DIGITAL LIFE

How to ensure that smartphones have not been tampered with during the manufacturing process?

Researchers from the American Institute of Physics’ publishing arm have developed a technique that could change how smartphones are inspected for tampering and hidden modifications. Instead of physically examining a device, the team demonstrated a way to detect whether a smartphone has been altered using radio-frequency signals from a distance.

The work introduces what researchers describe as a robust over-the-air testing platform that analyzes how a smartphone’s radio hardware behaves when it communicates wirelessly. The idea is surprisingly simple. Every phone’s radio components produce a unique “fingerprint” when transmitting signals. If a device has been modified, damaged, or compromised, that fingerprint changes in subtle but measurable ways.

With the rise in cyberattacks and government data breaches, one of the most important devices to keep secure is the one in everyone's pocket: the smartphone. The problem is that it's difficult to verify that a smartphone hasn't been tampered with without the risk of accidentally damaging it.

In a paper published in AIP Advances, researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a way to remotely identify a cellular device. The method can help ensure that a phone has not been altered during the manufacturing process, reducing the risk of espionage.

When smartphones communicate with a cell tower, they emit a set of electromagnetic waves. Using specialized SIM cards and base station emulator equipment compatible with cellular radio standards, researchers commanded a set of "trusted" cell phones—devices they know haven't been modified—to transmit exactly the same sets of signals, allowing them to create a database of what those signals actually look like for different phone models, serving as model fingerprints.

"Imagine that each cell phone receives exactly the same song to sing. Even if they sing the same notes, each model has tiny microscopic differences in its internal hardware," said author Améya Ramadurgakar. "Our system is sensitive enough to detect these subtle 'vocal' differences."

(Left) The custom measurement test bed. (Right) Some of the test smartphones used for creating the fingerprint library. Credit: Améya Ramadurgakar, NIST

By comparing the signals emitted by an unknown device with the database, the researchers can determine if the device has been tampered with—that is, if its signals don't match any of the trusted fingerprints.

They tested this process on several commercially available, high-end smartphones from all the major manufacturers leading the national market, with an accuracy exceeding 95%.

These results were repeatable and stable over time. Because the method focuses on the fundamental electromagnetic behavior of the hardware, it is not limited to current 4G and 5G mobile networks and could be extended to future generations of cellular technologies.

Ramadurgakar stated that this method lays the groundwork for the testing framework of the National Metrology Institute. To formalize this solution, researchers need to expand their library of reliable sources that account for small potential variations between manufacturing batches, develop standardized test conditions, and a more automated process.

"This work demonstrates a fundamental approach to obtaining a high-definition, reliable, and stable digital fingerprint of a commercially available smartphone in order to verify that it has not been tampered with or compromised before its distribution," said Ramadurgakar.

"I see this being used to validate mobile hardware before it is delivered to high-security users, such as the military chain of command or the highest levels of government."

Provided by American Institute of Physics 

DIGITAL LIFE

Western Digital out of hard drive stock until 2027

If you were planning to build a home server or expand your computer's storage with a traditional hard disk drive (HDD) to save some money, we have bad news for you. Western Digital, one of the world's largest manufacturers in this sector, has officially confirmed that it no longer has a single unit available for sale throughout 2026. The scenario is one of total stock shortage, and the blame falls on a giant that has dominated all technological conversations: Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The confirmation came directly from Irving Tan, CEO of Western Digital, during the company's most recent earnings conference. According to the executive, demand from business customers and large data centers has been so aggressive that the company's entire production capacity for the current calendar year is completely booked.

This means that, for the average user, finding a hard drive from the brand on store shelves or at online retailers will become a Herculean task, if not impossible. The market is experiencing a phenomenon of "overrun" of the end consumer. While before you could choose between various capacities and prices, now large long-term supply contracts with tech giants have absolute priority.

This situation is not an isolated case, but rather the culmination of a perfect storm in hardware. We had already witnessed a severe shortage of RAM modules and SSD (Solid State Drive) units, which saw their prices skyrocket due to cuts in the production of NAND chips. Many users, faced with the rising cost of SSDs, once again looked to HDDs as the economic "lifeline" for storing large volumes of data. However, that door has just closed.

