Google is accelerating Chrome’s release cycle rather than maintaining its long-standing four-week cadence.
From September, users on desktop and mobile platforms will receive new stable versions every two weeks, doubling the frequency of feature milestones across speed, stability and usability. Weekly security updates introduced in 2023 remain unchanged.
The faster pace comes as AI-driven browsers seek a foothold in a market long dominated by Chrome.
Products, such as ChatGPT Atlas and Perplexity’s Comet, embed agentic assistants directly into the browsing experience, automating tasks from summarising pages to scheduling meetings.
Chrome has responded with deeper Gemini integration, including the rollout of autonomous features across its interface.
Google maintains that the accelerated schedule reflects the needs of the evolving web platform, arguing that developers require quicker access to updated tools.
Yet the timing aligns with growing competitive pressure from AI-native browsers, prompting speculation that Chrome’s dominance can no longer be taken for granted.
The shift will begin with Chrome version 153 in beta and stable channels on 8 September 2026. Enterprise administrators and Chromebook users will continue to rely on the eight-week Extended Stable branch, which remains unchanged for organisations that need slower, controlled deployments.
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Ransomware attacks are increasingly relying on stolen passwords rather than traditional malware, according to Cloudflare’s latest annual threat report. Attackers now exploit legitimate account credentials to blend into regular traffic, making breaches harder to detect and contain.
Manufacturing and critical infrastructure organisations account for over half of targeted attacks, reflecting their high operational stakes.
Cloudflare highlighted that AI is enabling attackers to prioritise speed and scale over technical sophistication. Generative AI lets criminals automate fraud, hijacking email threads and targeting a ~$49,000 sweet spot to maximise profit while avoiding scrutiny.
Nation-state actors also leverage legitimate platforms for command-and-control operations, with Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea each following distinct cyber strategies.
Researchers warned that modern ransomware is less a malware crisis and more an identity and access challenge. Attackers using authorised credentials can bypass defences and execute high-impact extortion, marking a significant shift in global threat vectors.
The report urges businesses to strengthen identity security, monitor access, and defend against AI-driven attacks that exploit impersonation and automation at scale.
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The European Commission is preparing more stringent requirements for ageing data centres rather than allowing legacy infrastructure to operate under looser rules.
A draft strategy tied to the EU’s tech sovereignty package signals that older sites will face higher efficiency expectations and stricter sustainability checks as part of an effort to modernise the digital backbone of the EU.
The proposal outlines minimum performance standards for new data centres by 2030, aiming to align the entire sector with the bloc’s climate and resilience goals. Officials want to reduce energy waste and improve monitoring across facilities that have long operated without uniform benchmarks.
The draft points to an expanded role for the Cloud and AI Development Act, which is expected to frame future obligations for cloud providers instead of relying on fragmented national measures.
Brussels sees consistent rules as essential for supporting secure cloud services, AI infrastructure and cross-border digital operations.
The strategy underscores that modernisation is central to the EU’s vision of tech sovereignty. Older centres would need upgrades to maintain compliance, ensuring that Europe’s digital infrastructure remains competitive, efficient and less dependent on external providers.
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Europe is building a federated cloud and AI infrastructure intended to reduce reliance on US and Chinese technology providers and avoid ongoing strategic vulnerability.
The project, known as EURO-3C, was announced in Barcelona by Telefónica and is backed by the European Commission. More than seventy organisations across telecommunications, technology and emerging companies have joined the effort.
Architects of the scheme argue that linking national infrastructures into a shared network of nodes offers a realistic path forward, particularly as Europe cannot easily create a hyperscale cloud provider from scratch.
The initiative follows a series of US cloud outages that exposed the risks of excessive dependence on external infrastructure and raised questions about sovereignty, resilience and long-term competitiveness.
Commission officials described the programme as a way to build a secure cross-border digital ecosystem that supports industries such as automotive, e-health, public administration and sovereign government cloud.
Telefónica stressed that agentic AI, capable of taking autonomous actions, will play a central role in enabling Europe to develop technology rather than import it.
The partners view the project as a foundation for a unified and independent digital environment that strengthens industrial supply chains and prepares European sectors for the next phase of cloud and AI adoption.
They present the initiative as a significant step toward reducing strategic exposure while stimulating domestic innovation.
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The civil liberties committee failed to secure majority backing for its amended report on extending the EU’s temporary chat-scanning rules instead of giving a clear negotiating position.
Members of Parliament reviewed the amendments on Monday, but the final text did not garner sufficient support, leaving the proposal without endorsement as the adoption deadline approaches.
A proposal to extend the current derogation that allows tech companies to voluntarily scan their services for Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).
The existing regime expires in April 2026 and was intended only as a stopgap while a permanent Child Sexual Abuse Regulation was developed. Years of stalled negotiations have led to the temporary rules being extended twice since 2021.
Council has already approved its position without changes to the Commission proposal, creating a tight timeline for Parliament.
With trilogue talks finally underway, institutions would need to conclude discussions unusually quickly to prevent the legal basis from expiring. If no agreement is reached by April, companies would lose their ability to scan services under the EU law.
