Catch up on this month’s round-up of the latest hosting and tech news. Here’s what we’ve uncovered since our last edition.
UK eVTOLs
The UK government has pledged over £20 million to fast-track the development of commercial electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOLs), like drones and flying taxis. The ‘Future of Flight’ action plan, which brings together regulators, operators and local communities, aims to transform UK aviation, reduce carbon emissions and improve transport in areas such as healthcare, emergency services, infrastructure and logistics. It is hoped that the first British flying taxis will be operational by 2028.
In addition, the Civil Aviation Authority will receive £16.5 million to develop procedures that enable drones to fly safely beyond visual sight and to integrate electric air taxis. Key projects include developing a roadmap for piloted eVTOLs, setting guidelines for drone operations and establishing new safety protocols for uncrewed air traffic. Additional funding from Innovate UK will be used to assist regional demonstrations and commercialisation.
Time Travel Hackers
Following a recent surge in the use of Medusa ransomware, security analysts have found that cybercriminals are adjusting system clocks to evade checks on expired certificates, enabling them to load outdated and vulnerable drivers. By changing a device’s system date back to when a certificate was still valid, essentially sending the system back in time, hackers can bypass current security measures and install the ransomware.
Medusa is often installed after hackers gain access through phishing or by exploiting software vulnerabilities. Once they have access, hackers utilise tools already on the system to work without being detected, using PowerShell commands and obscure scripts to hide their activity. After disabling antivirus software, they can import malicious files, identify valuable data and deploy the ransomware unnoticed. Victims are then asked to pay a double ransom, once for decryption and once to prevent the valuable data from being published online.
AI Fashion Models
High street and online fashion chain, H&M, plans to replace human fashion models in photo shoots. Instead, it will use AI to create digital twins of 30 current models, and these will be used for future marketing and social media content.
The project, developed in collaboration with Swedish tech company Uncut, aims to reduce production costs and speed up content creation. While new clothing will still need to be photographed to superimpose on AI models, fashion shoots will not need set designers, lighting technicians, hair stylists, make-up artists and others, radically reducing costs and cutting down the amount of time needed to generate the images.
The human models used in the project will continue to get paid when their images are reused but will not need to travel to or participate in photo shoots. Models will also maintain their rights over their AI representations. H&M is not the only fashion brand considering generative AI; Levi’s and Hugo Boss are also investigating similar technologies.
AI Security Gaps
A recent report from penetration testing outfit, Cobalt, indicates that some security leaders are overestimating their company’s ability to withstand cyberattacks. The 2025 State of Pentesting Report shows that less than half of the vulnerabilities identified during penetration tests are being fixed, with this number rising to over two-thirds for critical issues.
The situation is even more worrying when it comes to generative AI. While 95% of companies evaluated their AI applications in the last year, 32% discovered serious vulnerabilities, such as prompt injection and data leaks. However, only 21% of these high-risk AI issues were addressed.
While 72% of security leaders see AI attacks as their main concern, only half feel confident that they can identify and mitigate vulnerabilities within their supply chain. What’s more, while 81% claim to have trust in their security, the data suggests that this is somewhat overconfident.
AI Energy Council
The UK government has held the first meeting of its new AI Energy Council, which includes major tech companies like Microsoft, ARM, Google and Amazon, alongside energy leaders from National Grid, Ofgem, EDF and others.
The council’s aim is to ensure that the UK’s rapid AI development makes best use of sustainable and accessible energy solutions. As datacentres and AI operations have significant energy demands, the Council will investigate clean energy options, including renewables and nuclear power, so that AI growth maintains environmental standards.
The project is a key part of the government’s broader Plan for Change, aimed at promoting economic growth through advancements in digital technology and energy. The government has already initiated several AI Growth Zones and is making changes to the national grid to provide hundreds of gigawatts of much-needed energy capacity. With the potential that AI energy demands could exceed global electricity production by 2033, the Council will be crucial in ensuring that the UK’s clean energy infrastructure can keep pace with technological progress.
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