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The number of malware samples targeting Android is rising, experts warnThe majority are banking trojans and infostealersKaspersky urges users to be careful when downloading appsMobile malware and other attacks targeting Android users are on the rise, new research has claimed.Security researchers from Kaspersky have argued people should be paying a lot more attention to the security of their smartphones than they do at the moment.In its “IT threat evolution in Q1 2025: mobile statistics” report, Kaspersky claims the number of detected malware samples increased by more than a quarter (27%) between Q1 2025 and Q4 2024, when the researchers detected 180,000 malware samples.Triada and TurkeyThese samples were blocked on more than 12 million smartphone users (up 36% compared to Q4 2024), Kaspersky added, stressing that the upward trend in attacked users “continued since Q3 2024”.While there are several factors contributing to the growth in Android-based malware, Kaspersky hints that the biggest one is the activity in certain malware families, which operated in certain geographies. The researchers singled out the Mamont banking trojan as rather active “over the last months”, stealing banking credentials, text messages, and personal data.They also mentioned the Triada backdoor, which was installed on rip-offs of popular smartphone brands. They were part of a supply chain attack, as they were installed on brand new phones, some time between the devices leaving the factory and reaching the marketplace.“Triada can modify cryptocurrency wallet addresses during transfer attempts, replace links in browsers, send arbitrary text messages and intercept replies, and steal login credentials for messaging and social media apps,” Kaspersky explained.Finally, the researcher said a number of banking trojans targeted people in Turkey, including Coper (equipped with RAT capabilities), BrowBot, Hqwar, and Agent.sm.“Users may mistakenly believe their smartphones are inherently more secure than PCs, but the reality is that mobile malware, like the sophisticated Trojans we explored over the last months, are increasingly active,” commented Anton Kivva, Malware Analyst Team Lead at Kaspersky.“The misconception of default protection stems from allegedly curated app stores and operating system restrictions, but social engineering tactics and modern mobile malware, including preinstalled mobile Trojans, exploit these false securities.”To stay safe, Kaspersky recommends users only download apps from official app stores, but only after checking app reviews and download counts. Even when the apps are downloaded, users should check the permissions they’re asking for, and make sure to update the OS and important apps as soon as the updates are available.You might also likeThis devious Android malware adds fake contacts to your phone to spoof trusted callersTake a look at our guide to the best authenticator appWe've rounded up the best password managers

Paid ChatGPT subscribers get an improved voice mode that’s more human-like than beforeIt can also handle live translations into other languagesSome minor problems remainAll users of ChatGPT on paid plans (so that’s Plus, Pro, Teams and Enterprise users) just got a nice little upgrade to its Advanced Voice Mode capabilities that makes it sound a lot more natural and human-like when it’s talking to you.Described by OpenAI as “significant”, the enhancements improve the intonation and naturalness of the voices in ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode. These are small tweaks, but it’s often the tiny details that make all the difference in making a computer voice sound realistic.If you listen closely now, there is subtler intonation and realistic cadence in ChatGPT's voice, and it has started to include pauses for emphasis. It also feels more natural when it’s expressing emotion, whether that’s empathy or sarcasm.In addition to the voice quality improvements, OpenAI has added better translation between languages. Now you can say something like, “Can you translate this into Spanish?”, and ChatGPT will translate everything you say into Spanish until you tell it to stop.Apps that can do this, like Google Translate, already exist of course, but being able to do this all within the ChatGPT app on your phone is handy and convenient.Better than beforeI’ve tried Advanced Voice Mode after the update, and it certainly does sound different than before. You can get an immediate taste of how it sounds by asking it to say something sarcastic. When you do, you'll hear the new tonal range ChatGPT uses and the way it uses pauses to great effect.I compared this to asking Gemini Live exactly the same thing, and the new ChatGPT Voice Mode definitely had a much richer expression of emotions.It’s also interesting to compare the voice quality on a ChatGPT free account with ChatGPT on a paid accounts now – the difference really is like night and day.Man or machine?The new ChatGPT is certainly more human-like, but I wouldn’t say it’s got to the level yet where it could fool anybody that it was an actual human.There are still a few computer-like oddities that stray in now and again when you're in ChatGPT using Voice Mode. In fact, OpenAI is aware of this, and has issued a note on its limitations, saying:“In testing, we've observed that this update may occasionally cause minor decreases in audio quality, including unexpected variations in tone and pitch. These issues are more noticeable with certain voice options. We expect to improve audio consistency over time."It also issued a warning about hallucinations:"Additionally, rare hallucinations in Voice Mode persist with this update, resulting in unintended sounds resembling ads, gibberish, or background music. We are actively investigating these issues and working toward a solution.”The upgrade is already live, just tap on the voice composer icon to the right in your message composer window inside the ChatGPT app on your phone to make use of it.You might also likeSam Altman says AI chats should be as private as ‘talking to a lawyer or a doctor’, but OpenAI could soon be forced to keep your ChatGPT conversations foreverWhy does ChatGPT forget what I told it last week? Everything you need to know about AI's memoryHow does ChatGPT know so much about everything? Here's where AI gets its knowledge from