The committee confirmed that the file will now move to plenary in the week of 9–12 March, where political groups may table new amendments. An outcome that will determine whether the temporary regime remains in place while negotiations on the permanent system continue.
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Deutsche Telekom is turning to satellite connectivity to address Europe’s persistent mobile coverage gaps, rather than relying solely on terrestrial networks.
The company announced a partnership with Starlink during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, arguing that non-terrestrial networks can help reach remote forests, mountains and islands that remain underserved despite broad coverage elsewhere.
A collaboration that aims to support direct-to-device satellite links by 2028, enabling future smartphones to connect to Starlink’s MSS spectrum without additional hardware.
Telecommunications leaders describe the plan as a step toward an ‘everywhere network’, extending reliable service to areas long constrained by topographical and conservation barriers. The partnership follows earlier joint work with SpaceX to eliminate dead zones.
Deutsche Telekom is also increasing its use of agentic AI, integrating autonomous network-enhancing systems intended to improve translation, search and service features across devices.
Executives say these capabilities work even on older phones, reducing dependence on apps and creating a more inclusive digital environment.
Although committed to European digital sovereignty, the company insists that global collaboration remains necessary for long-term competitiveness.
Leadership argues that precise regulation and controlled data environments aligned with European standards can balance international cooperation with privacy protection. They remain confident that European technology firms and start-ups will continue driving meaningful innovation across the sector.
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More users are exploring how to switch from ChatGPT to Claude while preserving their existing chat history and preferences. Rather than starting over with a new AI assistant, many want to migrate context and maintain continuity.
The first step is gathering your data from ChatGPT. In Settings, open Personalisation, then review the Memory section to copy any stored preferences you want to retain. You can also export your full chat history through Data Controls by selecting ‘Export Data’.
ChatGPT will generate downloadable files containing your conversations. If you prefer a lighter approach, manually copy key discussions or ask ChatGPT to summarise your main preferences, frequently discussed topics, and custom instructions.
Once your information is ready, open Claude and enable Memory under Settings and Capabilities. Start a new conversation and paste your summaries using a prompt such as ‘Here is important context about me. Please update your memory accordingly.’
After transferring the data, verify that Claude has stored the information accurately. If you plan to leave ChatGPT entirely, review and delete saved memory entries before removing your account to ensure your data is cleared.
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A high-severity vulnerability dubbed ‘ClawJacked’ has been discovered in OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent framework that lets developers run autonomous AI assistants locally.
The flaw, uncovered by Oasis Security, allowed malicious websites to silently hijack a user’s local AI agent instance and steal sensitive data, all triggered by a single browser visit.
The attack exploited OpenClaw’s local WebSocket gateway, which assumed that traffic from localhost could be trusted. A malicious website could open a WebSocket connection to the gateway, brute-force the password at hundreds of guesses per second, with no rate limiting applied to local connections, and then silently register as a trusted device without any user prompt.
Once inside, attackers gained admin-level access to the AI agent, connected devices, logs, and configuration data. Oasis Security responsibly disclosed the flaw, and OpenClaw issued a patch within 24 hours, releasing version 2026.2.26.
Security experts are urging organisations to update immediately, audit the permissions held by their AI agents, and apply strict governance policies, treating AI agents as non-human identities that require the same oversight as human users or service accounts.
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Deepfakes and injection attacks are no longer just tools for misinformation; they are now being deployed to break the identity verification systems that underpin banking, hiring, and account access.
Bad actors are targeting the critical moments when a system determines whether someone is a real person, from customer onboarding at banks to remote hiring and account recovery workflows.
Attackers exploit verification systems in two main ways: by using increasingly convincing synthetic faces and voice clones to mimic real people, and by launching injection attacks that substitute fraudulent video into the capture pipeline before it ever reaches the detection system.
According to the Entrust 2026 Identity Fraud Report, deepfakes are now linked to one in five biometric fraud attempts, with injection attacks rising 40% year-on-year.
Experts warn that detecting deepfakes alone is no longer sufficient. Enterprises must validate the whole session, including device integrity and behavioural signals, in real time.
Gartner predicts that by 2026, 30% of enterprises will no longer consider face-based identity verification reliable in isolation, given the pace AI AI-generated deepfake attacks.
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A data breach at British game studio Cloud Imperium has angered players worldwide after the company quietly announced the incident. Users criticised the slow disclosure and the minimal information provided about what was accessed.
The breach, which occurred on 21 January, exposed names, contact details and dates of birth from backup systems. Cloud Imperium insists no passwords, financial information or game data were compromised.
Players have expressed frustration over the company’s reassurances, arguing that even basic personal details could be used in phishing campaigns. Forums and social media quickly filled with criticism, calling the announcement hidden and inadequate.
Cloud Imperium said it acted quickly to contain the breach, refresh security settings, and monitor systems for further incidents. The studio maintains that the issue should not affect gameplay or user safety, but some users remain sceptical.
The company’s flagship game, Star Citizen, is crowdfunded and boasts millions of players. However, it has not disclosed the total number of accounts affected, leaving the community uneasy about the transparency of the response.
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