Search: “Gemma3”

Can Edge-Deployable Vision-Language Models Identify Species?

Evaluation of 2-8B VLMs (Qwen3-VL, Gemma3) against BioCLIP on camera-trap species ID shows all models degrade sharply on field imagery.

The study tests whether edge-deployable 2-8B vision-language models carry genuine taxonomic knowledge, comparing Qwen3-VL 2B/4B/8B and Gemma3 4B against the 300M specialist BioCLIP on a 96-species task across clean iNaturalist photos and six LILA.science camera-trap collections. All models degrade 9.6-26.6 percentage points on field imagery, and BioCLIP outperforms every VLM by 33.2-59.2 points on an expanded 200-image sample, suggesting specialized data rather than scale drives the gap. Under open-set prompting, 5.9-9.6% of responses are syntactically valid but taxonomically nonexistent species names, with fabrication rankings replicating across evaluation sets.

arXiv cs.AI / cs.LG / cs.CL·Sep 10, 17:57 UTC · 6d agoAI research1

Kimi K3 (2.8T) at 1 token/s on a MacBook Pro, streamed from four SSDs

A GitHub project streams Moonshot's 2.8T-parameter Kimi K3 from four SSDs to run at 1 token/s on a MacBook Pro.

A GitHub repository (argonautlabsai/deltafin) demonstrates running Moonshot AI's Kimi K3, a 2.8-trillion-parameter model, on a MacBook Pro by streaming its weights from four SSDs at 1 token per second. The project drew 55 points and 22 comments on Hacker News, highlighting consumer-hardware inference for extremely large models.

Hacker News · AI·Sep 8, 20:07 UTC · 8d agoAI tools & infraHN 55↑ · 22 comments

How a Real Estate Company Turned a SQL Lockout Into Actionable Security Insight

A real estate company used Horizon3.ai's NodeZero to trace a SQL account lockout to a hidden privilege path and remediate it.

A Horizon3.ai customer story describes a large real estate company using NodeZero to investigate a SQL account lockout. The assessment traced the lockout to a deeper privilege path in the environment. The findings reportedly drove immediate remediation of the exposed privilege risk.

Horizon3.ai·Aug 25, 12:54 UTC · 22d agoTools

The Fraud Ecosystem: A Transition From Known Marketplaces to a Fragmented Environment

Rapid7 analyzes how fraud marketplaces are fragmenting into specialized shops after larger marketplaces were dismantled, aided by new MITRE F3 framework

Rapid7 reports a shift from large known fraud marketplaces to a fragmented environment of smaller specialized storefronts such as Xleet, Blackpass, Infodig, and Styx, operating across dark web channels, Telegram, and P2P options. These Fraud-as-a-Service shops sell stolen accounts, PII, synthetic identity generation, infrastructure, and money laundering support, supporting schemes like business email compromise. MITRE's Fraud Fighting Framework (F3), introduced in early 2026, aims to help security teams prioritize monitoring of fraud TTPs, particularly account takeover techniques. Fraud damages are anticipated to approach hundreds of billions of USD.

Rapid7 Blog·Sep 11, 13:33 UTC · 5d agoPhishing & fraud

.blend URL Viewer

Simon Willison demos a .blend URL viewer built with GPT-6 Astra in Codex and ChatGPT Images 2.5 generating Blender models.

Simon Willison used ChatGPT Images 2.5 to generate a Faberge egg concept image themed after the TV show Pluribus, then had Codex running GPT-6 Astra (high) execute a Blender local skill to build a 3D model from it. He published the result as a .blend URL viewer tool and continues experimenting with agentic Blender workflows. The post is a hands-on demo of AI-driven creative tooling rather than a security or release announcement.

Simon Willison·Sep 9, 23:58 UTC · 6d agoAI tools & infra

Security Data Isn’t the Problem. Security Context Is.

Horizon3 blog argues security context, not data volume, is the SOC bottleneck, promoting its NodeZero integration with CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEM.

