Microsoft has finally delivered on its promise to integrate Sysmon — the long-standing system monitoring tool from its Sysinternals suite — directly into Windows, a move that should make life considerably easier for enterprise administrators who have struggled with deploying and managing the utility across thousands of endpoints.

The functionality landed this week in Windows Insider builds 26300.7733 (Dev channel) and 26220.7752 (Beta channel). Sysmon allows administrators to capture system events through custom configuration files, filter for specific activity, and pipe the data into standard Windows event logs for pickup by security tools and SIEM pipelines. Mark Russinovich, Microsoft technical fellow and Winternals co-founder, has previously noted the lack of official customer support for Sysmon in production environments — a gap this integration addresses. The feature ships disabled by default and requires PowerShell to enable. Microsoft notes that any existing Sysmon installation must be uninstalled before activating the built-in version.

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Because who likes changing gears to make climbing hills easier anyways, this is a video of Sergii Gordieiev of Youtube channel The Q replacing a bicycle chain with a series of 3D printed gears, effectively making it a single speed. So is that an upgrade or a downgrade? I suppose that depends on who you ask, but if you ask me life is a lot like learning to ride a bike: you fall and get hurt a lot while your neighbors laugh and throw empty beer cans.

Russian-state hackers wasted no time exploiting a critical Microsoft Office vulnerability that allowed them to compromise the devices inside diplomatic, maritime, and transport organizations in more than half a dozen countries, researchers said Wednesday.

The threat group, tracked under names including APT28, Fancy Bear, Sednit, Forest Blizzard, and Sofacy, pounced on the vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-21509, less than 48 hours after Microsoft released an urgent, unscheduled security update late last month, the researchers said. After reverse-engineering the patch, group members wrote an advanced exploit that installed one of two never-before-seen backdoor implants.

Stealth, speed, and precision

The entire campaign was designed to make the compromise undetectable to endpoint protection. Besides being novel, the exploits and payloads were encrypted and ran in memory, making their malice hard to spot. The initial infection vector came from previously compromised government accounts from multiple countries and were likely familiar to the targeted email holders. Command and control channels were hosted in legitimate cloud services that are typically allow-listed inside sensitive networks.

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation has so far been unable to access data from a Washington Post reporter’s iPhone because it was protected by Apple’s Lockdown Mode when agents seized the device from the reporter’s home, the US government said in a court filing.

FBI agents were able to access the reporter’s work laptop by telling her to place her index finger on the MacBook Pro’s fingerprint reader, however. This occurred during the January 14 search at the Virginia home of reporter Hannah Natanson.

As previously reported, the FBI executed a search warrant at Natanson’s home as part of an investigation into a Pentagon contractor accused of illegally leaking classified data. FBI agents seized an iPhone 13 owned by the Post, one MacBook Pro owned by the Post and another MacBook Pro owned by Natanson, a 1TB portable hard drive, a voice recorder, and a Garmin watch.

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Amazon announced Alexa+, its overhauled digital assistant with generative AI capabilities, about a year ago. Shortly thereafter, it kicked off an early access program allowing interested users to try it out free of charge. Unfortunately, that honeymoon period has come to an end: Alexa+ has now officially launched, and now you’ll need to pay to access its most useful features.

While certain features will still be free to use, the majority of the Alexa+ experience is now locked behind a paywall. True, you might already pay for that paywall—but if you don’t, it’s going to cost you quite a bit to keep the features you’ve been test driving for months. (Of course, the standard Alexa assistant still exists if you don’t care for the latest generative AI enhancement.)

What is Alexa+?

The new Alexa is much like the old one, but now behaves a bit more like other generative AI assistants, including ChatGPT. In addition to simple requests and questions, Alexa+ can handle more complex queries and understand context (meaning one complex question can be followed by another, without needing to repeat yourself). For all the hullabaloo around generative AI, contextual awareness is really one of the big improvements users will notice with their digital assistants.

Amazon has a big vision for Alexa+. It still wants you to use it to control smart home devices, run timers, check the weather, and catch up on the news, but it also wants users to take advantage of “agentic” tasks, or actions that the AI can handle on your behalf. In theory, agentic AI allows you to ask the AI to order dinner to-go, make reservations at restaurants, schedule an Uber, or book a home repair. I’m still not sold on the capabilities of agentic AI assistants, and I imagine most people will continue to use Alexa+ the way they used regular old Alexa, (e.g. asking “Is it cold today?” or telling it to “set a timer for 10 minutes,” or ordering it to “Play ‘Manchild’ by Sabrina Carpenter on repeat”), but what do I know? Maybe Alexa+ really will change the way people interact with their Echo devices.

