Friday, October 08, 2021

Ransomware is serious. Will someone cross this line? Probably. (A military response does not always mean guns. They have some hackers too.)

https://www.databreaches.net/netherlands-can-use-intelligence-or-armed-forces-to-respond-to-ransomware-attacks/

Netherlands can use intelligence or armed forces to respond to ransomware attacks

Catalin Cimpanu reports:

The Dutch government said it would use its intelligence or military services to counter cyber-attacks, including ransomware attacks, that threaten its national security.
Answering a parliamentary inquiry into the country’s possible avenues of response to ransomware attacks, Ben Knapen, Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, said under normal circumstances, diplomatic avenues take precedence, but the country’s response could be escalated in the case of more severe incidents.

Read more on The Record.


(Related) Most likely target?

https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-china-europe-united-states-e13548edf082992a735a0af1da39b6c8

Microsoft: Russia behind 58% of detected state-backed hacks

Russia accounted for most state-sponsored hacking detected by Microsoft over the past year, with a 58% share, mostly targeting government agencies and think tanks in the United States, followed by Ukraine, Britain and European NATO members, the company said.



Another reason for CSOs to sweat…

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3636509/how-to-stop-data-from-walking-out-the-door-during-the-great-resignation.html#tk.rss_all

How to Stop Data from Walking Out the Door During the Great Resignation

The first six months of 2021 saw unprecedented turnover in the US labor market, after a full year of the COVID-19 pandemic. And with every individual that leaves an organization, a ripple begins – affecting both operations and risk. In an analysis of data-exposure telemetry from devices using Code42 Incydr, the trend is clear: data is leaving organizations – and it’s leaving fast.

Our analysis shows a direct correlation between resignations, departing employees, and exposure events. Turns out, when people leave, so do source code, patent applications, and customer lists.



Helpful resource?

https://www.bespacific.com/face-recognition-technology-commonly-used-terms/

Face Recognition Technology: Commonly Used Terms

EFF: “As face recognition technology evolves at a dizzying speed, new uses and terminologies seem to develop daily. On this page, we attempt to define and disambiguate some of the most commonly used terms. For more information on government use of face recognition and how to end it in your community, visit EFF’s About Face resource page..

See also EFF’s Street Level Surveillance resource site



Is it so difficult to predict negative outcomes? Perhaps China doesn’t care?

https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-privacy/privacy-principles-for-implementing-digital-contact-tracing/

Privacy Principles for Implementing Digital Contact Tracing

The spread of the Delta variant highlights how important it is to quickly respond to public health crises, and that means considering how contact tracing technologies can be implemented without undermining public trust or exacerbating disparities. If crafted properly, digital contact tracing technologies (DCTT) can be a valuable tool to help stem future outbreaks and reduce the time needed to identify potential new cases.

Unfortunately, governments and other organizations have had uneven success deploying DCTT to help track the COVID-19 pandemic. Many national governments and U.S. states have faced challenges convincing individuals to use exposure notification apps due to privacy concerns. At the same time, COVID-19 has exposed longstanding health equity issues, including disparate access to technology and social exclusion of historically disenfranchised people.

Last year, the Chinese government traced an outbreak of COVID-19 infections to predominantly African communities in Guangzhou’s Yuexiu and Baiyun areas. Following government reports that five Nigerians in the area had tested positive for COVID-19, the government evicted members of this community from their homes and refused them hotel service, even though they had no recent travel history or known exposure to COVID-19. Individuals with “African contacts” were directed to self-quarantine and bars and restaurants were told to refuse service to clients who appeared to be African.



Only finance?

https://www.efinancialcareers.com/news/2021/10/quantum-machine-learning-banking

JPMorgan's guide to quantum machine learning in finance

We suggested in January that it might be a good idea to familiarize yourself with quantum computing if you want to maximize your future employability in financial services. A new academic paper from JPMorgan's Future Lab for Applied Research and Engineering helps explain why.

