Daily Digest on AI and Emerging Technologies (24 February 2026) – https://pam.int/daily-digest-on-ai-and-emerging-technologies-24-february-2026/
Daily Digest on AI and Emerging Technologies (25 February 2026) – https://pam.int/daily-digest-on-ai-and-emerging-technologies-25-february-2026/
Daily Digest on AI and Emerging Technologies (26 February 2026) – https://pam.int/daily-digest-on-ai-and-emerging-technologies-26-february-2026/
Daily Digest on AI and Emerging Technologies (27 February 2026) – https://pam.int/daily-digest-on-ai-and-emerging-technologies-27-february-2026/
Governance and Regulation
The New Delhi AI Summit between inclusion and fragmentation
(DigWatch) The 2026 AI Summit in New Delhi was billed as a turning point for a more inclusive and development-focused approach to AI. As a rising ‘digital middle power’, India used its role as host to reframe the global AI debate around social empowerment, trust, energy efficiency, and equitable access to technology. Drawing on the concept of MANAV (a Sanskrit word for humanity), and a set of seven guiding pillars, the summit sought to place development and inclusion at the centre of global AI governance. – https://dig.watch/updates/the-new-delhi-ai-summit-between-inclusion-and-fragmentation
Microsoft backs Australia’s next phase of digital government with new AI and cloud agreement
(DigWatch) Australia’s rise to second place in the OECD Digital Government Index signals renewed momentum for national digital transformation. A shift that comes as Microsoft signs a new five-year Volume Sourcing Arrangement with the Federal Government, designed to underpin modernisation across public services and create a secure, future-ready foundation for responsible AI adoption. The agreement led by the Digital Transformation Agency gives agencies access to Microsoft Copilot, Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and a strengthened security and compliance framework instead of continuing reliance on ageing systems. – https://dig.watch/updates/microsoft-backs-australia-digital-government
Geostrategies
The AI influence network’s power players
(Ashley Gold – Axios) Millions of dollars are pouring into state and federal races specifically around AI, targeting and supporting lawmakers in both parties. Why it matters: Tech money in elections is nothing new. But AI is now a potent campaign issue, driving big spending from rival camps. The big picture: Pro-AI billionaires funding PACs argue that they’re trying to keep the U.S. from losing out to China in the AI race. AI safety and transparency groups are calling the technology a threat to jobs, kids and the environment. – https://www.axios.com/2026/02/27/ai-influence-power-players
Europe Technological Decoupling: Lasting Fissure or Temporary Fracture?
(The Soufan Center) Efforts by European governments to accelerate a move away from relying on U.S. technology providers are gaining momentum. Calls for strategic autonomy in Europe have increased amid spreading fear of a possible “kill switch” that would put cloud, communication, and data infrastructure at the mercy of service providers. A number of European governments and institutions have started the process of decoupling from U.S.-dominated platforms. The transatlantic relationship remains foundational, but without question, it is entering a phase of major uncertainty in which digital interdependence is no longer guaranteed to be risk-free and without strings attached. – https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-2026-february-26/
Origin Pilot launch expands access to China’s quantum computing technology
(DigWatch) China has made its self-developed quantum computer operating system, Origin Pilot, available for public download, marking a significant step toward expanding access to quantum computing technology. Officials expect the move to lower barriers to development and accelerate the growth of the national quantum ecosystem. – https://dig.watch/updates/origin-pilot-launch-expands-access-to-chinas-quantum-computing-technology
Security and Surveillance
North Korea’s APT37 Expands Toolkit to Breach Air-Gapped Networks
(Kevin Poireault – Infosecurity Magazine) A cyber espionage group linked to North Korea has been observed deploying a new malicious campaign using removable media infection tools to gain access to air-gapped systems. The group, APT37, is well-known hacking team active since at least 2012 and known under many names, including ScarCruft, Ruby Sleet, InkySquid, Ricochet Chollima and Velvet Chollima. Initially focused on the public and private sectors in South Korea, the group expanded its operations in 2017 to include Japan, Vietnam and the Middle East, and to a wider range of industry verticals, including chemicals, electronics, manufacturing, aerospace, automotive and healthcare entities. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/north-korea-apt37-expands-toolkit/
UK Vulnerability Monitoring Service Cuts Unresolved Security Flaws by 75%
(Beth Maundrill – Infosecurity Magazine) The UK government has claimed it has reduced its backlog of critical vulnerabilities by 75% and reduced cyber-attack fix times by 87%. Serious security weaknesses in public sector websites are fixed six times faster, cutting the average time from nearly two months to just over a week, the UK government said in an update published on 26 February. According to the official statement, the progress comes following the introduction of a specialist government vulnerability monitoring service (VMS), which came about as part of the blueprint for modern digital government policy paper published on January 21. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/uk-vuln-monitoring-service-cuts/