How much Alexa+ will cost you

If you’re interested in Amazon’s newest AI assistant, there are three different ways to try it—one free, and two paid.

How to use Alexa+ for free

The most basic, Alexa+ chat, is totally free of charge. You can try it by heading to alexa.com or using the Alexa app for iOS or Android, where you can talk to Alexa in a chat window, ala ChatGPT. Amazon says users can get “quick answers, plan research, and explore new topics.”

But the thing is, you can’t use Alexa+ chat for any of the things you probably want to have Alexa+ do. It is solely a web-based chatbot experience, not something you can connect to your Alexa-enabled devices. If you’re interested in the full Alexa+ package, you’ll need to pay Amazon one way or another.

Prime Members get a free subscription

The good news is, you might have already paid Amazon for the privilege, even if you didn’t realize it: Currently, Amazon is offering all Prime members full access to Alexa+, including via the chatbot and through Alexa-enabled devices. Alexa+ also works with other Amazon services that come free with Prime, including Prime Video and Amazon Music. Seeing as over half the U.S. population has a Prime account, chances are good that if you’re at all interested, you already have access to Alexa+.

How to use Alexa+ without Prime

Maybe you’re one of the rare unicorns who doesn’t have a Prime account, but still wants to try Alexa+ on an Echo smart speaker. In that case, Amazon will offer you the full experience for a cool $19.99/month. That’s a slightly ridiculous price, seeing as a full Prime membership (with all the added benefits, from Prime Video to free shipping) will run you $14.99/month (or $139 per year). You definitely save money by subscribing to the latter, which is probably a big part of Amazon’s motivation here—Jeff Bezos will never truly rest until everyone uses Amazon to buy everything.

How to enable Alexa+

If you opt for either of the paid options, you can set up Alexa+ by simply telling your Alexa-enabled device, “Upgrade to Alexa+.” You can also use Alexa+ by logging into your Amazon account on alexa.com. And as noted above, you can certainly opt to keep the old Alexa assistant for the time being, whether whether you have Prime or not. While Amazon may do away with the legacy assistant in the future, it isn’t forcing anyone to switch just yet.

A new phishing scam is targeting Apple Pay users, attempting to lock them into phony support calls or emails that could see them handing over their passwords and credit card numbers. The news was first highlighted by AppleInsider and involves warnings that look suspiciously like official Apple messaging. While AppleInsider’s report doesn’t link to any specific user complaints of this happening, it does include example screenshots, and reports matching AppleInsider’s description have popped up on both Reddit and Apple’s official support forums over the last 30 days.

The scam might come over either email or text, and usually warns the recipient about a potentially fraudulent purchase made using their Apple Pay at a physical Apple Store, while offering a phone number or email to contact to address the issue. According to AppleInsider, it might also include a case ID, timestamp, or other technical details in order to appear more legitimate. One user on Reddit, for instance, considered that the scam might be a legitimate text from Apple because it included the official sounding phrase “If this was you, no action is needed.”

However, inconsistencies remain, such as the scam often referring to Apple Accounts as Apple IDs, a now outdated term. Additionally, while emails might use official looking letterhead that makes them appear to come straight from Apple, mistakes could remain. For instance, an email could open with “Hello {Name}” instead of being addressed to the recipient’s actual name. It could come from a bogus address, but even appearing to come from a legitimate source like “appointmentandebills@icloud.com” isn’t a strong indicator that it’s real, as it’s possible for scammers to spoof email addresses. Overall, the idea seems to be to speed the recipient into action with an urgent tone, while using Apple’s logo and a professional writing style to mask any clues as to who is really sending these notices.

How to tell if that Apple Pay text or email is actually a scam

If you are receiving any texts or emails about your Apple Pay activity at all, chances are they probably aren’t real—Apple doesn’t reach out to its users in this way. Rather than sending texts or emails, communication instead comes directly from the Wallet app. Additionally, Apple Pay serves as a medium for payment rather than as a credit or debit account in and of itself. As such, if any fraudulent transactions are detected, notices would come from your bank or credit card provider rather than Apple itself.

Still, it is worth keeping an eye out for any red flags as well. Look for small typos or unusual domain names, which can help give a fake message away, even if a lack of these isn’t an indicator that a message is legitimate. Also, rather than calling any provided phone numbers, consider searching for them online to see whether they’ve been reported as being tied to a scam operation. At any rate, do not respond to these notices, and don’t provide any information (such as passwords, which Apple will never ask for) to them if you’ve already reached out by accident. There are better ways to verify your Apple Pay activity.

