No doubt they will repeat this warning every couple of years to remind everyone that the hacking continues.
Russian hackers have obtained sensitive defense information technology by targeting US contractors, according to CISA
The state-sponsored actors acquired information on weapons, aircraft design, and combat communications systems over a period of years
Russian state-sponsored hackers have been targeting security-cleared US defense contractors for at least two years, according to an alert released Wednesday by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Security Agency (NSA).
According to the alert, Russian-backed actors had targeted cleared defense contractors (CDCs) and subcontractors that supported the Department of Defense (DoD) in a range of areas, including weapons and missile development, vehicle and aircraft design, surveillance and reconnaissance, and combat communications systems. Compromised entities include contractors supporting the US Army, Air Force, Navy, Space Force, DoD, and Intelligence programs.
Hacker wanted, must be able to pass my AI resume review.
https://news.dolakha.net/how-job-applicants-try-to-hack-resume-reading-software-original-news/
How job applicants try to hack resume-reading software – Original News
… Nilizadeh designed an experiment to see if she could dodge the resume-ranking algorithm. She collected over 100 resumes from LinkedIn, GitHub and personal websites and actually scraped a variety of job postings. Then he randomly enhanced some resumes by embedding keywords from the job posting in the text. When she ran them through a resume-ranking program, she found her rankings improved significantly—a jump of up to 16 places. It didn’t matter if the resume listed other relevant qualifications or if it matched the open role.
Nilizadeh’s experiment was purely academic: he published its consequences Last fall, with an audience of security researchers in mind. But as software pervades the hiring process, job seekers have developed their own hacks to increase their interview chances, such as adding keywords to the metadata of their resume file or in invisible text from Ivy League universities. name inclusion.
What is the opposite of “an abundance of caution?” If you can’t be identified instantly, will you be flagged as a potential terrorist?
Clearview AI aims to put almost every human in facial recognition database
"Clearview AI is telling investors it is on track to have 100 billion facial photos in its database within a year, enough to ensure 'almost everyone in the world will be identifiable,' according to a financial presentation from December obtained by The Washington Post," the Post reported today. There are an estimated 7.9 billion people on the planet.
The December presentation was part of an effort to obtain new funding from investors, so 100 billion facial images is more of a goal than a firm plan. However, the presentation said that Clearview has already racked up 10 billion images and is adding 1.5 billion images a month, the Post wrote. Clearview told investors it needs another $50 million to hit its goal of 100 billion photos, the Post reported:
… The increase in photos could be paired with an expanded business model. Clearview "wants to expand beyond scanning faces for the police, saying in the presentation that it could monitor 'gig economy' workers and is researching a number of new technologies that could identify someone based on how they walk, detect their location from a photo or scan their fingerprints from afar," the Post wrote.
We want to protect children from tech firms…
California’s strict child-data bill would limit Big Tech data collection
Madhumita Murgia and Hannah Murphy report:
California lawmakers plan to introduce a new bill to protect children’s data online this Thursday, mirroring the UK’s recently introduced children’s code, as part of growing momentum globally for stricter regulation on Big Tech.
The California age-appropriate design-code bill will require many of the world’s biggest tech platforms headquartered in the state—such as social media group Meta and Google’s YouTube—to limit the amount of data they collect from young users and the location tracking of children in the state.
Read more at Ars Technica.
(Related) Should we protect them from teachers too?
https://www.pogowasright.org/teacher-spying-is-instilling-surveillance-culture-into-students/
Teacher Spying Is Instilling Surveillance Culture Into Students
Liam Day reports:
For the teachers, it began in October at the California Teachers Association’s 2021 LGBTQ+ Issues Conference. Lori Caldeira and Kelly Baraki explained how they identified potential new members of UBU, the school’s club of LGBTQ supporters. “When we were doing our virtual learning—we totally stalked what they were doing on Google, when they weren’t doing schoolwork,” Caldeira said. “One of them was Googling ‘Trans Day of Visibility.’ And we’re like, ‘Check.’ We’re going to invite that kid when we get back on campus.”
Whatever you think of LGBTQ issues, the fact that a teacher can remotely track what students do online should give you pause. This was not a case of a teacher reviewing the browser history on a classroom computer after school. As Caldeira said, albeit with her tongue in cheek, they were stalking the kids.
Read more at Reason.
Real time intelligence. Add enough location data to get a Tomahawk missile close and some target recognition software and no significant military assets are safe.
