What Is Data Sniffing and How Businesses Can Defend Against It

Data sniffing, also called packet sniffing, is the covert interception of data packets as they travel across a network, and attackers use it to steal passwords, financial data, and confidential communications. Unlike many cyberattacks, sniffers operate silently and can be difficult to detect, making them a persistent threat on both corporate and public networks. Businesses face serious risks including customer data leaks, executive credential theft, internal communication exposure, and supply chain compromise. A single infected or rogue device on a network can give an attacker broad access to sensitive information affecting employees, customers, and partners. Experts recommend a layered defence strategy that includes encryption, strong identity verification, network segmentation, anomaly monitoring, user education, and regular security testing.

How to Auto-Select GitHub PAT by Repo Owner Using gh CLI and .gitconfig

Developers managing multiple GitHub accounts over HTTPS often face authentication errors when Git defaults to the wrong Personal Access Token (PAT) for a given repository. A proposed solution embeds a custom credential helper directly into the .gitconfig file, eliminating the need for external scripts or manual account switching. The helper uses the repository owner extracted from the remote URL to run 'gh auth token --user OWNER', fetching the correct PAT automatically. Setting 'credential.useHttpPath = true' is essential so Git passes the full repository path to the helper, enabling owner extraction. An empty 'helper =' line before the custom helper ensures any pre-existing credential managers are reset, preventing conflicts on platforms like Git for Windows.

Meta in Settlement Talks with US States Over Teen Social Media Addiction Lawsuit

Meta is engaged in settlement discussions with multiple US state attorneys general over allegations that its social media platforms are addictive and harmful to teenagers. The states have been pushing for significant design changes to Meta's platforms as part of any potential resolution. Meta has denied the allegations brought forward by the state attorneys general. The company has also pushed back against what it described as unreasonable demands, calling the proposed payout 'outlandish.' The outcome of these negotiations could have significant implications for how social media platforms address youth safety.

MCP-powered math engine gives AI dungeon masters accurate tabletop dice mechanics

A developer has built a dedicated tabletop math engine using the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to fix unreliable dice roll simulations in LLM-based Dungeons and Dragons sessions. Rather than asking language models to handle deterministic arithmetic, the system offloads calculations — including advantage/disadvantage rolls, proficiency bonuses, and damage modifiers — to specialized external tools. This approach prevents so-called hallucinated randomness, where LLMs approximate probabilistic outcomes instead of computing them correctly. The MCP server exposes individual tools such as simulate_roll_outcome, resolve_ability_check, and calculate_damage, allowing the AI agent to focus on narration while receiving mathematically sound results. The developer also cautions against large data payloads per request, noting that memory exhaustion errors can occur when too much information is processed in a single tool execution.

Why a Confirm Button Alone Cannot Secure AI Coding Agents

Security researchers warn that approval dialogs in AI coding agents create a false sense of security when the displayed action differs from what the system actually executes. Symlinks or other layers of indirection can cause a file write to land at a different path than the one shown to the user, meaning the human approves one operation while the machine runs another. The core problem is that most agent workflows collapse three distinct objects — user intent, the model's description, and the runtime's resolved operation — into a single prompt. Experts argue that approvals must bind to computed facts such as the resolved resource path, tool version, and credentials, and should be invalidated if any material detail changes before execution. A structured approval envelope covering preparation, display, binding, execution, verification, and recording is proposed as a more reliable alternative to broad session-level permissions.

Rising Nvidia Chip Costs Push Silicon Valley Toward China's Efficient AI Approach

Escalating prices of Nvidia's AI chips are creating financial pressure on Silicon Valley tech companies. The growing cost burden is making it increasingly difficult for firms to simply spend their way to AI advancement. Analysts suggest US companies may need to adopt more resource-efficient software development strategies similar to those employed by Chinese AI developers. China's AI sector has long operated under hardware constraints, forcing it to optimize software performance rather than rely on expensive computing power.

Wireshark Beginner's Guide: Capturing and Analyzing Network Traffic for Security

Wireshark is a free, open-source network protocol analyzer widely used by security professionals and system administrators to capture and inspect network traffic at the packet level. The tool enables users to examine details such as source and destination IP addresses, ports, protocols, DNS queries, TCP flags, and TLS metadata. Its interface is divided into three main panels — Packet List, Packet Details, and Packet Bytes — giving analysts a layered view of network activity. Display filters for protocols like DNS, HTTP, and TCP help investigators narrow down large captures to relevant traffic during security incidents. Beginners are advised to practice in controlled environments such as virtual machines or test networks before applying the tool to real-world investigations.

PPF: Rs 1.2 lakh/y vs Rs 10K/m — which builds more?

Cockroach Janta Party to March in Delhi on Sept 5 Over Three Unmet Demands

The Cockroach Janta Party has renewed its call for a protest march in Delhi on September 5, citing three unresolved demands. The group had previously called off a demonstration on July 25 after receiving assurances from ministers during talks. Three of the four original demands remain pending, including compensation for affected parties and withdrawal of FIRs filed against student protesters. The planned march will proceed from India Gate to the Police Headquarters in the capital.

