Tag Archives: hacking

Unlocking Solutions: How Dream Hacking Can Help You Solve Complex Problems While You Sleep

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One of the study participants fell asleep during the experiment.

Mia Lux

Your brain can be gently nudged to tackle complex problems in your sleep, enhancing your ability to solve them upon waking.

Neuroscientists and psychologists are increasingly employing techniques involving sound, touch, movement, and particularly olfactory stimuli to influence dreams. This innovative approach demonstrates potential for applications like helping smokers quit, treating chronic nightmares, and even enhancing creativity.

Now, Karen Koncoly and her team at Northwestern University in Illinois have revealed that this technique may also aid in problem-solving. The researchers enlisted 20 self-identified lucid dreamers—individuals aware that they are dreaming and able to control their narratives—and tasked them with solving puzzles in two sessions within a sleep lab. Each puzzle was associated with unique soundtracks, featuring soothing elements like birdsong and steel drums.

The researchers meticulously monitored participants’ brain and eye movements to pinpoint when they transitioned into the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep, which is known for its vivid and imaginative dreams. Upon entering this phase, a selection of unresolved puzzles was paired with the corresponding soundtracks. Participants were prompted to demonstrate lucidity by executing at least two rapid eye movements from left to right, indicating they were aware of the sound cues while striving to solve the puzzles in their dreams.

The following morning, participants reported that those who listened to the soundtracks during sleep found the puzzle features prominently featured in their dreams, significantly boosting their chances of solving them. Approximately 40% of participants who dreamed about puzzles managed to solve them, while only 17% who didn’t dream of the puzzles could achieve the same.

While the exact reasons behind these findings remain unclear, it’s suggested that pairing sound stimuli with learning tasks while awake may activate the memory of the puzzle when hearing the same sound during sleep, through a process known as targeted memory reactivation. This appears to activate the hippocampus—an essential brain region for memory—prompting what may resemble a spontaneous reactivation of memories that facilitates learning.

Although dreams can manifest at any stage of sleep, Konkoly indicates that targeting REM sleep may enhance problem-solving capabilities. “REM dreams are highly associative and atypical, blending new and prior memories with imaginative thought,” she states. “During this stage, your brain is quite active, potentially allowing for unrestricted access to various sections of your mind.”

Researcher Karen Concoly prepares a participant for the study by fitting a cap to their head that records brain activity.

Karen Konkoly

Tony Cunningham and researchers at Harvard University affirm that this study indicates “individuals may consciously focus on unresolved issues while dreaming.”

However, some experts caution that dream engineering could interfere with the critical functions of sleep, such as clearing toxins from the brain. There are concerns about the potential for companies to exploit these findings by placing ads within personal devices, which Cunningham particularly highlights. “Our senses are already bombarded during waking hours by advertisements, emails, and work stress; sleep remains one of the few times of respite,” he notes.

Koncoly plans to explore why certain individuals exhibit varying responses to sound stimuli on different days. “During this study, I stayed up all night monitoring brainwaves and providing cues during REM sleep. Sometimes participants would signal a response, and other times, they wouldn’t. Occasionally, they would wake and incorporate relevant puzzles into their dreams, while at other times, they simply processed the sound without any further reaction. Why do identical stimuli manifest differently in the same state of consciousness?”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

From Fun to Responsibility: Inspiring Young Gamers to Embrace Ethical Hacking and Cybersecurity

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Video games have evolved significantly since their rise in popularity in the 1970s, leading to a remarkable surge in players. Today, there are around 3 billion gamers globally, with estimates indicating that over 90% of Gen Z engage in gaming for more than 12 hours a week. Contemporary gaming blockbusters are vibrant and imaginative, immersing young people in dynamic and expansive worlds they can explore and influence.

This burgeoning creative talent has caught the attention of criminals, who target children and teenagers within popular online games, transforming them into skilled hackers.

The financial and societal repercussions of cybercrime are staggering. It is predicted that global costs of cybercrime will reach: 12 trillion dollars by 2025. Moreover, research indicates that 69% of youth in Europe report having engaged in some form of cybercrime. In the UK, the last statistics released by the National Crime Agency in 2015 revealed that the average age for cybercrime suspects is 17, which is notably younger than for other criminal activities like drug offenses (37 years old).

“If you’re facing arrest at 17, it likely began around age 11,” states Fergus Hay, co-founder and CEO of The Hacking Games, an initiative aimed at helping young individuals channel their coding talents into legitimate paths. “This transition doesn’t happen instantly. Games are often the gateway that enables skill development and experimentation in a controlled setting. These young hackers are continually modifying and hacking games to exploit vulnerabilities.”

