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Identity thieves are now using college enrollment to take out student loans in victims' names. This so-called "ghost student" scam capitalizes on limited verification for online class sign-ups and the federal aid application process to steal millions in funds while assigning the debt to unsuspecting targets.

I personally have been a victim of this scam, which I discovered only after an outstanding student loan debt landed on my credit report in 2024. Here's how the scheme works.

'Ghost student' scam relies on stolen identities

To run this scam, fraudsters use stolen or fake identities to enroll "ghost students" in online classes while also applying for federal student aid, including Pell grants and loans. Of course, they never actually attend those classes, instead disappearing with the money and placing the resulting financial burden on the individuals and schools they've conned.

In my case, scammers had used just enough accurate personal information to "enroll" at a community college in southern California and take out a Pell grant in my name. However, because the enrollment was fraudulent, the grant was considered overpaid and sent to collections via the U.S. Department of Education—which is how it landed on my credit record.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG), this type of fraud blew up with the shift to online and remote learning, particularly at community colleges that offer open enrollment (and generally engage in limited verification of applicant information). Increasingly, AI tools also likely help scammers to expand their reach with enrollment and loan applications and get past identity verification checks.

The scheme has affected schools across the country. In California alone, nearly a third of all applicants to community colleges in 2024 were identified as fake. A handful of individuals have been sent to prison after stealing millions in "ghost student" financial aid, but the OIG still has 200 investigations open.

For individuals targeted by the ghost student scam, the consequences are essentially the fallout of identity theft, such as debt falsely assigned to you that negatively affects your credit or the inability to get legitimate student loans (or any other type of credit) when you actually need them.

It also forces you into a long and arduous process of disputing the fraud: I spent several months going back and forth between the Department of Education, the community college, the credit bureaus, and an attorney to track down the fraudulent applications, file identity theft reports, provide extensive documentation proving that I wasn't responsible for the debt, and get the information removed from my record.

How to protect your identity from student loan fraud

Unfortunately, the ghost student scam circumvents a standard anti-fraud safeguard because most federal student aid doesn't require a credit check. (My credit record had been frozen for years, and still was at the time that this fraud took place.) While you should absolutely freeze your credit and thaw it temporarily only when needed, this step may not prevent bad actors from using your information to apply for grants and loans.

Because this scam is a form of identity theft, you should take every precaution to safeguard your personal information. Given the ubiquity of data breaches and hacks, you can assume a lot of it is already out in the open, but that doesn't mean you can't lock accounts down and practice good digital hygiene. Credit fraud alerts and a regular review of your credit reports will help you catch any suspicious activity quickly.


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The 65-inch TCL QM7K is currently selling for $797.99, down from $999.99, and price-trackers show this is the lowest it has dropped so far. The QM7K isn’t a stripped-down budget model—it’s a mini-LED TV with full-array local dimming, wide HDR format support, and brightness levels that push past 2,000 nits. In practice, that means HDR highlights pop, contrast stays controlled, and the screen remains usable even in rooms with a lot of daylight. It doesn’t reach the extreme peak brightness of TCL’s higher-end QM8, but for most living rooms, the difference is negligible. And if you’re also shopping for a solid gaming and streaming setup without dropping over a grand, the QM7K fits the bill.

TCL has packed this one with gamer-friendly specs: a native 144Hz refresh rate, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, and input lag under 5ms for 1080p at high frame rates. Even at 4K60, input lag stays under 14 milliseconds, keeping it comfortably below the one-frame delay PCMag uses as a benchmark for solid gaming performance in a TV. Connectivity is solid, too, with four HDMI ports in total, including two that support 144Hz signals and one with eARC for audio passthrough, plus USB, Ethernet, and optical audio. Google TV handles the smarts, with support for Apple AirPlay, Chromecast, hands-free Google Assistant, and all the big-name streaming apps. The included remote is backlit, easy to use, and comes with shortcut buttons for popular apps. And the interface is easy to navigate.

