Governance

UNESCO Chair on Digital Technologies and Human Behavior Launched at Hamad Bin Khalifa University

(UNESCO) Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) has launched the UNESCO Chair in Digital Technologies and Human Behavior, solidifying the University’s position at the forefront of global social innovation. Situated within the College of Science and Engineering (CSE), the new Chair will explore the intersection between digital technologies and human behavior, promoting digital well-being, ethical use of technology, and positive societal transformation. It will focus on addressing challenges such as internet addiction, cyberbullying, and misinformation through impact-driven research and active engagement to support healthier digital ecosystems. – https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-chair-digital-technologies-and-human-behavior-launched-hamad-bin-khalifa-university?hub=701

Toronto’s transportation services wants $35 million over the next few years to make advanced artificial intelligence a permanent part of the city’s congestion-fighting tool box

(Toronto Star) Advanced artificial intelligence may soon help unclog Toronto streets, but ground zero for the city’s traffic woes will still require a human touch. In an interview with the Star, the city’s director of traffic management said there were “major successes” with different types of AI Toronto tested a couple of years ago. Now, his department is asking council for the money to make that technology a permanent fixture of how Toronto manages its infamous congestion. – https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/this-one-thing-may-ease-toronto-s-frustrating-traffic-jams-and-even-help-the-finch/article_25d84dc4-df2c-446b-9f5d-38459c7100e8.html

AI-generated news should carry ‘nutrition’ labels, thinktank says

(Dan Milmo – The Guardian) AI-generated news should carry “nutrition” labels and tech companies must pay publishers for the content they use, according to a thinktank, amid rising use of the technology as a source for current affairs. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said AI firms were rapidly emerging as the new “gatekeepers” of the internet and intervention was needed to create a healthy AI news environment. – https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/30/ai-generated-news-should-carry-nutrition-labels-thinktank-says

Doha Debates Discusses Ethical, Political, Social Ramifications of AI

(Qatar News Agency) Doha Debates, an initiative of Qatar Foundation, examined the ethical, political and social ramifications of the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence during its latest “town hall,” held amid growing concerns that AI’s accelerating power could surpass human capability and escape meaningful control. Hosted at Multaqa, the Education City Student Center, the open forum brought together students, researchers and global experts to explore whether current institutions, ethical frameworks and governance systems are prepared for an era of fast-moving technological transformation. – https://qna.org.qa/en/news/news-details?id=doha-debates-discusses-ethical-political-social-ramifications-of-ai&date=31/01/2026

AI chatbots are not your friends, experts warn

(Pieter Haeck – Politico) Millions of people are forming emotional bonds with artificial intelligence chatbots — a problem that politicians need to take seriously, according to top scientists. The warning of a rise in AI bots designed to develop a relationship with users comes in an assessment released Tuesday on the progress and risks of artificial intelligence. “AI companions have grown rapidly in popularity, with some applications reaching tens of millions of users,” according to the assessment from dozens of experts, mostly academics — completed for the second time under a global effort launched by world leaders in 2023. – https://www.politico.eu/article/ai-chatbots-not-friends-warn-experts/

India offers zero taxes through 2047 to lure global AI workloads

(TechCrunch) As the global race to build AI infrastructure accelerates, India has offered foreign cloud providers zero taxes through 2047 on services sold outside the country if they run those workloads from Indian data centers — a bid to attract the next wave of AI computing investment, even as power shortages and water stress threaten expansion in the South Asian nation. On Sunday, India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the proposal in the country’s annual budget, offering a tax holiday — effectively zero taxes — on revenues from cloud services sold outside India if those services are run from data centers in the country. Sales to Indian customers would have to be routed through locally incorporated resellers and taxed domestically, she told parliament. The budget also proposes a 15% cost-plus safe harbor for Indian data center operators providing services to related foreign entities. – https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/01/india-offers-zero-taxes-through-2047-to-lure-global-ai-workloads/

Geostrategies

Europe warns over reliance on foreign digital technologies

(DigWatch) European policymakers are sharpening their focus on digital sovereignty as concerns grow over the continent’s reliance on foreign technology providers. Control over key digital infrastructure and technologies is seen as vital to protecting Europe’s economic resilience. At a fintech regulatory conference in Brussels, European Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque stressed the need to retain control over core economic technologies. – https://dig.watch/updates/europe-warnson-foreign-digital-technologies

UK-Bulgaria: connecting semiconductor expertise for growth

(Gov.UK) Semiconductors underpin everything from smartphones to electric vehicles and renewable energy systems. Secure and diverse supply chains are essential for economic resilience and technological leadership. Under the UK-Bulgaria Strategic Partnership, the Science and Technology Network (STN) and Department for Business and Trade (DBT) have connected UK expertise with Bulgaria’s ambitions under the EU Chips Act 2023 and its fast-growing auto electronics sector. This collaboration is creating opportunities for innovation, investment, and skills development, strengthening bilateral ties and supporting Bulgaria’s efforts to position itself as a competitive player in Europe’s semiconductor and automotive technology landscape. – https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-bulgaria-connecting-semiconductor-expertise-for-growth

