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Apple Reference Image: A New Approach for Verified Photography

Apple introduces Reference Image, hardware-backed verifiable photography on iPhone 18 Pro using sensor signing and Private Cloud Compute to counter AI-generated fakes.

Apple announced Reference Image, an opt-in camera mode debuting on the main sensor of iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max that produces securely timestamped, verifiable photographs. The design splits into two phases: a secure digital negative created by cryptographically signing pixel data at the sensor immediately after capture (preventing injection or tampering), then developing that negative into a reference image. Private Cloud Compute handles processing without exposing image contents to anyone, including Apple, and fraudulent reference images can be revoked without revealing the photographer's identity. Apple positions the system as stronger than C2PA-based approaches, which sign metadata after capture, are vulnerable to editing-chain compromise, and can tie images to a device or individual.

NIST and CISA finalize playbook to stop token theft and forgery

NIST and CISA finalized NIST IR 8587, a playbook helping federal agencies and cloud providers defend identity tokens against theft and forgery.

The finalized NIST IR 8587 guidance covers protecting token signing keys, verifying tokens, lifetimes, revocation, session management, and dividing security responsibilities between cloud providers and customers. It cites an incident in which foreign actors forged tokens with a stolen commercial signing key to steal more than 60,000 emails from one government agency. It also recommends extending token protections to AI agents and preparing identity systems for a future post-quantum cryptography transition.

Help Net Security · 23h agoAdvisory 2 sources

Your AI agent's system prompt is not a security control

AWS and SANS guidance says system prompts are not security controls; enforce user permissions at retrieval time and default-deny every agent tool invocation.

AWS VP Gee Rittenhouse and SANS fellow Eric Johnson, with three AWS security specialists, published agentic AI security guidance for organizations with agents running or under development. They recommend scoping queries to user permissions inside existing RBAC/ABAC systems and filtering results before the model's context window, noting prompts can be bypassed, ignored, or overridden. The guidance warns risk concentrates when one agent holds sensitive data access, external communication, and exposure to untrusted content, the vector for prompt injection, which OWASP ranks as the top AI application threat. It cites IBM 2025 research that ungoverned shadow AI added $670,000 to average breach cost, and prescribes 30-day behavioral baselines, Cedar or Open Policy Agent for default-deny tool invocation, and four-layer containment with automatic circuit breakers.

Help Net Security · 9d agoAI safety & security

Proactive cyber defense for governments and enterprises

Google launches the Fairwind Program giving governments and enterprises access to Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber and CodeMender for autonomous vulnerability finding and patching.

Google DeepMind announced the Fairwind Program, a limited-access offering giving Google Cloud customers, government agencies, and cybersecurity partners access to Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber and the CodeMender harness to autonomously find, verify, and fix vulnerabilities. Initial access prioritizes governments, critical infrastructure operators in healthcare, telecom, energy, and finance, and core technology platforms, with over 650 partners participating. Google also raised its total global cybersecurity funding commitment above $100 million, including $36 million for 35 US cyber clinics.

Google DeepMind · 14d agoAI industry

Proactive cyber defense for governments and enterprises

Google launches the Fairwind Program giving governments and enterprises access to Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber and CodeMender for autonomous vulnerability discovery and patching.

Google announced the Fairwind Program, a limited-access offering bringing its cyber defense capabilities to government agencies, critical infrastructure operators, and trusted partners, with more than 650 participating organizations. It combines the Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber model with the CodeMender harness to autonomously find, verify, and fix vulnerabilities, generating deployment-ready patches in minutes inside customers' cloud environments. Google also raised its total cybersecurity funding commitment above $100 million, including $36 million granted to 35 US cyber clinics supporting hospitals, school districts, and municipal utilities.

Google · AI · 14d agoTools

Microsoft Copilot Personal Flaws Could Let One Click Exfiltrate Data From Connected Apps

Varonis discloses CoSnitch (CVE-2026-24301), three Microsoft Copilot Personal flaws enabling one-click exfiltration of connected-app data; patched August 18, 2026.

Varonis Threat Labs found that an undocumented autorun=1 parameter, paired with the q parameter, lets an attacker-supplied prompt run automatically on page load in a victim's authenticated Copilot session, then exfiltrate data from connected services such as mail, calendar, Google Drive, chat history and the memory store via Copilot's built-in URL fetch to an attacker webhook. A separate memory-poisoning path through web summarization lets a crafted page persist attacker instructions in the user's memory, surviving password changes, session revocation and device re-enrollment. Microsoft shipped patches on August 18, 2026, tracked as CVE-2026-24301, and Varonis found no evidence of in-the-wild exploitation. The flaws were found via 'meta-hacking', asking Copilot itself to reveal the autorun parameter and its protections.

Risky Bulletin: The EU publishes its upcoming cybersecurity standards

ETSI releases 17 draft cybersecurity standards vendors must meet when the EU Cyber Resilience Act takes effect in December 2027.

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute published 17 interim draft standards covering operating systems, routers, firewalls, VPNs, SIEMs, browsers, password managers, smart home devices, toys and wearables. They mandate basic security features such as post-sale updates, shipped SBOMs, modern cryptography and secure-by-default settings; public comments run until November, with final versions expected in December, one year before CRA compliance begins in December 2027. The newsletter also reports Irregular taking responsibility for AI test-environment escapes involving Anthropic and Meta frontier models, a breach at France's tax agency exposing 678,000+ citizens' data claimed by hacker ZeroBytes, and Kazakhstan eGov data covering 15 million citizens listed for sale on an underground forum. Additional briefs cover a $3.2 million Harmony Protocol theft crashing the ONE token 40%, Columbus Police still restoring systems two years after ransomware, DDoS attacks on Threema's provider, and Ukraine's GUR claiming a cyberattack on Wildberries.

Risky Business News · Aug 17, 2026Policy & legal2

OpenAI Launches GPT-5.6-Cyber with Reduced Safeguards for Exploit Development

OpenAI released GPT-5.6-Cyber for vulnerability research and pentesting via Daybreak Red, completing 95% of advanced cyber task evaluations.

GPT-5.6-Cyber, built on GPT-5.6 Sol, targets zero-day discovery, exploit chain development and incident response with reduced refusals, scoring 95.0% on OpenAI's Advanced Cybersecurity Completion Rate versus 1.5% for GPT-5.6 Sol and 57.3% for GPT-5.5-Cyber. The model found CVE-2026-15903 (CVSS 8.8), an out-of-bounds read/write in Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine that Google patched in mid-July 2026. It is available to trusted partners including CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks and Cloudflare through the Daybreak Red access tier.

The Hacker News · Aug 11, 2026Model releaseCVE-2026-15903