That said, there are some trade-offs. Color tuning leans warm out of the box and may need adjustment, and the panel doesn’t support ATSC 3.0, so you’re missing out on the newer over-the-air broadcast standard. Also, like most LED TVs, you’ll lose some color saturation and contrast when watching from sharp side angles. But those compromises are minor for most people using it as a living room centerpiece or gaming display. PCMag gave the QM7K “excellent” rating, and our own writer, Daniel Oropeza named the 65-inch model one of the best budget QLED TVs to buy.

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Speaking as someone who almost pulled the trigger on one this weekend, if you're planning on buying a new MacBook Pro right now, don't do it. According to inside information seen by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, new models are right around the corner. The news came in the latest edition of Gurman's Power On newsletter, a frequent and usually correct source on all things Apple. According to the reporter's sources at the company, new models of MacBook Pro are currently set to come out sometime during the macOS 26.3 release cycle, which will last from February through March.

The new laptops will supposedly keep the same form factor, but will feature newer chips, likely the M5 Pro and M5 Max. That means more performance for power users. Currently, you can only buy a MacBook Pro with either an entry-level M5 chip, and if you want a little bit more power, you'll have to settle for either the M4 Pro or M4 Max, both of which are last gen. Also, the base M5 chip is not available on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, although that's unlikely to change in the new release.

If Gurman's sources are correct, the new MacBooks would be coming out a bit earlier in the year than you might expect, at least going by the last time the MacBook Pro got pro-level chips, which was in October of 2024. However, if you try to buy a MacBook Pro with an M4 Max chip on Apple's website right now, you'll notice shipping delays into the end of February and, in some cases, early March. Gurman also says that his sources are also reporting that the current MacBook Pro is starting to sell out at Apple Stores around the world. Both of these points seem to show that Apple isn't bothering to restock dwindling inventory anymore, which would hint towards a new launch being imminent.

That's great news for Apple power users who want to eke a bit more performance out of their machines, but I'm a little disappointed that there's no mention of OLED or touchscreens in this report, both of which were rumored to potentially start production this year. Still, even going by those earlier rumors, the start of 2026 would be an optimistic timetable for these features—we might expect them closer to either the end of year or early next year.

Apple users might be concerned about the new models releasing during the ongoing RAM crisis, which could theoretically see prices go up. However, according to a separate report from other famed Apple leaker Ming-Chi Kuo, it seems the company is planning to eat rising RAM costs itself rather than pass them on to consumers, at least for its next iPhone. I can't say whether that'll also be the case for the next MacBook, but as Apple will likely stop selling the previous models once the new ones are out, it seems likely to me.

Speaking of previous models, even if you don't necessarily need Apple's latest and greatest chips, I would still hold off on buying until the new models are announced. That's because existing M4 Pro and M4 Max units that are already in stock at sites like Amazon are likely to go down in price immediately afterwards. According to price-tracking sites, these seem to have been unaffected by the RAM crisis so far, and are favorite discounts during deals events like Prime Day. No longer being the latest and greatest means discounts are likely to become even more common, as these stores push to move their remaining stock and give customers a compelling reason to not opt for Apple's slightly newer chips instead.


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It's been more than a year since the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra were unveiled, which means we're overdue some new flagship phones from Samsung. While nothing has been officially revealed about the Galaxy S26, a number of leaks and rumors that have appeared online, providing a pretty good idea of what to expect.

With the caveat that none of this is confirmed (though this information all comes from well-known tipsters with decent track records when it comes to future Samsung products), here's everything the rumors are telling us right now. We'll know how much of it is spot-on once the devices are announced—perhaps as soon as the end of this month.

What rumors say about the Samsung Galaxy S26 series' launch date and pricing

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S25 phones on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, and they then went on sale on Friday, Feb. 7. We're already into February 2026, and there's still no word about the Galaxy S26 series, so for whatever reason, Samsung hasn't been able to stick to the same schedule that it used last year for its flagship phones' launch.

Still, we should see these handsets appear before we're too much further into 2026. According to information obtained by the team at Dealabs, Samsung is planning to hold a launch event on Wednesday, Feb. 25—which would align with the day of the week that Samsung usually likes to hold its Unpacked events.

That date has been repeated by veteran leaker Evan Blass, so it looks as certain as anything can be without any official confirmation. There will then be a short preorder period before the phones actually go on sale, as usual, and the Galaxy S26 series is being tipped to start shipping on Wednesday, March 11.

