Month: January 2025
Microsoft claims its servers were illegally accessed to make unsafe AI content
Unsurprisingly, a scheme which involved developing tools to steal API keys and access Microsoft servers without permission isn’t faring well in a Virginia court.
Microsoft’s December 2024 complaint pertains to 10 anonymous defendants
“Hacking-as-a-service operation’ stole legitimate users’ API keys and circumvented content safeguards
Virginia district complaint has led to a Github repository and website being pulled
Microsoft has accused an unnamed collective of developing tools to intentionally sidestep the safety programming in its Azure OpenAI Service that powers the AI tool ChatGPT.
In December 2024, the tech giant filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against 10 anonymous defendants, who it accuses of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, plus federal racketeering law.
Microsoft claims its servers were accessed to aid the creation of “offensive”, “harmful and illicit content”. Though it gave no further details as to the nature of that content, It was clearly enough for swift action; it had a Github repository pulled offline, and claimed in a blog post the court allowed them to seize a website related to the operation.
ChatGPT API keys
In the complaint, Microsoft stated that it first discovered users abusing the Azure OpenAI Service API keys used to authenticate them in order to produce illicit content back in July 2024. It went on to discuss an internal investigation that discovered that the API keys in question had been stolen from legitimate customers.
“The precise manner in which Defendants obtained all of the API Keys used to carry out the misconduct described in this Complaint is unknown, but it appears that Defendants have engaged in a pattern of systematic API Key theft that enabled them to steal Microsoft API Keys from multiple Microsoft customers,” reads the complaint.
Microsoft claims, with the ultimate goal of launching a hacking-as-a-service product, the defendants created de3u, a client-side tool, to steal these API keys, plus additional software to allow de3u to communicate with Microsoft servers.
De3u also worked to circumvent the Azure OpenAI Services’ inbuilt content filters and subsequent revision of user prompts, allowing DALL-E, for example, to generate images that OpenAI wouldn’t normally permit.
“These features, combined with Defendants’ unlawful programmatic API access to the Azure OpenAI service, enabled Defendants to reverse engineer means of circumventing Microsoft’s content and abuse measures,” it wrote in the complaint.
Via TechCrunch
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Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Jan. 14
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 14.
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 14.
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for January 14, 2025
Connections is a New York Times word game that’s all about finding the “common threads between words.” How to solve the puzzle.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Yellow: Alive and kicking
Green: A length of time
Blue: Objects you’d find in a camera bag
Purple: Bird is in the word
Featured Video For You
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
Yellow: Operating
Green: Term
Blue: Things in a Camera Kit
Purple: Bird Plus Letter
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections #583 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
Operating: ACTIVE, FUNCTIONAL, RUNNING, WORKING
Term: MEETING, PERIOD,. SESSION, SITTING
Things in a Camera Kit: BODY, FLASH, LENS, STRAP
Bird Plus Letter: CROWD, GULLY, PUFFING, SWANK
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
How to watch the 2025 Womens Ashes online for free
Live stream the 2025 Women’s Ashes for free from anywhere in the world.
TL;DR: Live stream Australia vs. England in the 2025 Women’s Ashes for free on 7Plus. Access this free streaming site from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
This year of sport has started off so strongly. We’ve already been treated to a number of tennis tournaments including the Australian Open, the Dakar Rally, and the NFL playoffs. And there’s no slowing down, because the 2025 Women’s Ashes is here to deliver weeks of top-quality cricket.
If you want to watch the 2025 Women’s Ashes for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is the 2025 Women’s Ashes?
England’s tour of Australia consists of one Test match, three One Day Internationals, and three Twenty20 Internationals. The full schedule is as follows (in Australia):
1st ODI — Jan. 12 at North Sydney Oval
2nd ODI — Jan. 14 at Junction Oval
3rd ODI — Jan. 17 at Bellerive Oval
1st T20I — Jan. 20 at Sydney Cricket Ground
2nd T20I — Jan. 23 at Manuka Oval
3rd T20I — Jan. 25 at Adelaide Oval
Test — Jan. 30 to Feb. 2 at Melbourne Cricket Ground
Fans can live stream every match in this series without spending anything.
How to watch the 2025 Women’s Ashes for free
The 2025 Women’s Ashes is available to live stream for free on 7Plus in Australia.
7Plus is geo-restricted to Australia, but anyone can access this free streaming service with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Australia, meaning you can access free live streams of the 2025 Women’s Ashes from anywhere in the world.
Live stream the 2025 Women’s Ashes for free by following these simple steps:
Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia
Visit 7Plus
Stream the 2025 Women’s Ashes for free from anywhere in the world
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ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free)
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch the Women’s Ashes without committing with your cash. This clearly isn’t a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to live stream every match before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for 7Plus?
ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live cricket on 7Plus, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries including Australia
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure
Fast connection speeds free from throttling
Up to eight simultaneous connections
30-day money-back guarantee
A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.
Live stream the 2025 Women’s Ashes for free with ExpressVPN.
Mark Zuckerberg tried to “mediate” a lawsuit Donald Trump brought against him in 2021.
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Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 14, #317
Here are some hints — and the answers — for the Jan. 14 Strands puzzle, No. 317.
Here are some hints — and the answers — for the Jan. 14 Strands puzzle, No. 317.
Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 14, #113
Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections: Sports Edition No. 113 for Jan. 14.
Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections: Sports Edition No. 113 for Jan. 14.
Bananas Bloomberg Report: ‘China Weighs Sale of TikTok’s US Operations to Elon Musk’
No byline, which is really weird, just “Bloomberg News”:
Chinese officials are evaluating a potential option that involves Elon Musk acquiring the US operations of TikTok if the company fails to fend off a controversial ban on the short-video app, according to people familiar with the matter.
But here’s Todd Spangler, reporting (with his name) for Variety:
TikTok denied a report that China is looking at potentially facilitating a sale of the app to tech billionaire Elon Musk to keep TikTok operational in America amid a looming U.S. government ban.
“We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction,” a TikTok rep said in reply to Variety‘s request for comment.
It could be no one is wrong here. Maybe ByteDance’s owners, the Chinese government, know what’s going on, and the dupes at TikTok don’t.
★
No byline, which is really weird, just “Bloomberg News”:
Chinese officials are evaluating a potential option that involves Elon Musk acquiring the US operations of TikTok if the company fails to fend off a controversial ban on the short-video app, according to people familiar with the matter.
But here’s Todd Spangler, reporting (with his name) for Variety:
TikTok denied a report that China is looking at potentially facilitating a sale of the app to tech billionaire Elon Musk to keep TikTok operational in America amid a looming U.S. government ban.
“We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction,” a TikTok rep said in reply to Variety‘s request for comment.
It could be no one is wrong here. Maybe ByteDance’s owners, the Chinese government, know what’s going on, and the dupes at TikTok don’t.
‘Godfather of AI’ explains how ‘scary’ AI will increase the wealth gap and ‘make society worse’
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submitted by /u/BothZookeepergame612
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