You might wonder why there is suddenly such a hunger for hard drives in an era where everything seems to be moving towards faster flash memory. The answer lies in the infrastructure needed to train and maintain AI models. These technologies generate and require the storage of astronomical amounts of information that don't necessarily need to be accessible in milliseconds, but occupy petabytes of space.

Data centers are expanding at a frenetic pace, and for these companies, the cost per terabyte of hard drives remains more attractive than that of high-capacity SSDs. The result? A waiting list that, according to industry reports, is already up to two years behind schedule. You, as an individual user, are now competing directly with the largest companies on the planet for the same basic component.

What to expect from prices in the coming months...If you find stock available in any store, prepare your wallet. The law of supply and demand is relentless: with Western Digital (and possibly other manufacturers following suit) out of the direct retail game, the remaining units on the market will suffer inflation. What was once the "cheap" option is rapidly becoming a luxury item or, at least, a component with an inflated price.

The impact of this on your daily life is direct. If your PC needs more space or if you like to keep physical backups of photos and videos, you'll notice that the cost of entry into high-capacity storage has risen significantly. The idea that hard drives were a declining technology and therefore always affordable fell apart in 2026.

A bleak horizon that extends to 2028...If you think this is a passing problem that will be solved by next Christmas, think again. Irving Tan revealed that Western Digital is no longer just managing the chaos of 2026; the company has already started selling its 2027 and 2028 production in advance. Through long-term agreements (LTAs), two major customers have already secured a substantial share of what will be manufactured in the next two years.

This strategy of securing supply years in advance is a survival maneuver for large cloud infrastructures, but it leaves the consumer market in a state of permanent uncertainty. As a user, you become dependent on production "leftovers" or very specific product lines that are not of interest to the business sector.

It remains to be seen how other brands, such as Seagate or Toshiba, will react to this movement. If they follow Western Digital's trend, we may be facing a complete blockage of the magnetic storage market for the general public. If you really need space, the advice is simple: if you see a hard drive at a reasonable price today, don't wait until tomorrow, because tomorrow it may not even exist.

mundophone

TECH

Clash of titans: S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max

Just days before the highly anticipated Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event, Samsung saw one of its biggest secrets revealed in the most public way possible. The highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra didn't just appear in renders or factory schematics; it surfaced in a real "hands-on" video, being directly compared to its biggest rival, Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Max. This massive leak offers the most detailed look yet at the upcoming South Korean flagship, confirming design changes, dimensions, and some controversial hardware choices.

The revelation was made on the social network X (formerly Twitter) by YouTuber Sahil Karoul, who claims to have managed to buy a retail unit of the Galaxy S26 Ultra before its official launch. The exclusivity came at an astronomical price: Karoul revealed he paid around AED 12,000 (United Arab Emirates Dirhams), which translates to approximately 3,000 euros. This large investment allowed her to share images of the device in its white color variant, providing the tech world with an unobstructed view of the final aesthetics Samsung has prepared for its main 2026 "flagship."

In the shared images, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is placed side-by-side with industry heavyweights: the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the Vivo X300 Pro, and its own predecessor, the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

The size comparison reveals that Samsung's new device maintains an imposing presence. The S26 Ultra appears to be slightly larger and wider than the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the Vivo X300 Pro, while maintaining the generous proportions that Ultra line fans expect to maximize productivity and multimedia consumption. Against the S25 Ultra, the dimensions appear almost identical, but the design has undergone visible refinements. The screen is completely flat, embraced by a metallic frame (presumably titanium) with slightly rounded corners, improving ergonomics without sacrificing a professional look. 

The size comparison reveals that Samsung's new device maintains an imposing presence. The S26 Ultra appears to be slightly larger and wider than the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the Vivo X300 Pro, while maintaining the generous proportions that Ultra line fans expect to maximize productivity and multimedia consumption. Against the S25 Ultra, the dimensions appear almost identical, but the design has undergone visible refinements. The screen is completely flat, embraced by a metallic frame (presumably titanium) with slightly rounded corners, improving ergonomics without sacrificing a professional look. 