‘Project Compass’ Cracks Down on ‘The Com’: 30 Members of Notorious Cybercrime Gang Arrested
(Danny Palmer – Infosecurity Magazine) A global law enforcement operation co-ordinated by Europol dubbed ‘Project Compass’ has taken action against ‘The Com’, a notorious online collective responsible for high-profile cyber-attacks and various forms of extortion and exploitation. The group, made up of a disparate network of mostly teenage boys and young men, has been linked to several high-profile ransomware campaigns, notably against Marks & Spencer, The Co-op and Harrods in 2025, as well as a series of cyber-attacks against Las Vegas Casinos in 2023. Common tactics deployed in cyber-attacks by The Com include phishing, vishing and SIM swapping, with the aim of breaching networks via account takeovers. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/project-compass-com-arrests/
Aeternum Botnet Shifts Command Control to Polygon Blockchain
(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Magazine) A newly identified botnet loader is shifting command-and-control (C2) operations onto the Polygon blockchain, eliminating the central servers that authorities and security firms have historically targeted to dismantle malicious networks. Aeternum C2, uncovered by Qrator Research Lab while monitoring cybercrime forums, replaces conventional infrastructure with smart contracts hosted on the Polygon blockchain. Instead of communicating with hardcoded IP addresses or registered domains, infected machines retrieve instructions written directly to the blockchain, where transactions are publicly recorded and cannot be removed. For years, law enforcement agencies have disrupted operations such as Emotet, TrickBot and QakBot by seizing servers or suspending domains. Aeternum appears to remove that weak point entirely. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/aeternum-botnet-c2-polygon/
iPhone and iPad are the first consumer devices cleared for NATO ‘RESTRICTED’ classification
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Apple announced that its iPhone and iPad have received NATO approval to handle classified information. The devices are now officially listed in the NATO Information Assurance Product Catalogue (NIAPC), allowing military personnel to use them securely for sensitive communications and operations. Devices listed in the NATO Information Assurance Product Catalogue (NIAPC) are commercial security products built in NATO member states, designed to protect NATO or national classified information. They meet strict information security standards, undergo NATO or national vetting, hold recognized certifications like Common Criteria or INFOSEC approvals, and receive explicit approval for handling classified data, often up to levels such as NATO Restricted or NATO Secret. – https://securityaffairs.com/188618/security/iphone-and-ipad-are-the-first-consumer-devices-cleared-for-natos-restricted-classification.html
Juniper issues emergency patch for critical PTX router RCE
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Juniper Networks issued an out-of-band security update for Junos OS Evolved to address a critical remote code execution vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-21902 (CVSS score of 9.3), impacting PTX routers.The company urges customers to apply the patch promptly to protect network infrastructure from potential exploitation. The flaw resides in the On-Box Anomaly Detection framework of Junos OS Evolved on PTX Series routers and lets unauthenticated remote attackers execute code as root. The service, enabled by default, should be restricted to internal processes but can be accessed externally due to incorrect permissions, allowing full device takeover. – https://securityaffairs.com/188609/security/juniper-issues-emergency-patch-for-critical-ptx-router-rce.html
How AI Aids Incident Response: Why Humans Alone Cannot Do IR Efficiently
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Incident response has always been a race against the clock. It starts ticking the moment an alert is triggered, and each minute thereafter can lead to lost revenue, regulatory exposure, reputational damage, or customer churn. Traditionally, incident response has relied on highly skilled analysts manually switching between tools, correlating logs, validating alerts, escalating findings, and drafting executive reports. It’s meticulous work, which is expensive and slow. AI changes that. Not by replacing humans, but by removing the friction that makes human-led investigation inefficient in the first place. – https://securityaffairs.com/188599/ai/how-ai-aids-incident-response-why-humans-alone-cannot-do-ir-efficiently.html
12 Million exposed .env files reveal widespread security failures
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Configuration mistakes rarely trigger alarms. A forgotten deny rule, an overlooked server setting, or a full project folder uploaded to production can quietly expose a company’s most sensitive secrets. In many cases, those secrets live inside simple environment files known as .env files. Researchers at Mysterium VPN identified 12,088,677 IP addresses serving publicly accessible .env-style files. “Researchers here at Mysterium VPN identified over 12 million IP addresses with publicly accessible .env-style files, revealing credentials and tokens, including JWT signing keys, API keys, database passwords, and service tokens.” reads the report published by Mysterium VPN. “The United States leads the count with nearly 2.8 million exposed IPs, accounting for around 23% of the total IP pool. The issue is global: Japan (1.1M), Germany (777K), India (652K), France (636K), and the UK (583K) also have substantial exposures, showing that this is a global security hygiene problem.” – https://securityaffairs.com/188590/hacking/12-million-exposed-env-files-reveal-widespread-security-failures.html
