What a surprise! Unfortunately, I doubt the US does the same, relying on government trained hackers.

https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/russian-intelligence-agencies-enrolled-ransomware-gangs-to-attack-us-government-agencies-report-finds/

Russian Intelligence Agencies Enrolled Ransomware Gangs To Attack US Government Agencies, Report Finds

Russian intelligence agencies worked with ransomware gangs to compromise various US government agencies, Analyst1 cybersecurity firm found.

The firm’s “Nation-State Ransomware” report says that advanced persistent threat actors assisted the Russian intelligence agencies to develop and deploy malware against US government targets.

(Related) Is this ‘cure’ even possible?

https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/ransomware-is-too-easy-for-criminals-lets-make-it-harder/

Ransomware Is Too Easy for Criminals; Let’s Make It Harder

… Some have proposed that governments should outlaw ransomware payments. Others say doing that would just encourage hackers to focus on the organizations least able to cope with downtime: hospitals, schools, and providers of electricity, water, and other vital public services.

How to undermine the economic motives that help ransomware attacks succeed, without compounding the harm suffered by the victims?

First, even in the litigious United States, there are few clear legal liabilities associated with making insecure software. That needs to change.

… Second, governments and the private sector must do a better job sharing information about cyber threats and vulnerabilities.

… Third, we need clear, shared cyber security standards.

Nothing is ready for prime time?

https://www.zdnet.com/article/gartner-releases-its-2021-emerging-tech-hype-cycle-heres-whats-in-and-headed-out/

Gartner releases its 2021 emerging tech hype cycle: Here's what's in and headed out

A few takeaways worth pondering:

• Artificial intelligence's impact on generating code, augmenting design and innovation is all 5- to 10-years away.

• Composable is going to be a key buzzword for applications and networks.

• Industry clouds are just beginning on the hype cycle with a plateau reached in 5- to 10-years. That take is interesting given industry clouds are everywhere from multiple vendors.

• Digital humans are being talked about a good bit, but Gartner reckons the technology is more than 10 years away from productivity gains. Quantum-based machine learning is also more than 10 years out.

And the AI can’t tell us how it does it?

https://www.vice.com/en/article/wx5ypb/ai-can-guess-your-race-based-on-x-rays-and-researchers-dont-know-how

AI Can Guess Your Race Based On X-Rays, and Researchers Don't Know How

… An international group of doctors and computer scientists recently announced that AI systems trained to analyze X-rays, CT scans, mammograms, and other medical images were able to predict a patient’s self-reported race with a high degree of accuracy based on the images alone. The systems made accurate race predictions even when the images they were analyzing were degraded to the point that anatomical features were indistinguishable to the human eye.

Most concerningly, according to the paper’s authors, the team was unable to explain how the AI systems were making their accurate predictions.

“That means that we would not be able to mitigate the bias,” Dr. Judy Gichoya, a co-author of the study and radiologist at Emory University, told Motherboard.

They just realized this now?

https://www.protocol.com/tech-against-terrorism-taliban

Top tech group adds the Taliban to list of terrorist organizations

A key UN-backed group that advises the tech industry on dealing with terrorist groups online has added the Afghan Taliban to its list of terrorist organizations, sending a signal to tech companies that are grappling with how to handle the Taliban's takeover of the Afghan government.