Authored by Marco Pistoia, JPMorgan's head of quantum technology and head of research, plus members of his team, the paper stresses that quantum computing will impact financial services sooner than you think. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have both been building teams of quantum researchers and Goldman has already used quantum methods to speed up derivatives pricing by over a thousand times. The finance industry stands to benefit from quantum computing "even in the short term," says JPMorgan.

The researchers note banks and finance firms are already big users of machine learning techniques like reinforcement learning for algorithmic trading, or Natural Language Processing (NLP) for risk assessment, financial forecasting and accounting and auditing. Many of the machine learning techniques using quantum methodologies, but talent remains hard to find. "Demand is high and quantum is still a very rare skill," says one senior banking technologist.



Toward a global government?

https://www.bespacific.com/one-law-to-rule-them-all-the-reach-of-eu-data-protection-law-after-the-google-v-cnil-case/

One Law to Rule Them All? The Reach of EU Data Protection Law after the Google v CNIL Case

Bougiakiotis, Emmanouil, One Law to Rule Them All? The Reach of EU Data Protection Law after the Google v CNIL Case (August 17, 2020). (2021) 42 Computer Law and Security Review 105580, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3675660

Ever since the Internet came about, it has set a vast number of challenges regarding how to tackle some of its characteristics that were unprecedented. One of the most prominent areas where technology challenged the established doctrines of the law is that of jurisdiction. As is well-known, the Internet knows no borders, which at times poses difficult questions on states regarding how to exercise jurisdiction and in particular how to pursue their interests without interfering illegitimately with other states. In Google v CNIL, the Court of Justice of the European Union was called to decide whether European data protection law could apply globally and under what conditions. This paper critically assesses this ruling of the Court as well as the repercussions to which it might lead. Beside certain important problems regarding how this judgment sits within the broader body and practice of European data protection law, this paper discusses how it could influence the discussion about sovereignty and the Internet in general.”



Could we do this in the US?

https://www.bespacific.com/latham-trainee-looks-to-challenge-lexisnexis-and-westlaw-with-free-case-law-hub/

Latham trainee looks to challenge LexisNexis and Westlaw with free case law hub

Legal Cheek: “A Latham & Watkins trainee has set up a free to use case law website with the aim of making legal judgments more accessible to students. Will Chen, 25, founded lawprof.co after graduating with a first in law from the University of Oxford last year. He tells Legal Cheek:

“With the spare time I had, I wanted to do something that could help law students amidst the pandemic. During university, I realised that the current modes of transmitting legal knowledge were far from accessible — textbooks were prohibitively expensive and existing online resources were either slow and clunky, or low quality and inaccurate.”

Since he set up the site some months ago Chen says he’s had several thousands of visitors and views, including from countries where pricey textbooks and websites like LexisNexis and WestLaw “might be less easily accessible”. His team members, of which there are currently 12 (and counting), have also volunteered time to translate case notes into other languages. The site so far focuses on the seven core modules that form the basis of a UK qualifying law degree, covering contract, criminal, tort, public, EU, trusts and land law. There are over 1,200 case summaries spanning the LLB syllabus and these outline the key facts of a case, judicial quotes, and commentary…”



Somehow, I doubt these areas were being ignored.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cia-creates-new-mission-centers-china-and-technology/

CIA creates new mission centers focused on China and technology

CIA Director William Burns announced a series of organizational changes intended to hone the agency's focus on key national security challenges, including the launch of two new mission centers, one focused on China and another dedicated to transnational and technological threats.

The China Mission Center "will further strengthen our collective work on the most important geopolitical threat we face in the 21st century, an increasingly adversarial Chinese government," Burns said in a statement on Thursday.

The Transnational and Technology Mission Center will focus on foreign technological development alongside issues like climate change and global health, the CIA said in a press release detailing the changes.

Apart from the new mission centers, the agency will also establish a new chief technology officer position and launch a "Technology Fellows" program to bring in specialized talent. It also said that its recruitment and onboarding process would be significantly streamlined. The reorganization is based on four reviews Burns initiated soon after taking office.