Horizon3.ai published a vendor blog explaining how its NodeZero Proactive Security Platform integration with CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEM brings validated exposure findings into existing security operations workflows. The post argues SOCs are now limited by confidence rather than visibility, needing context to decide which issues matter. It cites a global chemical manufacturer that validated exploitable exposures with NodeZero before completing a $2 billion merger.

Horizon3.ai·Sep 15, 13:12 UTC · 1d agoTools

Hackers Use Fake LinkedIn Job Offers to Infect Developers With New Cross-Platform RATs

Iran-linked Mirage Kitten uses fake LinkedIn job challenges to deliver new cross-platform RATs NodeRabbit and PollCat to developers in fintech, aviation, and aerospace.

PolySwarm documented a campaign by Iran-linked Mirage Kitten (UNC1549) that uses fake recruiter personas and technical hiring challenges on LinkedIn to deliver the newly documented RATs NodeRabbit and PollCat, which run on Windows, Linux, and macOS. A challenge archive bundles a fake npm package (colorized_terminal 2.1.0) in node_modules that loads NodeRabbit, while a React-based challenge delivers PollCat with an attacker-controlled OTP screen. NodeRabbit persists through a malicious Visual Studio Code extension and Git post-merge/post-checkout hooks; PollCat persists via scheduled tasks, cron, and LaunchAgents. Victims were observed in fintech, aviation, and aerospace, with confirmed targets in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan.

Cyber Security News·Sep 9, 14:07 UTC · 7d agoMalware in the wild

Iran-Linked Hackers Use Fake LinkedIn Job Offers to Deploy NodeRabbit and PollCat RATs

Iran-linked Mirage Kitten targets software engineers with fake LinkedIn recruiter coding tests deploying new NodeRabbit and PollCat RATs.

Kaspersky researchers link the campaign to Mirage Kitten (also tracked as UNC1549, Smoke Sandstorm, Nimbus Manticore), with victims in aviation, aerospace and fintech in Egypt, Ethiopia and Afghanistan. Trojanized npm dependencies (colorized_terminal, pretty-log) bundled in coding-challenge archives launch the Node.js implants across Windows, Linux and macOS. NodeRabbit uses AES-256-GCM-encrypted C2 via Azure, and its third variant persists through a fake GitHub Copilot Helper VS Code extension plus Git post-merge/post-checkout hooks. PollCat is an obfuscated JavaScript RAT that registers with C2 before OTP authentication and inventories tools from 24 security vendors.

GBHackers·Sep 9, 12:52 UTC · 7d agoThreat actor in the wild1

What Fal.Con 2026 Reinforced: AI Makes Proving Exposure More Important Than Ever

Horizon3's Fal.Con 2026 recap argues AI-accelerated vulnerability discovery makes continuous attacker-based exposure validation essential for defenders.

In a Fal.Con 2026 recap, Horizon3 argues that AI is compressing the time between vulnerability discovery and exploitation, making attacker-derived evidence about real exploitability the key prioritization signal. Horizon3 announced it joined CrowdStrike's Project QuiltWorks, with NodeZero exploitability intelligence flowing into Falcon Next-Gen SIEM and Falcon Fusion SOAR workflows able to trigger NodeZero 1-Click Verify for remediation testing. The company reported running over 1,200 NodeZero demos during the show, and CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz's keynote framed AI red teaming and offense-informing-defense as central themes.

Horizon3.ai·Sep 4, 17:46 UTC · 12d agoIndustry

Mars Security brings threat intelligence to detection in real time

Mars Security launched Real-Time Intel-Based Detection, converting advisories from CISA and Mandiant into backtested MITRE ATT&CK-mapped detection rules for CrowdStrike, Wiz, and Splunk.

Mars Security announced a capability that automatically turns newly published threat intelligence from sources like CISA, Mandiant, Unit 42, and Microsoft into MITRE ATT&CK-mapped detection rules. Each rule is written in the native query language of the customer's telemetry (CrowdStrike Falcon, Wiz, Splunk, firewalls, identity providers, AWS, Snowflake, Databricks) and backtested against 30 days of the customer's data before deployment, with indicator scoring to drop noisy or stale indicators. The platform also maps existing detection coverage, flags gaps such as AWS CloudTrail tampering and pass-the-hash movement, and delivers some recommendations as open pull requests for detection-as-code workflows.

