Imagine similar ransom tactics in this country. Perhaps in a state that has promised to prosecute women who have had abortions.

https://gizmodo.com/after-attacking-medical-center-hackers-leak-patients-a-1849774993

After Attacking Medical Center, Hackers Leak Patients' Abortion Details to the Dark Web

After attacking a major healthcare provider in Australia earlier this year, cybercriminals dumped a large selection of data to the internet this week, including customers’ personal health information. The leak reportedly includes sensitive documents related to some patients’ medical procedures, including pregnancies and abortions.

The victim, health insurance giant Medibank, was compromised by ransomware hackers earlier this year. The gang asked the company for a ransom of nearly $10 million, but the company refused. After negotiations broke down, the criminals began publishing portions of the stolen data to the internet this week, including information about the company’s customers.

I would like to see a lot more articles like this…

https://www.makeuseof.com/machine-learning-algorithms/

4 Must-Know Machine Learning Algorithms

Machine learning can be an abstract concept, so get to grips with it by exploring these different algorithms.

… Instead of writing code for every task, the algorithm builds logic from the data you introduce to the model. Given a large enough data set, it identifies a pattern, allowing it to make logical decisions and predict the valuable output.

Modern systems use several machine learning algorithms, each with its own performance benefits. Algorithms also differ in accuracy, input data, and use cases. As such, knowing which algorithm to use is the most important step to building a successful machine learning model.

Visitors must play by the visitee’s rules. (Is ‘visitee’ a word?)

https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/11/world_cup_security/

World Cup apps pose a data security and privacy nightmare

… Football fans and others visiting Qatar must download two apps: Ehteraz, a Covid-19 tracker, and Hayya, which allows ticket holders entry into the stadiums and access to free metro and bus transportation services.

Qatar's Ehteraz contact tracking scheme came under scrutiny even before its World Cup use because it allows remote access to users' pictures and videos, and can make unprompted calls.

Additionally, Ehteraz requires background location services to always be on and it gives the app the ability to read and write to the file system.

… After reviewing the two apps, France's data protection agency CNIL suggested bringing a burner phone to keep your information safe from prying eyes — and ears.

Tools & Techniques.

https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-upscale-restore-images-gfpgan/

How to Upscale and Restore Images With This Free AI Tool

If you've got some treasured, old, low-res images, you can upscale and restore them with GFPGAN for free.

Are we closer to a cyber war with Russia? Is there a clear ‘point of no return?’

https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/11/eu_joint_cyber_defense/

Europe calls for joint cyber defense to ward off Russia

The European Commission on Thursday proposed a cyber defense policy in response to Europe's "deteriorating security environment" since Russia illegally invaded Ukraine earlier this year.

The Commission, citing recent cyber attacks on energy networks, transportation infrastructure and space assets, called on member states to "significantly increase" investments in cybersecurity capabilities. It also aims to boost defense partnerships, threat-intel sharing, and cooperation between military, law enforcement, and private-industry infosec professionals.

Maybe they need a lawyer?

http://fourthamendment.com/?p=53551

E.D.N.C.: SW needed for drone surveillance over a home

A request for a court order for drone surveillance over a home requires a warrant under the Fourth Amendment. A request under the All Writs Act isn’t the way to do it. In re Application of the United States For An Order Authorizing Small Unmanned Aircraft Sys. Surveillance of Private Prop., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 203835 (E.D.N.C. Oct. 26, 2022):

The United States seeks permission to conduct remote surveillance of two properties—both of which contain a home—using a small, unmanned aircraft system, a device better known as a drone. Although the application’s supporting affidavit contains enough evidence to establish probable cause, the United States asks this court to authorize the search through an All Writs Act order rather than a warrant.

But the All Writs Act is the wrong tool for the job. The Act enables courts to issue orders to effectuate existing search warrants, but it cannot provide independent authority to search private property—especially when the search seriously implicates Fourth Amendment interests. Thus, the court denies the United States’ application.