https://www.bespacific.com/if-russia-invades-ukraine-tiktok-will-see-it-up-close/
If Russia Invades Ukraine, TikTok Will See It Up Close
Wired: “On the snowy roads near Kursk, tanks and military equipment stop traffic. Videos from around the Russian city—roughly 100 miles from the border with Ukraine—show cars waiting in line to cross train tracks being used to transport tanks from one place to the next. Dozens of military vehicles have been filmed parked together. And shaky footage shows tanks rumbling across snowy ground alongside a busy road. All of these records have one thing in common: They were shared on TikTok. If Russia invades Ukraine, don’t expect the TikToks to stop. From small Belarusian villages to industrial Russian cities on the Ukrainian border, as the tanks and troops have rolled in, local residents have captured the scenes on their phones—and uploaded what might one day be crucial evidence to social media. “There is a lot of data out there,” says Benjamin Strick, investigations director at the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), a nonprofit organization that focuses on countering influence operations. The CIR team, along with other open source investigators, have been busy verifying and mapping videos of troop movements in Russia and Belarus for several weeks, painstakingly comparing landmarks in video footage with satellite images and other official data to confirm their authenticity. The CIR’s map of verified videos plots the movements of military equipment and troops all around Ukraine’s eastern flanks. In January, the CIR mapped 79 pieces of footage; in February, it has verified 166 videos so far. Since April 2021, the mobilization of Russian troops has been accompanied by reams of digital evidence. These come from a variety of sources, from smartphone footage to high-resolution overhead images captured by commercial satellite companies. Troops, helicopters, and military hardware have all been spotted in satellite images. But for people on the ground, TikTok has emerged as a key platform for showing military movements…”
Like “Red Light” cameras, other technologies that raise government revenue will be coming everywhere soon?
https://www.bespacific.com/new-york-is-now-using-cameras-with-microphones-to-ticket-loud-cars/
New York Is Now Using Cameras With Microphones To Ticket Loud Cars
Road and Track: “If you live in New York and drive a loud car, you could receive a notice from the city’s Department of Environmental Protection telling you your car is too loud. Not because a police officer caught your noisy car, but because a computer did. Road & Track reports: A photo of an official order from the New York City DEP was published to Facebook by a page called Lowered Congress on Monday, directed at a BMW M3 that may have been a bit too loud. The notice reads as follows: “I am writing to you because your vehicle has been identified as having a muffler that is not in compliance with Section 386 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, which prohibits excessive noise from motor vehicles. Your vehicle was recorded by a camera that takes a pictures of the vehicle and the license plate. In addition, a sound meter records the decibel level as the vehicle approaches and passes the camera.” The order goes on to tell the owner to bring their car to a location specified by the DEP — a sewage treatment plant, to be precise — for inspection. Show up, and you’ll have the opportunity to get the car fixed to avoid a fine — much like California’s “fix-it” ticket system. The document also informs the owner that if they fail to show up, they could face a maximum fine of $875, plus additional fines for continuing to ignore the summons. A New York City DEP spokesman confirmed to Road & Track via email the system is part of a small pilot program that’s been running since September 2021. From the description above, it sounds like it works much like a speed camera that automatically records a violation and sends it to you in the mail by reading your license plate. Instead of a speed gun, this new system uses a strategically placed sound meter to record decibel levels on the road, matching it to a license plate using a camera. […] The program will be reevaluated on June 30, according to the DEP. From there it’ll likely either be expanded or taken out of commission…”
Local business.
https://techcrunch.com/2022/02/16/nomad-closes-on-20m-to-transform-the-landlord-tenant-experience/
Founded by Opendoor and Twilio alums, Nomad closes on $20M to ‘transform the landlord-tenant experience’
Nomad, a marketplace that aims to provide small-time rental property owners with “guaranteed rent,” has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Silicon Valley Bank Capital.
The raise comes just six months after the Denver-based startup raised about $5 million in a seed round of funding. Nomad’s co-founders PJ O’Neil and Matt Thelen started the company after leaving their respective roles at Opendoor and Twilio. O’Neil was a general manager at Opendoor and Thelen was director of business operations at Twilio.
Founded in 2020, Nomad’s goal is to remove risk and financial uncertainty for small-time rental property owners. Today, it offers several financial products for both rental owners and their residents. Its flagship product is guaranteed rent for mom-and-pop rental property owners (primarily DIY landlords), which is designed to give these landlords more certainty even in turbulent market conditions.
Nothing earthshaking but a fair introduction.
https://www.makeuseof.com/data-in-law-enforcement/
How Does Law Enforcement Use Data to Solve Crime?
Data can form an important part of solving crimes, but how exactly is it used?
Might help explain really ancient terms like: Mainframe or Vic-20.
https://www.freetech4teachers.com/2022/02/take-virtual-tour-of-national-museum-of.html
Take a Virtual Tour of the National Museum of Computing
98% of the press releases that are sent to me are completely worthless. Then every once in a while I get one that's actually kind of helpful. That was the case when earlier this week I got a press release about The National Museum of Computing.
The National Museum of Computing documents and celebrates the development of computers and computing. There is a physical museum that you can visit (if you're near Bletchley, England). There is also a great virtual tour of the National Museum of Computing. Throughout the virtual tour you'll find dozens of clickable hotspots to learn about the artifacts housed within the museum.
In addition to the virtual tour, museum's website hosts some picture-based challenges about computers. Students have to spot the differences between the images of artifacts from the museum.
Perspective. Maybe I should come out of retirement?
https://dilbert.com/strip/2022-02-17
Should be interesting to try a few to see if they really could be useful.
https://www.makeuseof.com/ai-writing-tools/
7 AI Writing Tools You Should Check Out