Help Net Security·Sep 8, 13:43 UTC · 8d agoTools

Horizon3 Announces Integration with CrowdStrike Falcon® Next-Gen SIEM

Horizon3 announces NodeZero integration pushing validated exposure findings into CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEM for correlated investigations.

Horizon3 announced an integration enabling validated NodeZero findings to flow into CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEM, available now in the CrowdStrike Marketplace. Security teams can ingest and correlate exposure data with endpoint, identity, cloud, and other telemetry during investigations. CrowdStrike claims Falcon Next-Gen SIEM delivers up to 150x faster search than legacy SIEMs at up to 80% lower total cost of ownership.

Horizon3.ai·Sep 15, 13:10 UTC · 1d agoTools

Mars Security Launches Real-Time Intel-to-Detection Engine That Turns Live Threat Intelligence Into Backtested Detections in Minutes

Mars Security launched Real-Time Intel-Based Detection, converting advisories into MITRE ATT&CK-mapped, backtested detection rules for CrowdStrike, Wiz, and Splunk within minutes.

The capability turns newly published threat intelligence from CISA, Mandiant, Unit 42, and Microsoft Threat Intelligence into validated detection rules within minutes, each backtested against 30 days of the customer's own telemetry before deployment. Rules are written in native query languages across CrowdStrike Falcon, Wiz, Splunk, firewalls, Linux Sysmon, identity providers, AWS telemetry, and data lakes such as Snowflake and Databricks, with no data ingestion or stack changes. The feature is available at no additional cost to existing customers and on AWS Marketplace. Mars also flags detection coverage gaps and extends monitoring to credentials leaked by AI coding agents.

Cyber Security News·Sep 8, 13:20 UTC · 8d agoTools1

Iran-linked APT Mirage Kitten Uses Fake Job Tests to Spread Malware

Kaspersky reports Iran-linked Mirage Kitten delivers new NodeRabbit and PollCat malware to fintech and aviation targets via fake LinkedIn coding assessments.

Kaspersky researchers documented two previously undocumented Node.js malware families, NodeRabbit and PollCat, attributed with high confidence to Iran-linked APT group Mirage Kitten. The malware is delivered via fake recruiter personas on LinkedIn offering coding assessments hosted on Amazon S3, with instructions banning AI assistants so AI code-review tools would not flag the trojanized npm packages. NodeRabbit is cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS), uses AES-256-GCM-encrypted C2 on Azure, includes sandbox checks, and one variant installs a fake 'GitHub Copilot Helper' VS Code extension plus Git hook persistence. Victims identified so far are in fintech and aviation organizations across Egypt, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan.

Security Affairs·Sep 2, 10:37 UTC · 14d agoThreat actor in the wild2

North Korea’s Lazarus Operates Through Six Distinct Cyber Clusters

Sekoia and Kudelski Security reclassify North Korea's Lazarus umbrella into six clusters spanning espionage, financial theft, and fake IT worker operations.

New research by Sekoia and Kudelski Security, published September 7, divides the former Lazarus umbrella into TEMP.Hermit, Citrine Sleet, CryptoCore, Jade Sleet, Moonstone Sleet, and Famous Chollima, mostly under North Korea's military intelligence bureau (GRIB). The former APT38 likely split into CryptoCore and Jade Sleet, focused on cryptocurrency, Web3, and blockchain targets. Moonstone Sleet combines espionage with financially motivated operations, using custom malware alongside Qilin ransomware-as-a-service. Thousands of fake IT workers generate regime revenue and provide access, linked to incidents like the $62.5M Munchables protocol theft.

Infosecurity Magazine·Sep 7, 11:00 UTC · 9d agoThreat actor

CISO’s CTEM Evaluation Checklist

Horizon3.ai publishes a five-question CISO checklist demanding proof of exploitability from CTEM vendors.

