As it turns out, including a reporter in your national security leader group chat about military strikes isn't the only way to compromise sensitive information on Signal. NPR reported on Tuesday that, days after the Trump administration's preposterous and dangerous national security fumble, the Pentagon issued a warning against using the messaging app due to a phishing vulnerability.
"A vulnerability has been identified in the Signal messenger application," a department-wide email obtained by NPR reads. "Russian professional hacking groups are employing [Signal's] 'linked devices' features to spy on encrypted conversations." The publication says the memo states that Russian hacking groups are "targeting Signal Messenger to spy on persons of interest."
A Signal spokesperson told NPR that the memo wasn't about Signal's security but about phishing attacks on the platform. So, if you're using the app, be especially mindful of attempts to trick you into linking devices to your account. Or simply communicate through different channels.
The Pentagon directive follows a scandal that, at least in previous eras, would have ended the careers of a long list of high-profile officials. (In this one who knows?) The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported on Monday that a group of Trump administration national security officials inadvertently included him in a Signal group chat discussing military strikes in Yemen.
Andrew Harnik via Getty Images
The conversation included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, among others. They with Goldberg essentially CC'd discussed the timing, targets and weapons involved in bombing Houthi sites in Yemen.
A 2023 Department of Defense memo prohibited using mobile apps for even "controlled unclassified information." NPR notes that military planning is many degrees more sensitive than that. And that doesn't even cover accidentally including a journalist in the conversation.
The entire Atlantic article is worth a read, but a few gems from the chat include Hegseth's writing, "I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It's PATHETIC." And, "Nobody knows who the Houthis are which is why we would need to stay focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded."
Adding to the "It would be hilarious if it weren't so dangerous" nature of the fiasco, Hegseth went on camera to deny the chat's authenticity after the White House confirmed it.
Although the fallout is still taking shape, here's an early taste. Watch below as retired US Navy captain and current US Senator Mark Kelly grills Gabbard and Ratcliffe on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/the-pentagon-warns-government-officials-that-signal-is-being-targeted-by-russian-hackers-203436757.html?src=rss
We hear Signal is in the news. As longtime fans of the app, and secure messaging more broadly, we feel like it's our duty at Engadget to ensure you know how to use the software properly.
Download Signal
Signal is available on Android and iOS, as well as nearly every desktop operating system, including Windows and macOS. You can download the app by clicking one of the links provided above, or typing in "Signal Messenger" in your device's app store. Once you've installed the app, proceed to set up an account using your phone number or an alias.
Note: If you want to install Signal on a workplace phone or computer, be sure to obtain approval from your employer; some organizations, such as the US government, either actively discourage or downright disallow use of the app.
Create a new group
Wonderful, you've downloaded Signal! Now, to create a group chat, follow these steps:
Tap the compose icon at the top of the interface.
Select New Group.
Add participants by selecting their name from your contact list, or inputting their username or phone number.
Give your group a name (and a profile picture if you want).
If the contents are especially sensitive, you may wish to enable Disappearing Messages and select an expiration time.
As you're in the process of adding new participants to a group, be sure to verify you're adding the right people.
Some useful tips
I would also suggest making use of Signal's Permissions feature to limit who can invite people to your chat.
Open your group chat and tap the group name to view the chat settings.
Scroll down and select Permissions.
Under "Add Members," tap Only Admins.
One of the ways someone can join your group chat is through a group link or QR Code. For additional security, you can set it so that admins must approve group link invites before the invitee can join.
Open your group chat and tap the group name to view the chat settings.
Scroll down and select Group Link.
Switch the toggle to on.
Maybe you know exactly who you can trust, but the guy down the hall might not!
If you tend to get mixed up on names easily, Signal allows you to assign nicknames to users. After all, no one wants a case of mistaken identity.
Open your group chat and tap the group name to view the chat settings.
Under "Members," select the name of the individual you want to assign a nickname to.
Type in a name. You can also add a note, say describing the person's profession, in case you need additional context.
Nicknames are only visible to you, so don't be embarrassed to use them.
How to remove someone from your group chat
Look, even the best of us can make mistakes. Thankfully, Signal makes it easy to remove someone from a conversation thread.
Open your group chat and tap the group name to view the chat settings.
Under "Members," select the name of the individual you want to remove.
Tap Remove From Group.
How to delete messages in a Signal group chat
So you somehow got through all of the above steps, added someone you shouldn't have and sent information that a relative stranger likely shouldn't have seen. Lets be honest, you're an edge case. But there's still hope if you caught your mistakes early.
Tap and hold the message on mobile (or hover the message bubble on desktop),
Select Delete.
Select Delete for Everyone.
Now there's less chance of, for instance, a record of your civil and perhaps even criminal mishaps being shared to a notable reporter in a form potentially open to legal discovery.