This entry was posted in Curtilage, Drones, Search. Bookmark the permalink.

How ‘narrowed down’ is ‘narrowed down’ enough? I’m in the phenotype “white male” which includes serial killers and the guy on the next two dollar bill. (Which flag goes into my police dossier?)

https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3pkgj/police-use-dna-phenotyping-to-limit-pool-of-suspects-to-15000

Police Use DNA Phenotyping to Limit Pool of Suspects to 15,000

The Queensland police department said that the DNA sample from the case generated a genealogy tree of “15,000 ‘linked’ individuals” and they have not been able to find a close match yet.

… The image is a vague rendering of a man that does not provide any more information than the sketch that the department already has of the suspect. This further perpetuates the hyper-surveillance of any man who resembles the image. Parabon NanoLabs has already been criticized by criminal justice and privacy experts for disseminating images that implicate too broad a pool of suspects.

Perspective.

https://www.bespacific.com/data-cartels/

Data Cartels

Data Cartels The Companies That Control and Monopolize Our Information. Sarah Lamdan is Professor of Law at the City University of New York School of Law: “In our digital world, data is power. Information hoarding businesses reign supreme, using intimidation, aggression, and force to maintain influence and control. Sarah Lamdan brings us into the unregulated underworld of these “data cartels”, demonstrating how the entities mining, commodifying, and selling our data and informational resources perpetuate social inequalities and threaten the democratic sharing of knowledge. Just a few companies dominate most of our critical informational resources. Often self-identifying as “data analytics” or “business solutions” operations, they supply the digital lifeblood that flows through the circulatory system of the internet. With their control over data, they can prevent the free flow of information, masterfully exploiting outdated information and privacy laws and curating online information in a way that amplifies digital racism and targets marginalized communities. They can also distribute private information to predatory entities. Alarmingly, everything they’re doing is perfectly legal…”

Perspective.

https://www.bespacific.com/the-age-of-social-media-is-ending/

The Age of Social Media Is Ending

The Atlantic: “It’s over. Facebook is in decline, Twitter in chaos. Mark Zuckerberg’s empire has lost hundreds of billions of dollars in value and laid off 11,000 people, with its ad business in peril and its metaverse fantasy in irons. Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has caused advertisers to pull spending and power users to shun the platform (or at least to tweet a lot about doing so). It’s never felt more plausible that the age of social media might end—and soon. Now that we’ve washed up on this unexpected shore, we can look back at the shipwreck that left us here with fresh eyes. Perhaps we can find some relief: Social media was never a natural way to work, play, and socialize, though it did become second nature. The practice evolved via a weird mutation, one so subtle that it was difficult to spot happening in the moment…”

This could be very bad. Imagine that the most tech savvy investigators bolt to the corporate team.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-great-crypto-cop-brain-drain/

The Great Crypto-Cop Brain Drain

Hunting down crypto criminals is a dying art as law enforcement officers jump in-house.

… Blockchain investigation was a new field, for which the tools were initially few and rudimentary At the same time, it was familiar terrain. “I was a financial investigator. My thing had always been ‘Follow the money,’” Gambaryan⁩ says. Following that mantra he would work his way to the weak link in a chain of transactions; often, that was an account with a big cryptocurrency exchange, which in some cases could help him ID the suspect. “I was one of the first people to start sending law enforcement requests to crypto exchanges,” Gambaryan says.

In 2021, the tables turned: He joined Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, as its vice president of global intelligence and investigations. Gambaryan is now on the other side of the crypto fence, trying to spot bad behaviour on the exchange and fielding requests from law enforcement around the world. Since joining Binance, he has been busy trying to track down the people behind SQUID, a cryptocurrency scam named after—but not affiliated with—Netflix’s blockbuster series Squid Game.

Have we suddenly become more ethical? (I don’t think that has ever happened…)

https://www.databreaches.net/ransomware-attacks-is-there-a-case-for-paying-up/

Ransomware attacks: is there a case for paying up?

