AI allows hackers to identify anonymous social media accounts, study finds
AI has made it vastly easier for malicious hackers to identify anonymous social media accounts, a new study has warned,In most test scenarios, large language models (LLMs) – the technology behind platforms such as ChatGPT – successfully matched anonymous online users with their actual identities on other platforms, based on the information they posted,The AI researchers Simon Lermen and Daniel Paleka said LLMs make it cost effective to perform sophisticated privacy attacks, forcing a “fundamental reassessment of what can be considered private online”,In their experiment, the researchers fed anonymous accounts into an AI, and got it to scrape all the information it could,They gave a hypothetical example of a user talking about struggling at school, and walking their dog Biscuit through a “Dolores park”.
In that hypothetical case, the AI then searched elsewhere for those details and matched @anon_user42 to the known identity with a high degree of confidence,While this example was fictional, the paper’s authors highlighted scenarios in which governments use AI to surveil dissidents and activists posting anonymously, or hackers are able to launch “highly personalised” scams,AI surveillance is a rapidly developing field that is causing alarm among computer scientists and privacy experts,It uses LLMs to synthesise information about an individual online which would be impractical for most people to do manually,Information about members of the public that is readily available online can already be “misused straightforwardly” for scams, said Lermen, including spear-phishing, where a hacker poses as a trusted friend to get victims to follow a malicious link in their inbox.
With the expertise requirement to perform more developed attacks now much lower, hackers only need access to publicly available language models and an internet connection.Peter Bentley, a professor of computer science at UCL, said there were concerns about commercial uses of the technology “if and when products come out for de-anonymising”.One issue is that LLMs often make mistakes in linking accounts.“People are going to be accused of things they haven’t done,” warned Bentley.Another concern, raised by Dr Marc Juárez, a cybersecurity lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, is that LLMs can use public data beyond social media: hospital records, admissions data, and various other statistical releases could fall short of the high standard of anonymisation necessary in the age of AI.
“It is quite alarming,I think this paper is showing that we should reconsider our practices,” said Juarez,AI is not a magic weapon against anonymity online,While LLMs can de-anonymise records in many situations, sometimes there is not enough information to draw conclusions,In many cases, the number of potential matches is too large to narrow down.
“They can only link across platforms where someone consistently shares the same bits of information in both places,” said Prof Marti Hearst of UC Berkeley’s school of information,While the technology is not perfect, scientists are now asking institutions and individuals to rethink how they anonymise data in the world of AI,Lermen has recommended that platforms restrict data access as a first step: enforcing rate limits on user data downloads, detecting automated scraping, and restricting bulk exports of data,But he also noted that individual users can take greater precautions about the information they share online,The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.
If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods:The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories,Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs,This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said,If you don’t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu,Select ‘Secure Messaging’.
Our guide at theguardian.com/tips lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.This article was amended on 9 March 2026 because an earlier version gave Dr Marc Juárez’s title as professor.
Starmer warns of bigger impact on economy the longer Iran war continues - as it happened
Addressing the war in Iran, Keir Starmer acknowledged that the longer the conflict went on the greater the likely impact on the UK’s economy. The prime minister said:double quotation markThe job of government is obviously to get ahead, to look around the corner, to work with others, and the chancellor speaks to the governor of the Bank of England on a daily basis, with looking cross-departmental within government, assessing the risks, monitoring and talking to our international partners as well about what more we can do together to reduce the likely impact on people here and businesses here, of course.But it is important to acknowledge that that work is needed, because people will sense, you will sense I think, that the longer this goes on, the more likely the potential for an impact on our economy, impact into the lives and households of everybody and every business.And our job is to get ahead of that, to look around the corner, assess the risk, monitor the risks, and work with others in relation to that.The longer the US-Israel war with Iran continues, the more likely it is there will be economic damage in the UK, Keir Starmer warned as governments around the world braced for major disruption to energy supplies as a result of the escalating US-Israeli war with Iran
Lengthy US-Iran war would affect ‘lives and households of everybody’, says Starmer
Keir Starmer has said that a long-term US-Iran war would affect the “lives and households of everybody”, as the head of the AA advised motorists against making “non-essential” journeys.On Monday, oil prices surged past $100 (£75) a barrel for the first time since 2022, which will feed through to higher costs at petrol stations, and consumers will also be hit if energy costs push up inflation.Ministers are understood to be looking at ways to potentially mitigate the rising costs on energy bills – and are likely to come under pressure to cancel a planned 5p rise in fuel duty this autumn.Speaking as he launched the government’s community cohesion plan, Starmer said: “The job of government is obviously to get ahead, to look around the corner, to work with others, and the chancellor speaks to the governor of the Bank of England on a daily basis … assessing the risks, monitoring and talking to our international partners as well about what more we can do together to reduce the likely impact on people here and businesses here, of course.“But it is important to acknowledge that work is needed, because people will sense … that the longer this goes on, the more likely the potential for an impact on our economy, impact into the lives and households of everybody and every business
Nigel Farage invests £215,000 in Kwasi Kwarteng’s bitcoin firm
Nigel Farage has invested in Kwasi Kwarteng’s bitcoin reserves company, as the leader of Reform UK aligns himself closer with the cryptocurrency industry.The MP has invested £215,000 in Stack BTC, the crypto business that is chaired by the former Conservative chancellor.Farage, who has long courted the UK’s crypto sector, said he was delighted to have “become an investor in Stack” and “lend my support to the team”.“I have long been one of the UK’s few political advocates for bitcoin, recognising the role digital currencies will play in the future of business and finance,” he said in a statement. “I believe that we can and should be a major global hub for the crypto industry
Labour in ‘deep trouble’ with Black voters, Operation Black Vote chair warns
Labour is in “deep trouble” with Black voters, a former government adviser has warned, saying the party is at risk of being seen as “accepting the normalisation of racism”.David Weaver, who is the chair of Operation Black Vote (OBV), said the government’s plans to restrict juries would “heighten, normalise and embed” racial disproportionality in the justice system and that Black voters were saying: “We don’t know what Labour stands for any more.”In November, Keir Starmer vowed to “stand up to racism”. But the “moral panic” over migration and slow progress on tackling racial pay gaps and the Windrush scandal meant sentiment was low, Weaver said.“We’re not happy,” he added
Former Tory minister Zac Goldsmith to launch new sports radio station
The former Conservative minister Zac Goldsmith is launching a new sports radio station, trkradio, in the run-up to the men’s football World Cup this summer.The Track Radio Corporation is understood to have been granted a licence by Ofcom last week, with Goldsmith and his brother Ben, a financier and environmentalist, the major investors.Trkradio is due to go to air for the first time next month, with the station’s presenters and other financial backers to be confirmed over the next few weeks.Sources involved in the launch told the Guardian that the station will feature a mix of reflective conversation about all sports with ambitions to offer broader content than staple football phone-ins, as well as playing music.The day-to-day running of trkradio will be led by Iain Macintosh, formerly the head of UK audio at the Athletic, and the former LBC commercial director Jonathan Arendt
Alba party to wind up and not contest Scottish election
The Alba party has announced that it will wind up and not field any candidates for the 2026 Scottish parliament election.The pro-independence party was formed in 2021 by the late Alex Salmond as a “new political force” but has been suffering from a sharp fall in membership and a financial crisis.Police Scotland has been investigating alleged “irregularities” in the party’s finances since May.Kenny MacAskill, who defected from the Scottish National party and succeeded Salmond as Alba leader, said the decision taken by the party’s ruling national executive committee on Sunday had been made “with considerable regret”.The Electoral Commission advised the party that, given its financial situation, it should either voluntarily de-register or face statutory de-registration
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