Telecommunications infrastructure

NVIDIA drives a new era of industrial AI cybersecurity

AI-driven defences are moving deeper into operational technology as NVIDIA leads a shift toward embedded cybersecurity across critical infrastructure.

The company is partnering with firms such as Akamai Technologies, Forescout, Palo Alto Networks, Siemens and Xage Security to protect energy, manufacturing and transport systems that increasingly operate through cloud-linked environments.

Modernisation has expanded capabilities across these sectors, yet it has widened the gap between evolving threats and ageing industrial defences.

Zero-trust adoption in operational environments is gaining momentum as Forescout and NVIDIA develop real-time verification models tailored to legacy devices and safety-critical processes.

Security workloads run on NVIDIA BlueField hardware to keep protection isolated from industrial systems and avoid any interference with essential operations. That approach enables more precise control over lateral movement across networks without disrupting performance.

Industrial automation is also adapting through Siemens and Palo Alto Networks, which are moving security enforcement closer to workloads at the edge. AI-enabled inspection via BlueField enhances visibility in highly time-sensitive environments, improving reliability and uptime.

Akamai and Xage are extending similar models to energy infrastructure and large-scale operational networks, embedding segmentation and identity-based controls where resilience is most critical.

A coordinated architecture is now emerging in which edge-generated operational data feeds central AI analysis, while enforcement remains local to maintain continuity.

The result is a security model designed to meet the pressures of cyber-physical systems, enabling operators to detect threats faster, reinforce operational stability and protect infrastructure that supports global AI expansion.

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AI data centre surge pushes electricity demand in the UK to new heights

The UK faces rising pressure on its electricity system as about 140 new data centre projects could demand more power than the country’s current peak consumption, according to Ofgem.

The regulator said developers are seeking about 50 gigawatts of capacity, a level driven by rapid growth in AI and far beyond earlier forecasts.

Connection requests have surged since late 2024, placing strain on a grid already struggling to support vital renewable projects that are key to national climate targets.

Work needed to connect expanding data centre capacity could delay schemes considered essential for decarbonisation and economic growth, instead of supporting the transition at the required pace.

The growing electricity footprint of AI infrastructure also threatens the aim of creating a virtually carbon-free power system by 2030, particularly as high costs and slow grid integration continue to hinder progress.

A proposed data centre in Lincolnshire has already raised concerns by projecting emissions greater than those of several international airports combined.

Ofgem now warns that speculative grid applications are blocking more viable projects, including those tied to government AI growth zones.

The regulator is considering more stringent financial requirements and new fees for access to grid connections, arguing that developers may need to build their own routes to the network rather than rely entirely on existing infrastructure.

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Global microchip shortage pushes electronics prices higher

South African consumers may soon pay more for smartphones and laptops due to a global shortage of memory chips. The high demand is largely driven by AI data centres, which require powerful microchips to operate.

Tech experts report that major AI companies are acquiring large quantities of these chips for their own data centres, limiting supply for other industries. At the same time, importing chips from regions such as China has become more difficult because of trade tensions and tariffs.

Industry leaders, including Apple’s Tim Cook and Tesla’s Elon Musk, have expressed concern over the impact on production and business operations. The strain is being felt across the tech sector as companies compete for the limited supply of components.

With no immediate solution, the increased costs are expected to be passed down to consumers. Analysts warn that the combination of high demand, supply constraints, and global trade issues will make technology and appliances more expensive for consumers.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Reload launches Epic to bring shared memory and structure to AI agents

Founders of the Reload platform say AI is moving from simple automation toward something closer to teamwork.

Newton Asare and Kiran Das noticed that AI agents were completing tasks normally handled by employees, which pushed them to design a system that treats digital workers as part of a company’s structure instead of disposable tools.

Their platform, Reload, offers a way for organisations to manage these agents across departments, assign responsibilities and monitor performance. The firm has secured 2.275 million dollars in new funding led by Anthemis with several other investors joining the round.

The shift toward agent-driven development exposed a recurring limitation. Most agents retain only short-term memory, which means they often lose context about a product or forget why a task matters.

Reload’s answer is Epic, a new product built on its platform that acts as an architect alongside coding agents. Epic defines requirements and constraints at the start of a project, then continuously preserves the shared understanding that agents need as software evolves.

Epic integrates with popular AI-assisted code editors such as Cursor and Windsurf, allowing developers to keep a consistent system memory without changing their workflow.

The tool generates key project artefacts from the outset, including data models and technical decisions, then carries them forward even when teams switch agents. It creates a single source of truth so that engineers and digital workers develop against the same structure.

Competing systems such as LongChain and CrewAI also offer support for managing agents, but Reload argues that Epic’s ability to maintain project-level context sets it apart.

Asare and Das, who already built and sold a previous company together, plan to use the fresh capital to grow their team and expand the infrastructure needed for a future in which human workers manage AI employees instead of the other way around.

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Greece positions itself as a global AI bridge

The PM of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, took part in the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi as part of a two-day visit that highlighted the country’s ambition to deepen its presence in global technology governance.

A gathering that focuses on creating a coherent international approach to AI under the theme ‘People-Planet-Progress’, with an emphasis on practical outcomes instead of abstract commitments.

Greece presents itself as a link between Europe and the Global South, seeking a larger role in debates over AI policy and geoeconomic strategy.

Mitsotakis is joined by Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou, underscoring Athens’ intention to strengthen partnerships that support technological development.

During the visit, Mitsotakis attended an official dinner hosted by Narendra Modi.

On Thursday, he will address the summit at Bharat Mandapam before holding a scheduled meeting with his Indian counterpart, reinforcing efforts to expand cooperation between Greece and India in emerging technologies.

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