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Candy AI Offers Hyper-Realistic Chatbot Experiences with Advanced Visuals and Voice Capabilities

Candy AI Offers Hyper-Realistic Chatbot Experiences with Advanced Visuals and Voice Capabilities

Candy AI is providing hyper-realistic chatbot experiences, distinguishing itself through photorealistic visuals and rapid media generation. This platform integrates text and media to create highly realistic interactions, allowing users to customize character appearances and request multiple images per scenario. The chatbot also incorporates voice capabilities, enabling multi-sensory interactions. Candy AI operates on a credit-based system, giving users control over their usage. This approach aims to offer a more immersive and visually engaging experience compared to traditional text-based chatbots. The platform's ability to generate lifelike photos and animated clips on demand is a key feature, with images generated within approximately 23 seconds during testing. These visuals maintain a high level of detail in facial expressions, clothing textures, and background elements, setting a new standard for realism in AI companion applications. The consistent image settings ensure that the character's identity is...
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International Criminal Organizations Circumvent Biometric Authentication in Online Transactions

International Criminal Organizations Circumvent Biometric Authentication in Online Transactions

International criminal organizations are developing sophisticated tools to bypass biometric authentication safeguards used in online transactions. This development is occurring alongside the increasing use of deepfake technology, which generates AI-manipulated videos, images, and voices to impersonate individuals for scams. These scams often involve criminals posing as executives or family members to demand urgent money transfers. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are particularly vulnerable targets due to their limited cybersecurity resources. Criminals are encrypting SME data for cryptocurrency ransoms or using fake tax and electricity notices to steal account credentials. The shift towards mobile platforms for cybercrime is also noted, as users tend to be less vigilant and less likely to install security software compared to desktop users. In Vietnam, over 200 foreigners linked to online fraud operations have been arrested, highlighting the global nature of these criminal activities.
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NIST Certifies 11 Contactless Fingerprint Biometrics Providers for Advanced Identity Verification

NIST Certifies 11 Contactless Fingerprint Biometrics Providers for Advanced Identity Verification

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has completed the initial phase of its Fast Capture (FastCap) program, certifying 11 contactless fingerprint biometrics providers. This program aims to evaluate and advance contactless fingerprint technologies for digital identity verification. The certified vendors, including U.S.-based AA Technology, Gambit ID, Idemia, Identy, IDloop, Mentalix, Sciometrics, Synolo, Thales, Tech5, and Veridium, successfully met qualification test criteria. These tests involved cooperative evaluations of biometric acquisition capabilities, refinement of performance metrics, and prototype testing for contactless rapid tenprint scanners. The qualification testing was conducted based on NIST Special Publication 500-339, which outlines specifications for certification testing of contactless fingerprint acquisition devices, published in April 2023. This marks a significant step in moving beyond traditional contact-based fingerprint capture methods.
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Sri Lanka Advances Biometric Passport Rollout with New Immigration Bill

Sri Lanka Advances Biometric Passport Rollout with New Immigration Bill

Sri Lanka has taken a significant step towards implementing biometric passports with the Cabinet's approval of a new Immigration Bill. This legislation establishes the legal framework necessary for collecting fingerprints and issuing electronic passports. The bill, which has been published in the Government Gazette and awaits parliamentary consideration, will replace the existing Immigration and Emigration Act of 1948. Its primary goal is to create a biometric passport system based on a 'one person, one passport' principle. Under the proposed law, applicants between the ages of 16 and 60 will be required to provide fingerprints as part of the passport application process. Chulananda Perera, the Controller General of the Department of Immigration and Emigration (DI&E), emphasized that this move will enhance the integrity of the passport issuance system by eliminating issues related to multiple identities and enforcing the 'one person, one passport' policy. This development coincides with Phase II of the Sri...
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Agentic Awesome Skills Introduces Local, Agent-First Control Plane for AI Skill Management

Agentic Awesome Skills Introduces Local, Agent-First Control Plane for AI Skill Management

Agentic Awesome Skills (AAS) has launched AAS Core, a new local, agent-first control plane designed for managing AI skill stacks. This system allows AI agents, such as Codex or Claude, to inspect projects and select specific skills from a comprehensive local catalog without uploading repository data to AAS. AAS Core focuses on validating these agent-owned selections in memory and enabling clients or the AAS CLI to persist them as `aas-stack.json` files, generating an immutable plan before any changes are applied. The system emphasizes reproducibility and reviewability of chosen skill stacks, providing tools for validation and plan preview. It supports a wide range of agent workflows and offers over 2,000 skills across various domains like development, testing, security, and marketing. The core functionality includes local catalog search, skill inspection, and the ability for agents to compose and validate skill selections, ensuring that the process is transparent and controllable by the user.
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New York City Surpasses San Francisco Bay Area as Nation's Tech Job Capital

