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  • Outpost24 Launches AI Pentesting as Enterprises Deploy AI Faster Than They Can Secure It

    STOCKHOLM / PHILADELPHIA, April 18, 2026 — As AI models grow powerful enough to autonomously discover thousands of software vulnerabilities, the same technology is being embedded into enterprise applications at an unprecedented scale, often without any security testing designed for AI-specific risks. Outpost24, a leading global provider of cybersecurity solutions, today launched AI Pentesting, an expert-led adversarial testing service that helps mid-to-large enterprises find and fix security weaknesses in their AI-powered systems before attackers or autonomous AI models do.

    The new service extends Outpost24’s established penetration testing practice, drawing on more than five years of CREST-certified expertise and following OffSec’s AI-300 Advanced AI Red Teaming methodology. The launch comes as regulatory pressure intensifies, with the EU AI Act moving into its 2026 implementation phase and emerging models such as the NIST AI Risk Management Framework raising expectations for AI security due diligence.

    The OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications has formalized a category of attack vectors, including prompt injection, data leakage, unsafe output generation, and the exploitation of agent workflows, that existing application security tools were never designed to detect. Dynamic scanning, static code analysis, and API testing assess deterministic application logic; they cannot evaluate how a Large Language Model reasons, how it responds to adversarial inputs, or how it interacts with external tools and sensitive data it may access. The result is a widening blind spot that carries both operational and compliance consequences for any organization deploying AI at scale.

    AI Pentesting applies the same human-validation methodology behind Outpost24’s established penetration testing practice, adapted for the behavioral complexity of AI systems. Testing spans the full AI attack surface, including the model and prompt layer, RAG pipelines, agent workflows, and the supporting APIs and interfaces that connect them. Engagements begin with system discovery and mapping, then move through adversarial testing and access-context validation before concluding with analysis and audit-ready reporting. Unlike automated scanning tools, which identify known patterns but cannot simulate creative adversarial thinking, Outpost24’s specialists follow OSAI+ guidelines to evaluate application behavior under real-world adversarial conditions, informed by the work of the Outpost24 Threat Intelligence Team. Clients receive actionable findings ranked by severity with remediation guidance specific to AI and LLM architectures, delivered through Outpost24’s single platform alongside the company’s broader portfolio of security testing capabilities.

    Outpost24 Launches AI Pentesting as Enterprises Deploy AI Faster Than They Can Secure It

     

    “As organizations embed AI systems and LLMs into customer journeys and internal workflows, they create a new attack surface that traditional application testing was not built to measure. Prompt injection, sensitive data exposure, and unsafe agent behavior are only part of the picture. Closing that gap requires adversarial testing that treats AI behavior as part of the security boundary,” said Omri Kletter, Chief Product Officer at Outpost24.

    Outpost24 Launches AI Pentesting as Enterprises Deploy AI Faster Than They Can Secure It

    “We are seeing a pattern that should concern every security leader: AI systems deployed with implicit trust in their inputs, minimal access controls between models and internal infrastructure, and zero adversarial testing before production. Twenty years ago, we learned these lessons the hard way with web applications. The difference now is that the barrier to exploitation is dramatically lower, because an LLM can be manipulated through natural language rather than crafted code,” said Martin Jartelius, AI Product Director at Outpost24.

  • Iran Reopens Strait of Hormuz; Global Oil Prices Dip, Fuel Costs May Ease

    New Delhi, April 18(BNP): Iran’s decision to reopen the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz has led to a sharp decline in global oil prices, raising expectations of a possible reduction in petrol and diesel prices.

    Following the announcement, international crude oil prices dropped by around 10 per cent, as the resumption of commercial shipping through the key maritime route eased concerns over supply disruptions.

    The Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly a fifth of global oil supply passes, had faced disruptions due to geopolitical tensions in the region. Its reopening—linked to a temporary ceasefire—has improved market sentiment and stabilised energy supply expectations.

    Market analysts indicate that the decline in crude oil prices could translate into a reduction of fuel prices, with estimates suggesting a possible drop of around 10 per cent, depending on domestic pricing mechanisms and currency factors.

    However, experts caution that the situation remains fragile, with uncertainties over the durability of the ceasefire and security of shipping routes. Any renewed tensions could again impact global oil supply and price trends.

    The development is being closely watched by oil-importing countries like India, where changes in global crude prices directly influence retail fuel costs.

  • FSSAI Directs States to Enforce Ban on Calcium Carbide for Fruit Ripening

    New Delhi, April 18(BNP): The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has directed all states and Union Territories to strictly enforce regulations against the use of prohibited artificial fruit ripening agents.