Defence

EU plans a secure military data space by 2030

(DigWatch) Institutions in the EU have begun designing a new framework to help European armies share defence information securely, rather than relying on US technology. A plan centred on creating a military-grade data platform, the European Defence Artificial Intelligence Data Space, is intended to support sensitive exchanges among defence authorities. Ultimately, the approach aims to replace the current patchwork of foreign infrastructure that many member states rely on to store and transfer national security data. – https://dig.watch/updates/eu-plans-secure-military-data-space-by-2030

Security and Surveillance

Hundreds of Malicious Crypto Trading Add-Ons Found in Moltbot/OpenClaw

(Kevin Poireault – Infosecurity Magazine) New findings reveal almost 400 fake crypto trading add-ons in the project behind the viral Moltbot/OpenClaw AI assistant tool can lead users to install information-stealing malware. These add-ons, called skills, masquerade as cryptocurrency trading automation tools and target ByBit, Polymarket, Axiom, Reddit and LinkedIn. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/malicious-crypto-trading-skills/

SQL Injection Flaw Affects 40,000 WordPress Sites

(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Magazine) More than 40,000 WordPress sites using the Quiz and Survey Master plugin have been affected by a SQL injection vulnerability that allowed authenticated users to interfere with database queries. The flaw existed in versions 10.3.1 and earlier and could be exploited by any logged-in user with Subscriber-level privileges or higher, increasing the risk of unauthorised data access. Quiz and Survey Master, also known as QSM, is widely used to create quizzes, surveys and forms. Its feature set includes multimedia support and a drag-and-drop quiz builder, which has contributed to its large install base. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/wordpress-sql-injection-flaw-40000/

DockerDash Exposes AI Supply Chain Weakness In Docker’s Ask Gordon

(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Magazine) A critical security flaw affecting Docker’s Ask Gordon AI assistant has been disclosed by cybersecurity researchers, revealing how unverified metadata can be turned into executable instructions. The issue, dubbed DockerDash by Noma Labs, exposes weaknesses across the full AI execution chain, from model interpretation to tool execution, and highlights emerging risks as AI agents are embedded deeper into development workflows. The research shows that a single malicious metadata label inside a Docker image can compromise a Docker environment through a three-stage process. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/dockerdash-weakness-dockers-ask/

UK ICO Launches Investigation into X Over AI Generated Non-Consensual Sexual Imagery

(Danny Palmer – Infosecurity Magazine) The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s social network X (formerly Twitter) in relation to non-consensual sexual imagery generated by Grok, the platform’s AI assistant. In a statement released on February 3, the UK’s data protection watchdog said it was conducting the investigation because the reported creation of the content “raises serious concerns under UK data protection law and presents a risk of significant potential harm to the public.”. The announcement came the same day French cyber-crime investigators raided X’s Paris offices as part of an operation with similar concerns detailed by the ICO. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ico-investigates-x-over-grok-ai/

Researchers Warn of New “Vect” RaaS Variant

(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine) Security researchers have discovered a new ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) group which has already victimized organizations in Brazil and South Africa. Dubbed “Vect,” the group is currently onboarding affiliates after launching a recruitment program in December 2025, according to ransomware specialist Halcyon. The group has claimed that its malware was built using C++ rather than repurposing leaked source code from the likes of Lockbit 3.0 or Conti, as is more common. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/researchers-warn-new-vect-raas/

Cybercrime Unit of Paris Prosecutors Raid Elon Musk’s X Offices in France

(Kevin Poireault – Infosecurity Magazine) The cybercrime unit of the Paris Prosecutor’s Office raided Elon Musk’s X offices in Paris on February 3. The search of the offices located in the chic 2nd arrondissement district, conducted in collaboration with the National Gendarmerie’s cybercrime unit and Europol, is part of a preliminary investigation into a range of alleged offenses. The investigation was opened in January 2025 after two complaints against X were reported, one by French MP Eric Bothorel and another by the cybersecurity director of an unnamed French public agency. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/paris-prosecutors-raid-elon-musk-x/

New Password-Stealing Phishing Campaign Targets Corporate Dropbox Credentials

(Danny Palmer – Infosecurity Magazine) A multi-stage phishing campaign is using a sneaky technique to evade detection by security tools and harvest corporate credentials for well-known cloud storage services, researchers have warned. Forcepoint X-Labs issued an alert about the ongoing campaign on February 2, which combines phishing emails which claim to relate to urgent business, PDF attachments, hidden malicious links and a spoofed login page to steal login credentials for Dropbox accounts. The campaign begins with phishing emails which appear to be related to procurement requests or business purchases. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/password-stealing-phishing-pdf/