Google Messages is finally rolling out its long-awaited snooze feature for chats, Android Police has spotted The feature will allow you to snooze chats for one hour, eight hours, or 24 hours, and there's also an 'Always' optionYou'll also be able to set it so that you receive alerts when someone mentions you in a chat, though its Mentions feature has yet to be rolled out It seems as though Google Messages’ long-awaited snooze feature is finally being rolled out, catching up to the likes of other messaging platforms Telegram and WhatsApp. The feature has been spotted in the latest Google Messages beta for both SMS and RCS messages, two months after the company started working on it.According to Android Police, one of the first outlets to spot the feature, the new ‘Snooze chat’ feature appears when you open a contact’s page in the Google Messages app, which allows you to silence chats for one hour, eight hours, 24 hours, or ‘Always’. Android Police also added that it will be rolling out to selected users, so not everyone will be able to access it right away.In addition to the four snoozing options, Android Police also spotted a setting that allows you to receive notifications if you’re mentioned (@) even if a chat has been snoozed. Recently Google has been toying with the idea of introducing a mentions feature for chats, and while this isn’t available yet, Android Authority believes it could be rolled out simultaneously with the snooze feature.(Image credit: Android Police)There are two ways to enable the ‘Snooze chat’ function. The first is by going to a contact’s page and enabling the feature there as mentioned above. Alternatively, you can long-press on a chat in your Google Messages inbox and a snooze icon will appear in the toolbar as Android Police has tested.Since it was released in 2014, Google Messages has never had a function that allows you to snooze chats until now. Instead, the only way to silence messages and group chats was to silence notifications manually, but that meant you’d need to manually enable them again and keep tabs on your conversations.Google Messages’ snooze feature is just one of its new features. Over the past few months the messaging service has been testing a handful of new upgrades, many of which are long overdue, including a ‘Delete for everyone’ un-send option. The company has also been paying a lot of attention to upgrading its group chat ecosystem, testing out new group chat links and custom group chat icons to match similar features found in WhatsApp.You might also likeGoogle Messages is getting another wave of updates – here are 8 you can expect to see soonGoogle Messages is finally going to get better at handling your lengthy textsGoogle Messages is getting an ‘unsubscribe’ button to tackle spam… finally!

YouTube is following in the potentially dangerous steps of Meta and X (formerly Twitter) by relaxing its content moderation policies. New internal training materials viewed by The New York Times instruct moderators to leave videos live if up to half its content violates YouTube's policies, an increase from a quarter of it. The platform introduced the new policy in mid-December, a month after President Trump was re-elected.

The new guidelines reflect what YouTube deems as "public interest." These areas include discussing or debating elections, movements, race, gender, immigration and more. "Recognizing that the definition of 'public interest' is always evolving, we update our guidance for these exceptions to reflect the new types of discussion we see on the platform today," Nicole Bell, a YouTube spokesperson, told The New York Times. "Our goal remains the same: to protect free expression on YouTube while mitigating egregious harm."

The platform has reportedly removed 22 percent more videos due to hateful and abusive content than last year. It's not clear how many videos were reported or would have been removed under the previous guidelines.

YouTube reportedly told moderators to now value keeping content up if it's a debate between freedom of expression and risk. For example, they were shown a video called "RFK Jr. Delivers SLEDGEHAMMER Blows to Gene-Altering JABS" which falsely stated that Covid vaccines can change people's genes. However, YouTube told the moderators that public interest "outweighs the harm risk" and the video should stay up. It has since been removed, though the reason why is unclear.

Other videos allowed to remain online included one with a slur aimed at a transgender person and one in which a commentator discussed a graphic demise for former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol.

Engadget has reached out to YouTube for comment.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/youtube/youtube-now-allows-more-harmful-misinformation-on-its-platform-133002902.html?src=rss

Looking for a different day?A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, June 9 (game #729).Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.NYT Connections today (game #730) - today's words(Image credit: New York Times)Today's NYT Connections words are…CHILLIMAGEMODERATERADICALTABLEJUDGECIVICCHAIRJURYWORDTEXT BOXCUSTOMSPSYCHCHARTHEAVYMEDIATENYT Connections today (game #730) - hint #1 - group hintsWhat are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?YELLOW: Come to an agreementBLUE: Ancient teen speakGREEN: PastePURPLE: Add a word that comes after “Tour of…”Need more clues?We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…NYT Connections today (game #730) - hint #2 - group answersWhat are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?YELLOW: ARBITRATEBLUE: '80S SLANG GREEN: THINGS YOU CAN INSERT IN A DOCUMENT PURPLE: __ DUTY Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.NYT Connections today (game #730) - the answers(Image credit: New York Times)The answers to today's Connections, game #730, are…YELLOW: ARBITRATE CHAIR, JUDGE, MEDIATE, MODERATEBLUE: '80S SLANG CHILL, PSYCH, RADICAL, WORDGREEN: THINGS YOU CAN INSERT IN A DOCUMENT CHART, IMAGE, TABLE, TEXT BOXPURPLE: __ DUTY CIVIC, CUSTOMS, HEAVY, JURYMy rating: ModerateMy score: 3 mistakesTHINGS YOU CAN INSERT IN A DOCUMENT felt a very familiar group. In fact it felt like work, which is maybe why I saw it immediately.I made three mistakes today by convincing myself that HEAVY should be included in the group that became ‘80S SLANG, trying every combination before taking it out completely.The reason for including it, is because it was something I remember being said about something that was serious, complicated and exhausting and therefore by association a bit boring in the 1980s. But it’s a word that’s travelled through the generations. Today, in the UK at least, it’s used to describe a bad situation. In all cases, you want to avoid things getting heavy.How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, June 9, game #729)YELLOW: KEYBOARD SHORTCUT COMMANDS PASTE, PRINT, QUIT, SAVEGREEN: SECURE IN ADVANCE BOOK, ORDER, REQUEST, RESERVEBLUE: CRIME ORGANIZATION CREW, FAMILY, RING, SYNDICATEPURPLE: SPELLING BEE RANKS MINUS A LETTER GENUS, GOO, MAZING, SLIDWhat is NYT Connections?NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.