ManoMano data breach impacted 38 Million customer accounts
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) European DIY e-commerce platform ManoMano disclosed a major data breach affecting 38 million customers. Hackers accessed personal information by compromising a third-party service provider, prompting notifications and potential security measures for impacted users across multiple countries. ManoMano is a European e-commerce platform specializing in DIY, home improvement, gardening, and tools. Founded in 2013, it connects consumers with a wide range of products—from power tools and plumbing supplies to outdoor furniture and gardening equipment—offered by multiple sellers, including brands and independent retailers. – https://securityaffairs.com/188582/data-breach/manomano-data-breach-impacted-38-million-customer-accounts.html
Trend Micro fixes two critical flaws in Apex One
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Trend Micro has addressed two critical vulnerabilities in Apex One that could allow attackers to achieve remote code execution on affected Windows systems. The company released security updates and strongly urged customers to apply the patches promptly to prevent potential exploitation and protect their environments from compromise. Trend Micro Apex One is an all-in-one advanced endpoint security solution. It provides ransomware protection, zero-day threat defense, EDR, predictive machine learning, DLP, and virtual patching via a single agent. – https://securityaffairs.com/188572/security/trend-micro-fixes-two-critical-flaws-in-apex-one.html
UAT-10027 campaign hits U.S. education and healthcare with stealthy Dohdoor backdoor
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Cisco Talos has identified a new threat cluster, tracked as UAT-10027, targeting U.S. education and healthcare organizations since at least December 2025 to deploy a previously unseen backdoor named Dohdoor. Initial access likely occurs through phishing, triggering a PowerShell script that downloads a batch file and then a malicious DLL named Dohdoor via sideloading. The malware uses DNS-over-HTTPS and Cloudflare infrastructure to hide its command-and-control traffic within legitimate HTTPS connections. This allows attackers to deploy additional payloads, such as Cobalt Strike, directly into memory while evading security detection and maintaining persistent access. – https://securityaffairs.com/188558/apt/uat-10027-campaign-hits-u-s-education-and-healthcare-with-stealthy-dohdoor-backdoor.html
The organizational challenges of personal data as a dual-threat asset
(IAPP) U.S. policymakers are increasingly viewing personal data as a dual-use asset, where data retention can create economic benefits while leaving the potential for exploitation by foreign adversaries. With wider access to troves of consumer personal information, regulators have raised concerns about the potential processing of military members’ sensitive personal data, including geolocation information – https://iapp.org/news/a/the-organizational-challenges-of-personal-data-as-a-dual-threat-asset
Canadian AI software could flip Russia’s disinformation war on Europe
(The Kyiv Independent) A new artificial intelligence (AI) agent could equip Europe to better defend itself against the barrage of Russian disinformation attacks. Cipher is Canadian-developed AI software that has proven to accurately and quickly detect Russian disinformation targeting Canadian networks, on both the far right and the far left of the political spectrum. Now that Cipher has passed the testing stage, the researchers are training the AI agent to distinguish those same narratives in the Russian language. – https://kyivindependent.com/canadian-ai-software-could-flip-russias-disinformation-war-on-europe/
Greek court sentences Predator spyware gang
(Nektaria Stamouli – Politico) A Greek court on Thursday sentenced four people, including two Israelis, to prison over a major wiretapping scandal involving the illegal use of spyware to target politicians, business leaders and journalists. The Greek spying affair, known as “Predatorgate,” erupted in 2022 when Nikos Androulakis, leader of the main opposition PASOK party and then a member of the European Parliament, discovered that illegal spyware known as Predator had been installed on his phone. The scandal is one of Europe’s most significant political crises involving the use of commercial hacking software. Spain, Hungary and Poland have faced similar controversies, with spyware such as Pegasus and Candiru found on the phones of politicians and activists. The European Parliament launched a formal inquiry into the use of such tools in 2022. – https://www.politico.eu/article/predatorgate-greece-court-sentences-predator-spyware-gang/
Defence and Intelligence
Sam Altman says OpenAI shares Anthropic’s red lines in Pentagon fight
(Maria Curi, Dave Lawler – Axios) OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote in a memo to staff that he will draw the same red lines that sparked a high-stakes fight between rival Anthropic and the Pentagon: no AI for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons. Why it matters: If other leading firms like Google follow suit, this could massively complicate the Pentagon’s efforts to replace Anthropic’s Claude, which was the first model integrated into the military’s most sensitive work. – https://www.axios.com/2026/02/27/altman-openai-anthropic-pentagon