    FSSAI Directs States to Enforce Ban on Calcium Carbide for Fruit Ripening

    According to a recent update shared by the authority, states have been instructed to ensure stringent checks and prevent the use of calcium carbide for artificial ripening of fruits such as mangoes, bananas, and papayas.

    FSSAI reiterated that calcium carbide, commonly known as ‘masala’, is banned due to the serious health risks associated with its use. The chemical releases acetylene gas, which may contain harmful impurities and can adversely affect human health.

    FSSAI Directs States to Enforce Ban on Calcium Carbide for Fruit Ripening

    The regulator has asked state authorities to intensify surveillance, conduct regular inspections, and take strict action against those found violating food safety norms.

    FSSAI also emphasized the importance of adopting safe and approved ripening methods, such as ethylene-based techniques, to ensure consumer safety. Consumers have been advised to remain cautious and avoid purchasing fruits that appear artificially ripened.

    The move is part of FSSAI’s ongoing efforts to curb unsafe food practices and ensure the availability of safe, quality food across the country.

  • Geminii to Present New Lung Cancer Data on Its Bioelectronic Therapy at AACR 2026

    CHICAGO, Apr 18: Geminii, Inc., a company developing bioelectronic medicines, today announced that it will present new data at the AACR Annual Meeting 2026 in San Diego highlighting its non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) program. The poster, titled “Bioelectromagnetic reprogramming of tumor-immune metabolism to selectively destroy NSCLC,” will be presented on April 22, 2026.

    The data to be presented show that Geminii’s bioelectronic therapy slowed tumor growth, extended survival, and enhanced the activity of chemoradiation in multiple preclinical NSCLC models without toxicity to healthy tissue. The studies also show increased markers consistent with tumor-cell damage and evidence of increased immune activation in the tumor microenvironment.

    Geminii is developing a non-invasive bioelectronic therapy designed to work alongside existing cancer treatments. The company believes these findings support the potential of its platform to address cancer through a differentiated mechanism, expand the reach of its platform beyond metabolic disease into oncology, and potentially open a new avenue for home-based cancer treatment delivered during sleep.

    “These findings are exciting not only because they highlight a differentiated approach in NSCLC, but also because they suggest our platform may extend beyond metabolic disease into oncology,” said Calvin Carter, PhD, CEO of Geminii. “We believe this work supports the broader potential of bioelectronic medicine and may help open a new avenue for at-home, sleep-compatible cancer therapy. These data support the advancement of our bioelectronic platform toward clinical development.”

     
     
     

     

  • As Polar Ice Changes, So Do the Rules Governing It

    Apr 18 (BNP): Sea ice is not just solid frozen water. It’s riddled with tiny pockets and channels of liquid brine. Whether those pockets connect to form pathways determines whether seawater, nutrients and gases can move through the ice, according to decades of research by University of Utah mathematician Ken Golden.

    In a new study, Golden and colleagues focus on granular sea ice, a type made of small, randomly oriented ice grains that is becoming more common as the polar regions continue warming. The scientists wanted to know when this type of ice becomes porous enough for fluids to flow vertically through it.

    They found a clear tipping point. In columnar ice, characterized by orderly crystals, fluid starts flowing when 5% of the ice volume is brine. But with granular ice, that threshold is twice as high, about 10%, indicating that in this type of ice, the brine phase is far less interconnected. This difference has major implications for microbial communities that form the base of the robust sea ice ecosystem and for various geophysical processes.

    “Going from 5% to 10% means that you need twice the porosity, twice the brine volume fraction to get flow. If algae are living in columnar ice versus living in granular ice, then there are quite different conditions under which they’ll get their food and nutrients,” said Golden, a distinguished professor mathematics. “It’s much harder to get it in granular ice. And there are other microorganisms, viruses and bacteria and nematodes and all sorts of other critters, that would be in the same boat.”

    In this study, Golden collaborated with Cynthia Furse, a U professor of electrical and computer engineering, to measure various properties of sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic. Their findings appear in Scientific Reports.

    Sea ice microstructures matter

    Like bone, sea ice is a multi-scale composite material, but where the host is pure ice, and the inclusions are brine.

    “The geometry, the connectivity, and the volume fraction of these inclusions depend dramatically on temperature,” Golden said. “The way that the fluid is arranged within the ice depends strongly on the polycrystalline structure. In other words, the conditions under which the ice is formed, which is the main distinction between columnar ice versus granular ice.”

    When sea ice forms in turbulent conditions, as often seen in the Antarctic, it is more likely to have a granular structure as opposed to a columnar structure.

    As planetary warming reshapes sea ice, making it thinner, younger, and more granular, its internal plumbing system also changes. This study shows that we can’t view all sea ice the same: its microscopic structure has planet-scale consequences.