As for pricing, it would seem that these Galaxy S26 handsets are going to cost you as much as their Galaxy S25 counterparts did when they first came out. Several sources, including reports from South Korean media, predict the following starting prices: $799 for the Galaxy S26, $999 for the Galaxy S26 Plus, and $1,299 for the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

What rumors say about the Samsung Galaxy S26 series' design

The three models we're expecting—the standard model, the Plus model, and the Ultra model—match up with what Samsung has done in previous years, including 2025. It's possible that we'll see a more affordable FE (Fan Edition) version of the Galaxy S26 later in the year—the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE launched in September 2025.

What we're probably not going to see is a Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge. The Galaxy S25 Edge, the thinnest Galaxy phone to date, broke cover in May 2025, measuring just 5.8mm front to back. However, multiple sources (including the well-respected Jukan) suggest that sluggish sales have led to the model being dropped this year. (It seems demand is weak for the iPhone Air as well.)

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
The rear camera design from the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is set to be used on the Galaxy S26. Credit: Samsung

When it comes to the designs of these phones, we're not expecting much to change at all. Android Headlines has posted renders for the 6.3-inch Galaxy S26, the 6.7-inch Galaxy S26 Plus, and the 6.9-inch Galaxy S26 Ultra: That's a slight increase in screen size (from 6.2 inches) for the standard model compared to the Galaxy S25, but the other two look like they'll have the same sized displays as their predecessors.

The only real change in terms of aesthetics is a pill-shaped camera island on the back. This was missing on the Galaxy S25 series, but did show up on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. Multiple colors have been rumored, in part through wallpaper leaks: They include gray, peach, purple, light blue, black, and silver for the standard model, and black, white, silver shadow, sky blue, cobalt violet, and pink gold for the Ultra model.

What rumors say about the Samsung Galaxy S26 series' specs and features

The Samsung Galaxy S26 phones will come with the standard processor speed bump: As reported by SamMobile, it looks as though the handsets are going to be fitted with a mix of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 from Qualcomm, and Samsung's own Exynos 2600 processor, depending on region. If previous years are any indication, all the handsets sold in the US will have Snapdragon CPUs inside.

Don't expect massive leaps forward in terms of cameras: According to The Elec in South Korea, the Galaxy S26 cameras will match those on the Galaxy S25 (50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP 3x telephoto), as Samsung tries to keep costs down. However, the Ultra model may get treated to a new 10MP telephoto camera.

Samsung Unpacked
The Galaxy S25 series launch. Credit: Samsung

There may be better news when it comes to battery capacity, though this is only one of the contributors to battery life. As Wccftech reports, the Galaxy S26 is rumored to be getting a 4,300mAh battery, compared to the 4,000mAh battery of its predecessor—and the other two models are apparently getting similar bumps as well.

It seems as though this will be the year that Samsung adds MagSafe-style accessory snapping on top of wireless charging to its flagship Galaxy phones. WinFuture has managed to obtain details of some of the official magnetic cases that are apparently coming our way, together with the phones themselves.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. Credit: Lifehacker

There is one feature that Samsung has officially teased, and that's a "new layer of privacy" for Galaxy phone screens. When this privacy feature is enabled, it will be much harder for anyone but you to see what's on your display—cutting down the risks of 'shoulder surfers' getting a glance at passwords, PIN codes, or other sensitive information.

Overall then, it seems we'll be getting rather modest upgrades from Samsung this time around, in terms of both the hardware design and the internal specs. On the software side there are several new features to look forward to with One UI 8.5, including improved security and sharing tools, and yet more AI functionality.


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Most organizations view AI identities through the same lens used for other non-human identities, such as service accounts, API keys, and chatbots, according to The State of Non-Human Identity and AI Security report by the Cloud Security Alliance.

securing AI identities

AI identities inherit old IAM weaknesses

Treating AI identities as another category of non-human identity means they inherit the same weaknesses that have affected identity programs for years. Credential sprawl, unclear ownership, and uneven lifecycle controls already pose challenges at scale. AI systems increase the number of identities in circulation and shorten the time between creation and use, placing additional stress on these controls.

