South Korea bank hack suspect may be 26-year-old in China, U.S. firm says Authorities in Seoul are investigating cyberattacks that affected multiple financial institutions after banks, including Shinhan Bank and KB Kookmin Bank, reported data breaches. SEOUL - The suspect behind recent cyberattacks targeting South Korea's financial sector may be a 26-year-old based in China's Guangdong province, U.S. cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has said. In a report published on its website on Wednesday, CrowdStrike said it uncovered personal details linked to the suspected attacker while analyzing AI coding-tool sessions and infrastructure associated with a campaign targeting South Korean financial institutions from late September to early October. CrowdStrike said the attacker used ARTEX, a recently released Chinese-developed open-source penetration testing tool, alongside large language models and assessed with "moderate confidence" that the actor was a Chinese speaker and likely financially motivated. The firm said one Claude Code session contained a request to create a security researcher resume describing results from the hacking activity.

While sources say Nippan Group has confirmed that it sold books to U.S. artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, the Japanese wholesaler did not disclose how many books were sold or the total purchase amount. Nippan Group Holdings, a Japanese book wholesaler, has confirmed that it had sold books to U.S. artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday. In a letter addressed to the Japan Book Publishers Association, an industry group, Nippan Group said that Nippan IPS, a subsidiary that sells Japanese books overseas, concluded a deal with Anthropic in November 2024 and sold books to it between December that year and last December, according to the sources. Before striking the deal, Nippan IPS asked about the purpose of the book purchases, the letter said. But Nippan Group said that the unit had not been aware that Anthropic's purchases were for AI learning, according to the letter.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries President Yasuhiko Hashimoto poses with a prototype of the company's dog-like robot, Home Leo, in Tokyo on Tuesday. Kawasaki Heavy Industries has unveiled a prototype of a dog-shaped social robot that helps older people with life at home. Leveraging physical artificial intelligence, the robot, Home Leo, can talk to people, recognize its surroundings, make appropriate decisions according to the situation and act autonomously, according to the Japanese firm. Home Leo was presented at a business briefing the company held in Tokyo on Tuesday. The robot will stay close to the older people it lives with, offering companionship through conversation, watching over them and assisting with their daily activities, Kawasaki Heavy said.

Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable @Home Look Up Trending Now Mashable Selects Say More Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook In My Bag AI at School Safety Net All Series The messages ASOS app users received mention a Snowflake instance. Chance Townsend is the General Assignments Editor at Mashable, covering tech, video games, dating apps, digital culture, and whatever else comes his way. He has a Master's in Journalism from the University of North Texas and is a proud orange cat father. His writing has also appeared in PC Mag and . ASOS app users in the UK woke up Tuesday to an unsettling pop-up.

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. You'll soon be limited to its weakest AI model Google is cutting off free users from the Flash and Pro models. Lance Whitney is a technology journalist with an IT background. He's written for TechRepublic, PCMag, Macworld, and Time, among others, He also teaches classes in AI, cybersecurity, and social media. Google is limiting the AI models that free users can access.

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. Microsoft is ending support and updates for Office 2021 on October 13. What does that mean, and what are your alternatives? Lance Whitney is a technology journalist with an IT background. He's written for TechRepublic, PCMag, Macworld, and Time, among others, He also teaches classes in AI, cybersecurity, and social media.

Mistral Says Its New AI Model'Le Chonk' Is the Best Open-Weight Offering Outside of China With the release of its new trillion-parameter model, Mistral is hoping to demonstrate it's "still in the race" to build frontier-level artificial intelligence. As tensions mount over who gets access to top-end artificial intelligence, French company Mistral has released a new freely-available model that it claims can compete with the very best from the US and China. The new one trillion-parameter model, Mistral Large 4--nicknamed Le Chonk--can be used and customized by anyone. It's currently available in preview, with a final version to follow by the end of the month. Though Le Chonk is built to compete with leading general purpose models, it's optimized specifically for coding and cyberdefense, as well as tasks particular to manufacturing, finance, electrical engineering, and other niches.

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. Mistral's new Le Chonk model brings AI cybersecurity to your business - and you control it Open models are vying to become the everyman defense solution for a growing swarm of agent breaches. Radhika Rajkumar is a senior editor at ZDNET based in New York City. Mistral's open-weight ML4 model Le Chonk is in preview. Open models are positioned as democratic defenders from AI attacks.

South Korea's Lee says AI appears to have been used in bank hacks SEOUL - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Tuesday that AI models are believed to have been used in some recent hacking incidents against banks and called for the country to develop cybersecurity methods suited to the AI era. "In some hacking incidents, signs have emerged of AI being used, causing considerable public concern and anxiety," Lee said during a cabinet meeting. "Please establish the circumstances swiftly and clearly, and concentrate personnel and resources on minimizing the damage." South Korea's police have launched a full-scale investigation into the hacking attacks against commercial banks that led to a breach of customers' personal information, the Yonhap news agency reported on Tuesday. Shinhan Bank, KB Kookmin Bank and others had reported cyberattacks, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said on Friday, while Yonhap reported that Hana Bank and Woori Bank also suffered breaches.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset . Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions . Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG . An AI-generated influencer entered Alabama'RushTok' -- Some fans didn't care that she was fake Make unknown callers explain why they're calling Is your personal data changing what you pay online? Apple's $250M Siri settlement: How to claim up to $95 The next connected device could be the shirt you're wearing'Steamrolled': Congressman warns local backlash could derail national security push She created a Bama rush influencer out of nothing. Citadel CEO: We've lost the narrative on data centers This will be'such a gift' to humankind: Charles Payne Andrew Bailey blasts FBI exit'lies' and reveals why he's leaving the bureau Meta's Muse AI assistant raises major cybersecurity and privacy concerns With over 3 million downloads for canceling unwanted subscriptions, Meta's Muse AI assistant is raising security alarms. Liz Peek warns that users must grant the AI access to personal bank accounts, credit cards, emails, and texts to make it effective.