Hannah Murphy reports:

To pay or not to pay? For companies unfortunate enough to be hit by a ransomware attack, that is the crucial question. Ransomware attacks — in which cyber criminals lock up a victim’s data or computer system and release it only if a ransom is paid — exploded in 2020 and 2021, in part because a shift to remote working during the pandemic left organisations more vulnerable to hacking. But the tide appears to be turning. In its mid-year 2022 Cyber Threat Report, US security company Sonic-Wall identified a 23 per cent drop in the number of ransomware attempts. It attributed this to several factors — including a “downward” trend in the number of organisations willing to pay cyber criminals. That trend is borne out in the data gathered by those who help victims of ransomware handle the fallout. In 2019, 85 per cent of ransomware cases handled by cyber security group Coveware ended in a payment. But, in the first quarter of 2022, that proportion had fallen to 46 per cent.

Read more at FT.

Or, they could come to next Friday’s Privacy Foundation Seminar…

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/tech-and-telecom-law/new-ai-training-law-ups-ante-for-contractors-dr-lance-eliot

New AI Training Law Ups Ante for Contractors: Dr. Lance Eliot

An innocuous bill that has now become law, the AI Training Act, will have significant ramifications for federal contractors that either sell AI-related services or products to the federal government or that leverage AI for delivering their services or products into the federal realm.

… The overt purpose of the new law is to make sure that federal agencies get their act together when it comes to procuring any kind of service or product that might rely upon AI. A new specialized training regimen for agency staff will cover the essence of what AI is, how it works, and ways in which AI can benefit the U.S. government. The curriculum will also caution agencies to be wary of AI risks like privacy intrusions, discriminatory algorithms, or factors that could undercut homeland and national security.

Perspective. Interesting overview…

https://qz.com/artificial-intelligence-means-anyone-can-cast-hollywood-1849695488

Artificial intelligence means anyone can cast Hollywood stars in their own films

Free AI software is primed to strip away the control of studios and actors who appears in films

Likely worth a read…

https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/resources/using-shopper-behavioral-data-ai-for-innovation

Using Shopper Behavioral Data & AI for Innovation

… Small and midsized retailers are now able to compete alongside the major players by using advanced AI as a service tools. These tools provide the power to glean insightful customer information that informs new strategies and improves competitiveness.

This white paper features insights from the BDO Retail & Consumer Products Practice and reveals:

• Where AI and people intersect;

• How targeting a niche customer base may result in higher profitability;

• Why data-driven insights used to shape CX are critical to effectively respond to the market and, ultimately, succeed.

Tools & Techniques. For when you write that novel…

https://www.makeuseof.com/evernote-best-free-templates-for-creative-writers/

The 12 Best Free Evernote Templates for Creative Writers

Planning and plotting your book is crucial, but can be time-consuming and hard to keep track of. These Evernote templates will simplify the process.

Tools & Techniques. (Think: wholesale data gathering…)

https://www.makeuseof.com/chrome-extensions-easy-web-scraper/

Need a Web Scraper? These 6 Chrome Extensions Make It Easy

If you need to extract a whole lot of data from websites, then there’s no better thing for it than web scraping. But if you’re new to programming, or even have no experience with it at all, it can be a pretty daunting task to get started with.

Regardless of whether you’re a complete novice or already a master, these Chrome extensions take the busy work out of web scraping.

An update on the Privacy Foundation Seminar: Privacy Issues in AI & Machine Learning

Friday, November 18th,  10:00 AM to 1:00 PM

This information will assist lawyers in complying with the recent amendment to the comments to Rule 1.1 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct—Lawyer Competence—to “… keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology …”

A discussion of the current privacy concerns in developing and implementing AI and ML systems including required notice, consent, length of storage, access, transfer of employee and customer PII (Personally Identifiable Information) will then follow. The effect the FTC Rule Making dealing with transfer of Personal Data, will also be discussed.

