Crypto-tracing firm Chainalysis says the mysterious 300-bitcoin donation to the pardoned Silk Road creator appears to have come from someone associated with a different defunct black market: AlphaBay.
Anthropic says that it has released a new set of AI models tailored for U.S. national security customers.
The new models, a custom set of “Claude Gov” models, were “built based on direct feedback from our government customers to address real-world operational needs,” writes Anthropic in a blog post. Compared to Anthropic’s consumer- and enterprise-focused models, the new custom Claude Gov models were designed to be applied to government operations like strategic planning, operational support, and intelligence analysis.
“[These] models are already deployed by agencies at the highest level of U.S. national security, and access to these models is limited to those who operate in such classified environments,” writes Anthropic in its post. “[They] underwent the same rigorous safety testing as all of our Claude models.”
Anthropic has increasingly engaged U.S. government customers as it looks for dependable new sources of revenue. In November, the company teamed up with Palantir and AWS, the cloud computing division of Anthropic’s major partner and investor, Amazon, to sell Anthropic’s AI to defense customers.
Anthropic says that its new custom Claude Gov models better handle classified material, “refuse less” when engaging with classified information, and have a greater understanding of documents within intelligence and defense contexts. The models also have “enhanced proficiency” in languages and dialects critical to national security operations, Anthropic says, as well as “improved understanding and interpretation of complex cybersecurity data for intelligence analysis.”
Anthropic isn’t the only top AI lab going after defense contracts.
OpenAI is seeking to establish a closer relationship with the U.S. Defense Department, and Meta recently revealed that it’s making its Llama models available to defense partners. Google is refining a version of its Gemini AI capable of working within classified environments. Meanwhile, Cohere, which primarily builds AI products for businesses, is also collaborating with Palantir to deploy its AI models, TechCrunch exclusively reported early last December.
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Cellebrite, a company that makes forensic equipment for unlocking smartphones, said it is acquiring mobile testing startup Corellium for $170 million in cash, with $20 million converted to equity at closing.
The Israel-headquartered Cellebrite said the deal would help with the “accelerated identification of mobile vulnerabilities and exploits.” Much of Cellebrite’s technology relies on using unknown vulnerabilities, such as zero-day exploits, to unlock encrypted data stored on phones.
For its part, Corellium provides its customers access to virtual, cloud-based Android and iOS devices for app and security testing, an offering that Apple for a time sought to block.
A Cellebrite spokesperson told TechCrunch that the deal is expected to close later this year, subject to a review from CFIUS, the U.S. government committee tasked with handling corporate deals that could affect national security.
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On Christmas Day in 2014 hackers knocked out the Xbox and PlayStation gaming networks, impacting how video game companies handled cybersecurity for years.
A requirement that ICE agents ensure courthouse arrests don’t clash with state and local laws has been rescinded by the agency. ICE declined to explain what that means for future enforcement.
A ransomware gang claimed responsibility for the hack on Kettering Health, a network of hospitals, clinics, and medical centers in Ohio. The healthcare system is still recovering two weeks after the ransomware attack forced it to shut down all its computer systems.
Interlock, a relatively new ransomware group that has targeted healthcare organizations in the U.S. since September 2024, published a post on its official dark web site, claiming to have stolen more than 940 gigabytes of data from Kettering Health.
CNN first reported on May 20 that Interlock was behind the breach on Kettering Health. At the time, however, Interlock had not publicly taken credit. Usually, that can mean the cybercriminals are attempting to extort a ransom from their victims, threatening to release stolen data. The fact that Interlock has now come forward could indicate that the negotiations have gone nowhere.
Do you have more information about Kettering Health’s ransomware incident? Or other ransomware attacks? From a non-work device and network, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram and Keybase @lorenzofb, or email.
Kettering Health’s senior vice president of emergency operations, John Weimer, previously told local media that the healthcare company had not paid the hackers a ransom.
TK, a spokesperson for Kettering Health, did not provide comment when reached by TechCrunch on Wednesday.
Interlock did not respond to a request for comment sent to an email address listed on its dark web site.
A brief review of some of the files Interlock published on its dark web site appears to show the hackers were able to steal an array of data from Kettering Health’s internal network, including private health information, such as patient names, patient numbers, and clinical summaries written by doctors, which include categories such as mental status, medications, health concerns, and other categories of patient data. Other stolen data includes employee data and the contents of shared drives.
One of the folders contains documents, such as background files, polygraphs, and other private identifying information of police officers with Kettering Health Police Department.
On Monday, Kettering Health published an update on the cyberattack, saying the company was able to restore “core components” of its electronic health record system, which is provided by Epic, a healthcare software company. The company said this was “a major milestone in our broader restoration efforts and a vital step toward returning to normal operations” that allows it to “to update and access electronic health records, facilitate communication across care teams, and coordinate patient care with greater speed and clarity.”
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