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Dr. Seema Jilani is a pediatrician who has been providing medical care to children in Gaza.

• Cheats and mods are now frontlines for cybercrime targeting gamers' wallets and private data
• Verified crypto wallets like MetaMask and Exodus are being drained through browser injection
• Trojan.Scavenger abuses overlooked flaws to disable browser safety and manipulate trusted extensions

Gamers seeking performance enhancements or special abilities through third-party patches and mods may be unwittingly exposing themselves to sophisticated malware, experts have warned.

Recent findings from Dr.Web revealed a malware family known as “Trojan.Scavenger” which targets Windows users by disguising itself as cheats or enhancements for popular games.

This seemingly harmless mod can ultimately compromise crypto wallets, password managers, and web browsers, posing serious risks to user privacy and digital assets.

When cheats become covert threats

The infection chain begins when users download ZIP archives claiming to improve performance in games including the likes of Grand Theft Auto 5 or Oblivion Remastered.

These archives contain modified dynamic libraries, sometimes renamed with extensions like .ASI to resemble legitimate plugin formats.

When the user follows the installation instructions, the malicious library is placed in the same folder as the target game. If the game does not properly validate its libraries, the trojan loads automatically at startup.

In some cases, flaws in library search priorities are essential to the malware’s success, allowing it to hijack execution within the host application.

Once loaded, the malware establishes contact with a command-and-control server using encrypted communication. This process includes verifying encryption keys and checking timestamp consistency, which is meant to evade analysis and block antivirus detection.

The malware doesn’t stop with the initial payload. In more complex infections, it deploys additional trojans that embed themselves in Chromium-based browsers like Chrome, Edge, Opera, and Yandex.

These trojans interfere with browser sandboxing, disable extension verification, and replace legitimate extensions with modified versions.

Crypto wallets such as MetaMask and Phantom, as well as password managers like Bitwarden and LastPass, are among the affected applications.

Modified extensions collect mnemonic phrases, private keys, and stored passwords, which are then transmitted to the attackers' servers.

Exodus, a popular crypto wallet, is also targeted using similar techniques.

By exploiting library loading behavior, the malware extracts sensitive JSON entries, including passphrases and seed data required for generating private keys.

How to stay safe

To stay safe, always apply caution when accessing unofficial content.

Avoid downloading mods or cheats from sketchy forums or unverified sources, especially those shared on torrent platforms or through poorly moderated social media channels.

Antivirus software, while helpful, must be regularly updated to stay effective against evolving threats.

Android antivirus tools may protect mobile platforms, but on desktop systems, more capable solutions are necessary.

Good social media management also helps reduce exposure to malicious content. Limiting interaction with communities known for spreading cracked software or shady patches can lower the risk.

Lastly, checking file paths, verifying digital signatures when available, and restricting admin privileges on daily-use accounts can make it harder for malware to execute successfully.

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Today 16 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit in support of children's hospitals and doctors that have provided gender-affirming care for minors, contending the Trump administration has acted illegally in pressuring doctors and children's hospitals to stop.

A new study from Oxford University finds that a common European songbird sometimes divorces its partner between breeding seasons.

One topic dominated online conversation this week: the American Eagle jeans ad featuring actress Sydney Sweeney. We break down why people are so worked up about it.

(Image credit: American Eagle)

BRICS is an economic alliance that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and several other nations. So why has this alliance generated so much animosity from President Trump?

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• The Honda N-One e: is unveiled in Japan and previews a global compact EV
• The diminutive car will measure less than 3,400mm (133.9inches) in length
• A range of 150+ miles is expected and V2L means it can power homes

The production version of the teeny, boxy Honda that wowed crowds at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed has been unveiled and the N-One e: will go on to influence a global, low-cost EV.

Revealed in Japan this week, one of Honda’s smallest-ever electric vehicles will offer over 150 miles (245km) of range on a single charge from its equally small battery packs, while the single electric motor is expected to produce around 63hp.

Designed predominantly for town and city driving, the Japanese version of Honda’s Super EV concept complies with the country’s strict Kei Car rules, which mean it has to measure less than 3,400mm (133.9inches) in length.

It is likely that the European version will sport chunkier bodywork so it isn’t completely dwarfed by the myriad overweight SUVs, but we can expect to see a lot of the features carried over from the Japanese Domestic Market model.

(Image credit: Honda Japan)

The interior, for example, is packed with practical touches, such as rear seats that fold upright or flat to provide ample stowage space for numerous, odd-shaped items.

There are also hard-wearing, easy-to-maintain fabrics and charging points for smartphones.

Honda also says that the N-One e: is capable of one-pedal driving and Vehicle 2 Load (V2L), which means owners can power homes during power outages, or simply top up a power-hungry laptop when on the move.

Small EVs are proving a big hit

(Image credit: Honda Japan)

While it is highly unlikely the N One e: (or whatever the Super EV concept will eventually be called) will make its way to the US market, Honda has said that it plans to introduce a small city EV to Europe and beyond next year.