He further noted that social media platforms are integral, offering tools and steps for hacking while also fostering a desirable lifestyle and community belonging.

This challenge coincides with a notable uptick in serious cyber-attacks within the UK. The National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) recently reported a historic surge in large-scale cyber assaults. In the year leading to August 2025, GCHQ categorized 204 incidents as being of ‘national significance,’ an increase from 89 the prior year.

In response to these threats, Hay initiated the Hacking Games and collaborated with John Madeline, a cybersecurity expert, to realize a vision of “cultivating a generation of ethical hackers who will enhance global safety.”

“This is a generation of inherent hackers. They can either serve society positively or become a liability. If we can engage them, we can guide them towards becoming ethical rather than criminal hackers,” Madeline emphasizes.

The Hacking Games recently unveiled the HAPTAI platform, which assists in creating hacking aptitude profiles for youths by evaluating their performance in popular games and aligning those results with psychometric data. Subsequently, candidates are matched with suitable job roles and teams where they can flourish.

The projected global average annual cost of cybercrime is $23 trillion by 2027, fueled by threats from state entities and organized crime groups worldwide. These groups often seek out young individuals, steering them towards criminal activities.

For youths approached by these “cyber Fagins,” there is a lure of significant financial gain. Initial payments often come in the form of virtual currencies for gaming but can escalate to tens of thousands in real money or its virtual equivalent.




They approach young hackers and offer payment for their abilities, often using cryptocurrencies. Composite: Stocksy/Guardian Design

“When they identify talent displaying genuine hacking or game modification skills, they engage them under the guise of another youth, asking, ‘How would you utilize cryptocurrency?'” Hay explains. “Many are exceptionally bright, sometimes neurodivergent, employing games as a medium to push creative boundaries. They do not inherently possess a criminal mindset.”

The scale of the cybercrime issue in the UK has become increasingly evident over the past year, with businesses experiencing significant disruption and monetary loss. Major corporations, including Co-op, have reported losses amounting to millions due to hacking incidents, one of which saw four arrests as part of an ongoing investigation by the National Crime Agency.

Social Issues Behind Crime

As a socially conscious organization, Co-op is dedicated to community enhancement and has partnered with The Hacking Games to mitigate future cyber threats and foster opportunities for vulnerable youth.

“When they experienced a cyberattack, Co-op sought to understand the nature of the issue. Upon discovering underlying societal factors, they recognized their responsibility to grasp the root causes impacting youth and to collaborate with us to address these challenges, not just the technical aspects,” Madeline clarifies.

The Co-op has a longstanding tradition of community initiatives addressing issues like social mobility and isolation. Together, Co-op and The Hacking Games aim to establish a pilot program within the Co-op Academies Trust across Northern England. Sponsored by Co-op Group, the Trust encompasses a network of 38 academies with around 20,000 students, including primary, secondary, special schools, and universities, dedicated to guiding aspiring hackers towards legitimate career trajectories.

For this pilot, students will be selected based on their interests in gaming and technology. Through interactive and creative sessions, participants will delve into the principles of ethical hacking and understand its crucial role in cybersecurity. The program will also highlight career education, with reputable industry partners introducing talented youths to the vast prospects available in this rapidly expanding domain.

“Our academy students’ curiosity about technology-related roles is on the rise, yet there is scant data regarding their home gaming environments and whether these interests extend to hacking,” remarks Joe Sykes, careers director at Co-op Academies Trust. “As educators, we must confront these challenges directly—this initiative will undoubtedly provide fresh perspectives and foster insights for students eager to explore these pathways.”




Hay and Madeline aspire to bridge the cybersecurity skills gap by showcasing the potential of gifted young developers. Composite: Stocksy/Guardian Design

A Path to a Legitimate Career

Young gamers may find themselves simply altering game experiences without authorization or creating cheat codes to sell them on the dark web.

Some parents associated with The Hacking Games have only discovered their child’s online activities when asked about tax implications after their digital wallets reached $400,000 (£298,000).

“For the youth unsure about further education, many are starting to realize that substantial earnings can come from just a few keystrokes,” explains Madeline.

According to Hay and Madeline, it’s essential to engage young individuals before they stray too far, to identify their skills, recognize their potential, and integrate these into an educational framework that aims to fill the cybersecurity skills gap in the UK and globally—a concept Hay refers to as “intergenerational opportunities.”