Changes to the camera module and the mystery of the logo...When we turn the device over, the design changes become undeniable. Samsung has abandoned the completely isolated lens arrangement that marked the last generations. The Galaxy S26 Ultra displays a quad rear camera system, where three of these lenses are now grouped within a unified pill-shaped module. This change creates a more cohesive back and aligns with some of the design trends of other competing manufacturers.

Interestingly, the unit shown in the video does not have the Samsung logo engraved on the back panel. Although Karoul claims it is a final unit, this omission suggests that the device may be a late-stage production prototype or a test unit intended for partners, where the branding is sometimes omitted for pre-launch confidentiality reasons. Another noticeable hardware change is the slot for the S Pen, which has been slightly repositioned towards the edge of the bottom bezel.

Perhaps the most controversial revelation of this leak is related to Samsung's iconic stylus. Karoul claims that the S Pen included with the Galaxy S26 Ultra does not support Bluetooth connectivity features.

If this information is confirmed, it means that users will not be able to use the S Pen as a remote control — a feature popularized in previous generations that allowed taking photos ("click-to-capture"), controlling slideshows, or pausing music remotely with a click of the pen's button. This would not, however, be an absolute first. Samsung had already removed Bluetooth capabilities in the previous generation, the S25 Ultra, likely justifying the decision with space considerations, the stylus's battery life, or simply usage data indicating that few consumers took advantage of this remote tool.

With the visual confirmation of the design and dimensions, Samsung now needs to focus on the device's internals during the official event. The Galaxy S26 Ultra will be powered by a custom "Snapdragon S8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy" processor, promising unprecedented levels of performance and Artificial Intelligence processing.

Confirmation of all these details will take place at Galaxy Unpacked 2026, scheduled for February 25th in San Francisco. Until then, this "hands-on" video has already cleared up much of the physical mystery surrounding the most important launch in the Android ecosystem at the start of this year.

mundophone

DIGITAL LIFE

Splinternet: How digital blackouts that block web access are becoming cheaper and easier to impose

During the digital blackout imposed by Iran in January, the population could still access something resembling the internet. It was possible to exchange messages on government-monitored apps, watch videos on local platforms, and read state news. What was not possible was accessing international media or disseminating images and reports about the repression that left thousands dead in one of the most violent weeks in the country's recent history.

The analysis comes from The Guardian, which points to the advance of the so-called "splinternet": the fragmentation of the global network into national versions, controlled by governments.

The Iranian case is not isolated. More than half of Russia's regions already operate with limited access to mobile internet, restricted to government-approved content. China maintains its "great firewall," blocking global platforms like Google and The Guardian itself. Authorities in Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have also been testing targeted outages.

For nearly two decades, the United States funded censorship circumvention tools that made dividing the internet expensive and complex. These programs helped maintain the network as a "global common good," where information accessible in London could also be read in Delhi, Johannesburg, or São Paulo. Today, this model is under pressure.

Censorship technology becomes exportable...On one hand, cuts or redirections in American funding weaken anti-censorship initiatives. On the other, blocking and filtering technologies are being improved and exported.

Chinese companies sell equipment that allows precise control over data traffic, enabling governments to define what enters and leaves the country. According to the Guardian, similar technologies underpin the current Iranian digital control model.

For experts, the risk is clear: when governments want to avoid international scrutiny, they shut down the internet.

Fragmentation as State Policy...Building an isolated internet is not simple. The network was conceived as decentralized and interdependent. Still, the Iranian example suggests that fragmentation is becoming more viable and potentially cheaper.

Russia and other authoritarian regimes have been working for years to create national versions of the internet, capable of operating autonomously if disconnected from the rest of the world.

In parallel, the discourse on "sovereign data," "sovereign AI," and, in some cases, "sovereign internet" is growing in the West. European countries advocate keeping critical infrastructure and databases, such as health records, within their own borders.

Although this strategy is seen as protection against the growing influence of American big tech companies, critics warn that the nationalization of infrastructure could facilitate abuses if authoritarian governments take power.

The future of the internet as a common space...Digital activists have been pressuring the European Union to assume some of the funding previously provided by the US for anti-censorship technologies. But there are doubts about resources and political priority.

In a scenario of increasing geopolitical tensions, defense and traditional security tend to occupy the top of the agenda. Nevertheless, what is at stake is the global informational environment: the shared factual basis that underpins markets, international politics, and even the functioning of democracies.