Please register here: Privacy Seminar Registration

At last! A use for AI that I can fully support!

https://www.designboom.com/technology/carlsberg-car-z-berg-campaign-happiness-saigon-vietnam-11-08-2022/

say 'carlsberg' and this AI-powered billboard will give out free beer in vietnam

… The campaign kicks off with an interactive billboard set up in a public space, displaying a localized phonetic spelling of the Danish brand. Then, equipped with a voice-activated tap, it dispenses beer whenever someone can get the name right. The team at Happiness Saigon made the interaction possible through a customized AI system that uses voice inputs from hundreds of people pronouncing ‘Car-z-berg.’ From these inputs, it trains itself to recognize the most accurate entries possible.

How accurate do you need to be? How do you confirm that ‘little brother’s’ video isn’t in fact ‘big brother?’

https://www.standard.co.uk/tech/instagram-new-age-verification-technology-social-media-b1038365.html

How does Instagram’s new age verification work?

… Instagram is using age-estimation technology from software company Yoti to verify users’ ages. Users can upload a video of themselves that will be analysed by the technology.

Yoti says its technology is accurate to within 1.36 years for six to 12 year olds and 1.52 years for 13 to 19 year olds. The tech cannot identify anything else about people than their age, and Yoti deletes images immediately after use.

...and we will tell your fortune: ‘Your bank account is going to get smaller…”

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/2022/11/08/amazon-is-bringing-palm-reading-checkout-stands-to-d-fw-whole-food-markets/

Amazon is bringing palm-reading checkout stands to D-FW Whole Foods

Tools & Techniques. This might work for my class lectures or training manuals.

https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-create-first-audiobook/

How to Create Your First Audiobook: A Basic Guide

I doubt this is enough.

https://www.c4isrnet.com/cyber/2022/11/07/australias-offensive-cyber-effort-yanks-funds-from-defense-plans/

How Australia plans to triple its offensive cyber capabilities

… “Throughout recent years, Australia has been targeted by a range of actors conducting cyber operations that pose a significant threat to our security,” Rachel Noble, who heads the Australian Signals Directorate, wrote in a document outlining Redspice, the government’s plan to bolster its cyber capabilities.

A model for prosecutions relying on hacked data?

https://www.databreaches.net/update-to-the-encrochat-data-breach-that-exposed-the-criminal-underworld-and-how-a-french-courts-decision-could-undo-months-of-police-work/

Update to the EncroChat data breach that exposed the criminal underworld and how a French court’s decision could undo months of police work

Allison Morris reports:

In June, 2020, the criminal underworld was rocked after one short message sent hitmen, drug dealers and extortionists on a scramble to cover their tracks.

The military-grade encrypted communications system EncroChat, used by organised criminals across Europe and the Middle East, had been breached by the French intelligence services.

Read more at Independent.ie. Sadly, its behind a paywall. But perhaps Bill Goodwin’s report on Computer Weekly will help:

France’s Supreme Court has referred a criminal case that relies on evidence from the hacked EncroChat encrypted phone network back to the court of appeal after finding that prosecutors failed to disclose sufficient information about the hacking operation.

The Cour de Cassation in Paris found that French investigators and prosecutors had failed to supply a certificate to authenticate intercepted phone data and messages obtained from EncroChat phones as required by French law. There was also an absence of technical data about the hacking operation, the court found.

Read more at Computer Weekly.

The EncroChat operation had been reported in 2020.

Experts are predictable (logical), amateurs are not.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/11/new-go-playing-trick-defeats-world-class-go-ai-but-loses-to-human-amateurs/

New Go-playing trick defeats world-class Go AI—but loses to human amateurs

In the world of deep-learning AI, the ancient board game Go looms large. Until 2016, the best human Go player could still defeat the strongest Go-playing AI. That changed with DeepMind's AlphaGo, which used deep-learning neural networks to teach itself the game at a level humans cannot match. More recently, KataGo has become popular as an open source Go-playing AI that can beat top-ranking human Go players.

