Tuesday, July 14, 2020


Improve your work-from-home comfort level.
Remote working: This free tool tests how good your security really is
Remote workers can learn how to keep themselves – and their organisations – secure from cyberattacks with the aid of a new set of free tools and roleplay exercises from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
The 'Home and Remote Working' exercise has been added to the NCSC's Exercise in a Box, a toolkit designed to help small and medium-sized businesses prepare to defend against cyberattacks by testing employees with scenarios based around real hacking incidents – and lessons on how to respond.
As part of the exercises – which are available to download for free – employees are provided information about processes and knowledge about boosting cybersecurity and are tested on what they learned.




The first public offering of this technology?
Google Cloud steps up privacy, security with Confidential VMs and Assured Workloads
Google Cloud on Tuesday announced two new security offerings designed for customers with highly-regulated or sensitive data that requires extra protection in the cloud. The first, Confidential Vms, is the initial product in Google's Confidential Computing portfolio, which promises to let customers keep data encrypted while in use. The second, Assured Workloads for Government, allows customers to configure workloads in a way that meets strict compliance requirements, without having to rely on a siloed "government cloud."
Confidential Computing is a "game-changing technology," Potti said. "It's almost like the last bastion of sensitive data that can now be unlocked to leverage the full power of the cloud."
For example, Potti said, many financial services firms keep their most sensitive IP around algorithmic trading on premise because of sensitivities around data processing. Those concerns could be relieved with confidential computing.




Probably won’t come as fast as Privacy laws. Still, don’t get caught short.
The Rise of Internet of Things Security Laws – Part II
This is the second part of a two-part article examining the enactment of California’s Internet of Things (“IoT”) security law, and the wave of similar IoT laws expected to follow close behind in 2020. The first part of this article, which appeared in the June 2020 issue of Pratt’s Privacy & Cybersecurity Law Report, discussed the current legal landscape as it relates to the security of connected devices and took a closer look at California’s new IoT security law – which went into effect at the start of the year. This second part provides tips and strategies for IoT device manufacturers to comply with the IoT security regulations expected to begin to blanket the country.




This looks like fun, let’s try it!”
'Booyaaa': Australian Federal Police use of Clearview AI detailed
Earlier this year, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) admitted to using a facial recognition tool, despite not having an appropriate legislative framework in place, to help counter child exploitation.
The tool was Clearview AI, a controversial New York-based startup that has scraped social media networks for people's photos and created one of the biggest facial recognition databases in the world. It provides facial recognition software, marketed primarily at law enforcement.
The AFP previously said while it did not adopt the facial recognition platform Clearview AI as an enterprise product and had not entered into any formal procurement arrangements with the company, it did use a trial version.




More stuff I didn’t know...
EFF Launches Searchable Database of Police Agencies and the Tech Tools They Use to Spy on Communities
San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), in partnership with the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, today launched the largest-ever collection of searchable data on police use of surveillance technologies, created as a tool for the public to learn about facial recognition, drones, license plate readers, and other devices law enforcement agencies are acquiring to spy on our communities. The Atlas of Surveillance database, containing several thousand data points on over 3,000 city and local police departments and sheriffs’ offices nationwide, allows citizens, journalists, and academics to review details about the technologies police are deploying, and provides a resource to check what devices and systems have been purchased locally. Users can search for information by clicking on regions, towns, and cities, such as Minneapolis, Tampa, or Tucson, on a U.S. map. They can also easily perform text searches by typing the names of cities, counties, or states on a search page that displays text results. The Atlas also allows people to search by specific technologies, which can show how surveillance tools are spreading across the country…”




An AI reference.
The Brookings glossary of AI and emerging technologies
Many people fear artificial intelligence, but don’t understand what it is or how it is being used. In our Brookings Institution Press book, Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence,, we discuss AI applications in healthcare, education, transportation, e-commerce, and defense, and present a policy and governance blueprint for responsible and trustworthy AI. Below is a glossary of key terms drawn from that book, which we present as a living document that will be updated as the AI conversation unfolds.




So easy, a 13 year old can do it!
Eighth grader builds IBM Watson-powered AI chatbot for students making college plans
A bored 13-year-old from New Jersey used COVID-19 isolation to take an online IBM class, and within two weeks created and launched Rita, a fully functional chatbot.
Harita is more than a little familiar with tech, "I have been interested in technology since I was 5," she said. "My first coding challenge was the Lightbot Hour of Code. I was fascinated that the code I wrote could control the actions of the characters on screen. Since then, I pursued coding on multiple platforms like code.org, CodeMonkey, and CodeCombat. The more I learned about tech, the more I wanted to know. In fifth grade, I took a Python programming course offered by Georgia Tech."
Two weeks after starting the IBM course, she created, and launched a fully functioning IBM Watson-powered AI chatbot named Rita. It was designed for the business her father, Suresh Kashyap, runs, Analyze-Ed, a college and career-readiness platform.




I always wanted one of these. If there were two for sale, the FBI would probably have a fit.
Enigma Machine for Sale
A four-rotor Enigma machine -- with rotors – is up for auction.




How to ‘logic circularly.’



No comments: