One of the biggest artificial intelligence trends we’re seeing is the increased use of AI technology for cybersecurity and surveillance.
Many believe that the introduction of artificial intelligence in cybersecurity technology will be a kind of revolution and this will happen much sooner than one might think. In fact, in the future, we are likely to expect only gradual improvements in this area. But even these steps towards absolute autonomy still go far beyond our capabilities in the past.
When looking for new ways to apply machine learning and artificial intelligence in the field of cybersecurity, it is important to outline the range of modern problems in this area. AI technologies can be useful for improving many processes and aspects that we have long taken for granted.
A significant part of cybersecurity weaknesses is related to the human factor. For example, even with a large IT team, properly configuring a system can be an incredibly difficult task. Computer security is constantly improving, and today this area has become more complex than ever. Adaptive tools can help troubleshoot issues that arise when replacing, modifying, and upgrading network systems.
Manual labor efficiency is another cybersecurity issue. A manual process cannot be replicated exactly the same every time, especially in a dynamic environment such as today’s cybersecurity landscape. Customizing multiple corporate endpoints is one of the most time-consuming tasks. After initially provisioning a device, IT pros often have to go back to the device to fix configurations or update settings that can’t be changed remotely.
It also should not be forgotten that the nature of threats is constantly changing. If people are responsible for responding to them, their speed of action can be slowed down when faced with unexpected problems. A system based on AI and machine learning technologies can work under the same conditions with minimal delay.
Threat response time is one of the most important performance indicators of a cybersecurity service. Attacks are known to move very quickly from exploitation to deployment. In the past, before launching an attack, attackers had to manually check all vulnerabilities and disable security systems and sometimes this process could take weeks.
A person’s reaction may not be fast enough, even if the type of attack is well known. This is why many security teams are more focused on remediating successful attacks than preventing them. Undetected attacks represent a separate danger.
Machine learning technologies are able to extract attack data, group it and prepare it for analysis. They can provide reports to cybersecurity professionals to facilitate data processing and decision making. In addition to reports, this type of security system can also offer recommended actions to limit further damage and prevent further attacks.
Ideally, the role of AI in cybersecurity comes down to interpreting patterns discovered by machine learning algorithms. Of course, modern AI is not yet able to interpret the results as well as a human. This area is actively developing, a search is underway for algorithms similar to human thinking. But the creation of real AI is still far away. Machines have yet to learn how to rethink situations in abstract terms. Their creativity and ability to think critically is far from the popular image of ideal AI.
PimEyes is a search system that works with images. Any user can upload any photo and the system will find all the photos of a person that have ever been uploaded to the Internet. The user can search for more than just their face all over the web because there is nothing stopping them from looking for someone else.
The company advertises its effectiveness in face recognition on its web page: “In the results, we show not only photos similar to the ones you uploaded to the search bar, but also photos in which you appear on a different background, with other people, or even with a different haircut.” But when you use the service for free, the background of the original photo is blurred and there is no way to go to the site where the photo is posted.
PimEyes is a free service but offers a paid level for deeper face search. Moreover, with a paid subscription to the service the user will have the opportunity to visit the site from where the photo was found. With the unplanned use of the service, there is no such possibility, and moreover, the background of the original photo is blurred.
“PimEyes is not designed to spy on others and is not intended for that purpose,” the statement said. However, a paid subscription to the service allows the user to follow links to any site from which the photo was found, after which, by collecting information related to the images – such as the background of the photo, people nearby, the text of a blog post or a photo on a person’s work site – the stalker can determine where the person in question works or the signs of the area where they live. However, PimEyes says that its data protection department tracks suspicious activity, such as if a male user repeatedly searches for female faces or a user uploads a photo of a child.
But in fact, such a system is unlikely to be able to protect from persecution although many people today upload photos or videos to their own social networks, and thus share information about their personal lives. However, for those people who really do not publish and are opposed to posting personal information on the Internet, this service can be detrimental.
But there is also a useful function for this service, it allows people to opt out of having their image appear in the results. To do this, user should go to the PimEyes website and fill out the opt-out request form.
Facial recognition technology is an innovation whose commercialization is questionable. PimEyes is aware of the contradictory nature of its business – the company claims it does not store data and that all results are generated on publicly available sites. “PimEyes simply provides a tool, and the user is obligated to use it responsibly,” the company writes on its blog.
What’s more, the company claims there are positive examples of the tool’s use, stating to the BBC that it:
● helps investigative journalists.
● negotiated with law enforcement to help fight crimes against children, human trafficking and terrorism.
● has helped women and girls remove thousands of images related to pornography without their consent.
In sum , this service is quite controversial and requires attention.
Today subscription services surround us everywhere. It is difficult to come up with a good or service that you wouldn’t be able to fit into a subscription model. At present, we can subscribe to anything. Among the known examples are – Netflix video streaming, Spotify music, YouTube music, Chewy for pets, PlayStation Plus, Xbox game pass, etc. Some of the largest companies in the tech world have at least one subscription service. And more companies appear whose business is fully based on subscriptions like Netflix. What’s interesting is that today, you are able not only to get the benefits of subscription in the tech world or online but also you could consider subscribing to dietary services that provide you with sets of healthy meals containing certain amounts of calories and nutrients of your choice. The food will be delivered to you regularly and the money taken from your pocket as well. You could subscribe to sausage or cheese services, you could subscribe to deliveries on such planforms as Allegro if you order packages regularly, you could subscribe to various events or business breakfasts that happen regularly, and so on and so forth. Although subscriptions always seem advantageous for the subscribers, not often do people ponder over the question of what makes large companies transfer to, or implement features of this exact business model, it’s got to be beneficial for the organizations as well.
First things first let’s make it clear how subscriptions work. As stated in the Cambridge dictionary a subscription is“an amount of money that you pay regularly to receive a product or service” (Cambridge Dictionary, 2022). Taking into account a well-known example of Netflix. When you subscribe to it you make an agreement with the company that for a given amount of money you paid, you will receive a certain service, in this case, film streaming, for a certain period of time, here it is a minimum of one month. Sometimes you are provided a “free of charge” trial period to check out the service and decide for yourself whether you would like to use it in the future or not. What’s funny though, is that you can only get a free trial under the condition that you provide your bank card information to the service, so that the company at least has a chance of you not remembering or not even knowing that the money will be taken off your card with hardly any warning.
This is a genius way of getting money from people. It looks like a little legal scam. The trick here is that you do not consciously make a purchase every month, no, it could potentially make you think about whether you actually need it. On the contrary, it simply automates the task of taking money off your bank acc. As mentioned before, an especially controversial it is when the company makes you enter your bank account data for a free trial period. Hence, they purposefully want you to forget that you have entered the data and don’t even think about the money no more. You will start using the service and no matter whether you liked it and continue using it or not, they will get the money. And it is also important for them to make the money “you pay” seem insignificant so that you do not start wondering where did your salary go the moment you got it. They want it to be as seamless as possible so that when they gain thousands or millions of subscribers half of which would not even use the service, they will still gain the cash on a regular basis.
But don’t just take my word, check out the research recently conducted by C+R research. Survey has found that nearly half of the population who use subscription services forget that they pay for them, and when it comes to generation Z, the number rises to 55% of forgetful ones. 22% of responders, in turn, claim that they feel overwhelmed by the number of subscriptions they have to deal with (Subscription Service Statistics and Costs, 2022). However, there is a solution. Get a subscription for a mobile app that allows you to keep track of and manage your other subscriptions 😀
Figure 1. C+R research. Most forgotten types of subscriptions. (Subscription Service Statistics and Costs, 2022)
In the figure provided above, we can see that the easiest subscription to forget about is the mobile phone, the internet, tv, and movie streaming. Those are pretty much the ones that become an integral part of our lives, and are relatively inexpensive whatsoever.
Nevertheless, we cannot deny the fact that subscriptions are not pure evil. They are of good use to those who truly take the benefit of them. Those are the people who do interact with the service on an often and regular basis. Say you are a music lover or you make business on buying and selling stuff on Allegro. In these cases, a subscription to Spotify or delivery would make your life simply easier and cheaper. Furthermore, as mentioned in the research from Lin: “Rounding out the top 10 benefits of subscription models for customers are the ability to access a wider range of products and being able to avoid fraud and/or theft” (Lin, n.d.). Meaning that customers find it comfotable and troubleless to use subscriptions. It reduces the number of unnessesary worry/activitires we have in the modern world. That’s why crowd is keen giving up some extra money for a service that even potentially might be useful. It is connected to the feeling of security as well as feeling like the choice is bigger for smaller money, and it is difficult to argue with.
