Friday, November 26, 2021

This will save both the technically challenged and the forgetful expert. Should have been a law thirty or forty years ago. (Don’t think it’s a problem? Try a Google search for “default password list”)

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59400762

Huge fines and a ban on default passwords in new UK law

Default passwords for internet-connected devices will be banned, and firms which do not comply will face huge fines.

One expert said that it was an important "first step".

In 2017, for example, hackers stole data from a US casino via an internet-connected fish tank. There have also been reports of people accessing home webcams and speaking to family members.

The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill lays out three new rules:



Should Marketing dictate your security policy?

https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/do-companies-need-biometric-based-logins-to-survive-new-marketing-report-calls-for-end-to-passwords-mass-changes-to-identity-authentication/

Do Companies Need Biometric-Based Logins To Survive? New Marketing Report Calls for End to Passwords, Mass Changes to Identity Authentication



Is there safety in a goal-free AI? (Not yet in my local library.)

https://thenextweb.com/news/ai-own-goals-intelligent-syndication

AI must have its own goals to be truly intelligent

To Daeyeol Lee, professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, current AI systems are “surrogates of human intelligence” because they are designed to accomplish the goals of their human creators, not their own.

True intelligence, Lee argues in his book Birth of Intelligence: From RNA to Artificial Intelligence. is “the ability of life to solve complex problems in a variety of environments for its self-replication.” In other words, every living species that has passed the test of time and has been able to reproduce—from bacteria to trees, insects, fish, birds, mammals, and humans—is intelligent.



A bit over optimistic?

https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/11/1106612

193 countries adopt the first global agreement on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is present in everyday life, from booking flights and applying for loans to steering driverless cars. It is also used in specialized fields such as cancer screening or to help create inclusive environments for the disabled.

According to UNESCO, AI is also supporting the decision-making of governments and the private sector, as well as helping combat global problems such as climate change and world hunger.

Until now, there were no universal standards to provide an answer to these issues”, UNESCO explained in a statement.

Considering this, the adopted text aims to guide the construction of the necessary legal infrastructure to ensure the ethical development of this technology.

… You can read the full text here.



A users guide? Might be something law school students could produce.

https://www.databreaches.net/overview-of-legislations-on-cybersecurity-personal-data-protection-and-computer-misuse/

Overview of Legislations on Cybersecurity, Personal Data Protection and Computer Misuse

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) had collaborated with the PDPC and Singapore Police Force (SPF) to develop a handbook covering an overview of the Cybersecurity Act, Computer Misuse Act and Personal Data Protection Act.
The handbook explains the three different legislations and how they work in tandem, illustrated through examples of data breaches. It also provides online resources to assist organisations in securing their IT systems and help individuals protect their data.
Access the handbook on Overview of Legislations on Cybersecurity, Personal Data Protection & Computer Misuse here.

Source: Personal Data Protection Commission of Singapore



What would the results be in the US?

https://www.unite.ai/ai-researchers-estimate-97-of-eu-websites-fail-gdpr-privacy-requirements-especially-user-profiling/

AI Researchers Estimate 97% Of EU Websites Fail GDPR Privacy Requirements- Especially User Profiling

Researchers in the US have used machine learning techniques to study the GDPR privacy policies of over a thousand representative websites based in the EU. They found that 97% of the sites studied failed to comply with at least one requirement of the European Union’s 2018 regulatory framework, and that they complied least of all with regulatory requirements around the practice of ‘user profiling’.

The paper states:

‘[Since] the privacy policy is the essential communication channel for users to understand and control their privacy, many companies updated their privacy policies after GDPR was enforced. However, most privacy policies are verbose, full of jargon, and vaguely describe companies’ data practices and users’ rights. Therefore, it is unclear if they comply with GDPR.’

It continues:

‘Our results show that even after GDPR went into effect, 97% of websites still fail to comply with at least one requirement of GDPR.’

The study is titled Automated Detection of GDPR Disclosure Requirements in Privacy Policies using Deep Active Learning, and comes from three researchers at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville.

The area of least compliance, according to the study, concerned GDPR’s stipulations about user profiling, with the authors stating that only 15.3% of the sites studied were in full compliance with this particular rule.



Tis a puzzlement.” Will decisions be completely apolitical?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3157559/chinese-city-officials-told-base-their-decisions-big-data-not

Chinese city officials told to base their decisions on big data, not experience

He called for city officials across China to make the shift from “experience-driven” decisions to basing them on big data analysis, and to “use smart governance to improve capabilities and to warn of and deal with risks”, according to a statement on the commission’s WeChat account.

The smart governance pilot scheme – “modernising” governance with the use of big data and artificial intelligence, particularly surveillance technology – was introduced across 81 cities last year.



Perspective. The only constant is change. How could (competent) managers get into this position?

https://www.zdnet.com/article/tech-is-evolving-quickly-managers-are-worried-their-teams-cant-keep-up/

Managers are losing confidence in their tech team. That's bad news for everyone

IT functions are set to undergo radical changes in the coming years, and tech leaders are experiencing a crisis of confidence.

More than half (56%) of IT leaders surveyed said they were uncertain that their IT teams could bring about positive change in the department over the next five years, with almost one in five (17%) reporting either significant doubts or no confidence whatsoever.

Schuerman told ZDNet that "while some CIOs and IT leaders feel that the pandemic positively challenged them, they have also begun to realize that there is no end on the horizon for transformation – they are in a period of constant, accelerating change."

He added: "That means they need different technical skills and soft skills in their teams to succeed in the long term. For example, there isn't the depth [of knowledge] in DevOps/Agile, AI or native cloud capabilities. Filling this in requires a considerable upskilling that's hard to achieve."


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