed for mentioning Bitcoin block height as a timing method in a benchmark, with the developer later offering to restore access.

The policy follows a rebrand scare when scammers hijacked old accounts to promote a fake Solana token. Market value spiked then plunged after Steinberger denied involvement, warning that no official token would be issued.

Rapid growth of the open-source project, which has attracted a large developer base within weeks of launch, contrasts with wider industry momentum linking AI agents and digital assets.

Leaders such as Jeremy Allaire of Circle argue stablecoins could become default payment rails for autonomous software, while Coinbase is already rolling out infrastructure enabling agents to transact on-chain.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot! 

Quantum computing breakthrough slows information loss

Chinese scientists have observed and controlled a rare intermediate state in a quantum system, effectively slowing quantum chaos. Using the 78-qubit Chuang Tzu 2.0 superconducting processor, researchers demonstrated how a temporary stable phase can be extended or shortened.

The team identified a prethermalisation plateau, a brief period during which the system resists disorder before rapidly descending into full complexity. Careful adjustment of control sequences enabled scientists to tune the rate of quantum decoherence and control how information spreads.

Findings, published in Nature, offer a potential window for preserving fragile quantum information. Longer coherence times could significantly improve the reliability of quantum computing and error correction methods.

Researchers say the work also highlights the advantage of quantum processors in simulating phenomena too complex for classical supercomputers. Applications may range from drug discovery and advanced materials research to next-generation secure communications.

Continued development of larger and more powerful quantum chips is now underway. Mastering such transitional states will be crucial to unlocking the full potential of quantum technologies.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

India’s UIDAI rolls out AI-enabled biometric deduplication and document verification platform

UIDAI has deployed an advanced platform that uses AI-enabled models to improve biometric deduplication, the process of ensuring that each resident has a unique identity record, by checking fingerprints, facial images and iris scans against the entire Aadhaar database.

The authority describes this system, developed with the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, as an ‘Invisible Shield’ that can perform billions of computations efficiently at a population scale, running on high-performance inference infrastructure such as NVIDIA DGX systems to enhance accuracy and speed nationwide.

In addition to biometric matching, the platform incorporates AI-based document metadata extraction and verification to curb enrolment fraud, using secure APIs (e.g. DigiLocker) for source-of-truth checks against submitted documents.

The system is already being rolled out in several states. It is expected to expand across India in the coming months, boosting service quality, reducing turnaround times for Aadhaar enrolment and update transactions, and reinforcing trust in the digital identity infrastructure.

The initiative is part of a broader push to leverage AI for fraud detection and identity assurance at a national scale. It comes amid ongoing efforts by UIDAI to modernise authentication processes as biometric and AI-based systems evolve.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Bremen trials AI-based safety system ‘AI Watch’ on city trams

The city of Bremen, Germany, has begun piloting an AI-based safety system called AI Watch on its tram fleet. The technology uses onboard cameras and computer vision models to automatically detect potential safety issues, such as passengers too close to doors, objects on the tracks, or unexpected pedestrian behaviour, and alerts tram operators in real time.

The goal is to reduce accidents and enhance situational awareness without replacing human oversight.

Developed with transport and AI specialists, AI Watch integrates with vehicles’ existing sensor suites and is designed to function in real-time operational environments. During the pilot, the system has been tested under various traffic and lighting conditions to refine hazard recognition accuracy and minimise false alarms.

BSAG representatives say the AI support tool complements human judgement, helping drivers focus on decision-making rather than continuously scanning for hazards.

The initiative comes as cities explore AI applications in urban mobility, from predictive maintenance to intelligent traffic management and automated incident detection, to improve safety, efficiency and passenger experience.

Bremen’s pilot will be evaluated for scalability across additional routes and potentially other types of public transport vehicles.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Diplo chatbot can make mistakes. Consider checking important information.