To conclude, what we can do to get the full merit of subscriptions and not suffer from losing our money subconsciously, is to make ourselves aware of the deals we make with organizations. Be cautious whenever we leave our bank account information, and make sure we either use the service we pay for, or we do not pay for the service we do not use.
Hope you found this post interesting. Feel free to share your thoughts on this matter in the comments section below 😉
References:
Cambridge Dictionary. (2022). subscription definition: 1. an amount of money that you pay regularly to receive a product or service: 2. an amount of. . .. Learn more. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/subscription
Subscription Service Statistics and Costs. (n.d.). C+R Research. https://www.crresearch.com/blog/subscription-service-statistics-and-costs
Lin, Y. (n.d.). Top Benefits of a Subscription Model | Oberlo. https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/benefits-of-subscription-model
It’s high time that we finally pivot away to other authentication methods rather than using infamously vulnerable alphanumerics to protect our private data.
It’s common knowledge that passwords are one of the most widely used authentication methods for protecting our private data, however, it may be a surprise to know how common they actually are. As of April 2022, there were roughly 300 billion passwords in use, which averages to around 38 passwords per person¹. Hence, it is safe to say that passwords have played a major role in the world of cybersecurity. But that needs to change. And I am not the only one who thinks it.
Giant Tech companies, such as Apple and Microsoft, have made plans to make passwords redundant by announcing their intentions earlier this year, ironically on World Password day, to implement new, universal passwordless sign-in methods, such as biometrics including face and fingerprint recognition, across all of their platforms and devices².
Most of us might already be familiar with these types of authentication methods as they are most often used to unlock our android and apple devices, confirm payments, and more.
But why should we change to passwordless authentication methods? What’s wrong with passwords? Read below to find out!
The beginning of passwords.
In 1961, a pioneer in the field of computer science, MIT professor Fernando Corbato, came across a challenge. Back in the 1960s, all professors at the MIT university were using a shared computer system known as the Compatible Time-Sharing System, or CTSS³. Therefore, all of their private files were stored in a single disk which would be accessed through a common mainframe. Worried about the fact that their individual files could be seen and accessed by anyone, Fernando came up with a solution – passwords. He gave each user a password with which they can only access their own files and no one else’s.
As time went on and computers became more accessible, passwords were, and still are, used as the main authentication method to protect private files due to their simplicity, which is now seen as one of its major flaws. Sure, some websites make it mandatory to have an alphanumeric password with special characters but they bring up their own set of problems and there’s only so much you can do to prevent unauthorized access to data through passwords, which brings me to my next point.
What’s wrong with passwords?
Here are the 2 major problems that occur with the use of passwords –
Passwords aren’t User Friendly – As mentioned earlier, an attempt to make passwords more secure by mandating users to include both upper and lower case characters, special characters, and numbers while also requiring a minimum password length, makes it less user-friendly. Here’s why – by making lengthy and complex passwords, not only are they hard to remember but as a result, we often end up saving them on our browsers/password manager (which can be hacked, stolen, and leaked) or end up resetting the password and using the same password across multiple websites…which makes it less secure.
Passwords aren’t Secure – It might be challenging to strike a balance between security and usability because a password that is easy to remember is also insecure, and a password that’s secure is harder to remember. Secure passwords might not be easily guessed compared to insecure passwords, but both types of passwords can be hacked and stolen through, for example, a brute force attack and can further be leaked or sold to third parties. Moreover, passwords can be forgotten which often ends up in resetting the password which can be troublesome if the same forgotten password was used for multiple websites.
Passwordless ways of authentication.
In order to abandon passwords as a form of security and authentication, we need to create and implement/use other methods of securing private data. One of these security methods is already being widely used, most commonly, to unlock devices – Biometrics.
Biometrics
There are two types of biometrics that are often used for authentication – fingerprints and facial recognition. It is said that no two individuals have the same fingerprints, hence, not only does this make this authentication method more secure but it also removes the need to remember complex passwords. Moreover, it’s a faster process and improves user experience by removing the need to remember your fingerprint. Although this security method is much harder to bypass, it is not impossible, as fingerprints can be copied and replicated even though it’s hard to accomplish⁴.
