Governance, Regulation, and Legislation

How tech is weaponised against women

(Anupriya Datta, Claudie Moreau – Euractiv) Major digital platform owners pay lip service to supporting female empowerment and furthering women’s rights, but it’s barely a year since Big Tech CEOs were falling over themselves to please US President Donald Trump with overnight U-turns on diversity initiatives. Cue Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg suggesting corporate culture needs more “masculine energy“. Small surprise then that online toxicity and misogyny are at the heart of latest tech scandals. Elon Musk’s Grok AI tool was widely used to digitally undress women and girls; Meta’s Ray-Ban AI glasses have been found to non-consensually record women in states of undress. Both examples underscore how digital tools and online spaces are still unsafe for women. Moreover, this has happened despite the EU’s goal of creating digital rules that protect women. – https://www.euractiv.com/news/how-tech-is-weaponised-against-women/

EU considers stronger child protection in Digital Fairness Act

(DigWatch) Capitals across the EU are being asked to discuss how stronger child protection measures should be incorporated into the upcoming Digital Fairness Act (DFA). The initiative comes as policymakers attempt to address growing concerns about how online platforms expose minors to harmful content, manipulative design practices, and unsafe digital environments. According to a document circulated during Cyprus’s Council presidency of the European Union, member states are expected to debate which concrete safeguards should be introduced as part of the broader consumer protection framework. – https://dig.watch/updates/eu-considers-stronger-child-protection-in-digital-fairness-act

Australia introduces strict online child safety rules covering AI chatbots

(DigWatch) New Age-Restricted Material Codes have begun to be enforced in Australia, requiring online platforms to introduce stronger protections to prevent children from accessing harmful digital content. The rules apply across a wide range of services, including social media, app stores, gaming platforms, search engines, pornography websites, and AI chatbots. Under the framework, companies must implement age-assurance systems before allowing access to content involving pornography, high-impact violence, self-harm material, or other age-restricted topics. – https://dig.watch/updates/australia-introduces-strict-online-child-safety-rules-covering-ai-chatbots

AI copyright warning as 5 major risks outlined in UK Lords report

(DigWatch) Concerns about AI copyright are rising after a House of Lords committee report. The report warns that unlicensed use of creative works for AI training threatens the UK’s creative industries. Large AI systems rely on vast amounts of human-created content, often used without clear consent or compensation. Such developments have intensified debates around AI copyright protections. The committee argues that the key issues are not the copyright framework itself, but the widespread unlicensed use of protected works and AI developers’ lack of transparency. – https://dig.watch/updates/ai-copyright-uk-lords-report

Courts and Litigation

Why dolphins are turning heads in Europe’s AI copyright debate

(Claudie Moreau, Maximilian Henning – Euractiv) The EU prides itself on being a machine that produces legal clarity. But when it comes to how AI fits into its copyright rules, the bloc’s gears are grinding. The question goes to the core of AI as a business. Large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s GPT are trained on enormous amounts of data – often pulling in copyrighted material from books, films and songs. This massive data mining of intellectual property has led to an enormous outcry from authors, directors and musicians, who complain their work is being used without their permission – and without them getting a cent in return. – https://www.euractiv.com/news/why-dolphins-are-turning-heads-in-europes-ai-copyright-debate/

Geostrategies

Europe risks falling behind in the global robotics race

(DigWatch) China’s dominance in humanoid robotics was on full display at the start of 2026, with Hangzhou-based Unitree at the forefront of innovation and 87% of all humanoid robots delivered in 2025 were made in China. Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz witnessed a live display of robots dancing and doing backflips during a visit to Hangzhou, returning home to warn that Germany was ‘simply no longer productive enough.’. European robotics startups face a stark funding gap compared to their US and Chinese rivals. Rodion Shishkov, founder of the London-based construction technology company All3, described having to ‘literally fight’ for tens of millions of euros, whilst similarly positioned American counterparts could secure billions of dollars with the same effort. – https://dig.watch/updates/europe-risks-falling-behind-in-the-global-robotics-race

EU and Canada begin negotiations on a digital trade agreement

(DigWatch) The European Commission and Canada have launched negotiations on a new Digital Trade Agreement to strengthen the rules governing cross-border digital commerce. The initiative was announced in Toronto by the EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and Canadian International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu. – https://dig.watch/updates/eu-and-canada-begin-negotiations-on-a-digital-trade-agreement

Security and Surveillance

Trump Administration Unveils New Cyber Strategy for America

(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Magazine) A new national cyber strategy aimed at strengthening US digital defenses, countering foreign adversaries and accelerating innovation has been released by the Trump Administration. The document, published on March 6, 2026, outlines a broad framework for addressing cyber threats through government coordination, private sector partnerships and technological investment. It sets out six policy pillars designed to guide federal cybersecurity policy and resource allocation.The strategy frames cyberspace as central to US economic strength, national security and technological leadership. It argues that hostile states and cyber-criminal groups increasingly exploit digital systems to undermine democratic institutions, disrupt essential services and steal intellectual property. According to the White House, the new approach prioritises proactive action rather than reactive defence. It emphasises using the full range of government capabilities, including offensive cyber operations, law enforcement measures and economic sanctions, to deter attacks and dismantle criminal networks. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/usa-unveils-new-cyber-strategy/