Horizon3.ai released a CISO's CTEM Evaluation Checklist offering five questions for evaluating Continuous Threat Exposure Management technologies, covering proof of exploitability, demonstrated impact, remediation verification, and long-term reduction of exploitable exposure. The checklist warns against relying on scanner findings, risk scores, closed tickets, and isolated test results, urging evidence from the buyer's own environment. It is downloadable vendor marketing material.

Horizon3.ai·16:55 UTC · 4h agoIndustry 2 sources

xHunt Campaign: New PowerShell Backdoor Blocked Through DNS Tunnel Detection

xHunt's new CASHY200 PowerShell backdoor used DNS tunneling for C2; DNS security blocked beaconing at a Kuwait organization in September 2019.

Unit 42 describes CASHY200, a new PowerShell-based backdoor tied to the xHunt campaign that communicates with its C2 server windows64x[.]com via DNS tunneling, parsing commands from DNS answers. In September 2019, a Kuwait-based organization's DNS security service blocked the beaconing minutes after detection, cutting off adversary access. Samples dating to May and June 2018 and open source collection suggest the tool was used against Kuwait government organizations from spring 2018 through 2019, with malicious Word documents observed installing CASHY200 payloads configured with C2 domains such as firewallsupports[.]com and winx64-microsoft[.]com. The tool's name derives from identifiers stored under the registry key HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Cashe and the command value 200.

Palo Alto Unit 42·Aug 17, 13:19 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Threat actor

New Python-Based Payload MechaFlounder Used by Chafer

Unit 42 identified MechaFlounder, a new Python backdoor used by the Chafer group to target a Turkish government entity via HTTP-based C2.

Unit 42 reports that in November 2018 the Chafer group targeted a Turkish government entity, reusing the win10-update[.]com infrastructure reported earlier in 2018 by ClearSky. The new secondary payload, tracked as MechaFlounder, is Python compiled with PyInstaller and acts as a backdoor supporting file upload/download and command execution. It beacons over HTTP using anomalous GET requests containing the username and hostname, suggesting a custom C2 server rather than a standard web server. Code overlap with OilRig's Clayside VBScript was noted, but Chafer and OilRig remain tracked as separate groups.

Palo Alto Unit 42·Aug 17, 13:22 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Threat actor

PEEP: A Browser RAT Posing as a Chrome Extension

SOCRadar's STRU analyzed PEEP, an emerging Chromium-based RAT disguised as a Chrome extension enabling post-exploitation control of browsers.

SOCRadar's Threat Research Unit (STRU) identified and analyzed PEEP, a Chromium-based post-exploitation toolkit distributed as a browser extension. PEEP provides RAT-style capabilities while posing as a legitimate Chrome extension. It is assessed as an emerging threat worth monitoring by defenders.

SOCRadar·Sep 4, 09:50 UTC · 12d agoMalware

Operationalize CTEM with NodeZero®

Horizon3.ai publishes a factsheet on operationalizing Continuous Threat Exposure Management with NodeZero and its CTEM Operating Loop.

Horizon3.ai released a factsheet describing how its CTEM Operating Loop and NodeZero platform turn Continuous Threat Exposure Management into a repeatable process. The workflow covers discovering, validating, prioritizing, remediating, and verifying exploitable exposures. The item is vendor marketing material rather than new vulnerability disclosure or threat intelligence.

Horizon3.ai·Aug 24, 18:19 UTC · 23d agoTools

The VMs Powering Mobile Agents (Instinct, Claude Code)

A teardown reveals Claude Code runs in Firecracker microVMs with a Rust PID 1 and MITM'd egress, while Instinct rents E2B sandboxes with git-based memory.

The author inspects the virtual machines hosting cloud agents: Claude Code runs in a Firecracker microVM with a custom Rust init (process_api) as PID 1, a 324 MB Bun harness on a read-only disk, and 443-only MITM'd SSE egress to api.anthropic.com with host-rotated OAuth tokens and no inbound access. Instinct rents E2B sandbox-as-a-service Firecracker microVMs (Ubuntu 22.04, 2 vCPU, 1.9 GB RAM) where agent memory is a git repo of Markdown committed by the agent and pushed to S3 as a single bundle, using short-lived STS credentials. Both platforms rely on Firecracker, differing mainly in fleet operator and guest boot configuration.