Many identity programs rely on models built for slower and more predictable systems. AI identities are created programmatically, distributed across environments, and used continuously, increasing the number of credentials that require tracking and review.

Risk management often centers on access mechanisms, with limited visibility into how AI systems behave once access is granted.

Policy doesn’t keep up with automation

In many organizations, AI identities fall into a gray area. Defined rules for how they are created, managed, and retired are often missing, and teams handle them differently depending on the system or use case.

Automation provides limited relief. AI identities are still created and removed through processes that include manual steps, making consistency difficult to maintain as AI systems begin generating access on a regular basis. No single team consistently owns an AI identity throughout its lifecycle, and permissions tend to accumulate over time.

When an issue occurs or an alert triggers, security teams may spend valuable time determining ownership before they can act. The result is a growing set of identities with broad access and limited oversight, which becomes increasingly difficult to manage as AI systems expand across the environment.

“Organizations with limited visibility and unclear ownership are feeling the strain of AI-driven identities and securing identities in the AI era. Establishing strong identity foundations now is critical to reducing risk and confidently scaling AI use” said Hillary Baron, AVP of Research, Cloud Security Alliance.

Legacy IAM meets continuous identity creation

Most identity and access tools were built for human users and long-lived service accounts. They struggle to scale as AI systems create and use identities continuously.

Security teams report limited confidence in their ability to control non-human identities at scale. Legacy IAM platforms depend on manual reviews, exception handling, and ticket-based workflows, which slow oversight and leave many AI-generated identities outside established governance paths.

Non-human identities tied to AI workloads are often treated as exceptions. They bypass access reviews and certification cycles, reducing visibility into where credentials exist and what resources they can reach.

This gap between AI-driven activity and identity controls forces teams into a reactive posture, addressing risk only after access has already been granted.

The blind spots around AI credentials

Weaknesses in legacy IAM tools and governance are most visible in how organizations manage the credentials behind AI systems. Teams often lack a reliable way to detect when new AI-related identities or tokens are created, allowing credentials from short-term projects or experiments to persist.

When a credential is exposed or no longer needed, rotation or revocation frequently lags. Security teams may spend hours or days identifying where a token is used, who owns it, and which systems depend on it. During that time, the credential remains active.

Reviewing, rotating, and auditing non-human identities consumes a consistent share of staff time each month, further straining security operations.


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Here’s an overview of some of last week’s most interesting news, articles, interviews and videos:

Week in review

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, Vice President of Military Affairs at Microsoft and longtime leader of the Microsoft Software and Systems Academy (MSSA), and Corey Lee, Security CTO for Microsoft Education, discuss how Microsoft has built and scaled a veteran-to-tech pipeline that responds directly to real-world hiring needs.

Poland repels data-wiping malware attack on energy systems
Suspected Russian cyber attackers tried to take down parts of Poland’s energy infrastructure with new data-wiping malware – and failed. According to information shared by the Polish government earlier this month, the attacks happened on 29 and 30 December 2025, and targeted two combined heat and power (CHP) plants and a system enabling the management of electricity generated from wind turbines and photovoltaic farms.

Microsoft reveals actively exploited Office zero-day, provides emergency fix (CVE-2026-21509)
Microsoft released emergency Office security updates to fix a security feature bypass vulnerability (CVE-2026-21509) that its threat intelligence and security teams spotted being exploited in the wild in zero-day attacks. Users and admins are advised to review the associated advisory and to implement updates or mitigations as soon as possible.

Attackers use Windows App-V scripts to slip infostealer past enterprise defenses
A malware delivery campaign detailed by Blackpoint researchers employs an impressive array of tricks to deliver an infostealer to employees without triggering enterprise defenses or close examination by security researchers. The attackers aim to get the Amatera Stealer installed on target Windows computers by using fake human verification pages – i.e., CAPTCHA pages – to trick users into manually pasting and executing a command via the Run dialog.

Fortinet starts patching exploited FortiCloud SSO zero-day (CVE-2026-24858)
Fortinet has begun releasing FortiOS versions that fix CVE-2026-24858, a critical zero-day vulnerability that allowed attackers to log into targeted organizations’ FortiGate firewalls. On January 20, several Fortinet customers revealed that attackers gained access to their FortiGate firewalls and created new local admin accounts despite the devices running the then-latest FortiOS versions.