“Many of these youths have felt marginalized in school and, at times, victimized. They possess a deep disdain for wrongdoers and bullies. If you understand their motivations, you can channel that into something positive,” he concludes.

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Source: www.theguardian.com

Age Verification Hacking Firm Possibly Exposes ID Photos of Discord Users | Social Media

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Photos of government IDs belonging to approximately 70,000 global Discord users, a widely used messaging and chat application amongst gamers, might have been exposed following a breach at the firm responsible for conducting age verification procedures.

Along with the ID photos, details such as users’ names, email addresses, other contact information, IP addresses, and interactions with Discord customer support could also have fallen prey to the hackers. The attacker is reportedly demanding a ransom from the company. Fortunately, full credit card information or passwords were not compromised.

The incident was disclosed last week, but news of the potential ID photo leak came to light on Wednesday. A representative from the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office, which oversees data breaches, stated: “We have received a report from Discord and are assessing the information provided.”

The images in question were submitted by users appealing age-related bans via Discord’s customer service contractors, which is a platform that allows users to communicate through text, voice, and video chat for over a decade.


Some nations, including the UK, mandate age verification for social media and messaging services to protect children. This measure has been in effect in the UK since July under the Online Safety Act. Cybersecurity professionals have cautioned about the potential vulnerability of age verification providers, which may require sensitive government-issued IDs, to hackers aware of the troves of sensitive information.

Discord released a statement acknowledging: “We have recently been made aware of an incident wherein an unauthorized individual accessed one of Discord’s third-party customer service providers. This individual obtained information from a limited number of users who reached out to Discord through our customer support and trust and safety teams… We have identified around 70,000 users with affected accounts globally whose government ID photos might have been disclosed. Our vendors utilized those photos for evaluating age-related appeals.”

Discord requires users seeking to validate their age to upload a photo of their ID along with their Discord username to return to the platform.

Nathan Webb, a principal consultant at the British digital security firm Acumen Cyber, remarked that the breach is “very concerning.”

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“Even if age verification is outsourced, organizations must still ensure the proper handling of that data,” he emphasized. “It is crucial for companies to understand that delegating certain functions does not relieve them of their obligation to uphold data protection and security standards.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

South Korea Elevates Cyber Threat Levels Following Data Center Incident that Triggered Hacking Nightmare

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South Korea’s intelligence agency has elevated the national cyber threat level due to fears that hackers may exploit the chaos caused by recent fires in government data centers, which have disrupted crucial digital infrastructure nationwide.

The National Cybersecurity Centre, managed by the Intelligence Reporting Agency, has raised its alert from “Warning” to “Warning” as of Monday, highlighting fears that hackers could take advantage of the vulnerabilities during recovery efforts.

The incident occurred on Friday evening at the National Information Resources Service in Great Jeon, approximately 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of Seoul. This facility is one of three operational government data centers that handle critical digital infrastructure across the nation.

Workers had relocated a Lithium-ion battery from the server room on the fifth floor to the basement when the fire started. It spread to other nearby batteries and servers, resulting in one worker sustaining first-degree burns, while firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze after 22 hours.


By Saturday morning, officials had shut down 647 government systems to prevent further damage. Government email and intranet systems were offline, along with mobile identification services, postal banks, complaint portals, and major government websites.

Schools lost access to student records, and tax deadlines passed without being processed. Real estate transactions faced delays due to the inability to verify digital documents. The national crematorium reservation system was impacted, and many hospitals and transport terminals initially left citizens without physical identification cards.

As of 1 PM on Tuesday, 89 out of the 647 affected systems had been restored, including significant government portals, postal services, and identity verification systems.

Officials estimate that 96 of the affected systems have suffered complete failure, necessitating a recovery period of about four weeks as they are moved to a large backup facility. This disruption is expected to persist through Chuseok, the major public holiday in early October.

President Lee Jae Myung issued an apology on Sunday. During a crisis meeting, he expressed dismay at the lack of a backup operating system, stating, “It was a foreseeable incident, but there were no countermeasures. It’s not that the measures didn’t work; they simply didn’t exist.”

When questioned about the backup procedures, an official remarked that they were “driving without a map.”

The upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, set to be hosted in the southeastern city of Kyoto at the end of October, has raised security concerns as officials from the US, China, and other regions plan to attend.

In October 2022, a fire involving a lithium-ion battery at Kakao, the company behind the popular messaging app KakaoTalk, resulted in millions losing access to messaging, taxis, and digital payments, leading to national chaos.

Following the Kakao incident, parliament passed legislation mandating redundant systems and intervals between batteries and other equipment for internet service providers and data center operators.