If this trend consolidates, the internet may cease to be a global and open network and become a mosaic of walled national gardens, each with its own rules, filters, and versions of reality.

Splinternet (or fragmented/Balkanized internet) is the division of the global network into distinct national or regional sub-networks, driven by political, commercial, and security factors. Governments establish digital sovereignty, censoring content and restricting access to foreign platforms to control information, resulting in digital "islands" like the Chinese Great Firewall.

Key aspects of Splinternet (below):

-Geopolitical fragmentation: Cyberspace is dividing along national borders, with countries like China, Russia, and Iran creating their own versions of the network.

-Censorship and control: States use technology to block social networks (e.g., Facebook, X/Twitter) and news sites, aiming for social control and national security.

-Accelerated by nationalism: The process is driven by geopolitical tensions, where the Ukraine-Russia conflict intensified Russian digital isolation.

-Economic impact: Local companies emerge (e.g., Tencent, Yandex) at the expense of Western giants (Google, Meta), also fragmenting the digital market.

Consequences: The "splinternet" limits the free flow of information, promotes state propaganda, increases misinformation, and fragments users' worldviews.

mundophone

 

TECH

Jailbreaking the matrix: How researchers are bypassing AI guardrails to make them safer

A paper written by University of Florida Computer & Information Science & Engineering, or CISE, Professor Sumit Kumar Jha, Ph.D., contains so many science fiction terms, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's a Hollywood script: Nullspace steering. Red teaming. Jailbreaking the matrix. But Jha's work is decidedly focused on real life, most notably strengthening the security measures built into AI tools to ensure they are safe for all to use.

As AI assistants move from novelty to infrastructure, helping write code, summarizing medical notes and answering customer questions, the biggest question isn't just what these systems can do, but what happens when they are pushed to do what they shouldn't.

"By showing exactly how these defenses break, we give AI developers the information they need to build defenses that actually hold up," Jha said. "The public release of powerful AI is only sustainable if the safety measures can withstand real scrutiny, and right now, our work shows that there's still a gap. We want to help close it."

The paper on the research, "Jailbreaking the Matrix: Nullspace Steering for Controlled Model Subversion," has been accepted to the 2026 International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR 2026), held in Rio de Janeiro, April 23–27.

"These AI systems are being deployed in hospitals, banks and other software that people depend on every day. One cannot just test something like that using prompts from the outside and say, it's fine," said Jha. "We are popping the hood, pulling on the internal wires and checking what breaks. That's how you make it safer. There's no shortcut for that."

Probing AI models from within...The new methods outlined in the paper probe the tools from the inside, examining their "decision pathways" rather than relying only on clever manipulations of user prompts. The work is specifically focused on stress testing systems offered by Meta and Microsoft, pushing them to function contrary to their design to understand the limits of their internal security guardrails. For the massive calculations necessary to probe the systems, the team will leverage the computing power of UF's HiPerGator supercomputer.

The team—which includes CISE Ph.D. student Vishal Pramanik and collaborators Maisha Maliha from the University of Oklahoma and Susmit Jha, Ph.D., from SRI International—devised a system that probes a large language model, known as an LLM, as it responds to user prompts to determine which components are doing the most work. The method is called Head-Masked Nullspace Steering, or HMNS.

Those active components ("heads") are then silenced by zeroing out their portion of the decision matrix, while other components are nudged ("steered") and the overall system is carefully observed to see how the model's outputs change.

Focusing on the internal workings of the LLM allows more accurate measurements of failures while encouraging the development of more robust defenses against the failure of safety measures. According to the researchers, HMNS can help reveal whether specific internal pathways, if exploited, could cause a breakdown. That information can guide stronger training, monitoring and defense strategies.

Why stronger defenses are needed...Understanding the security shortcomings of LLMs is critical as they become more widespread. Companies like Meta, Alibaba and others have released powerful AI models that are available to anyone. While each platform incorporates safety layers meant to keep it from being misused, the UF team has found that those safety layers can be systematically bypassed.

For Jha, this is a major concern.