Last week, a group of AI researchers published a paper outlining a method to defeat KataGo by using adversarial techniques that take advantage of KataGo's blind spots. By playing unexpected moves outside of KataGo's training set, a much weaker adversarial Go-playing program (that amateur humans can defeat) can trick KataGo into losing.

“Will sacrifice privacy for convenience!”

https://simpleflying.com/iata-survey-75-passengers-want-biometrics-not-passports/

IATA Survey Says 75% Of Passengers Want Biometrics Not Passports

… "They want to arrive at the airport ready to fly, get through the airport at both ends of their journey more quickly using biometrics and know where their baggage is at all times. The technology exists to support this ideal experience."

Breaches are inevitable?

https://www.bespacific.com/cyber-security-for-law-firms-our-top-tips/

Cyber Security for Law Firms: Our Top Tips

Law Technology Today: “In the digital era, cyber security is essential for law firms. Data breaches are becoming increasingly common, threatening the privacy of clients’ sensitive information and firms’ reputations. Consider data from ABA’s Cyber Security Report, which states that 25% of law firms have previously suffered a data breach. Among the many consequences of a data breach—breaching obligations, legal action, impact on reputation—the takeaway is clear: No firm can afford to face one. Here’s what lawyers need to know to protect themselves…”

Perhaps we should form a co-op for small firms? Joint development or partnership with a big firm?

https://www.bespacific.com/five-key-reasons-law-firms-are-independently-building-digital-solutions/

Five Key Reasons Law Firms are Independently Building Digital Solutions

Artificial Lawyer” “The legal industry faces various universal challenges; an ever-changing market, clients with high expectations and endless options, and an impending global recession. To be successful in this modern and complex world, the legal industry needs modern and complex tooling. Thus, globally, law firms and in-house legal departments are looking for legal tech solutions that enable them to stay agile, robust, and competitive. Rather than purchasing off-the-shelf or outsourcing development, industry leaders are increasingly taking matters into their own hands. Those at the head of the industry are self-building legal tech solutions. But why are firms doing this, and how does it offer a competitive advantage? Let’s take a look…”

Always worth refining…

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-17040-9_4

Surveillance Capitalism

Surveillance capitalism hinges on the appropriation and commercialisation of personal data for profit-making. This chapter spotlights three cases connected to surveillance capitalism: data appropriation, monetisation of health data and the unfair commercial practice when “free” isn’t “free”. It discusses related ethical concerns of power inequality, privacy and data protection, and lack of transparency and explainability. The chapter identifies responses to address concerns about surveillance capitalism and discusses three key responses put forward in policy and academic literature and advocated for their impact and implementation potential in the current socio-economic system: antitrust regulation, data sharing and access, and strengthening of data ownership claims of consumers/individuals. A combination of active, working governance measures is required to stem the growth and ill-effects of surveillance capitalism and protect democracy.

Why # 4? Isn’t that a serious change of direction?

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4261569

Prohibited Artificial Intelligence Practices in the Proposed EU Artificial Intelligence Act

As artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a more and more important part of human lives, the initial hype about its many expected benefits is gradually giving way to rising ethical concerns about its inherent risks and dangers. In order to confront and contain the most serious risks by way of the establishment of a legal framework for trustworthy AI, the European Union released its proposal for an Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) in April 2021. The draft AIA pursues a proportionate horizontal and risk-based regulatory approach to AI, classifying AI broadly into the categories of unacceptable risks, high risks, and low or minimal risks. The unacceptable risks are those that are deemed to contravene Union values, and they are therefore considered as “prohibited AI practices” by Article 5 AIA. The proposed prohibition covers four categories: 1) AI systems deploying subliminal techniques, 2) AI practices exploiting vulnerabilities, 3) social scoring systems, and 4) “real-time” remote biometric identification systems. These will be critically discussed in the present article.