What to do if you think you’re being scammed

If you think a message you’ve received is illegitimate, the best thing you can do is ignore it and verify it independently. Instead of responding to the suspicious text or email directly, or calling any provided phone numbers, double check any claims made in the statement through official Apple channels. You can see your recent Apple Pay purchases in the Wallet app by tapping on one of your registered cards, and opening the Settings app and navigating to Media & Purchases > View Account > Purchase History will show you any recent App Store purchases. If you don’t see a transaction mentioned in one of these notices in your official payment history, chance are it never happened.

If you’re still in doubt you have options. Rather than reaching out to an email or phone number linked in a potential scam notice, start fresh with a new message straight to Apple’s official support. You can find the proper contact details, including an official Apple phone number for your region, on Apple’s website. The company will be able to determine whether it’s seen any suspicious activity tied to your account.

Finally, once you’re certain a message is part of a scam, you can forward it (or simply report it, if forwarding isn’t possible) to Apple to help the company shut it down. The specific email address you’ll want to use will differ based on the type of message, and you can find all your options on Apple’s support website, under “How to report suspicious emails, messages, and calls.” Once you’ve sent the message to the correct channels, delete it from your inbox to keep yourself from accidentally clicking any compromised links. As added security, also consider changing your Apple Account password, or using a password manager.

On Wednesday, Anthropic announced that its AI chatbot, Claude, will remain free of advertisements, drawing a sharp line between itself and rival OpenAI, which began testing ads in a low-cost tier of ChatGPT last month. The announcement comes alongside a Super Bowl ad campaign that mocks AI assistants that interrupt personal conversations with product pitches.

“There are many good places for advertising. A conversation with Claude is not one of them,” Anthropic wrote in a blog post. The company argued that including ads in AI conversations would be “incompatible” with what it wants Claude to be: “a genuinely helpful assistant for work and for deep thinking.”

The stance contrasts with OpenAI’s January announcement that it would begin testing banner ads for free users and ChatGPT Go subscribers in the US. OpenAI said those ads would appear at the bottom of responses and would not influence the chatbot’s actual answers. Paid subscribers on Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise tiers will not see ads on ChatGPT.

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Without meaningful deterrents, Big Tech companies will do what’s profitable, regardless of the cost to consumers. But a new bipartisan bill could add a check that would make them think twice, at least in one area. On Wednesday, Senators Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Bernie Moreno (R-OH) introduced legislation that would require social platforms to crack down on scam ads.

The Safeguarding Consumers from Advertising Misconduct (SCAM) Act would require platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent fraudulent or deceptive ads that they profit from. If they don’t, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general could take civil legal action against them.

Ruben Gallego (Bluesky) / Bernie Moreno

The backdrop to the SCAM Act is a Reuters report from last November. Meta reportedly estimated that up to 10 percent of its 2024 revenue came from scam ads. The company is said to have calculated that as much as $16 billion of its revenue that year was from scams, including “fraudulent e-commerce and investment schemes, illegal online casinos and the sale of banned medical products.”

Making matters worse, Meta reportedly refused to block small fraudsters until their ads were flagged at least eight times. Meanwhile, bigger spenders were said to have accrued at least 500 strikes without being removed. Executives reportedly wrestled with how to get the problem under control — but only without affecting the company’s bottom line. At one point, managers were told not to take any action that could cost Meta more than 0.15 percent of its total revenue. (See what I mean about needing meaningful deterrents?)

According to the FTC, Americans’ estimated total loss from fraud in 2024 (adjusted for underreporting) was nearly $19 billion. An estimated $81.5 billion of that came from seniors.

“If a company is making money from running ads on their site, it has a responsibility to make sure those ads aren’t fraudulent,” Sen. Gallego said in a statement. “This bipartisan bill will hold social media companies accountable and protect consumers’ money online.”

“It is critical that we protect American consumers from deceptive ads and shameless fraudsters who make millions taking advantage of legal loopholes,” Moreno added. “We can’t sit by while social media companies have business models that knowingly enable scams that target the American people.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/bipartisan-scam-act-would-require-online-platforms-to-crack-down-on-fraudulent-ads-210316594.html?src=rss

A US House committee with oversight of NASA unanimously passed a “reauthorization” act for the space agency on Wednesday. The legislation must still be approved by the full House before being sent to the Senate, which may take up consideration later this month.