WinRAR vulnerability still a go-to tool for hackers, Mandiant warns
State-sponsored hackers and financially motivated attackers continue leveraging a critical WinRAR vulnerability (CVE-2025-8088) that’s been fixed over half a year ago. CVE-2025-8088 is a path traversal vulnerability that can be exploited via maliciously crafted RAR archives.

SolarWinds fixes critical Web Help Desk RCE vulnerabilities, upgrade ASAP!
SolarWinds has fixed six critical and high-severity vulnerabilities in its popular Web Help Desk (WHD) support ticketing and asset management solution, and is urging customers to upgrade to v2026.1 as soon as possible.

eScan AV users targeted with malicious updates
The update infrastructure for eScan antivirus, a product of Indian cybersecurity company MicroWorld Technologies, has been compromised by unknown attackers to deliver a persistent downloader to enterprise and consumer endpoints. The compromise also resulted in the eScan antivirus on those endpoints to stop working as intended, since the trojanized eScan update tampered with the solution’s registry, files and update configuration to block remote updates, Morphisec researchers said on Thursday.

Google disrupts proxy network used by 550+ threat groups
Google has disrupted Ipidea, a massive residential proxy network consisting of user devices that are being used as the last-mile link in cyberattack chains. Residential proxy networks are collections of proxy servers that route internet traffic through real residential IP addresses, making it look like it’s coming from a regular household connection somewhere in the world.

Ivanti provides temporary patches for actively exploited EPMM zero-day (CVE-2026-1281)
Ivanti has released provisional patches that fix two critical code injection vulnerabilities in Endpoint Manager Mobile (EPMM), one of which (CVE-2026-1281) has been exploited in zero-day attacks and has been added to CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Incident response lessons learned the hard way
In this Help Net Security video, Ryan Seymour, VP, Consulting and Education at ConnectSecure, shares lessons from more than two decades in cybersecurity incident response. He explains why many response failures are set in motion long before an attack begins. The focus is on how teams prepare to make decisions under pressure.

A practical take on cyber resilience for CISOs
In this Help Net Security video, Shebani Baweja, CISO, Wealth and Retail Banking & Markets at Standard Chartered, explains how security leaders should think about cyber resilience.

Microsoft Entra ID will auto-enable passkey profiles, synced passkeys
Starting March 2026, Microsoft Entra ID will automatically enable passkey profiles and introduce support for synced passkeys. The update brings passkey profiles and synced passkeys into general availability. Administrators gain access to a new passkey profiles experience that supports group-based configuration. This allows security teams to apply passkey policies to specific user groups instead of managing settings at a tenant-wide level.

EU opens new investigation into Grok on X
The European Commission has opened a new formal investigation into X under the Digital Services Act over risks linked to the deployment of its AI tool Grok in the EU. Regulators are examining whether X properly assessed and mitigated risks tied to the spread of illegal content following Grok’s introduction on the platform. The content under scrutiny includes manipulated sexually explicit images and material that may amount to child sexual abuse content. The Commission states that these risks appear to have materialised, exposing users in the EU to serious harm.

Apple updates AirTag with expanded range and improved findability
Apple has released a new version of its AirTag tracking accessory that extends its connectivity range and improves how items are located. The updated AirTag uses a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, similar to the chip in the iPhone 17 lineup, to increase the distance at which Precision Finding can guide users to a lost item.

Claude expands tool connections using MCP
Anthropic has added interactive tool support to its Claude AI platform, a change powered by the open Model Context Protocol (MCP). The update lets users work directly with external applications inside Claude’s interface rather than relying solely on text interactions with connected services.

Waiting for AI superintelligence? Don’t hold your breath
AI’s impact on systems, security, and decision-making is already permanent. Superintelligence, often referred to as artificial superintelligence (ASI), describes a theoretical stage in which AI capability exceeds human cognitive performance across domains. Whether current systems are progressing toward cybersecurity superintelligence remains uncertain.

