Speech does not have to be logical, software does.
https://www.makeuseof.com/gettr-got-hacked/
GETTR, the Pro-Trump Social Media Platform, Got Hacked
Donald Trump has had issues with staying online in the past, and it seems those problems aren't going away.
As reported on Business Insider, GETTR was launched during Independence Day. GETTR is a social media platform with a pro-Trump focus after the ex-president ran afoul of issues on other websites.
However, it appears this new website has its own fair share of problems. In the wee hours of the morning after the launch, several high-ranking profiles had been successfully hacked.
An evil (or at least paranoid) thought. Suppose the bad guys say they will only decrypt the data of the first X percent of victims to settle. (Or the top X bidders.) Everyone else will have to live without their help.
https://www.databreaches.net/some-kaseya-victims-privately-negotiating-with-revil/
Some Kaseya victims privately negotiating with REvil
While the headlines blare about REvil offering to decrypt all victims of the Kaseya attack if they are paid $70 million, some companies have apparently already taken to individual negotiations with the threat actors.
Over on SuspectFile, Marco A. De Felice is careful not to name the victim, but describes one such set of negotiatons going on. The chat logs he observed suggest that there is a lot of confusion with perhaps more than one set of negotiations going on for the same victim. There is also inconsistency in the ransom demands being made for an individual company, with it variously being listed as $550,000 but settling for $225,000, and in another place it appeared to be less than $50,000.
But Marco also raises the question: who is uploading and pointing people to these negotiations and chats on threat actors’ servers? Marco hypothesizes that it is the threat actors themselves. It’s an interesting hypothesis, but I’d still be more inclined to believe that it is an employee of a firm with knowledge of the attack(s). But do read his post and see what you think of it all.
Kaseya’s updates can be found here. Another update is due today between 8:00 am and noon EDT. Although early reports suggested that malware was pushed out after being injected into the codebase, the firm later stated that this was a direct attack on victims by use of a 0-day. The number of victims seems to vary wildly from source to source and report to report, but remember that each single victim/client of Kaseya may have downstream clients, so the total number of companies impacted may be quite large.
(Related)
https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/05/cyber_insurance_report/
The cost of cyber insurance increased 32 per cent last year and shows no signs of easing
The cost of insurance to protect businesses and organisations against the ever-increasing threat of cybercrimes has soared by a third in the last year, according to international insurance brokers Howden.
It found that global cyber insurance pricing has increased by an average of 32 per cent in the year to June.
Not only are premiums going through the roof, insurers are also attaching more strings to their policies, demanding ever more assurances that firms taking out cover have the necessary systems and processes in place to prevent a cyber mishap.
According to Howden's Cyber Insurance: A Hard Reset the upward squeeze on premiums shows no sign of easing, which, in turn, is putting more strain on the sector.
… Last week, a report by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) – Cyber Insurance and the Cyber Security Challenge – warned that the spike in ransomware attacks had led to some insurers wondering if they should pull out of the market.
There are also concerns that firms are relying too heavily on their insurers to pay out in the event of an attack to get their data back – an approach that makes insurers nervous, adding to the current squeeze.
So where should we draw the line? And is the police department the best monitor of social media?
https://www.wired.com/story/ai-helps-police-monitor-social-media-go-too-far/
This AI Helps Police Monitor Social Media. Does It Go Too Far?
SINCE 2016, CIVIL liberties groups have raised alarms about online surveillance of social media chatter by city officials and police departments. Services like Media Sonar, Social Sentinel, and Geofeedia analyze online conversations, clueing in police and city leaders to what hundreds of thousands of users are saying online.
Zencity, an Israeli data-analysis firm that serves 200 agencies across the US, markets itself as a less invasive alternative, because it offers only aggregate data and forbids targeted surveillance of protests. Cities like Phoenix, New Orleans, and Pittsburgh say they use the service to combat misinformation and gauge public reaction to topics like social distancing enforcement or traffic laws.
What’s real in AI? Real enough to patent?
https://www.bespacific.com/artificial-intelligence-patent-dataset/
Artificial Intelligence Patent Dataset
“To assist researchers and policymakers focusing on the determinants and impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) invention, OCE released two data files, collectively called the Artificial Intelligence Patent Dataset (AIPD). The first data file identifies United States (U.S.) patents issued between 1976 and 2020 and pre-grant publications (PGPubs) published through 2020 that contain one or more of several AI technology components (including machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision, speech, knowledge processing, AI hardware, evolutionary computation, and planning and control). OCE generated this data file using a machine learning (ML) approach that analyzed patent text and citations to identify AI in U.S. patent documents (Abood and Feltenberger 2018; Toole et al. 2020). OCE’s approach is based on the methodology of Abood and Feltenberger (2018), but also includes an analysis of patent claims to better identify AI contained in the technical and legal scope of the invention. The second data file contains the patent documents used to train the ML models.
A working paper describing the dataset is available and can be cited as Giczy, A., Pairolero, N., and Toole, A. 2021. Identifying artificial intelligence (AI) invention: A novel AI patent dataset. USPTO Economic Working Paper Series No. 2021-2. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3866793.
This effort was made possible through cross business unit collaboration among OCE, the Office of Policy and International Affairs, the Patents Business Unit, and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. The AIPD was used in the USPTO report “Inventing AI: Tracing the diffusion of artificial intelligence with U.S. patents.”
(Related) Mr. Zillman always seems to list everything related to his topic.
https://www.llrx.com/2021/06/artificial-intelligence-resources-on-the-internet-2021/
Artificial Intelligence Resources on the Internet 2021
Articles, studies, reports and investigations abound on how AI is impacting all aspects of our lives inclusive of privacy, social media, healthcare, the economy, the financial system, education, communications, law, the courts and technology. This is a timely, broad overview of resources, sites and applications that span subject matter and disciplines and the many permutations of the technologies that drive artificial intelligence.
Some examples…
AI legislation must address bias in algorithmic decision-making systems
In early June, border officials “quietly deployed” the mobile app CBP One at the U.S.-Mexico border to “streamline the processing” of asylum seekers. While the app will reduce manual data entry and speed up the process, it also relies on controversial facial recognition technologies and stores sensitive information on asylum seekers prior to their entry to the U.S. The issue here is not the use of artificial intelligence per se, but what it means in relation to the Biden administration’s pre-election promise of civil rights in technology, including AI bias and data privacy.
… “The current state of AI legislation in the U.S. is disappointing, [with] a majority of AI-related legislation focused almost solely on investment, research, and maintaining competitiveness with other countries, primarily China,” Winters said.
But there is some promising legislation waiting in the wings. The Algorithmic Justice and Online Platform Transparency bill, introduced by Sen. Edward Markey and Rep. Doris Matsui in May, clamps down on harmful algorithms, encourages transparency of websites’ content amplification and moderation practices, and proposes a cross-government investigation into discriminatory algorithmic processes throughout the economy.
Some thoughts on the HR-bot.
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=839a1a78-2192-4ca4-a88e-3bf02f40a6ba
Artificial intelligence and algorithms in the workplace
Is removing subjective human choice from HR decisions going to create more problems than it solves?
… In May 2021, the TUC and the AI Consultancy published a report - Technology Managing People - the legal implications - highlighting exactly these sorts of issues and calling for legal reform.
… For employers looking for ideas on good practice in this area, the policy paper published by ACAS - My boss the algorithm: an ethical look at algorithms in the workplace - is a good starting point, although it should be noted this is not ACAS guidance.
Bias is people making choices. Bias goes both ways? Some day, none of this will matter.
DU law professor accuses law school of gender bias
… Schott indicates in the lawsuit that the problems began in the summer of 2016 when, during a meeting with Moffat, he claims she said she “did not want to see white men teaching anymore in the Center for Advocacy.”
A new (to me) resource.
https://www.bespacific.com/how-to-find-the-documents-behind-big-legal-cases/
How to find the documents behind big legal cases
The Verge / Adi Robertson: “Earlier this year, I spent a month covering the trial for a dispute between Apple and Epic. The case was one of the biggest antitrust suits in recent memory, and it brought to light revelations about both companies and the larger tech industry, often in the form of legal filings. I (and other reporters) try to pick out the most relevant details from these filings for readers. But sometimes, the documents are worth checking out in their own right. A site called CourtListener makes that easier than it might sound — if you know how to look….
Maintained by the nonprofit Free Law Project, CourtListener hosts a free and open archive of millions of filings. It contains court opinions, audio of oral arguments from trials, and something called the RECAP archive — which is where you’ll find a lot of the most interesting material. That includes the long back-and-forth between Apple and Epic, government allegations like the cryptocurrency fraud claims against late antivirus tycoon John McAfee, and important legal decisions like a judge tossing the aforementioned Facebook antitrust suit …”
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