New York City Surpasses San Francisco Bay Area as Nation's Tech Job Capital

New York City Surpasses San Francisco Bay Area as Nation's Tech Job Capital
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Immigrants Fear Deportation After Law Firm Closure Leaves Visa Applications in Limbo

Immigrants Fear Deportation After Law Firm Closure Leaves Visa Applications in Limbo

Two longtime Southern California residents, Lucila Garcia and Francisca Cruz, are expressing fear of deportation after the immigration law firm they hired, led by attorney Alexandra Lozano, shut down. Both women had paid significant amounts for legal services to obtain visas and work permits, with Garcia paying $11,900 for a humanitarian visa and work permit, and Cruz signing a contract for $12,000. Their cases are now pending, and they are uncertain about the status of their applications. Lozano, known as the 'Attorney of Miracles,' resigned in lieu of discipline from her state's bar and is facing a mass lawsuit from over 5,000 former clients, including about 220 from the Los Angeles area. The lawsuit alleges that Lozano filed 'fraudulent' paperwork for some immigrants, claiming they were abuse or trafficking victims, often without their knowledge or consent. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a notice to former Lozano clients, requesting updated mailing addresses to continue processing ...
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AI Lowers Costs for Southeast Asia-Based Scammers, Fueling Cross-Border Crime

AI Lowers Costs for Southeast Asia-Based Scammers, Fueling Cross-Border Crime

Fraud and other cross-border crimes are proliferating in Southeast Asia, with artificial intelligence (AI) playing a significant role in reducing operational costs for scamming organizations. This development is occurring as U.S.-driven clampdowns on scam centers in countries like Cambodia are prompting these criminal groups to relocate and re-establish operations in other nations, such as Sri Lanka. The use of AI allows these scammers to operate more efficiently and at a lower cost, making their illicit activities more profitable and harder to track. This creates a 'cat-and-mouse game' where law enforcement efforts to suppress these operations in one region lead to their emergence elsewhere, often with enhanced technological capabilities.
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FaceTec Secures Patent for Biometric Authentication System Without Administrative Access

FaceTec Secures Patent for Biometric Authentication System Without Administrative Access

FaceTec Secures Patent for Biometric Authentication System Without Administrative Access
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Meta ran ads for an app that only needs one photo and no consent

Meta ran ads for an app that only needs one photo and no consent

The app takes a photo of someone real and does something Meta says it bans.
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Hawaii Strengthens AI Protections Amid Rising Deepfake Concerns, UH Study Reveals Public Distrust

Hawaii Strengthens AI Protections Amid Rising Deepfake Concerns, UH Study Reveals Public Distrust

The State of Hawaii has enacted legislation, HB 2137 (now Act 247), to bolster protections against the harmful use of AI-generated content, specifically deepfakes. This new law allows individuals harmed by unauthorized AI-generated realistic digital imitations to seek civil remedies, including monetary damages of up to $25,000 per piece of content. This legislative action comes as a new international study, co-authored by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Professor Jerry Agrusa and published in the journal Information, highlights significant public concern regarding deepfakes. The study, which surveyed 924 respondents, found that 84.8% believe deepfakes can mislead people, and 82.7% are concerned about personal data risks through unauthorized use of images or voices. Participants also expressed fears that fabricated content could damage professional reputations, employment opportunities, and businesses.
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AI Agent Recommends Malware Package, Highlighting Supply Chain Security Risks

AI Agent Recommends Malware Package, Highlighting Supply Chain Security Risks

An AI agent recommended a malicious software package to an engineer at Softjourn, a consulting and software development company. The AI suggested a plausible-sounding package for a common programming task, which, upon initial inspection, appeared legitimate. However, due to Softjourn's policy of verifying software recommendations from AI, the engineer checked the package's source code on GitHub. This review revealed that the package had very few downloads and had been created only a few days prior, raising suspicion. Sergiy Fitsak, managing director of Softjourn, explained that attackers are exploiting a phenomenon called 'slopsquatting,' where AI models sometimes 'hallucinate' non-existent but plausible package names. Attackers then register real packages under these invented names, hoping developers will install them without thorough verification, potentially leading to a supply chain compromise.