    “Granular ice has a very different permeability structure. Many processes depend on the fluid permeability, such as nutrient replenishment, snow-ice production in the Antarctic and melt pond evolution in the Arctic; all these kinds of things depend on fluid flow,” Golden said.  “So, when are the different scenarios triggered? When do the nutrients shut off? When do they turn on? When do the melt ponds drain? When can seawater percolate, flood the surface and then freeze? A quarter of the ice pack in the Antarctic depends on this mode of formation. Whether it’s granular or columnar can influence how much ice might be produced.”

    In previous studies, Golden borrowed percolation theory from physics to develop his famous “Rule of Fives” to characterize fluid movement through columnar sea ice. It becomes permeable at 5% porosity, which happens when temperatures reach minus 5 degrees Celsius for a typical bulk sea ice salinity of 5 parts per thousand.

    The spread of granular ice and its planetary consequences

    Golden originally conjectured the higher threshold for granular ice in the paper where the Rule of Fives for columnar ice was first proposed. Over the years, he saw evidence that this rule may indeed be different for granular ice, the type that was becoming more common in the Arctic during his decades of field research. The new study arises from field measurements Golden led in the Antarctic aboard the Australian research vessel Aurora Australis.

    The researchers discovered that below the 10% porosity threshold, the brine pockets are too disconnected, so the ice acts like a barrier. This shows that the growing prevalence of granular ice may be disrupting many natural processes associated with sea ice, such as gas exchange between the ocean and atmosphere and melt pond drainage. This, in turn, undermines the accuracy of current models that scientists rely on to forecast the fate of Earth’s sea ice packs and the implications of receding sea ice.

    “In granular ice, it’s harder for CO2 to move through the ice. There are different conditions under which you get transport up or transport down. That’s also important for microbial critters,” he said.

    Likewise, meltwater on the surface of the ice will have greater difficulty draining, so seasonal ponds forming on the ice may be larger, so that the sea ice albedo decreases, meaning it absorbs more of the sun’s heat.

    “The surface albedo might be very different because you might have 60% coverage versus 40% coverage depending on the ability to drain,” Golden said. In other words, the more granular the sea ice, the more heat it will absorb, potentially making it melt faster.

  • Semantic Augmentation: A New Paradigm for Adaptive Text-to-SQL Refinement

    A significant technical pain point in the Text-to-SQL task is the inherent bias in large language models (LLMs) that leads to logical errors or execution failures when handling complex queries. Current correction methods primarily rely on manually analyzing error cases to craft complex prompt rules or depend heavily on GPT-4 with few-shot learning, which incurs high computational costs. Furthermore, the lack of robust execution verification mechanisms often prevents models from correcting structural inconsistencies or semantic mismatches in unseen database schemas, limiting the practical deployment of these systems in enterprise environments.

    In response to these challenges, the research team from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications developed the SEA-SQL framework. This innovation moves beyond expensive prompt engineering, focusing instead on a cost-efficient zero-shot refinement strategy. The architecture features two core mechanisms: Adaptive Bias Elimination (ABE), which identifies and corrects systematic model errors based on schema-linking logic, and Dynamic Execution Adjustment (DEA). DEA introduces an execution-feedback loop that captures runtime errors or empty results, allowing the model to adaptively refine the SQL structure until a valid and semantically aligned query is produced.

    Research indicates that in experiments conducted on the Spider and Spider-Realistic benchmarks, SEA-SQL provides superior accuracy and robustness compared to standard zero-shot baselines. Data suggests that when utilizing open-source models like Llama-3, the framework achieves performance gains that rival much larger proprietary models while keeping latency and costs at a minimum. This work provides a reliable and flexible paradigm for natural language database interfaces, offering a robust technical roadmap for developing cost-effective, self-correcting AI systems capable of handling sophisticated data analysis tasks in real-world settings.

     
     
     
     
     

     

  • Chhattisgarh to Build 774 Rural Roads Under PMGSY to Boost Connectivity

    Jashpur, Apr 18 (BNP): The Government of Chhattisgarh has launched a major rural infrastructure push with the foundation stone laying for 774 roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), aimed at strengthening last-mile connectivity across the state.

    The initiative was inaugurated by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, who said the project reflects the government’s strong focus on rural development and improving the quality of life in villages.

    Chhattisgarh to Build 774 Rural Roads Under PMGSY to Boost Connectivity

    Pic Credit: Pexel 

    The proposed road network spans a total length of 2,426.875 kilometres, with an estimated investment of around ₹2,225 crore. Once completed, the project is expected to connect nearly 781 rural habitations, ensuring all-weather road access for remote communities.

    Officials said the improved connectivity will play a key role in enhancing access to education, healthcare, and markets, while also supporting rural economic activity and mobility.

