Saturday, December 12, 2020

TM;DB (Too many; didn’t blog)

https://www.databreaches.net/and-the-ransomware-attacks-just-keep-on-coming/

And the ransomware attacks just keep on coming….

Marieville in Canada

Dassault Falcon Jet in France (attacked by RagnarLocker who exploited Shitrix vulnerability in March and reportedly enjoyed a lengthy stay inside their systems)

Amg Energia in Italy

TSYS in Georgia

Netgain in Minnesota

The Socorro Independent School District in Texas

The city of Independence in Missouri

And there are many more…. as @Chum1ng0 keeps helpfully pointing out to us all.



(Related) ...and it gets worser and worser!

https://www.databreaches.net/most-victim-organizations-suffer-second-intrusion-within-a-year/

Most Victim Organizations Suffer Second Intrusion Within a Year

Phil Muncaster reports:

Security experts have warned victims of sophisticated cyber-attacks not to think of intrusions as a one-off event, as a majority of organizations end up getting hit again within the year.
CrowdStrike compiled an analysis of its own incident response and managed services engagements in 2020, to produce the CrowdStrike Services Cyber Front Lines Report,
It warned that in 68% of cases where an organization had experienced an intrusion, it is targeted again within 12 months.

Read more on InfoSecurity.





Some interesting twists.

https://thenextweb.com/neural/2020/12/11/privacy-advocates-poop-on-uk-supermarkets-facial-recognition-system/

Privacy advocates poop on UK supermarket’s facial recognition system

The software, which is supplied by UK startup Facewatch, alerts staff when someone with a record of “theft or anti-social behavior” enters the shop.

… “We are concerned that such a deployment at Southern Co-op stores –even at trial level — could mean that, in order to purchase essential goods, people might be in effect left with no choice but to submit themselves to facial recognition scans,” said Privacy International.

We are also deeply concerned about the potential sharing of captured data with police, with or without Co-op’s knowledge.”

Civil liberties group Big Brother Watch has also warned that the tech puts customers’ data and privacy rights at major risk. It also fears that the system could incorrectly flag innocent people as criminals.





A tool for Privacy geeks?

https://gizmodo.com/brave-releases-privacy-focused-news-reader-1845862802

Brave Releases Privacy-Focused News Reader

Brave is continuing its war against data-collection giants like Google with the introduction of a privacy-centered news reader to its privacy-centered web browser.

The company announced the launch of the Brave Today news reader on Thursday, and people who already use its browser don’t need to do anything to check out the new feature. It’s right there on the home page when a new window is opened. Outside of the privacy protections, Brave Today should be a fairly familiar experience. Scrolling down the page displays a running feed of stories pulled from hundreds of news outlets that are sortable by category. Clicking “customize” allows you to disable any outlet of your choosing. It’s like Google News but less cluttered on the visual level.





Perspective.

https://www.pogowasright.org/new-report-shows-google-tracks-80-of-the-web-with-amazon-likely-to-overtake-facebook-as-second-worst-privacy-threat/

New report shows Google tracks 80% of the Web, with Amazon likely to overtake Facebook as second-worst privacy threat

Glyn Moody writes:

It’s no secret that practically every Web page we visit is infested with trackers. On its own, that would be bad enough. But most trackers are used in order to aggregate enormous quantities of data. Taken together, these create extremely detailed profiles that reveal many things about us, include some pretty private and intimate ones. This massive assault on privacy is carried out supposedly so that advertisers can target us more accurately when they place ads – usually in real time – on the Web pages we view. That’s a terrible deal, but just how terrible is sometimes difficult to grasp. A new report provides some hard figures on how bad things really are.
It comes from the company Ghostery, founded in 2009, and best known for its Ghostery browser extension, which allows users to choose which – if any – trackers to allow. The company claims to have over seven million active users, and by drawing on their online experiences Ghostery has put together a report called “Tracking the Trackers. This is the company’s second report on tracking.

Read more on PrivateInternetAccess.com





Do we still have ‘beginners?’

https://thenextweb.com/neural/2020/12/11/a-beginners-guide-to-ai-the-difference-between-human-and-machine-intelligence/

A beginner’s guide to AI: The difference between human and machine intelligence

Welcome to Neural’s beginner’s guide to AI. This multi-part feature should provide you with a very basic understanding of what AI is, what it can do, and how it works. The guide contains articles on (in order published) neural networks, computer vision, natural language processing, algorithms, artificial general intelligence, and the difference between video game AI and real AI.





Toward algorithmic attorneys.

https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/cepej-artificial-intelligence-and-cyberjustice-at-the-heart-of-discussions

CEPEJ: Artificial intelligence and cyberjustice at the heart of discussions

The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ ) has adopted a feasibility study on the possible establishment of a certification mechanism for artificial intelligence tools and services. The study is based on the CEPEJ Charter on the use of artificial intelligence in judicial systems and their environment, adopted in December 2018. The Council of Europe, if it decides to create such a mechanism, could be a pioneer in this field. After consultation with all member and observer states, this feasibility study will be followed by an action plan that the CEPEJ will prepare and send to the Committee of Ministers for examination in 2021.

The CEPEJ also adopted the roadmap of its Working Group on Cyberjustice and Artificial Intelligence. The work carried out in the field of the digitalisation of justice aims to provide new concrete tools in this area to European courts, which has become even more necessary during times of sanitary crisis and closures of courts, while ensuring respect for the fundamental principles of the European Convention on Human Rights and in particular those of its Article 6.





A nice book for my nice niece?

https://www.makeuseof.com/websites-to-find-beautifully-bound-books/

7 Websites to Find Beautifully Bound Books You Would Love to Own





Games for shut-ins. “Chess Vision” looks like cheating.

https://www.makeuseof.com/learn-how-to-play-chess-online-improve-your-skills/

5 Free Ways to Learn How to Play Chess Online and Improve Your Skills

From AI-powered apps to YouTube lessons from grandmasters, you can learn how to play chess online for free, whether you're a beginner or a seasoned player.





I worry that Dilbert sums up the feelings of my readers…

https://dilbert.com/strip/2020-12-12



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