Hacker News · AI·Sep 8, 04:36 UTC · 8d agoAI tools & infraHN 58↑ · 19 comments1

Using Cyber Decoys to Strengthen Detection and Response

CISA released guidance on cyber decoys—tripwires, breadcrumbs, honeytokens—to help defenders detect adversaries using valid credentials and living-off-the-land techniques.

CISA published guidance to help defensive teams of varying maturity plan and implement cyber decoys—assets that mimic legitimate systems, accounts, or data, such as tripwires, breadcrumbs, and honeytokens—to detect adversaries using legitimate credentials and living-off-the-land techniques. The guidance frames decoys as complementing Zero Trust by producing high-fidelity alerts, reducing alert fatigue, and exposing post-compromise activity like discovery, lateral movement, and data access. It maps decoy operations to the MITRE Engage and MITRE ATT&CK frameworks with low-complexity implementation steps.

CISA Advisories·12:00 UTC · 9h agoAdvisory

Agnes-AI/Agnes-3.0-Flash — new model trending #30 on Hugging Face

Agnes AI releases open-weight Agnes-3.0-Flash Preview, a 33B multimodal model with 262k-token context under Apache 2.0.

Agnes AI released Agnes-3.0-Flash Preview, an open-weights multimodal checkpoint with 33B parameters and a 262,144-token context window under Apache 2.0. The model supports text, image, and video understanding, tool calling, and adjustable reasoning effort. The repo clarifies this preview checkpoint is distinct from the production/API Agnes 3.0 Flash model, which uses a different configuration with a 1M-token context window. Reported reference results include IFBench 74.20 and SciCode 38.08 against peers such as Qwen3.6-35B-A3B, Kimi K2.5, and MiniMax M3.

Hugging Face trending models·Sep 11, 15:50 UTC · 5d agoModel release

TerminalFix looks like ClickFix, but delivers a very different payload

Malwarebytes warns TerminalFix mimics the ClickFix fake CAPTCHA social engineering trick but delivers a payload granting attackers access to victims' wider network.

Malwarebytes identified TerminalFix, a variant of the familiar ClickFix fake CAPTCHA social engineering trick. The adapted chain delivers a very different payload, one that can give attackers access to the victim's wider network beyond the initially infected host.

Malwarebytes Labs·Sep 1, 12:13 UTC · 15d agoMalware in the wild

Patch Tuesday to Pentest Wednesday: How an Equipment Rental Company Is Turning Continuous Testing Into Continuous Exposure Management

An equipment rental company uses Horizon3 NodeZero for continuous exposure management, surfacing an SSH key exposure in eight hours versus annual pentesting.

The company moved from periodic penetration testing to continuous exposure management using the NodeZero Proactive Security Platform, feeding telemetry into a Splunk-based CTEM pipeline via Horizon3 APIs. NodeZero exposed SSH RSA key pairs from a PHP web server change about eight hours after introduction and found more findings in 12 hours than a third-party engagement found in roughly 30 days. An Active Directory password audit of 15,000 passwords found about 300 identical or similar compromised passwords, driving a banned-password list, 12-character minimums, service desk changes, and self-service reset rollout; users with similar passwords later dropped from 880 to 209. NodeZero also validated a suspected Cisco vulnerability as exploitable.

Horizon3.ai·Sep 9, 15:58 UTC · 7d agoIndustry

ANY.RUN & SentinelOne: One Workspace, Instant Context for Rapid Response

ANY.RUN integrates its interactive sandbox, IOC lookups, and STIX/TAXII threat feeds natively into SentinelOne for faster automated malware triage.

ANY.RUN and SentinelOne launched connectors that embed interactive sandbox analysis and threat intelligence into the SentinelOne console via Singularity Hyperautomation. Suspicious files and URLs from alerts are automatically submitted to the ANY.RUN sandbox, with behavioral verdicts and risk scores returned into alert notes. On-demand IOC lookups draw on sandbox history from 16,000 organizations and 700,000 analysts. A separate STIX/TAXII feed streams verified malicious IPs, domains, and URLs through the SentinelOne Marketplace TAXII Connect app.

