HackerNoon Newsletter: AI, Security, and Hollywood Hacking Debunked
The August 3, 2025 edition of The HackerNoon Newsletter features a range of discussions on contemporary technology, from the realities of cybersecurity to advancements in artificial intelligence and blockchain.
A prominent article in this edition debunks common misconceptions surrounding hacking as portrayed in Hollywood films. Authored by Moonlock, MacPaw’s cybersecurity division, the piece highlights a significant disparity between cinematic depictions and the reality of cyberattacks. Unlike the rapid-fire coding often seen on screen, real-world cybercrime predominantly relies on social engineering tactics like phishing, underscoring the gap between dramatized fiction and practical cybersecurity threats.
In data protection, the importance of immutable backups is emphasized. These tamper-proof solutions are presented as crucial for preventing ransomware attacks, ensuring data integrity, and meeting compliance standards for cloud-based data. Further exploring practical cybersecurity, a case study details how St. Johns University, serving over 20,000 students and 1,400 staff, enhanced its backup reliability while reducing costs by adopting N2W’s solutions in a hybrid environment. Another article examines the role of AI in data protection, contrasting its common association with data collection. BChat, leveraging BeldexAI, demonstrates how artificial intelligence can be harnessed to safeguard user data within secure messaging platforms.
The rapid evolution of AI agents is also addressed, with a focus on their security implications. The article advocates for a zero-trust architecture as essential for the safe and scalable deployment of these advanced AI systems, given that security measures often lag behind development. Complementing this, a framework for designing complex AI solutions for strategic decision-making is presented. This human-centered approach aims to bridge the gap between designers, data scientists, and engineers, ensuring AI systems align with user needs and perspectives.
In the realm of blockchain, a detailed guide explores how Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 7702 enables existing Ethereum accounts to gain smart wallet functionalities, complete with practical code examples for developers. Lastly, for web developers, a practical guide is offered on building progress bars for website image uploaders, discussing both manual construction methods and the benefits of streamlined solutions like Filestack.
These articles collectively offer a snapshot of current challenges and innovations across the tech landscape, from fundamental cybersecurity practices to the cutting edge of AI and blockchain.