Microsoft brings AI-powered investigations to security teams
Microsoft Purview Data Security Investigations is now available. The tool is part of Microsoft Purview and is intended for scenarios such as data breach and leak investigations, credential exposure, internal fraud and bribery, sensitive data exposure in Teams, and inappropriate content investigations.

CERT UEFI Parser: Open-source tool exposes UEFI architecture to uncover vulnerabilities
CERT UEFI Parser, a new open-source security analysis tool from the CERT Coordination Center has been released to help researchers and defenders examine the structure of Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) software and identify classes of vulnerabilities that are often difficult to study.

Android just got smarter at stopping snatch-and-run phone thefts
Google announced updates to the Android theft protection features that expand existing safeguards and make stolen devices harder to use. These updates are available on Android 16 and later.

French government abandons Zoom and Microsoft Teams over security concerns
France intends to phase out non-European videoconferencing platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams from its public administration, opting instead for a nationally developed solution due to security considerations.

Samsung tackles shoulder surfing on Galaxy devices
Our phones hold our most personal details, and we use them everywhere. On the bus, in elevators, and while waiting in line, screens are often visible to people nearby. The closer phones align with daily habits, the more persistent privacy concerns become.

Google agrees to pay $135 million over Android data harvesting claims
Google agrees to pay $135 million to settle a proposed class action lawsuit brought by Android smartphone users over alleged unauthorized cellular data transmissions.

Conditional Access enforcement change coming to Microsoft Entra
Microsoft will change how Conditional Access policies are enforced in Microsoft Entra starting March 27, 2026, with a phased rollout continuing through June 2026.

France Travail fined €5 million for failing to protect job seeker data
France data protection authority CNIL has fined public employment agency France Travail €5 million for failing to ensure the security of personal data of job seekers. Attackers gained access to the organization’s systems through social engineering techniques that targeted accounts used by staff at Cap emploi, a partner organization.

Wearable tech adoption continues as privacy worries grow
Over 1 billion users wear devices for tracking steps, sleep, heart rate, and other personal metrics. These devices collect a continuous stream of sensitive data, often tied to detailed user profiles and companion apps. New Clutch survey data show that as wearables settle into daily life, questions about how that data is handled are influencing user confidence and purchasing decisions.

Security work keeps expanding, even with AI in the mix
Board attention continues to rise, and security groups now operate closer to executive decision making than in prior years, a pattern reflected the Voice of Security 2026 report by Tines. Within that environment, large numbers of teams already rely on AI, automation, and workflow tools as part of routine operations, creating a baseline expectation that AI plays a central role in security work.

EFF calls out major tech companies on encryption promises
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has introduced a new campaign called Encrypt It Already, focused on expanding the use of end-to-end encryption in consumer technology products and services. The effort examines public security commitments and the current availability of encryption protections in widely used services. It maps where encryption features are planned, where they are available through user settings, and where additional protections are proposed.

Ex-Google engineer found guilty of stealing AI secrets
A federal jury in California convicted former Google software engineer Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, on seven counts of economic espionage and seven counts of theft of trade secrets tied to AI technology.

Microsoft sets new timeline for Sentinel transition to Defender portal
Microsoft has updated the timeline for transitioning the Microsoft Sentinel experience from the Azure portal to the Microsoft Defender portal from July 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027. The updated schedule extends access by nearly nine months.

AWS releases updated PCI PIN compliance report for payment cryptography
Amazon Web Services has published an updated Payment Card Industry Personal Identification Number (PCI PIN) compliance package for its AWS Payment Cryptography service, confirming a recent third-party audit of the platform. The report package is now accessible through AWS’s compliance portal.

Brakeman: Open-source vulnerability scanner for Ruby on Rails applications
Brakeman is an open-source security scanner used by teams that build applications with Ruby on Rails. The tool focuses on application code and configuration, giving developers and security teams a way to identify common classes of web application risk during development and testing.

Google ties AI Search to Gmail and Photos, raising new privacy questions
Google is expanding Personal Intelligence into AI Mode in Google Search to deliver more personalized search results. AI Mode can securely connect to your Gmail and Google Photos to provide tailored recommendations without requiring you to repeatedly explain your preferences or ongoing plans.