ANY.RUN·06:40 UTC · 15h agoTools

TerminalFix campaign deploys a reverse tunnel through multistage intrusion

Microsoft Threat Intelligence details the TerminalFix campaign, which uses fake CAPTCHA prompts, DLL sideloading, and reverse tunnels in multistage intrusions.

Microsoft Threat Intelligence published analysis of a ClickFix-style campaign dubbed TerminalFix. The intrusion chain relies on fake CAPTCHA social engineering and DLL sideloading, and the attackers deploy a reverse tunnel to maintain access through a multistage intrusion. Microsoft released detections and threat hunting guidance for defenders.

Microsoft Security Blog·Aug 29, 03:43 UTC · 18d agoThreat actor in the wild

C2Looper: A New Backdoor Likely Tied To Ransomware With GitHub C2

Zscaler ThreatLabz identified C2Looper, a new Rust-based backdoor likely tied to ransomware actors and delivered via ClickFix chains, using GitHub for C2.

In July 2026, Zscaler ThreatLabz identified C2Looper, a new Rust-based backdoor family. The malware supports arbitrary command execution, reconnaissance, and deployment of second-stage payloads, and uses GitHub as its command-and-control channel. ThreatLabz assesses with low-to-medium confidence that it is delivered through multi-stage ClickFix infection chains and is likely leveraged by a ransomware-related threat actor. The analysis covers multiple C2Looper variants, their network protocols, and capabilities.

Zscaler ThreatLabz·Aug 17, 14:06 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Malware in the wild1

China-linked Fire Ant Hides Inside Trusted Infrastructure

China-linked Fire Ant backdoored Cisco IOS XR routers, injected TACACS libraries to steal credentials, and rewrote logs across infrastructure targets.

Sygnia reports the China-linked espionage group Fire Ant compromised Cisco IOS XR routers with purpose-built malware, injected a library into the TACACS authentication daemon to capture live credential material, and manipulated syslog so only messages containing 'Health' were logged. The group used GRE tunnel interfaces with no commit history, rewrote wtmp/utmp/btmp login records, and deployed dormant deep backdoors on Linux systems — one disguised as a SentinelOne agent, another activated by raw network traffic carrying a magic string. Code-level overlap with UNC3886 tooling suggests evolution of that China-nexus cluster's TACACS credential-collection techniques, and Fire Ant used compromised infrastructure to scan SSH, RDP and web ports toward high-value networks.

Security Affairs·Aug 31, 11:10 UTC · 16d agoThreat actor in the wild

When the Attacker Wears Your Logo: Detecting and Taking Down Impersonation at AI Speed

Cyble details how attackers use lookalike domains and cloned sites for brand impersonation scams and how AI-speed detection enables rapid takedowns.

Cyble describes the growing risk of digital impersonation, where attackers register lookalike domains, clone websites, create fake executive profiles, publish fraudulent job ads, and imitate customer-support accounts without ever breaching the legitimate organization. The goal is to borrow a trusted brand's credibility to make scams look legitimate, with particular risk for professional services, financial, legal, and consulting firms. The piece outlines AI-assisted approaches for detecting and taking down impersonation infrastructure quickly.

Cyble·Aug 19, 14:01 UTC · 28d agoPhishing & fraud

Mercator ↔ Equal Earth

Simon Willison used GPT-6 Astra (medium) in ChatGPT Work to build an animated D3 transition between Mercator and Equal Earth map projections.

Willison built an animated transition between the Mercator and Equal Earth map projections using D3. The tool was generated by GPT-6 Astra (medium) in ChatGPT Work. Equal Earth is a projection recently voted on at the UN. The post is a vibe-coding demonstration rather than a security or major model event.

Simon Willison·Sep 7, 16:24 UTC · 9d agoAI tools & infra1

A GitHub Misconfiguration Let Kimi K3 Cheat a Cybersecurity Benchmark

Security Affairs·Aug 10, 08:02 UTC · Aug 10, 2026Model release1