The company was one of the first to market with a funky, compact EV game thanks to its innovative Honda e. Unfortunately, its cutting-edge styling couldn’t make up for its 100-odd mile real-world range, slow charging speeds and high sticker price.

The Super EV concept comes at a time when battery technology has improved, so the range could be a more usable 170 miles and the asking price will likely be more in line with something like the BYD Dolphin Surf, which starts at £18,650 in the UK (around £25,000 / AU$38,250).

Honda is synonymous with practical, affordable, compact vehicles, with the likes of the Jazz remaining popular among savvy buyers that want reliable, simple transport that laps up short hops without breaking the bank.

While the N One e: is predominantly aimed at the Japanese and Chinese market for now, we expect to see what a more global version will look like at the IAA motor show in Munich later this year.

Honda is also on an EV push in general, with the recent launch of the CUV e: battery-swap electric scooter and the announcement of a full-size electric motorcycle coming soon.

The thread that appears to be running through all of the products is Honda's commitment to excellent engineering solutions and a competitive price point. We might start to see battery-powered models that can compete on price with their gas-powered counterparts.

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• OpenAI has removed the ChatGPT feature, allowing people to search through public conversations with a search engine
• Many users learned too late that enabling the “discoverable” setting could make chats accessible to anyone online
• The decision came after several people saw their sensitive and private information publicized

OpenAI has abruptly shut down a feature in ChatGPT that allowed chats shared publicly to be searchable through Google. Users were unpleasantly surprised to discover that private information shared with ChatGPT was now publicly available as a Google search result.

Dane Stuckey, OpenAI’s Chief Information Security Officer, announced the shutdown on Thursday, with the feature disabled on Friday morning. OpenAI has also begun scrubbing search engine indexes of the previously shared conversations.

OpenAI designed the “Make this link discoverable” checkbox, which they had clicked on, to give more people access to potentially helpful conversations between ChatGPT and different users. In practice, it opened the door to a new kind of digital exposure, where criminal confessions, personal secrets, and corporate practices were just a few keywords away from turning up in a Google Search.

This was not some obscure opt-out setting hidden in a developer console. It was right there in the sharing menu of any ChatGPT conversation users chose to turn into a public link. However, while OpenAI believed the wording was clear about what users were doing, many users apparently did not understand. They thought the link would remain private or unfindable unless explicitly shared.

For the average person using ChatGPT to plan a resignation letter, troubleshoot a relationship, or work on a legal strategy, that’s more than a technical hiccup. It’s a gut check. If you’ve ever shared a link to a conversation, there’s a nonzero chance someone found it by a Google search.

Some of the reported indexed conversations included internal job applicant evaluations, sensitive mental health disclosures, confessions of crime, and proprietary software code. People were talking to ChatGPT as if it were private, but for anyone who toggled that setting, it wasn’t.

We just removed a feature from @ChatGPTapp that allowed users to make their conversations discoverable by search engines, such as Google. This was a short-lived experiment to help people discover useful conversations. This feature required users to opt-in, first by picking a chat… pic.twitter.com/mGI3lF05UaJuly 31, 2025

Searchable secrets

To OpenAI’s credit, the company pulled the feature quickly. But the fallout raises important questions not just about privacy, but about how much users can reasonably be expected to understand about the tools they’re using. The “discoverable” checkbox didn’t hide behind a wall, but it also didn’t do a great job of communicating the scope of its consequences. It’s one thing to share a link, but indexing it in global search engines indefinitely is something else.

It is fascinating what this says about how users behave with AI. They confide in it, test ideas, vent frustrations, and draft things they’d never type into a search bar. If you’ve ever shared a ChatGPT conversation, it’s worth checking whether that link is still live.

While OpenAI is working with Google and other search engines to purge previously indexed content, search crawlers have long memories. Some content may linger for a while, even if deleted. OpenAI disabled the feature quickly, but the damage may already be done for some users.

Hopefully, the lesson will stick with the public, much like the idea of not deleting embarrassing browser histories has transitioned from a common joke to something only the most clueless person would forget to do. The magic of tools like ChatGPT lies in how they create the illusion of a conversation. But if you forget that it is still an illusion, you might not notice risks like buttons that send your digital heart-to-heart straight to Google.

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Get the weekend off to a gory start.

The Cold War-era test was a staple of school gyms for half a century before the Obama administration replaced it. Trump says his focus on childhood fitness is for both physical and patriotic reasons.

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker)

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• Amazon's CEO teased advertisements might be coming to Alexa+
• Other Alexa+ subscription tiers might be on the way, too
• No release date yet, but it sounds like a matter of when, not if

Amazon’s Alexa+ may have only been around for a short time, and while that would usually mean it’s in the rapid user-growth stage, it sounds like Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is already planning its demise: stuffing its conversations with ads.