Ultimately, no matter how secure the messaging platform, if what you need to talk about is very, very sensitive, it's probably best to just "get everyone in a room together."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/how-to-add-someone-to-a-signal-group-chat-201430756.html?src=rss
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has been delayed again. Publisher Paradox Interactive announced today that it is now targeting release in October 2025 instead of the first half of this year. "Paradox Interactive and The Chinese Room are committed to delivering this game, and we believe that ensuring great technical quality is more important than sticking to a specific date," the company said.
Creating the sequel has been a trial of endurance that would test even an immortal undead's patience. Paradox parted ways with the game's original developer, Hardsuit Labs, in 2021. The Chinese Room, which made notable indie games Dear Esther and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, joined the project as developer in 2023. Today's update from offered some encouragement that the project is now in "a late development stage," however it has decided to discontinue dev diaries that offered behind-the-scenes peeks at progress.
The original Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines game came out in 2004 after its own challenging development. Made by the now-shuttered Troika Studios, it was an story-driven game inspired by a tabletop RPG about several vampire clans in a modern-day Los Angeles. It was a commercial flop, but acquired a loyal audience over the years and even cultivated a community for mods and fan games.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/vampire-the-masquerade---bloodlines-2-is-now-slated-to-launch-in-october-2025-194649207.html?src=rss
If you live in a rural area of the UK, you may soon be able to use your phone for satellite calls, messages and other standard data use. On Tuesday, the nation's telecom regulator, Ofcom, proposed using direct-to-device satellite tech to connect people in the UK's "most rural and hard-to-reach places," like mountains and remote villages.
Ofcom sees the tech complementing traditional networks, aiming to provide 100 percent mobile coverage in the UK. The regulator said the tech could also provide backup coverage during outages, offer service to ships and passengers in coastal waters without a connection and provide emergency 999 services (the UK's version of 911) in remote areas.
In January, British telecom Vodafone made the world's first satellite video call using a standard mobile phone on a remote mountain in west Wales.
Regarding the regulatory details, Ofcom suggests amending existing mobile spectrum licenses for frequencies already used by cellular providers (below 3 GHz). However, the regulator also offered alternative approaches, including introducing a new license for satellite services or allowing license-exempt use if certain conditions are met. Regardless of its specific policy approach, Ofcom said strict conditions would be attached to avoid interference with existing spectrum users in the UK and overseas.
Ofcom is opening a consultation period with stakeholders from now to May 20. Depending on the feedback it receives, it could begin authorizing direct-to-device calls later this year.
The iPhone 14 series was the first standard handset to offer direct-to-satellite emergency messaging. In iOS 18, Apple expanded the functionality beyond crises to any situation where you're off the grid. The Samsung Galaxy S25 series and Google Pixel 9 recently added similar functionality.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-uk-could-greenlight-direct-to-phone-satellite-services-this-year-183504094.html?src=rss
Sunderfolk, a game that borrows elements from tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons and couch party games like Jackbox, has a launch date. The fantasy RPG from Dreamhaven (the stomping ground of Blizzard co-founder and former CEO Mike Morhaime) arrives on April 23. You can play a demo today through April 7.
While virtual tabletops like Wizards of the Coast's Sigil act as video game-like extensions of a traditional tabletop experience, Sunderfolk's premise is in using modern technology to simulate something like D&D but with more accessibility to casual players. Here, your phone becomes the deck of cards (and controller), while your TV or monitor is the game board. Although it supports remote play, this one sounds tailor-made for couch co-op.
The game's story retreads familiar fantasy tropes, like a town of peaceful inhabitants invaded by dark and creepy monsters. Here, the heroes are a clan of anthropomorphic animals who each fit a familiar class like arcanist, bard, berserker, pyromancer, ranger or rogue. You can customize each with weapons, armor, items and skills as they level up. (When in doubt, play the classics!)
Dreamhaven
"We were, with Sunderfolk, really trying to create something that would inspire people to get together in person," Game Director Erin Marek said in a preview trailer. "We wanted it to feel similar to a game night, getting together to play a board game or getting together to play D&D with a group of friends or family or loved ones that you really care about. And to share that experience together side-by-side."
You can gather your cohorts to try the game for free on GeForce Now from now to April 7. The preview gives you access to all playable characters and an early part of the game. Fortunately, you don't need a paid GeForce membership; a free account will do.
Sunderfolk will cost $50 and be playable Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X and Switch. But only the party member running the big-screen device needs to own the game; the phone app (iOS and Android) for your pals will be a free download when the game launches on April 23.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/dreamhavens-tabletop-rpg-party-game-sunderfolk-arrives-on-april-23-183006473.html?src=rss
Google has the pedal to the metal on its AI development. Just a few months after the debut of Gemini 2.0, the tech giant has unveiled another upgrade in Gemini 2.5. As with any new AI launch, Google is touting a strong performance on LMArena for Gemini 2.5, particularly its capabilities in coding, mathematics and science.