Reality or investor impression? Fake it ‘till you make it?

https://venturebeat.com/ai/5-ways-forrester-predicts-ai-will-be-indispensable-in-2023/

5 ways Forrester predicts AI will be “indispensable” in 2023

Forrester Research’s recently-released predictions report for artificial intelligence highlights what most have already observed: AI adoption has evolved from an emerging, nice-to-have trend to experiment with to a legitimate, must-do priority for enterprises.

Basically, get on board the AI train or be left behind.

Anything new? My AI can ‘own’ a copyright and can’t sue for the right to own it.

https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=120921

From Animals to Artificial Intelligence: Non-Human Beings’ Intellectual Property Protection by “Judicial Capacity for Copyrights”

Since artificial intelligence has completed the process from the auxiliary tool of human creation to the independent creation completion of works with formal appearance, it has brought many legal issues that have caused widespread controversy. Among them, whether artificial intelligence has the qualification of legal subject and whether the products of artificial intelligence should be protected by law is the focus of the problem. In the legal circle, the involvement of the theme of “non-anthropocentrism” can be traced back to the debate between animal legal personality and non-human ecological rights. The Naruto v. Slater Monkey selfie case and the Pigcasso light people’s debating about animal copyright, and artificial intelligence provides a new research perspective and reinvigorates the research on animal copyright. By means of the analogy research of animals, humans and artificial intelligence, this paper explores the rationality, necessity and feasibility of investing non-human beings with quasi-legal subject qualification in the special subdivision field of law—copyright. Quasi-legal subject qualification means that artificial narrow intelligence and animals are endowed with judicial capacity for copyrights and limited capacity to act. At the same time, the designers of artificial intelligence, animal breeders and the government and so on serve as the quasi-guardian of artificial intelligence and animals. In addition, artificial general intelligence and artificial super general intelligence are endowed with completely independent legal capacity to act, and the quasi-guardian system is terminated. The quasi-guardian system is perfectly compatible with the existing legal framework from the perspective of development. It protects the ownerless intellectual property from the free lift, thereby helping avoid the tragedy of the commons. Furthermore, it solves the problem that animals and artificial narrow intelligence cannot independently safeguard their rights and provides a forward-looking theoretical model for the system construction of non-human copyright.

Who failed here? The AI or the plan to simply plug an AI into a human job?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/robots-some-companies-find-only-humans-can-do-the-job-11667508854?mod=djemalertNEWS

Robots? Some Companies Find Only Humans Can Do the Job

Robots are the future. In certain sectors, however, that’s not anytime soon.

Companies have been trying out automatons to serve food in restaurants, make home deliveries or do chores in stores, partly in hopes of easing the worker shortage. But some of those consumer-facing robots aren’t passing probation.

Among the disenchanted, FedEx Corp. said last month it was powering down Roxo, its last-mile delivery robot, to prioritize several “nearer-term opportunities,” a spokeswoman said. Also in October, Amazon.com Inc. said it was ending field tests of Scout, its home-delivery robot, after learning that some aspects of its “unique delivery experience” weren’t “meeting customers’ needs,” a company spokeswoman said.

Tools & Techniques. Worth a try?

https://www.makeuseof.com/best-speech-to-text-apps/

The 6 Best Speech-to-Text Apps for Note-Taking

Tools & Techniques. Could we use this to explain how an AI works?

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/10/replits-ghostwriter-ai-can-explain-programs-to-you-or-help-write-them/

Replit’s Ghostwriter AI can explain programs to you—or help write them

… Replit says that Ghostwriter performs best with JavaScript and Python but supports 16 languages, including C, Java, Perl, Python, and Ruby. It also supports HTML and CSS for web development and SQL for database queries.

Ghostwriter includes four main components: Complete Code (which analyzes what you've written and suggests continuations), Generate Code (which creates new code based on your suggestions), Transform Code (which helps you refactor or modernize code to fit standards), and Explain Code (which analyzes existing code and explains its function using natural language).