    The Chief Minister noted that PMGSY, originally launched during the tenure of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has become a key driver of rural transformation. He added that continued infrastructure expansion under various central and state schemes has significantly improved village-level connectivity across Chhattisgarh.

    The state government also highlighted ongoing work under major national projects, including highway corridors aimed at improving regional trade and connectivity.

    Alongside infrastructure development, the government is implementing several welfare measures for farmers, including enhanced support for agricultural credit societies, procurement at assured prices, and financial assistance schemes. Officials said these initiatives are aimed at strengthening the rural economy and improving farmer incomes.

    The construction of the 774 roads is expected to begin soon, marking another step toward expanding rural connectivity and accelerating development in the state.

  • Massive Kisan Support Drive in Odisha on Akshaya Tritiya Festival

    Odisha to Disburse CM-Kisan Assistance to Over 41 Lakh Farmers on Akshaya Tritiya

    Massive Kisan Support Drive in Odisha on Akshaya Tritiya Festival

    Bhubaneswar, Apr 18 (BNP): On the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya on April 20, the Government of Odisha will provide financial assistance under the CM-Kisan scheme to more than 41.68 lakh farmers as part of the ‘Akhi Muthi Anukula’ programme.

    The state-level event will be held at the Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) in Cuttack, coinciding with State Farmers’ Day. The initiative is aimed at supporting farmers ahead of the upcoming Kharif season by ensuring timely financial aid for agricultural activities.

    Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi will oversee the disbursement of assistance to eligible beneficiaries. The programme will also see the participation of the Deputy Chief Minister and several ministers, who will attend both the central and district-level events organised across the state.

    In addition to the main function in Cuttack, simultaneous programmes will be held in various districts to ensure wider outreach and smooth distribution of benefits. Ministers have been assigned to different districts to supervise the implementation of the initiative at the grassroots level.

    The large-scale disbursement is expected to provide significant support to farmers at a crucial time in the agricultural calendar, helping them prepare for the Kharif cropping season.

    Overall, the initiative reflects the state government’s continued focus on strengthening farmer welfare and ensuring direct financial support reaches cultivators in a timely and efficient manner.

  • ‘Bou Buttu Bhuta’, ‘Ananta’ Bring Glory to Odia Film Industry

    Bhubaneswar, Apr 18(BNP): Odia cinema delivered a standout performance at the Indian National Cinema Academy (INCA) Awards 2026, strengthening its growing presence on the national film stage.

    The film Bou Buttu Bhuta emerged as one of the top winners of the evening, securing three major honours, including Best Odia Film. Lead performances by Babushaan Mohanty and Archita Sahu were recognised with Best Actor and Best Actress (Odia) awards, respectively.

    ‘Bou Buttu Bhuta’, ‘Ananta’ Bring Glory to Odia Film Industry

    Another Odia film, Ananta, also received national recognition, with Sabyasachi Mohapatra and Kumar C. Dev Mohapatra winning Best Director for their work, further highlighting the creative depth emerging from the industry.

    The success of these films reflects the steady evolution of Odia cinema, which is increasingly gaining visibility beyond regional audiences. Improved storytelling, stronger production values, and wider reach have helped Odia films connect with a broader national audience.

    The recognition at INCA 2026 underscores a positive shift for regional cinema, where Odia films are steadily earning a place alongside other major Indian film industries on prestigious national platforms.

    Overall, the awards mark another step forward for Odia cinema’s growing reputation and its continued journey toward wider recognition in India’s entertainment landscape.

  • Government Strengthens Norms Committees to Enhance Ease of Doing Business for Exporters

    New Delhi, Apr 18 (BNP): The Government of India has taken a series of targeted reforms to improve trade facilitation and strengthen the functioning of Norms Committees under the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), in line with its broader commitment to Ease of Doing Business for exporters.

    Government Strengthens Norms Committees to Enhance Ease of Doing Business for Exporters

    Pic Credit: Pexel 

    The reforms aim to make decision-making faster, more transparent, and more efficient for export-related processes. By improving the functioning of Norms Committees, the government seeks to reduce delays in approvals and simplify procedural requirements faced by exporters.

    These committees play a key role in setting and reviewing input-output norms, which determine the quantity of raw materials required for producing export goods. Streamlining their functioning is expected to help exporters receive quicker clarifications and approvals, thereby improving operational efficiency.

    The initiative is also intended to strengthen India’s export ecosystem by reducing compliance burden and improving predictability in trade procedures. This is expected to benefit businesses, especially small and medium exporters, by making processes more responsive and business-friendly.

    Overall, the reforms reflect the government’s continued focus on improving trade facilitation, enhancing administrative efficiency, and supporting exporters in accessing global markets more effectively.