The first model in this series is Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental. Google said this is a thinking model that's intended to provide responses grounded in more reasoning, analysis and context than the answers offered by classification- and prediction-driven models. It's a different approach than Google took with the Gemini 2.0 series, which started off with the more efficient and less expensive Flash version.
"With Gemini 2.5, we've achieved a new level of performance by combining a significantly enhanced base model with improved post-training," the company said in a blog post attributed to Koray Kavukcuoglu, CTO of Google DeepMind. "Going forward, were building these thinking capabilities directly into all of our models, so they can handle more complex problems and support even more capable, context-aware agents."
Google had only just started rolling out Gemini 2.0 to its services, using it to power the newly added AI Mode in search and Deep Research for handling more complex queries. With today's launch, expect to hear more updates from the company about getting this latest version. Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental is available now in Google AI Studio, and Gemini Advanced members can use it directly in the Gemini app.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-releases-gemini-25-ai-model-for-complex-thinking-182352224.html?src=rss
OpenAI just announced that all users will soon be able to generate images directly inside of ChatGPT. Its rolling out to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Team and, most importantly, Free users. This will be the default image generation tool in 4o, so there will be no need to open Dall-E whenever you want to whip up a picture of a cat in space eating lasagna or whatever. The features also coming to Sora.
The company says that the platform will "generate high-quality images based on your prompt, conversation and uploaded files." To the latter point, itll be able to transform pre-existing images based on prompts. OpenAI is also boasting about significant improvements in text rendering and contextual understanding.
These new tools are intended for both personal and professional use. As such, OpenAI gives a number of examples as to where this type of image generation could come in handy. These include the creation of infographics, social media promotional graphics and images with plenty of text, as seen below.
OpenAI
This being a modern generation tool, it can also handle high-end visuals. The company says it offers a "strong capability for photorealism, including light, shadow, and texture accuracy." The ability to understand context could also be useful, as OpenAI says this could be used to create a poster of birds found in Central Park or a "visualization of an art history era discussed previously in the conversation."
Say hello to GPT-4o, our new flagship model which can reason across audio, vision, and text in real time: https://t.co/MYHZB79UqNText and image input rolling out today in API and ChatGPT with voice and video in the coming weeks. pic.twitter.com/uuthKZyzYx OpenAI (@OpenAI) May 13, 2024
It's built on GPT-4o, an AI model that was first released last year. The "o" stands for "omni", which is a reference to the models multimodal capabilities. This is what allows many of the aforementioned features, like being able to iterate on uploaded files. Todays news looks like another step on the long road toward the one AI to rule them all functionality that Sam Altman teased a few weeks back.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/now-you-can-generate-images-directly-from-chatgpt-and-sora-180047905.html?src=rss
Apple announced that its Worldwide Developers Conference will be on June 9-13. The company is usually consistent with its event timing, so Tim Cook will probably take the stage to start the keynote on June 9 at 10AM PT/1PM ET.
We've already heard that iOS 19 and macOS 16 will be sporting new looks, so expect a focus on the latest software changes. And there's no way we won't be getting more Apple Intelligence updates. It was a core part of the iOS 18.3 update that rolled out at the start of the year and Apple has had struggles with some of the AI-powered features, particularly its notification summaries. One thing we don't anticipate seeing is the long-awaited update to Siri that will offer more personalization, also courtesy of Apple Intelligence. That project hit a delay in March and, no matter how hard we might hope otherwise, it seems unlikely the issues will all be resolved by June.
Although the keynote is happening in-person at Apple Park, the rest of WWDC will take place online and is free for developers to attend.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-schedules-wwdc-2025-for-june-9-13-171840700.html?src=rss
Waymo is continuing to expand its foothold across the US, having recently started offering paid robotaxi services in more parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. Next up are Atlanta and Miami, and now the company has revealed plans to offer its driverless Waymo One service in the nation's capital in 2026.
Before that can happen, though, Waymo will need to get approval from regulators. The company says it will "continue to work closely with policymakers to formalize the regulations needed to operate without a human behind the wheel in the District." DC currently requires autonomous vehicles to have a human at the wheel, ready to take control if necessary.
Our priority remains ensuring that any company operating in the District such as Waymo does so in a manner that prioritizes safety, aligns with our regulatory framework, and integrates seamlessly into DCs unique transportation ecosystem, German Vigil, a spokesman for the District Department of Transportation, told The Washington Post. He noted that the agency is refining its approach to regulation "based on public input, emerging best practices and lessons learned from other jurisdictions.
Waymo has tested its vehicles in DC for several years and it plans to "continue introducing ourselves to DCs communities and emergency responders over the coming months." Per the Post, if and when Waymo One does become available in the District, the robotaxis would not take riders to any of the region's airports, as they wouldn't (at least at the outset) have a permit to cross into Maryland or Virginia.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/waymo-aims-to-offer-paid-robotaxi-rides-in-washington-dc-next-year-161523916.html?src=rss