AI’s appetite for data is testing enterprise guardrails
Privacy programs are taking on more operational responsibility across the enterprise. A new Cisco global benchmark study shows expanding mandates, rising investment, and sustained pressure around data quality, accountability, and cross-border data management tied to AI systems.

AWS adds IPv6 support to IAM Identity Center through dual-stack endpoints
Amazon Web Services has added IPv6 support to IAM Identity Center through new dual-stack endpoints. The update allows identity services to operate over IPv6 networks while continuing to support IPv4. The change applies to access portals, managed applications, and service APIs that use dual-stack domain names capable of accepting both IPv4 and IPv6 connections.

Audits for AI systems that keep changing
Security and risk teams often rely on documentation and audit artifacts that reflect how an AI system worked months ago. ETSI’s continuous auditing based conformity assessment specification (ETSI TS 104 008) describes a different approach, where conformity is evaluated through recurring measurement and automated evidence collection tied to live system behavior.

Grammarly and QuillBot are among widely used Chrome extensions facing serious privacy questions
A new study shows that some of the most widely used AI-powered browser extensions are a privacy risk. They collect lots of data and require a high level of browser access.

WhatsApp rolls out new security feature to protect users from sophisticated attacks
To add an extra layer of protection to its end-to-end encryption, WhatsApp has begun rolling out a new privacy and security feature called Strict Account Settings. It is designed to help users protect their accounts from sophisticated cyberattacks.

n8n adds Chat Hub to centralize AI access inside automation workflows
Teams using automation platforms are starting to treat conversational AI as another operational interface. That change is reflected in a new feature from n8n, which has introduced a built-in Chat Hub designed to let users interact with AI models and internal automation through a single chat interface.

OPNsense 26.1 brings updates to open-source firewall management
OPNsense, the open-source firewall and network security platform, reached version 26.1, adding a range of updates affecting management, traffic visibility, automation interfaces, and core services.

A fake romance turns into an Android spyware infection
ESET researchers have identified an Android spyware campaign that uses romance scam tactics to target individuals in Pakistan. The operation relies on a malicious app disguised as a chat service that routes conversations through WhatsApp. Behind the romance lure, the app’s primary function is to steal data from infected devices. ESET tracks the malware as GhostChat.

What motivates hackers and what makes them walk away
Most hackers spend more time learning, testing, and comparing notes than breaking into systems. The work often happens alone or in small groups, shaped by curiosity, persistence, and a habit of examining how systems behave. Bugcrowd examined who these security researchers are, how they build skills, and what their work looks like behind the scenes as they look for flaws and decide what to report.

Hottest cybersecurity open-source tools of the month: January 2026
This month’s roundup features exceptional open-source cybersecurity tools that are gaining attention for strengthening security across various environments.

Open-source malware zeroes in on developer environments
Open source malware activity during 2025 concentrated on a single objective: executing code inside developer environments, according to Sonatype. The focus reflected a broader shift in supply chain attacks away from end users and toward the tools, machines, and pipelines used to build software in the first place.

Security teams are carrying more tools with less confidence
Enterprise environments now span multiple clouds, on-premises systems, and a steady flow of new applications. Hybrid and multi-cloud setups are common across large organizations, and they bring a constant stream of logs, alerts, and operational data. That environment already exists across many enterprises, and it frames a recent Sumo Logic study that examined how security leaders manage tooling, staffing, and detection across these systems.

Apple’s new privacy feature limits how precisely carriers track your location
Apple users are already accustomed to managing app-level location permissions, and a new privacy feature in iOS 26.3 extends that control to cellular networks. Called Limit Precise Location, it reduces the amount of fine-grained location data that iPhones share with carriers.

Why prevention-first secrets security will define enterprise scale: Learnings from a leading telecom
Once a secret enters Git, it’s expensive to remediate. But the real problem runs deeper than cost. Database references persist indefinitely. Anyone with historical access can retrieve past commits. Forever. This means that every remediation effort, no matter how thorough, is actually permanent damage control, not a true fix.

Cybersecurity jobs available right now: January 27, 2026
We’ve scoured the market to bring you a selection of roles that span various skill levels within the cybersecurity field. Check out this weekly selection of cybersecurity jobs available right now.