Depressing…

https://www.bespacific.com/senate-report-on-president-donald-trumps-efforts-to-overturn-the-2020-election/

Senate report on President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election

Following 8 Month Investigation, Senate Judiciary Committee Releases Report on Donald Trump’s Scheme to Pressure DOJ & Overturn the 2020 Election – “The report, Subverting Justice – How the Former President and His Allies Pressured DOJ to Overturn the 2020 Election, and testimony reveal that we were only a half-step away from a full blown constitutional crisis as President Donald Trump and his loyalists threatened a wholesale takeover of the Department of Justice (DOJ). They also reveal how former Acting Civil Division Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark became Trump’s Big Lie Lawyer, pressuring his colleagues in DOJ to force an overturn of the 2020 election. The report sheds new light on Trump’s relentless efforts to coopt DOJ into overturning the 2020 election and Clark’s efforts to aid Trump. The Committee’s interim report is the first comprehensive accounting of those efforts, which were even more expansive and troubling than previously reported. Based on findings from the investigation so far, the Committee has asked the D.C. Bar to open an investigation into Jeffrey Clark’s compliance with applicable rules of professional conduct. These rules include Rule 1.2, which prohibits attorneys from assisting or counseling clients in criminal or fraudulent conduct, and Rule 8.4, which among other things prohibits conduct that seriously interferes with the administration of justice. The Committee is withholding potential findings and recommendations about criminal culpability until the investigation is complete….Key takeaways from the Committee’s investigation include:

  • Previously-unreleased transcripts of the Committee’s closed-door interviews with three key former senior DOJ officials: former Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen, former Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, and former U.S. Attorney BJay Pak. These witnesses cooperated with the Committee, and although their testimony was not under oath, they were obligated by 18 U.S.C. § 1001 to tell the truth.

  • New details of Donald Trump’s relentless, direct pressure on DOJ’s leadership. This includes at least nine calls and meetings with Rosen and/or Donoghue starting the day former Attorney General Bill Barr announced his resignation and continuing almost until the January 6 insurrection—including near-daily outreach once Barr left DOJ on December 23.

  • New details of then-Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division Jeffrey Clark’s misconduct, including his attempt to induce Rosen into helping Trump’s election subversion scheme by telling Rosen he would decline Trump’s offer to install him in Rosen’s place if Rosen agreed to aid that scheme.

  • New details around Trump forcing the resignation of U.S. Attorney Pak because he believed Pak was not doing enough to support his false claims of election fraud in Georgia—and then went outside the line of succession to appoint Bobby Christine as Acting U.S. Attorney because he believed Christine would “do something” about his election fraud claims.

  • New details of how, at Barr’s direction, DOJ deviated from decades-long practice meant to avoid inserting DOJ itself as an issue in the election—and instead aggressively pursued false claims of election fraud before votes were certified.

  • Confirmation that Mark Meadows asked Rosen to initiate election fraud investigations on multiple occasions, violating longstanding restrictions on White House intervention in DOJ law enforcement matters—and new details about these requests, including that Meadows asked Rosen to meet with Trump’s outside lawyer Rudy Giuliani…”



Tools & Techniques. Worth a look?

https://www.geekwire.com/2021/want-improve-public-speaking-startups-ai-tool-aims-give-silver-tongue/

Want to improve your public speaking? This startup’s AI tool aims to give you a silver tongue

If you’re intimidated by the prospect of giving a speech, going through a job interview or doing a wedding toast, a Seattle startup called Yoodli might have just the thing: an AI-enabled software platform that analyzes your delivery and gives you tips for improvement — in a non-judgmental way.

Today the venture is coming out of stealth mode, opening up the waitlist for early access to their beta product and announcing a $1 million pre-seed funding round from Seattle’s Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Madrona Venture Group.

… Yoodli’s software platform records users as they deliver their presentations, and then points out where they could speak more clearly, cut back on the “ums” and other filler words, and improve their use of eye contact and gestures. Users can also solicit feedback from colleagues and get connected to an expert coach.


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