China Rejects US Pressure, Pledges to Maintain Economic Ties With Iran

China has openly defied pressure from the Trump administration by committing to preserve its economic relationship with Iran. Beijing remains Iran's largest oil buyer, making it a critical financial lifeline for Tehran amid ongoing US sanctions. President Xi Jinping shows no urgency in supporting Washington's efforts to resolve the Iran conflict. Analysts suggest China benefits strategically from a situation that diverts US attention and resources away from the Asia-Pacific region.

Bodies found on South Korean island amid missing persons cover-up scandal

Authorities have discovered bodies on a South Korean holiday island as a missing persons scandal continues to grow. A police sergeant has been arrested on accusations of misconduct related to the cases. The officer allegedly lied to the families of missing persons and closed cases before proper investigations were completed. The incident has raised serious concerns about the integrity of police handling of missing persons reports in South Korea.

Seven Loki Configuration Fixes That Cut Runaway Log Storage Costs

A software team spent two development sprints optimizing their Grafana Loki log storage setup after costs grew uncontrollably due to misconfigured labels and retention policies. The biggest culprit was high-cardinality labels like trace_id and request_id, which multiplied index size rather than simply adding data volume. Splitting per-tenant retention overrides instead of using a single global policy cut storage for one noisy tenant by 70% while extending retention for compliance-sensitive logs. The team also found that tuning retention_period without enabling the compactor was effectively a silent no-op, and that increasing chunk target size to around 2MB reduced object storage PUT requests by roughly a third. Migrating high-cardinality fields to Loki's structured metadata feature, available since version 2.9, delivered the single largest reduction in index cardinality.

Bill Gates Warns AI Poses Risks of Mass Unemployment and Bioterrorism

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has cautioned that artificial intelligence carries serious risks that the tech industry is largely underplaying. In an hour-long interview, Gates outlined his concerns about AI's potential to cause widespread job losses across various sectors. He also flagged the threat of bioterrorism, warning that AI could be exploited to develop dangerous biological agents. Gates believes the broader technology industry is not being sufficiently transparent or honest with the public about these dangers.

6,500-year-old human tooth found in Serbian museum collection

Prince Harry Faces UK Taxpayer Backlash Over Security Costs and Memoir Claims

Prince Harry has drawn renewed criticism in Britain over concerns about public funds being used for his security. The controversy has been further fuelled by claims in his memoir 'Spare', in which he disclosed killing 25 Taliban fighters during two military tours. Security experts and critics argue that such revelations may have significantly increased the threat level against him. This has intensified debate among British taxpayers about the costs and justification of providing him protection.

RCDA Framework Helps Organizations Balance Risk and Cost in Enterprise Architecture

Risk and Cost Driven Architecture (RCDA) is a structured framework designed to help organizations make informed architectural decisions by weighing trade-offs between risk and cost. Unlike traditional architecture methods that treat risk management as secondary, RCDA places it at the core of every design decision alongside cost efficiency. The framework breaks enterprise architecture into distinct domains, each evaluated separately for risks such as security vulnerabilities, scalability issues, and performance bottlenecks. RCDA also treats risk assessment as a continuous process throughout a project's lifecycle, rather than a one-time exercise. This approach is especially valuable for large-scale, complex systems where careful, balanced decision-making is critical to delivering resilient and cost-effective solutions.

Ventures Platform raises $83M second fund to expand beyond Nigeria

Pan-African venture firm Ventures Platform has closed its second fund at $83 million, marking a significant increase from its previous raise. The firm, which is headquartered in Nigeria, plans to broaden its investment scope across the African continent. The larger fund signals growing investor confidence in African startup ecosystems. With this capital, Ventures Platform aims to back startups in markets beyond its traditional Nigerian focus.

Maharashtra FDA Chief Tukaram Mundhe Takes Hard Line on Food Adulteration

Tukaram Mundhe, serving as Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner, has launched a wide-ranging crackdown on food safety violations across the state. His targets include food adulterators, well-known restaurants and clubs, quick commerce dark stores, and school and government canteens. Mundhe is also going after those who engage in surrogate advertising of banned products. Known for his uncompromising stance, he has faced around 25 transfers throughout his career but has consistently refused to soften his approach. His tenure signals a stricter era of food safety enforcement in Maharashtra.

US Singer Criticizes NYC Event Featuring RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is scheduled to speak at a Manhattan event on Saturday, August 29. The gathering is being promoted as the 'Universal Oneness Celebration,' aimed at bringing together the Hindu American community. An American singer has publicly criticized the event, directing remarks at Zohran Mamdani in connection with it. The event is being held in New York City and has drawn attention amid the controversy surrounding the criticism.

How to Build an AI Observability Platform to Prove Test Automation ROI

Engineering teams using AI-driven test automation are increasingly being asked by stakeholders to demonstrate measurable proof of value beyond simple productivity estimates. An AI Engineering Observability Platform addresses this by tracking key metrics such as agent utilization, token consumption, daily output, time savings, and quality improvements across multiple specialized agents. The proposed architecture uses a telemetry layer to log LLM executions and route data to visualization tools like Power BI, enabling real-time dashboards for leadership. Eight core KPIs — including AI adoption rate, cost per story, hours saved, and defect reduction — are recommended when presenting results to steering committees. A sample executive summary illustrates the approach: one month of AI automation activity generated 3,800 assets, consumed 42 million tokens, and reduced manual engineering effort by 78%.