Chinese 'Salt Typhoon' hackers infiltrate 9th US telco; better defenses urged

Chinese hackers called salt typhoon have infiltrated a ninth telecommunications firm, gaining access to information about millions of people, according to us Cybersecurity officials.

The FBI is investigating the salt typhoon attacks, which are spurring new defensive measures.

While only a few cases of compromised information were identified, at & t and Verizon's us networks are now secure as they work with law enforcement and government officials to mitigate the threat. us officials added a ninth unnamed TELECOM company to the list of entities compromised by the salt typhoon hackers and said the Chinese involved gained access to networks and essentially had broad and full-scale Cyberattacks.

Reference Sources

1. markets - AT&T, Verizon targeted by Salt Typhoon cyberespionage operation, Reuters says
2. upi - Chinese 'Salt Typhoon' hackers infiltrate 9th U.S. telco; better defenses urged
3. asiaone - AT&T targeted by Salt Typhoon cyberespionage operation, but networks secure, Digital News - AsiaOne
4. malaymail - Chinese Salt Typhoon hackers target AT&T, Verizon but networks secure, carriers say
5. nikkei - Chinese Salt Typhoon cyberespionage targets AT&T and Verizon

OpenAI claims its new o3 model approaches human intelligence

OpenAI 's O3 model has achieved an 85% Arc-Agi test score, surpassing the record of 55% set by a previous AI.

The results are excellent for complex mathematics and mark a significant step towards artificial general intelligence (AGI) which targets large ai research laboratories.

The Arc-Agi test assesses faculty via grid problems: the AI must identify the pattern transforming an initial grid into the final grid based on just three examples.

The method used by OpenAI is unknown but the results show that its new O3 model has great adaptation capacity.

Reference Sources

1. eurodayfr - OpenAI claims its new o3 model approaches human intelligence

Fact-check: Past government shutdowns cost the US economy billions

As Congress approached a potential pre-Christmas shutdown, some lawmakers warned that closing the government would not save taxpayer money. Representative Sara Jacobs criticized a push for mass cuts in Federal spending by the Department of government efficiency, an incoming Presidential advisory committee run by entrepreneurs Elon musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Musk urged lawmakers to vote against a 1,500-plus-page "continuing resolution" that would keep the government open.

Ramaswamy described the bill as "full of excessive spending" and said it "should fail."

President-elect Donald Trump and JD Vance rejected the spending deal that would fund the government through Mid-March.

Congress finally passed a bill to avert a shutdown, and President Joe Biden signed it into law Dec. 21.

However, government analyses and outside experts say Jacobs had a point that shutdowns can cost the economy, often measured in gross domestic product (GDP), billions of dollars. Shutdowns primarily affect discretionary spending, which accounts for about 27% of total Federal spending.

Reference Sources

1. yahooen - Fact-check: Past government shutdowns cost the U.S. economy billions

The CommonWealth English daily news digest is a service curated by CommonWealth English team with the help of AI tools.

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