Speaking at Amazon’s most recent investor call, Jassy explained that “People do a lot of shopping [with Alexa+]”

Adding “I think over time, there will be opportunities, as people are engaging in more multi-turn conversations, to have advertising play a role to help people find discovery, and also as a lever to drive revenue.” Basically, if you ask Alexa+ for shopping recommendations, some of its responses might eventually be sponsored.

Jassy went on to discuss the possibility of different payment tiers beyond the existing $19.99 a month model – it is already free with Amazon Prime – suggesting we may see an ad-supported and ad-free tier, but the idea sounds yucky. Right?

Because if AI’s responses can be paid for, why would you trust anything it says ever again?

Whatever Amazon is paid to tell you they eat. (Image credit: Amazon)We knew this was coming

AI has sold itself as an unbiased guru that can answer many of life’s questions, but it’s increasingly clear how untrue that is.

After the bot couldn’t stop correcting its master, X AI’s Grok received some major changes leading to very public (and hate-ridden) crashouts, and now it seemingly serves as a mouthpiece for Elon Musk rather than any semblance of a reliable third-party.

The Chinese-run DeepSeek bot has been found to tow the Chinese Communist Party line on topics like Taiwan independence and Tiananmen Square, and I’m sure there are plenty of more subtle biases built into every AI chatbot out there.

Advertisements would bring in another layer of mistrust, especially depending on how they’re implemented.

In Alexa’s case, if it recommends three products and a fourth clearly marked as sponsored, why would you be incentivized to buy it? As you know, Alexa is suggesting it only because it was paid to do so. You’re much better off picking one of the other genuine recommendations.

Alternatively, if it instead prewarns you that some answers are sponsored, but doesn’t then label which answers were bought, you wouldn’t be able to trust that any of its shopping suggestions aren’t simply being paid for.

But ads were inevitable in many ways.

We offer unbiased tech buying advice, unlike AI (Image credit: Future)

The race to the bottom on subscriptions means that many people don’t want to pay much for AI tools. Simultaneously, investors in their quarterly calls to big tech companies are starting to ask how the billions being invested in AI might eventually be turned into profit.

The now-not-so-quiet part that Amazon’s CEO just said aloud is advertising. People can have a cheap AI service, and the company can get paid.

I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t seem any different from the systems we already have through sponsored entries in Google or on Amazon’s store.

I was promised a Jarvis-like AI agent, not the same as what we have, but in a different wrapper.

Perhaps I’m getting tired of the perpetual AI hype, but with sponsored conversations looking like they’re headed our way, we might start to see some AI systems get ruined and die off – I can only hope.

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• Chinese firm turns RTX 5090 cards into two-slot AI accelerators using custom PCBs
• Factory automation in China converts Nvidia gaming GPUs into data center hardware
• Export restrictions are bypassed as RTX 5090 boards are reworked into rack-ready AI modules

A video circulating on Bilibili shows how enterprising Chinese technicians are converting GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards into high-efficiency AI accelerators, bypassing export restrictions in the process.

Instead of using the retail GPUs as is, a local manufacturer is removing the GB202 chips and memory modules from the gaming boards.

The components are then transferred onto custom two-slot PCBs and paired with blower-style cooling, optimized for server rack environments.

Large scale production

The operation appears to be being run at factory-level scale. Robotic arms extract GPU modules, pick-and-place systems reassemble them onto redesigned boards, and automated soldering equipment finalizes the electrical work, before visual inspection systems confirm alignment and build quality.

The process is fast, repeatable, and efficient, far beyond what might be expected of a small workshop, but what makes this enterprise even more notable is the sheer volume of RTX 5090 cards seen in the video, despite restrictions on their export to China.

Nvidia has not officially released the 5090D variant, designed to comply with U.S. sanctions, and yet shelves of full-power RTX 5090 units can be seen undergoing retrofitting.

Gaming models with three-fan cooling are too large for server chassis, and their power connectors are often positioned awkwardly for rack use, so the cards are physically modified to fit data center constraints.

The redesigned blower cards shift the power input to the tail end of the PCB, simplifying cable routing and avoiding risk of overheating.

From a hardware standpoint, the GPUs function identically.

By shifting them onto slimline, server-compatible boards, Chinese firms are essentially creating their own high-end AI accelerators.

If hardware intended for gamers can be so easily adapted for AI research and model training, then questions about the effectiveness of the current export controls surely have to be asked.

It’s clear from the scale of the operation in the video that there is strong demand for AI accelerators built from repurposed RTX 5090 cards.

For AI developers in China, it means they can get the computing power they need without having to rely on official supply channels.

Via Guru3D.com

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The federal Bureau of Prisons said Friday that Maxwell had been transferred to a prison camp in Texas, but did not explain the circumstances.

(Image credit: John Minchillo)

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funnels federal money to public media stations, says it's winding down operations after President Trump signed a law rescinding all funding.

(Image credit: Zach Gibson/Getty Images)