How HMNS performs against benchmarks...The results are encouraging. HMNS proved to be remarkably good at breaking LLMs. Measured by both the rate at which attacks were successful and the number of attempts necessary, HMNS scored better than the state-of-the-art methods across four established industry benchmarks.

The system detailed by the authors has another advantage: efficiency.

To make comparisons between defense systems fairer, the authors introduced compute-aware reporting, which considers how much compute power was used in breaking the system. HMNS broke systems faster and with less compute power than its competitors.

The authors emphasize that this research can reveal both weaknesses and opportunities to strengthen protections. "Our goal," the researchers noted in the paper, "is to strengthen LLM safety by analyzing failure modes under common defenses; we do not seek to enable misuse."

Provided by University of Florida

DIGITAL LIFE

PromptSpy: the first Android malware to use generative AI

ESET Research has identified the PromptSpy malware, the first threat to the Android operating system to integrate generative artificial intelligence (AI) into its attack structure. The malicious code uses Google Gemini capabilities to interpret the victim's user interface (UI), allowing for adaptive data capture and evasion of conventional security mechanisms. The discovery, reported in February 2026, signals the evolution of mobile malware towards cognitively capable tools.

Unlike traditional threats that rely on fixed coordinates or static element identifiers, the PromptSpy malware uses language models to understand the visual context of the screen. Through the Google Gemini API, the malware sends screenshots for processing, receiving instructions on where to click or what information to extract from banking, messaging, or email applications.

The main purpose of PromptSpy is to deploy a built-in VNC module, giving operators remote access to the victim’s device. This Android malware also abuses the Accessibility Service to block uninstallation with invisible overlays, captures lockscreen data, records video. It communicates with its C&C server via the VNC protocol, using AES encryption.

Based on language localization clues and the distribution vectors observed during analysis, this campaign appears to be financially motivated and seems to primarily target users in Argentina. Interestingly, analyzed PromptSpy samples suggest that it was developed in a Chinese‑speaking environment.

PromptSpy is distributed by a dedicated website and has never been available on Google Play. As an App Defense Alliance partner, we nevertheless shared our findings with Google. Android users are automatically protected against known versions of this malware by Google Play Protect, which is enabled by default on Android devices with Google Play Services.

This approach allows attackers to bypass layout changes resulting from application updates or the use of different languages ​​and screen resolutions. Generative AI functions as a universal interpreter, making espionage effective across a wide range of devices without the need for manual reconfiguration of malicious source code.

PromptSpy’s AI-powered functionality...Even though PromptSpy uses Gemini in just one of its features, it still demonstrates how incorporating these AI tools can make malware more dynamic, giving threat actors ways to automate actions that would normally be more difficult with traditional scripting.

As was briefly mentioned already, Android malware usually depends on hardcoded screen features such as taps, coordinates, or UI selectors – methods that can break with UI changes across devices, OS versions, or manufacturer skins. PromptSpy aims to achieve persistence by staying embedded in the list of recent apps by executing the “lock app in recent apps” gesture (the full process is described in the Analysis section), which varies between devices and manufacturers. This makes it difficult to automate with fixed scripts traditionally used by Android malware.

PromptSpy therefore takes a completely different approach: it sends Gemini a natural‑language prompt along with an XML dump of the current screen, giving the AI a detailed view of every UI element: its text, type, and exact position on the display.

Gemini processes this information and responds with JSON instructions that tell the malware what action to perform (for example, a tap) and where to perform it. The malware saves both its previous prompts and Gemini’s responses, allowing Gemini to understand context and to coordinate multistep interactions.

The spread of PromptSpy occurs through the use of disguised "droppers" in utility applications, such as image editors or productivity tools distributed outside the Google Play Store. Once installed, the malware requests accessibility permissions, which it uses to monitor user activity and feed the AI ​​engine with real-time data.

To ensure persistence, the threat uses AI to detect attempts to uninstall or revoke permissions. In these cases, the malware intervenes in the interface, preventing the user from completing security actions. Data exfiltration is performed intermittently to avoid traffic spikes that could alert network monitoring tools.

Risks to the Android ecosystem...The introduction of generative AI in malware development reduces the technical barrier to creating sophisticated threats. According to ESET Research, the fact that the PromptSpy malware uses a legitimate tool like Gemini highlights the challenges that technology companies face in monitoring the misuse of artificial intelligence APIs. Protection against this type of malware requires deeper behavioral analysis, focused not only on the code but also on anomalous interactions between applications and external language models.

