Thursday, October 03, 2019


Get ready, the attack is coming.
HIGH-IMPACT RANSOMWARE ATTACKS THREATEN U.S. BUSINESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS
… The most important defense for any organization against ransomware is a robust system of backups. Having a recent backup to restore from could prevent a ransomware attack from crippling your organization. The time to invest in backups and other cyber defenses is before an attacker strikes, not afterward when it may be too late.
As ransomware techniques and malware continue to evolve and become more sophisticated, even the most robust prevention controls are no guarantee against exploitation. This makes contingency and remediation planning crucial to business recovery and continuity. Those plans should be tested regularly to ensure the integrity of sensitive data in the event of a compromise.


(Related) And we’re not getting ready.
Marsh-Microsoft Survey: Business Leaders Spend Less Than a Day Per Year Focusing on Cyber Risk
Despite all the attention that cyber threats and cyber attacks get in the mainstream media, top business leaders and executives are still not paying enough attention to cyber risk. That’s the big takeaway from a new report from Marsh and Microsoft (“2019 Global Cyber Risk Perception Survey”) that surveyed more than 1,500 global organizations about cyber risk management practices. In fact, only 17% of C-suite or board members who are responsible for cyber risk management spend more than a few days per year focusing on cyber risk. And more than half (51%) of those responsible for cyber risk management spend less than a day per year focusing on cyber risk issues.




If you are not doing this, should you?
How to Set Your Google Data to Self-Destruct
The New York Times – “For years, Google has kept a record of our internet searches by default. The company hoards that data so it can build detailed profiles on us, which helps it make personalized recommendations for content but also lets marketers better target us with ads. While there have been tools we can use to manually purge our Google search histories, few of us remember to do so. So I’m recommending that we all try Google’s new privacy tools. In May, the company introduced an option that lets us automatically delete data related to our Google searches, requests made with its virtual assistant and our location history…




Takedowns go global again.
E.U.’s Top Court Rules Against Facebook in Global Takedown Case
Europe’s top court said on Thursday that an individual country can order Facebook to take down posts, photographs and videos and restrict global access to that material, in a ruling that has implications for how countries can expand content bans beyond their borders.
The European Court of Justice’s decision came after a former Austrian politician sought to have Facebook remove disparaging comments about her that had been posted on an individual’s personal page, as well as “equivalent” messages posted by others. The politician, Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, a former leader of Austria’s Green Party, argued that Facebook needed to delete the material in the country and limit worldwide access.
The decision is a blow to big internet platforms like Facebook, placing more responsibility on them to patrol their sites for content ruled illegal.
Last week, the European Court of Justice limited the reach of the privacy law known as the “right to be forgotten,” which allows European citizens to demand Google remove links to sensitive personal data from search results. The court said Google could not be ordered to remove links to websites globally, except in certain circumstances when weighed against the rights to free expression and the public’s right to information




Fighting fire with fire.
Adopting AI: the new cybersecurity playbook
… recent Capgemini research has revealed that over half (56%) of senior executives have admitted that their cybersecurity analysts are overwhelmed by the unparalleled volume of data points they need to monitor to detect and prevent cyberattacks. In 2018, Cisco alone reported that they blocked seven trillion threats on behalf of their customers.
… Here is a three-step programme organisations should follow when implementing AI into their cybersecurity defences:
Identify data sources and create data platforms to operationalise AI
Collaborate externally to enhance threat intelligence
Deploy security orchestration, automation and response to improve security management
… The three above steps are all integral to successfully leveraging AI for cybersecurity defences. However, they all depend on one fundamental parameter – the right human talent. The skills deficit is a growing business challenge, given the shortage of three million experts and data scientists globally. Our survey data showed that 69% of respondents struggle to source qualified experts who can build, optimise and train AI algorithms to detect threats efficiently. For implementation to be successful, organisations must plug this skills gap and invest in upskilling employees to be AI literate.




The article does not explain how AI is involved, but the numbers are interesting.
How A.I. is driving restaurant revenue
Delivery sales are projected to grow at more than three times the rate of revenue from customers dining in at restaurants, according to a report from L.E.K. consulting. And more than half of customers are ordering food directly from a restaurant's app or website, according to the same report.




Looks like another visit to the library is in order. (And my library has it!)
Raging robots, hapless humans: the AI dystopia
Stuart Russell’s latest book examines how artificial intelligence could spin out of control. David Leslie critiques it.
Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control Stuart Russell Viking (2019)
… What is certain is that Human Compatible marks a major stride in AI studies, not least in its emphasis on ethics. At the book’s heart, Russell incisively discusses the misuses of AI. He warns about how, deployed in combination with invasive data collection, AI applications such as voice and facial-recognition technologies, deepfake generators and information-integration systems can be used for surveillance, control and mass-behavioural manipulation. Stressing human vulnerability to such technologies, he emphasizes the right to the mental security of living “in a largely true information environment”. And he makes a persuasive argument for rejecting lethal autonomous weapons as “scalable weapons of mass destruction”.



No comments: