Good Morning! Big moves in AI and security this week—Anthropic just dropped Claude 3.7 Sonnet with an “extended thinking mode” to make AI feel even more human-like, while Google decided to make Gemini Code Assist completely free for solo devs, taking direct aim at Copilot. Meanwhile, a major OpenID Connect flaw exposed private keys across multiple companies, proving once again that even authentication giants can fumble security. Let’s dive into what’s new and why it matters!

— Forrest Knight & Meghanadh Vasireddy

Anthropic Unveils Claude 3.7 Sonnet and Claude Code

Context: Anthropic has just rolled out Claude 3.7 Sonnet, the latest iteration in their AI lineup. This model introduces an "extended thinking mode," allowing for more nuanced and in-depth responses to complex queries. Additionally, they've launched a research preview of Claude Code, a command-line tool designed to streamline coding tasks directly from your terminal.

What's New:

• Extended Thinking Mode: Tackles intricate questions with detailed, step-by-step reasoning.

• Claude Code: Lets developers to delegate coding tasks seamlessly from the command line.

These advancements are aimed at enhancing AI's practical applications, making it a more robust tool for developers and tech enthusiasts alike.

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Google's Gemini Code Assist Now Free for Individual Developers

What's the Buzz?: Google has just made its AI-powered coding assistant, Gemini Code Assist, free for individual developers. Whether you're a student, freelancer, hobbyist, or part of a startup, you can now access this tool without spending a dime. It's designed to help you generate, explain, and improve code across various programming languages.

Key Features:

• Generous Code Completions: Up to 180,000 code completions per month, far surpassing competitors like GitHub Copilot's 2,000 completions limit.

• Wide Compatibility: Supports all programming languages in the public domain and integrates seamlessly with popular developer environments like Visual Studio Code, GitHub, and JetBrains IDEs.

• Natural Language Instructions: Allows you to instruct the assistant using plain English, making coding more intuitive.

Why It Matters: By offering Gemini Code Assist for free, Google I guess wants to democratize access to advanced coding tools, enabling more developers to enhance their productivity and code quality. This move is set to foster innovation and streamline workflows for individual developers.

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OpenID Connect Implementations: Beware of Key Mix-Ups

What's Happening?: Security researcher Hanno Böck recently uncovered a critical issue in some OpenID Connect deployments: the accidental exposure of private keys. OpenID Connect, the protocol enabling "Log in with..." features across the web, relies on JSON Web Keys (JWKs) to manage cryptographic keys. Interestingly, JWKs use a similar format for both public and private keys, differing only by the presence of additional fields in private keys. This subtle distinction can lead to misconfigurations where private keys are mistakenly published as public ones.

Key Findings:

• Private Key Exposure: Böck's scan identified nine hosts, including domains associated with prominent companies, that inadvertently exposed private keys in their JWK Sets.

• Weak RSA Keys: Seven hosts were found using 512-bit RSA keys, which are susceptible to being cracked with minimal resources.

Why It Matters: Exposing private keys or using weak keys can compromise the security of authentication tokens, potentially allowing attackers to forge tokens and impersonate users.

Best Practices:

• Validate Key Configurations: Ensure your JWK Sets contain only public keys, as per the OpenID Connect Discovery specification.

• Use Strong Keys: Adopt RSA keys of at least 2048 bits or switch to elliptic curve keys with a minimum of 160 bits.

• Regular Audits: Periodically scan your OpenID Connect configurations for vulnerabilities using tools like badkeys.

By adhering to these practices, you can bolster the security of your OpenID Connect implementations and protect user data from potential threats.

🔥 More Notes

• Google Faces Lawsuit Over AI-Generated Content: Educational technology company Chegg has filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that Google's AI-generated overviews are diminishing demand for original content and harming publishers' competitiveness.

• Just Eat Takeaway Acquired by Prosus for €4.1 Billion: Tech investor Prosus has announced a €4.1 billion acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway, aiming to create a "European tech champion" in the food delivery sector.

• Mass Resignation of Federal Tech Staffers: Over 20 civil service employees from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency have resigned, refusing to use their expertise in dismantling public services.

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