Vibe-Coded Moltbook Exposes User Data, API Keys and More

(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine) A self-styled social networking platform built for AI agents contained a misconfigured database which allowed full read and write access to all data, security researchers have revealed. Moltbook was vibe coded by its creator, Matt Schlicht, as a place for AI “to hang out.” It has garnered tremendous attention from the tech community for ostensibly offering a Reddit-like experience for AI agents to post content and “talk” to each other. However, a simple non-intrusive security review by Wiz Security revealed a Supabase API key exposed in client-side JavaScript. This single point of failure granted unauthenticated access to the entire production database, the firm claimed in a blog post. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/moltbook-exposes-user-data-api/

Five Single Sign-On Best Practices to Reduce Access Risk in 2026

(Dominique Adam – Infosecurity Magazine) Single sign-on (SSO) is a foundational component of modern identity architecture, simplifying access for users while allowing security teams to apply consistent controls across applications. When implemented effectively, SSO reduces password sprawl and improves authentication consistency, but the same centralization can amplify risk if a single identity provider account is compromised. In environments where Active Directory underpins SSO authentication, the strength of domain credentials directly affects the security of every connected application. Attackers are well aware of this dependency and frequently target Active Directory and domain user accounts as a more efficient path to broad access than attacking SSO technologies directly. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/blogs/five-single-signon-best-practices/

CERT Polska reports coordinated cyber sabotage targeting Poland’s energy infrastructure

(DigWatch) Poland has disclosed a coordinated cyber sabotage campaign targeting more than 30 renewable energy sites in late December 2025. The incidents occurred during severe winter weather and were intended to cause operational disruption, according to CERT Polska. Electricity generation and heat supply in Poland continued, but attackers disabled communications and remote control systems across multiple facilities. Both IT networks and industrial operational technology were targeted, marking a rare shift toward destructive cyber activity against energy infrastructure. – https://dig.watch/updates/poland-cert-polska-energy-cyberattacks

AI-driven scams dominate malicious email campaigns

(DigWatch) The Catalan Cybersecurity Agency has warned that generative AI is now being used in the vast majority of email scams containing malicious links. Its Cybersecurity Outlook Report for 2026 found that more than 80% of such messages rely on AI-generated content. The report shows that 82.6% of emails carrying malicious links include text, video, or voice produced using AI tools, making fraudulent messages increasingly difficult to identify. Scammers use AI to create near-flawless messages that closely mimic legitimate communications. – https://dig.watch/updates/ai-scams-dominate-malicious-email-campaigns

EU plan to share data with US border force sparks surveillance fears

(Ellen O’Regan – Politico) The European Union is pressing ahead with talks to grant United States border authorities unprecedented access to Europeans’ data, despite growing concerns about American surveillance. The European Commission is brokering a deal to exchange information about travelers, including fingerprints and law enforcement records, so the U.S. can determine if they “pose a risk to  public security or public order,” according to official documents. Commission officials flew to Washington last week for the first round of negotiations, according to two people familiar with the matter. – https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-moves-open-up-data-for-us-border-checks-sparking-surveillance-chills/

Frontiers and Markets

Using generative AI to help scientists synthesize complex materials

(Phys.org) Generative AI models have been used to create enormous libraries of theoretical materials that could help solve all kinds of problems. Now, scientists just have to figure out how to make them. In many cases, materials synthesis is not as simple as following a recipe in the kitchen. Factors like the temperature and length of processing can yield huge changes in a material’s properties that make or break its performance. That has limited researchers’ ability to test millions of promising model-generated materials. Now, MIT researchers have created an AI model that guides scientists through the process of making materials by suggesting promising synthesis routes. In a new paper, they showed the model delivers state-of-the-art accuracy in predicting effective synthesis pathways for a class of materials called zeolites, which could be used to improve catalysis, absorption, and ion exchange processes. Following its suggestions, the team synthesized a new zeolite material that showed improved thermal stability. – https://phys.org/news/2026-01-generative-ai-scientists-complex-materials.html

SpaceX seeks federal approval to launch 1 million solar-powered satellite data centers

(TechCrunch) SpaceX has filed a request with the Federal Communications Commission to launch a constellation of up to 1 million solar-powered satellites that it said will serve as data centers for artificial intelligence. The company’s filing lays out a grandiose vision, not just describing these planned satellites as “the most efficient way to meet the accelerating demand for AI computing power” but also framing them as “a first step towards becoming a Kardashev II-level civilization — one that can harness the Sun’s full power” while also  “ensuring humanity’s multi-planetary future amongst the stars.” – https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/31/spacex-seeks-federal-approval-to-launch-1-million-solar-powered-satellite-data-centers/