Congress passes such reauthorization bills every couple of years, providing the space agency with a general sense of the direction legislators want to see NASA go. They are distinct from appropriations bills, which provide actual funding for specific programs, but nonetheless play an important role in establishing space policy.

There weren’t any huge surprises in the legislation, but there were some interesting amendments. Most notably among these was the Amendment No. 01, offered by the chair of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), as well as its ranking member, Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), and three other legislators.

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Anime fans are about to feel a bit of a squeeze from your Crunchyroll subscription. For the second time in two years, the streaming service is raising prices, this time across all of its plans, including the entry-level Fan Tier. This comes shortly after the company discontinued its free, ad-supported tier on Dec. 31.

The new tiers and their pricing will be as follows:

• The Fan Tier will go up from $7.99/month to $9.99/month. This tier offers basic access to the full Crunchyroll library, and the ability to download shows to a single device for offline viewing.

• The Mega Fan tier will go up from $11.99/month to $13.99/month. At this tier, you can stream on up to four devices at once, download content in HD for offline viewing, and get access to the Crunchyroll Game Vault.

• The Ultimate Fan Tier will go up from $15.99/month to $17.99/month. This tier adds access to Crunchyroll Manga, streaming on up to six devices at once, and a swag bag after you’ve been subscribed to this plan for a year.

The new pricing will kick in on your first billing date after March 4. If you’re not already subscribed, however, there’s still a little bit of time to sign up and get the (slightly) lower price for your first month. While existing users can’t lock in the lower price, Crunchyroll is offering a limited-time upgrade to an annual plan for the Fan Tier for $66.99/year, which comes out to $5.58/month. If you’re confident you’re still going to be subject to your anime addiction a year from now, this is going to be your best way to save money in the long run.

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In late 2025, Amazon released the Amazon Echo Show 11, designed to replace the 3rd Generation Echo Show 10. The upgraded home hub/smart speaker features a larger, sharper display; a separate static screen, Alexa+ capabilities, and other updates, and right now, it’s at its lowest price since launch.

On Amazon (where else?) you can get the Amazon Echo Show 11 for $179.99, down $40 from the usual price, and its lowest price ever, according to price trackers.

Amazon Echo Show 11

$179.99
at Amazon

$219.99
Save $40.00

$179.99
at Amazon

$219.99
Save $40.00

Compared to the Echo Show 10, the 11 has a larger, thinner display (around 11 inches and 8mm thick) that PCMag (which gave it an Editors’ Choice Award) described as “crisp and colorful”. The screen appears to float above a mesh speaker base, giving the device a sleeker look. The 13MP camera is similar to its predecessor’s, but features improved zoom. It also has a faster AZ3 Pro processor and a more compact footprint, since its now-static design doesn’t require additional clearance to rotate.

The display has faster Wi-Fi 6E connectivity and broader smart home support via Zigbee, Matter, and Thread, compared with the previous model, which only supported Zigbee. While the 10 had a physical camera shutter, this one uses an electronic camera disconnect. Audio is delivered via two front-facing, full-range drivers equipped for spatial audio, providing provide what PCMag described as “loud, balanced sound.” It also includes the Alexa+ AI upgrade; the smart assistant works similarly to the original Alexa but uses generative AI to deliver more conversational responses and better handle natural language commands.

If you’re looking to upgrade to a larger smart display with capable speakers, the Amazon Echo Show 11 is a strong choice, particularly for larger rooms.

Donald Trump is so far not stepping in to help Elon Musk end a lawsuit raised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over his 2022 Twitter takeover, a US district judge said this week.

Filed by the SEC in the final days of Joe Biden’s administration, the lawsuit seeks $150 million in disgorgement, plus interest, as well as civil penalties and an injunction blocking Musk from future wrongdoing.

The complaint alleged that Musk quietly acquired a 9 percent stake in Twitter without filing necessary timely disclosures to alert other investors of a potential change in company control. This allowed Musk to acquire over 70 million shares at an artificially lower price, the SEC alleged, causing substantial economic harm to investors selling Twitter common stock, some of whom have separately sued.

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Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health under the Trump administration, appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Tuesday. In the wide-ranging hearing, Bhattacharya defended the chaotic and disruptive cuts at the institutes he helms while carefully wording responses related to vaccines—seemingly to avoid contradicting his boss, anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

As Bhattacharya testified, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the HELP committee’s ranking member, released a report outlining the state of the NIH. The report concluded that the Trump administration is “failing American patients,” and “destroying medical research through cuts to research grants, terminations of clinical trials, and the chaos it has created.”