In the medium term, mobile security will have to evolve to detect the "cognitive signature" of these threats, identifying when an application of dubious origin establishes persistent communications with AI engines for screen analysis purposes.

mundophone

TECH

New perspective charts path to next-generation water and energy membranes

When you turn on a faucet, charge an electric vehicle or use products made with clean hydrogen, you may not realize that membranes—ultrathin films perforated with pores too small to see—make these modern processes possible. They purify water, recover valuable minerals and help power emerging clean-energy technologies. But despite their enormous importance, researchers still don't fully understand how water and ions move through these films at the molecular level.

A new invited perspective in Nature Water, led by Rice University researchers and international collaborators, aims to change that. The paper emerged from a workshop held in March at the Rice Global Paris Center, where experts from around the world gathered to discuss the future of membrane science. At the same event, Rice announced the launch of the Rice Center for Membrane Excellence (RiCeME), a hub focused on designing advanced membrane materials for water, energy and sustainability applications.

"This work sets the foundation for a new era of membrane science," said Menachem Elimelech, corresponding author of the paper, the Nancy and Clint Carlson Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering and director of RiCeME. "Our models have traditionally treated membranes as black boxes. Now, we're beginning to understand transport at the molecular scale, which opens the door to designing far better membranes."

"Seeing work like this take shape affirms why Rice invested in the Rice Global Paris Center in the first place," added Caroline Levander, vice president for global strategy. "The workshops and conferences we host there are designed to create sustained, international intellectual exchange, and this perspective in Nature Water demonstrates how those conversations can translate into rigorous, collaborative research with real-world impact. It is tangible evidence that our global research ecosystem is functioning as intended."

Membranes are central to processes we depend on every day, including desalination and water purification, safe wastewater reuse, recovering valuable elements such as lithium and producing green hydrogen. At the heart of all these technologies is the same goal: letting water or certain ions pass through while keeping others out. But existing membranes face trade-offs. Increasing speed often reduces selectivity, and improving selectivity can slow everything down.

"We can't solve global water and energy challenges with incremental tweaks," Elimelech said. "We need a deeper scientific understanding of what actually happens inside these membranes."

Selective separation membranes for various applications in the water and energy sectors. Credit: Nature Water (2026)

The perspective highlights breakthroughs from three rapidly advancing areas of research:

-Molecular simulations: Computer models now allow scientists to watch water and ions move through angstrom-scale pores—revealing that water flows in clusters, not as individual molecules, and that ions struggle to shed tightly bound "shells" of water needed to squeeze inside.

-Nanofluidics and angstrofluidics: Experiments with single nanotubes and 2D slits show surprising behaviors, including ultrafast water transport, strong ion exclusion and even hints of quantum effects. These tiny "test channels" help researchers uncover the physics that governs real membranes.

-Advanced experimental tools: New microscopy, X-ray and neutron techniques can probe the structure of membranes more precisely than ever, confirming that even the best-performing membranes have complex, dynamic pore networks.

By combining these approaches, researchers are beginning to map how water and ions navigate the dense, tangled pathways that make up a membrane, and they are helping to shed light on why some ions are rejected while others slip through.

The team outlines a multiscale strategy to connect molecular insights to real-world membrane design: first, study single, well-defined nanochannels to isolate fundamental behavior; second, build model membranes with many identical channels to understand collective transport; and third, apply this knowledge to improve commercial polymer membranes, which have much more complex structures.

"This is the bridge we've been missing," Elimelech said. "If we can connect what happens at the scale of single molecules to performance at the scale of real devices, we can design membranes with unprecedented efficiency and selectivity."

Notably, this perspective reflects the collaborative spirit that drove the Paris workshop—and the ambition behind RiCeME.

"Rice is uniquely positioned to bring together molecular modeling, nanofluidics, advanced materials and large-scale membrane engineering," Elimelech said. "By uniting these strengths, we can rethink how membranes are designed and unlock solutions for clean water, sustainable chemistry and renewable energy."

Provided by Rice University