New infosec products of the month: January 2026
Here’s a look at the most interesting products from the past month, featuring releases from Acronis, Booz Allen Hamilton, cside, Descope, JumpCloud, MIND, Noction, Obsidian Security, Rubrik, SEON, SpyCloud, Tenable, Tosi and Vectra AI.


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Last August, ChatGPT developers OpenAI unceremoniously killed the fan favorite GPT-4o model, before giving in to complaints and bringing it back a week later. Now, the company's taking a second swing at getting its users to move on. In a new post to its website, OpenAI announced that it's retiring GPT-4o again.

The model's set to disappear from ChatGPT's model picker on Feb. 13, alongside other older models like GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and OpenAI o4-Mini. And OpenAI is clearly nervous about the decision.

"While the announcement applies to several older models," OpenAI wrote, "GPT-4o deserves special context."

According to the company, it has taken user outcry over the initial deprecation of 4o to heart while developing its newest models, GPT-5.1 and GPT-5.2, and has built these models with the idea of maintaining the features fans liked best about the old model. The company says that now "only 0.1% of users" opt for GPT-4o on a daily basis.

As such, the company wants to focus on "improving the models most people use today," which apparently means removing older ones. "We know that losing access to GPT-4o will feel frustrating for some users, and we didn't make this decision lightly," the post reads.

What's the big deal with GPT-4o?

So, what's with OpenAI treating its users so gingerly, especially when GPT-4o is a few generations behind, and there are newer models that supposedly do everything it does, but better?

Well, when GPT-4o was first deprecated, people weren't happy. Users called its successor, GPT-5, "an unmitigated disaster," and accused OpenAI of pulling "the biggest bait-and-switch in AI history."

Some criticized the model's usefulness, saying it got answers wrong and broke code, but what maybe stuck out the most was people calling out its more concise tone.

GPT-4o has been called "sycophantic" by critics, something the company addressed and said it wanted to pull back on in future updates. But I guess one person's "yes man" is another person's "active listener." When the company initially pulled GPT-4o, users complained that its replacement was cold and felt less like a "friend." Even OpenAI acknowledged this, saying in today's post that users "preferred GPT-4o's conversational style and warmth."

In short, in the words of 4o-supporters themselves, they were "grieving" the model.

Is GPT-5.2 a good replacement for 4o?

That said, with so many users now seeming to have moved on from 4o, OpenAI's decision does seem understandable on the surface. Personally, one of the things that drives me away from AI is how much reassuring filler text seems to fluff up most answers ("you're absolutely right" and such), seemingly just to make me feel good about myself. More concise, to-the-point responses would be a little less off-putting for me.

To try to split the difference, OpenAI reworked its Personalization feature in GPT-5.1, so users can simply choose how the chatbot will treat them. There are options for more professional responses, more nerdy ones, more efficient ones, and for those who want that active listener style, more friendly ones.

Going by OpenAI's numbers, that seems to have been enough for most people, but there are still some calling foul at the company's new announcement.

GPT-4o loyalists are still out there

In a Reddit thread responding to OpenAI's new posts, users doubted that the 0.1% number for 4o was accurate, saying that prompts have been "rerouting to 5.2 no matter what" and that "something somewhere in their calculations doesn't add up." Others pointed out that free users can't use GPT-4o and that it's not enabled by default, which will naturally juice the numbers against it.

As such, calls to cancel ChatGPT subscriptions are once again circulating amongst 4o's more dedicated fans. In a popular thread on the OpenAI subreddit, one user called 4o "OpenAI's most advanced and beloved model," and praised its "personality, warmth, and consistency," saying that its fans have built long-term project and "emotional support routines" around it, and that suddenly losing it without even the option for a legacy mode "feels abrupt and deeply disappointing."

"This isn't about resisting innovation," the post writes. "It's about respecting bonds users have formed with specific models."

Whether the fan outcry will work again remains to be seen. However, as ChatGPT chief Nick Turley has previously looked at those kinds of bonds with skepticism, and because keeping old models in operating condition probably takes developer resources away from making new ones, I wouldn't count on it.


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