UK Launches New Crackdown Unit to Tackle Cyber-Fraud at the Source

(Danny Palmer – Infosecurity Magazine) A new Online Crime Centre is set to take the fight to cyber-crime as part of the UK government’s expanded anti-fraud strategy. In a joint announcement, the UK Home Office and the National Crime Agency said that the new unit is designed to crackdown on fraud and will combine expertise from government, intelligence agencies, the police, banks, mobile networks and major technology firms. Set to begin work in April, the Online Crime Centre is tasked with actively disrupting cyber-criminal operations including overseas scam compounds. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/uk-new-crackdown-unit-cyber-fraud/

AI Security Startups Dominate New Cyber Innovation Awards

(Kevin Poireault – Infosecurity Magazine) US-based cybersecurity industry analyst firm IT-Harvest has announced the second cohort of its Cyber 150 awards – and 22% of winners are offering AI security products. Cyber 150 is IT-Harvest’s annual list of the fastest-growing mid-size cybersecurity companies worldwide. Introduced in January 2025, this prize awards emerging security vendors that are scaling rapidly and shaping the next generation of cybersecurity technology. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ai-security-startups-cyber/

TriZetto Provider Solutions Breach Hits 3.4 Million Patients

(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine) Millions of patients have had personal and health insurance information compromised after a breach at IT firm TriZetto Provider Solutions (TPS). A breach notification disclosure posted by the Office of the Maine Attorney General revealed that over 3.4 million individuals were affected by the incident. Owned by US IT services firm Cognizant Technology Solutions, TPS provides claims management, billing services and other software for the healthcare sector – including hospitals, physician practices and insurers. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/trizetto-provider-solutions-breach/

Russia-linked hackers target Signal, WhatsApp of officials globally

(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Dutch intelligence agencies (MIVD and AIVD) warn of a global campaign by Russia-linked threat actors aiming to compromise Signal and WhatsApp accounts. The operation targets government officials, civil servants, and military personnel, highlighting growing cyber risks to sensitive communications among national security actors. “Russian state hackers are engaged in a large-scale global cyber campaign to gain access to Signal and WhatsApp accounts belonging to dignitaries, military personnel and civil servants. The Dutch intelligence and security services MIVD and AIVD can confirm that targets and victims of the campaign include Dutch government employees.” reads the alert by Dutch intelligence agencies. “The Dutch services also believe that other persons of interest to the Russian government, such as journalists, may possibly be targeted by this campaign.”. Russian cyber spies are tricking users into revealing verification codes to hijack Signal and WhatsApp accounts. They impersonate Signal Support or exploit the “linked devices” feature, gaining access to messages and chat groups, potentially exposing sensitive information from government and military targets. – https://securityaffairs.com/189156/intelligence/russia-linked-hackers-target-signal-whatsapp-of-officials-globally.html

Anthropic Claude Opus AI model discovers 22 Firefox bugs

(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Anthropic discovered 22 security vulnerabilities in Firefox using its Claude Opus 4.6 AI model in January 2026. Mozilla addressed these issues in Firefox 148. The researchers state that AI models are now capable of finding high-severity software flaws independently. They identified 22 Firefox vulnerabilities in two weeks, 14 of which were high-severity, nearly a fifth of all high-severity Firefox issues fixed in 2025, demonstrating AI’s ability to rapidly detect critical security risks in complex software. – https://securityaffairs.com/189131/ai/anthropic-claude-opus-ai-model-discovers-22-firefox-bugs.html

ClickFix Attack Uses Windows Terminal to Evade Detection

(Ionut Arghire – SecurityWeek) A new variant of the ClickFix attack evades detection by instructing victims to use Windows Terminal instead of the Run dialog, Microsoft warns. Like traditional ClickFix attacks, the campaign relies on fake CAPTCHA pages, troubleshooting prompts, and verification lures to trick victims into executing malicious PowerShell commands. What sets the new campaign apart, however, is the fact that victims are instructed to open Windows Terminal directly, instead of relying on the Windows Run dialog. – https://www.securityweek.com/clickfix-attack-uses-windows-terminal-to-evade-detection/

Internet Infrastructure TLD .arpa Abused in Phishing Attacks

(Ionut Arghire – SecurityWeek) A threat actor has been abusing the internet infrastructure top-level domain (TLD) .arpa to host phishing content on domains that should not resolve to IP addresses, Infoblox reports. The .arpa TLD is designed to map IP addresses to domains, providing reverse DNS records, and should not host web content, as other TLDs do. As part of the newly uncovered campaign, however, a threat actor has been abusing DNS record management controls of certain providers to add IP address records for .arpa domains and serve phishing content to victims. – https://www.securityweek.com/internet-infrastructure-tld-arpa-abused-in-phishing-attacks/

Frontiers

Mental health survey reveals 41% willing to use AI for support

(DigWatch) AI is increasingly viewed as a tool for mental health support, according to new research from Bournemouth University. The study finds growing public willingness to use AI systems in roles traditionally held by professionals or close personal contacts. Researchers surveyed 31,000 adults across 35 countries about large language models such as ChatGPT. Results show 41% of UK respondents and 61% globally are comfortable using AI for counselling, citing a desire for faster support. – https://dig.watch/updates/ai-mental-health-support-survey

Berlin becomes home to Google AI research centre

(DigWatch) Google has launched its new AI Centre in Berlin, creating a hub for researchers, developers, and leaders from Google DeepMind, Google Research, and Google Cloud. The centre aims to foster collaboration, debate, and innovation in AI. The opening event highlighted the company’s work in advancing science and healthcare through AI-enabled agents and platforms. Google announced long-term research partnerships with the Technical University of Munich and Helmholtz Munich, backed by the Google.org AI for Science fund. – https://dig.watch/updates/berlin-becomes-home-to-google-ai-research-centre