Frontiers and Markets
Vertical power delivery cuts energy loss in AI processor designs
(DigWatch) A EEWorld report explains how vertical power delivery (VPD) architectures are emerging as a response to the escalating power demands of modern AI processors (GPUs, ASICs and accelerators). Traditional power-delivery networks (PDNs) route current laterally across circuit boards from external voltage regulators, which introduces resistance and inductance losses and generates excess heat, problems that worsen at the very high current levels typical of AI workloads. – https://dig.watch/updates/vertical-power-delivery-cuts-energy-loss-in-ai-processor-designs
AI transforming the factory floor with smart automation and real-time oversight
(DigWatch) According to industrial technology reporting, AI is being integrated across factory floor operations to improve efficiency, safety and productivity. Key applications include predictive maintenance, quality inspection, workflow optimisation and human-AI collaboration tools. Machine learning models analyse sensor data from equipment (motors, conveyors, robots) to forecast failures before they occur, reducing unplanned downtime and lowering maintenance costs. Computer vision AI inspects products at high speed, detecting defects with greater accuracy than human inspection and enabling real-time corrective action. – https://dig.watch/updates/ai-transforming-the-factory-floor-with-smart-automation-and-real-time-oversight
New MIT system turns creative AI models into durable objects
(DigWatch) Researchers at MIT have introduced a system designed to close the gap between imaginative AI designs and everyday-use objects. The tool, known as MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory’s PhysiOpt, combines generative AI with physics simulations to produce 3D models that are both visually appealing and structurally reliable. – https://dig.watch/updates/mit-turns-creative-ai-models-into-durable-objects
What is multimodal sensing in physical AI?
(Jeff Shepard – EE World online) Multimodal sensing in physical AI (PAI), sometimes called embodied AI, is the ability for AI to fuse diverse sensory inputs, like vision, audio, touch, lidar, text, and more, from its environment to build a richer and more complete situation awareness, enabling complex physical interaction, perception, and autonomous action in the real world. A key application of multimodal sensing for PAI is spatial AI (SAI) that enables machines like autonomous robots to understand and navigate dynamic 3D environments in real time. That contrasts with conventional image recognition and classification, which are limited to 2D applications. Multimodal AI enables robots or autonomous vehicles to naturally interact with their environment by simultaneously interpreting complex signals like visual information and spoken commands. The ability to adjust to changing conditions in real time improves flexibility, reliability, and safety. – https://www.eeworldonline.com/what-is-multimodal-sensing-in-physical-ai/
UiPath unveils Agentic AI to break administrative & financial bottlenecks in clinical and healthcare operations
(Bio Spectrum) UiPath, a global leader in agentic automation, announced new agentic AI solutions for the healthcare industry for providers and payers at the ViVE 2026 conference. The offerings for medical records summarization, claim denial prevention and resolution, and prior authorization leverage agentic automation, business orchestration, and purpose-built, fully compliant and governed agents to connect data, improve efficiency, and accelerate revenue cycle management. Healthcare organizations continue to face data and information management challenges. Labor shortages and outdated, disconnected systems create friction between payers and providers. This is especially clear in revenue cycle management, where providers generate vast volumes of complex clinical documentation that must be quickly transformed into decision-ready intelligence, bridging clinical documentation with the standardized data payers need to process reimbursement accurately. When clinical data is structured and actionable, providers provide timely care and dramatically reduce accounts receivable and write-offs, while payers protect payment accuracy and integrity. – https://www.biospectrumasia.com/news/30/27240/uipath-unveils-agentic-ai-to-break-administrative-financial-bottlenecks-for-clinicians-and-healthcare-admins.html
AI accelerates drug formulation through predictive modelling
(DigWatch) Low solubility and poor bioavailability remain major hurdles in small-molecule drug development, often preventing promising candidates from reaching clinical trials. Traditional trial-and-error methods are time-consuming and depend heavily on the limited availability of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). AI and machine learning now provide predictive models that anticipate solubility, permeability and systemic exposure. These tools let scientists prioritise high-impact experiments while conserving valuable material. – https://dig.watch/updates/ai-accelerates-drug-formulation-through-predictive-modelling
Pope Leo XIV calls for responsible AI use in homilies
(DigWatch) Pope Leo XIV has called for responsible and discerning use of AI in religious ministry, warning clergy against over-reliance on digital tools. Speaking during a dialogue with priests of the Diocese of Rome, he stressed that technology should not replace personal reflection, prayer, and critical thinking. – https://dig.watch/updates/pope-leo-xiv-calls-for-responsible-ai-use-in-homilies