The left-leaning Hankyoreh newspaper questioned what last week’s failures indicated about “a nation that prides itself on being an information technology powerhouse.”

In a similar vein, the conservative Dong-a Ilbo remarked that referring to South Korea as a digital leader has become “embarrassing.”

Lawmakers from both the ruling party and the opposition have traded blame regarding the responsibility for the crisis. President’s Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-Sik directed authorities on Monday to focus on resolving the issue rather than criticizing the previous administration.

Source: www.theguardian.com

ICE Acquires Israeli-Made Spyware Capable of Hacking Phones and Encrypted Apps

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Following the Trump administration’s decision, US immigration agents now have access to one of the most advanced hacking tools available globally, having secured a contract with Paragon Solutions, a company based in Israel, to develop spyware capable of infiltrating any phone, including encrypted applications.

The Department of Homeland Security initially established a contract with Paragon, a subsidiary of a US firm, in late 2024 during the Biden administration. However, this $2 million contract was suspended pending confirmation of an executive order that limits the application of US government spyware, as reported by Wired at that time.

According to recent updates, the suspension has been lifted. Public Procurement Documents now identify US Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) as the contracting agency.

This signifies that one of the most potent stealth cyber weapons ever engineered—created outside the United States—now resides with agencies that have been repeatedly accused of violating due process rights by private sectors and human rights organizations.

This information was first highlighted by journalist Jack Paulson in the All Source Intelligence Saback Newsletter.

Neither Paragon nor ICE immediately responded to inquiries for comments.

Once effectively utilized against a target, the hacking software known as Graphite can infiltrate any phone. By essentially gaining control over the device, users (in this instance, ICE) can monitor an individual’s location, access messages, view photos, and even read data stored in encrypted applications like WhatsApp and Signal. Additionally, spyware such as Graphite can function as a listening device by activating the phone’s recorder.

An executive order signed by the Biden administration sought to implement restrictions on the use of spyware by the US government, asserting that it must refrain from operating commercial spyware that poses significant risks to intellectual property or security concerns for the US, or creates a substantial risk of inappropriate usage by foreign entities. The Biden administration even took the extraordinary step of blacklisting rival spyware manufacturer NSO Group, underlining their alleged facilitation of targeted attacks on the mobile phones of adversaries, human rights defenders, and journalists.

Paragon aims to differentiate itself from NSO Group, stating that it exclusively engages with democratic entities and has a strict policy against providing services to clients that may misuse the technology against civil society members, such as journalists. Paragon has yet to disclose its clients, claiming no insight into how its clientele may target particular individuals.

Spyware developers like Paragon and NSO assert that their technologies are intended for preventing crime and curtailing terrorist threats. Nevertheless, past incidents have showcased the software being misused to harass innocent individuals, including those perceived as opponents of the government.

John Scott Railton, a senior researcher at the University of Toronto, stated that spyware like Graphite is being exploited by governmental bodies. He remarked that such tools are “designed for dictatorship, not democracies that prioritize freedom and individual rights.”

“The invasive and secretive nature of hacking abilities is corrupting. Consequently, a growing number of democratic surveillance scandals, including those involving Paragon’s Graphite, are emerging,” he added.


Paragon severed ties with Italy after it was uncovered that 90 individuals, including journalists and civil society figures, had been targeted with spyware across multiple countries. Those targeted by the Italian government included rights advocates critical of its dealings with Libya. Several journalists were also among those targeted, yet the motivations behind these hacking campaigns remain unclear.

The US government is apprehensive about deploying spyware technology outside its borders, as the companies providing these technologies to various nations pose potential security threats.

“As long as the same commercial spyware technology is shared among multiple governments, a built-in counterintelligence risk is present. All these entities are aware of the secret surveillance technologies employed by the US and can anticipate how to detect and counteract them,” Scott Railton remarked. “We remain uncertain of the implications since we face a shortage of avenues to cancel all foreign contracts with Paragon.”

Nadine Farid Johnson, the policy director at Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, dedicated to promoting free speech, expressed concerns over the “rapid and dramatic expansion of ICE’s budget and authority,” calling for congressional restrictions on the contexts in which spyware may be employed.

“Spyware like Paragon’s Graphite represents a profound threat to free speech and privacy,” Farid Johnson stated. “It has been previously used against journalists, human rights advocates, and political dissenters. The quiet reinstatement of the suspension order raises serious questions over whether certain administrative departments are bypassing the government’s own review protocols.”

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Source: www.theguardian.com