This week: the fake 'prove you're human' box, pricier laptops, and your phone's AI
A Friday read on what actually happened across AI, hardware, and the web. Curated, not chased. If nothing mattered, we’d say so.
Three things worth your attention this week — one to protect you, one to save you money, and one about the phone in your pocket.
The fake “prove you’re human” box that isn’t
There’s a scam going round that’s clever precisely because it copies something you trust. You land on a page and see what looks like an ordinary “verify you’re human” check — the kind Google or Cloudflare show you. But instead of ticking a box, this one tells you to press a few keys: the Windows key + R, then Ctrl + V, then Enter.
Each of those keystrokes does real work. Windows + R opens the Run box — a small tool that runs commands. Ctrl + V pastes in a command the page has quietly copied to your clipboard without you seeing it. Enter runs it. In three keystrokes you’ve installed the malware yourself, which is exactly why it slips past your defences. Security researchers call it “ClickFix,” and it’s been spreading through hijacked websites and fake Google and Cloudflare screens.
What this means for you: one rule covers all of it. No genuine “are you human?” check ever asks you to press keys, open anything, or paste anything. Real ones are a tick-box or a simple puzzle, and that’s it. If a page tells you to type a keyboard shortcut, close the tab — you’re not proving you’re human, you’re being asked to do the attacker’s work for them.
Verify it yourself: Malwarebytes · Krebs on Security
Why your next laptop costs more
If you’ve priced up a new laptop lately and winced, it isn’t just you. The memory chips inside computers and phones — RAM — have got dramatically more expensive, because the companies building AI systems are buying it up faster than it can be made, and they’re first in the queue. Prices have climbed all year and are expected to keep climbing into 2027. It’s already reaching the shops: Dell, Lenovo and Apple have all signalled or announced price rises, and cheaper PCs are quietly disappearing from the market.
What this means for you: this isn’t a blip to wait out — the shortage is expected to last a couple of years. If you genuinely need a machine now, buy the one that fits and don’t over-spend chasing extra RAM you won’t use. If you can comfortably wait, waiting won’t punish you either — just don’t hold out for last year’s prices to come back soon. They probably won’t.
Verify it yourself: Tom’s Hardware · CNBC · The Register
Your phone is about to get a choice of AI
At the moment, the AI assistant on an Android phone is Google’s, full stop. That’s changing — and not by Google’s choice. The European Union has ordered Google to open up parts of Android so rival assistants (from the likes of OpenAI and others) can do the things “Hey Google” does, like answering a question or booking a taxi by voice. Google isn’t happy, and warns the change could weaken privacy and security protections.
What this means for you: not much yet — the phone changes are slated for 2027, and only in Europe for now. But it’s worth knowing the direction of travel: the assistant built into your device is starting to become a choice rather than a default. When it does, the same rule from our feature this week applies — before you switch on any AI assistant, ask what it can see and what it does with what it sees.
Verify it yourself: CNBC · The Register