Since Trump took office, the NIH has terminated or frozen hundreds of millions of dollars for research grants, including $561 million in grants to research the four leading causes of death in America, the report found.

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Hot on the heels of AGDQ in January, Games Done Quick is hosting its second speedrunning event of the year, Back to Black 2026, starting tomorrow, February 5. The four-day event is organized by Black in a Flash and is raising money for Race Forward, a nonprofit that works across communities to address systemic racism.

Back to Black is timed to the start of Black History Month and highlights the deep bench of talent in the Black speedrunning community. A few runs, like ones for Hades II, Donkey Kong Country and Silent Hill 4, were teased when Back to Black 2026 was announced last year. The full schedule has plenty of other runs worth checking out, though, like a co-op run through Plants vs Zombies: Replanted on February 5 or an Any% run of The Barbie Diaries: High School Mystery on February 6.  

Back to Black 2026 will be live on Games Done Quick’s Twitch and YouTube channels from Thursday, February 5 through Sunday February 8.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/games-done-quicks-back-to-black-2026-event-kicks-off-tomorrow-194147068.html?src=rss

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You’ve probably heard of the upstart tech brand Nothing, but if you haven’t, here’s a TLDR: The U.K.-based company aims to make products like cellphones and headphones that incorporate innovative features and designs, but come in at a lower price point than tech giants like Apple and Samsung. Last summer, the company released its newest smartwatch, the CMF Watch 3 Pro, which incorporates AI features powered by ChatGPT, and you can currently pick it up at a major discount.

Originally $99, you can get the CMF Watch 3 Pro for $44.99 at Woot—a 65% discount. The catch is that it’s only available at that price in the light green color. If you have Amazon Prime, you get free shipping; otherwise, it’ll also cost $6 to ship. (Heads up, though: Woot only ships to the 48 contiguous states.)

CMF BY NOTHING Watch 3 Pro Smart Watch

Bluetooth Call AI with Energy Score, Heart Rate Tracking, Sleep Monitor, GPS & 130+ Sport Modes, Fitness Tracker for Android iOS, IP68

$99.99
at Woot

$99.99
at Woot

According to Nothing, the CMF Watch 3 Pro is designed for “everyday users and casual fitness explorers,” it quickly earned a reputation as one of the best budget smartwatch/fitness trackers of 2025. The most noteworthy feature is its direct ChatGPT integration: You can use voice prompts to ask the chatbot questions or set reminders, among other things. One neat feature is its ability to record voices and auto-transcribe conversations or notes (great for work meetings or class).

If you’ve used the CMF Watch 2 Pro, you’ll already be familiar with the design, which hasn’t changed much. It’s still got a round display with a rotating crown on the top right, though the display is a bit bigger—1.43 inches compared to the Watch 2 Pro’s 1.32 inches. Nothing has also kept the auto brightness adjustment, which is determined by a built-in sensor, and dual-band GPS support with access to five satellite systems, providing greater accuracy when tracking your outdoor activities.

The real upgrades come mainly from the software: The Watch 3 Pro has over 130 sport modes, compared to 120 on the older model. The battery now lasts 13 days on a single charge, or two days longer than before. It’s certainly in the running for the best sub-$100 fitness watch you can buy right now.

Roblox launched an open-source AI model that generates 3D objects on the fly early last year and now that toolset is getting a massive boost. The platform has introduced a model that whips up “4D” objects. I put 4D in quotes because it doesn’t actually allow access to the fourth dimension, but rather lets users make interactive 3D objects via prompts.

As suggested, these aren’t static 3D models. They are fully functional and interactive objects that move and react to players. The beta toolset can’t be used to make anything, as it’s rather limited for now. There are just two templates for users to choose from. Folks can make cars and solid 3D objects, like a box or a sculpture.

Roblox

The cars are fully driveable, however, and are made from five separate parts. The parts work independently of one another, allowing for spinning wheels and opening doors. The company says the physics should be accurate, so prepare for a whole lot of user-generated racing games.

There’s already a game on the platform that uses the 4D tools called Wish Master. It lets players generate cars, planes and all kinds of other stuff.

Roblox

As for those limited templates, Roblox says it plans to eventually let creators make their own but didn’t release a timetable for this. It also says it is developing technology that will generate 3D models based on a reference image.

Today’s open beta comes after Roblox found itself at the center of lawsuits and investigations related to child safety. This led the company to implement mandatory facial verification to access chat, which has reportedly not been going very well. Some countries have actually banned the platform in an effort to protect children.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/robloxs-4d-creation-toolset-is-now-available-in-open-beta-191510664.html?src=rss