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The US Justice Department on Friday announced the seizure of the online infrastructure used to run Garantex, a major cryptocurrency exchange accused of facilitating multi-billion dollar money laundering and sanctions violations. The department said it worked with law enforcement partners in Europe to seize three domain names — garantex.org, garantex.io, and garantex.academy — effectively shuttering a cryptocurrency exchange linked to ransomware extortions and services to “transnational criminal organizations, including terrorist groups.” According to court documents, Garantex processed at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions since April 2019. In tandem with the shutdown, the DOJ also unsealed an indictment charging Lithuanian…

SecurityWeek’s cybersecurity news roundup provides a concise compilation of noteworthy stories that might have slipped under the radar. We provide a valuable summary of stories that may not warrant an entire article, but are nonetheless important for a comprehensive understanding of the cybersecurity landscape. Each week, we curate and present a collection of noteworthy developments, ranging from the latest vulnerability discoveries and emerging attack techniques to significant policy changes and industry reports.  Here are this week’s stories: UK investigating how social media platforms use children’s data The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced that it’s investigating how social media platforms…

DeepSeek has gone viral. Chinese AI lab DeepSeek broke into the mainstream consciousness this week after its chatbot app rose to the top of the Apple App Store charts (and Google Play, as well). DeepSeek’s AI models, which were trained using compute-efficient techniques, have led Wall Street analysts — and technologists — to question whether the U.S. can maintain its lead in the AI race and whether the demand for AI chips will sustain. But where did DeepSeek come from, and how did it rise to international fame so quickly? DeepSeek’s trader origins DeepSeek is backed by High-Flyer Capital Management, a Chinese quantitative hedge fund…

Google is testing a new AI-powered Gemini side panel within Google Calendar that lets users quickly and conversationally check their schedule, create an event, and look up event details. The feature is available as part of the tech giant’s early access testing program, Google Workspace Labs. You can access Gemini by clicking the “Ask Gemini” icon at the top right of your Google Calendar window. You can then select a suggested prompt or write your own. For instance, Gemini may suggest that you “Add a lunch event” or “Find the next meeting” that you have with someone. If you want…

Up to $977m was raised across the 21 deals recorded by FinTech Global this week, representing a strong week for the market.  The leading investment this week was for Duetti, a music FinTech platform, that pulled in $200m in debt funding to expand its offering.   The best performing sector this week was the general FinTech market, that pulled in 6 deals, only just pipping InsurTech firms to the post, who were responsible for 5 of the deals. AI and AI-Driven platforms pulled in 4 deals, CyberTech saw 2 deals, SaaS firms brought in 3 deals and PayTechs brought in 1 deal. Geographically, the…

The Colorado FAIR Plan has partnered with AI-powered risk analytics firm ZestyAI to improve insurance accessibility for homeowners facing coverage difficulties due to climate-related risks.By integrating ZestyAI’s advanced property risk models, the Plan aims to provide more accurate assessments for wildfire, hail, and wind exposures, offering fairer pricing and encouraging risk mitigation efforts.ZestyAI’s platform incorporates three specialised models—Z-FIRE™, Z-HAIL™, and Z-WIND™—each designed to provide granular, property-specific risk evaluations for key climate hazards. These AI-driven insights will enable the Colorado FAIR Plan to implement risk-based pricing, while also helping homeowners understand specific vulnerabilities and take steps to protect their properties.Colorado FAIR…

FreeAgent, a provider of accounting software, has partnered with global payments platform Mimo to help small businesses better manage their finances, cash flow, and payments.The collaboration will see FreeAgent’s accounting software directly integrated into the Mimo platform, offering small business customers a centralised solution to handle global payments, cash flow, and financing within a single tool.A key advantage of this integration is the ability for small businesses to batch pay suppliers with just one click. By leveraging this feature, businesses could reclaim up to an entire day each week, as invoice payments will be processed far more efficiently.The system will…

Nequi, the digital financial platform operated by Bancolombia, has announced a new partnership with global payments provider Payoneer.The partnership allows Nequi users to transfer funds in US dollars or euros from Payoneer accounts into their Nequi wallets, with the funds converted into Colombian pesos in just minutes. This marks a significant milestone for Nequi, which already offers more than 30 financial services within its app. The integration also introduces the ability to receive euros through Nequi for the first time, broadening the range of currencies available to its users.Nequi business strategy leader María del Pilar Correa said, “At Nequi we…

Russian propaganda may be influencing certain answers from AI chatbots, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Meta’s Meta AI, according to a new report. NewsGuard, a company that develops rating systems for news and information websites, claims to have found evidence that a Moscow-based network named “Pravda” is publishing false claims to affect the responses of AI models. Pravda has flooded search results and web crawlers with pro-Russian falsehoods, publishing 3.6 million misleading articles in 2024 alone, per NewsGuard, citing statistics from the nonprofit American Sunlight Project. NewsGuard’s analysis, which probed 10 leading chatbots, found that the chatbots collectively repeated false Russian…

Gaza City – For many in Gaza, US President Donald Trump’s recent threats feel like nothing more than a justification for further violence and collective punishment against them. Late on Wednesday, Trump had threatened the people of Gaza, saying they would all be “dead” if captives continued to be held there. As Gaza continues to grapple with the devastating aftermath of war – mass displacement, widespread destruction, and dire humanitarian conditions – people are exhausted and sceptical about international efforts to resolve the war. Al Jazeera spoke to Palestinians in northern Gaza about Trump’s threats. ‘Nothing left to grieve’ Yasser…