Facial recognition is another biometric authentication method that uses a person’s face to verify his or her identity against already existing facial data. Facial recognition can be used by any device with digital photographic technology. For example, all modern models of iPhones are equipped with a TrueDepth camera system, neural networks, and bionic chips which all work together to project and analyze thousands of invisible dots in order to construct a 3-Dimensional map of your face and take an infrared image of it⁵. Similar to facial recognition, this method is a smooth, quick, and efficient way of authenticating a user and protecting your files. However, like any good authentication method, it has its disadvantages. For example, poor lighting can affect the efficiency of the system and might require multiple attempts to unlock the device/files. The use of facial accessories, such as face masks, scarves, hats, and more, can also lead to multiple unsuccessful attempts, and eventually, the system might ask you to remove them. Nonetheless, fingerprints and facial recognition are definitely a securer and safer way of authentication when compared with passwords.
Passwordless Multi-Factor Authentication
No, I am not referring to the security code or one-time password you get when you finally remember the correct password after multiple failed attempts, only to find out there’s an additional layer that requires you to enter another password, making you more frustrated.
This type of passwordless authentication method depends purely on a second device and eliminates the use of generating another password in the first place, which could’ve been accessed on the same device. It is slightly dependent on the use of biometrics and here’s how. For example, to log into your account, all you have to do is enter your email address and the system will send a push notification to the mobile number that is registered with the email. Unlike a normal 2-Factor Authentication where you are required to enter a password in the first place, and a security code or one-time password is sent to your email address which can be accessed on the same device, this type of authentication method requires you to open the push notification and approve the login attempt through 2 different ways – you will either be asked something in the lines of “We’ve noticed a login attempt from ABC device. Is this you?” and you’re required to choose yes or no. The second way is that the notification will contain 3 different numbers and you have to select the number that matches the number that is displayed on the device you are trying to log in to.
The push notification itself requires you to unlock the phone in the first place using biometric authentication, hence, it adds an extra layer of security. Furthermore, hackers or other third-party users who want to gain access to your account will find themselves in a difficult situation as they would need access to your phone and you⁶.
The only disadvantage this possibly portrays is that it is more time-consuming when compared to simply entering a password or using biometrics. Other than that, it is still considered to be safer and more securer than passwords.
The challenges of going passwordless.
One of the major challenges of using passwordless authentication is that it requires you to first create an account with a password before having the option to choose the passwordless authentication method. Another problem is that passwordless authentication will not be possible on legacy and older systems as they simply lack the technology to do so. Hence, if a company wishes to switch to passwordless authentication, replacing these legacy systems will become a necessity and would cost tens of thousands of dollars to do so.
Furthermore, there are legal and ethical concerns⁷ with the use of biometrics as a method of authentication as companies may not secure their employee’s biometric data or users might be suspicious of the software used to recognize their biometrics as, for example, the camera might never have been turned off after recognizing their face, which is a breach of privacy as the company might be using the camera to surveil or spy on them and can also be selling the data to third parties which can lead to even bigger problems such as identity theft and fraud.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that going passwordless would be a safer and smarter authentication method, especially as it guarantees a frictionless user experience and removes the threats of all password-based attacks as attackers wouldn’t be able to use passwords to log in simply because they won’t exist. This includes the two most dangerous attacks – Phishing and Brute Force attacks. Brute Force attacks would not work as there would be nothing to steal and Phishers wouldn’t be able to steal login credentials as they simply would not exist.
For those of you who are determined to use passwords, and we might be stuck with them for a while, I recommend using a password manager as they offer strong encryption and act as a place to keep all of your passwords in without having the need to memorize them. They also hold features such as generating and changing passwords in one click, and more. Even though they offer their own challenges, such as once hacked, all of your sensitive data will be vulnerable or your passwords might be being sold to third parties by the password managing companies themselves without consent, it is the best option for those who use and will continue to use passwords. But not all of us will be able to afford or want to pay for it.
With developments in technology and cyberattacks following suit, it is necessary that the required changes are made in relation to cybersecurity and that includes the end of passwords. It will undoubtedly take a while for websites and businesses to change from passwords to passwordless authentication methods but that time isn’t as far off as you might think…
Some facts and figures
Here are some facts and figures to help you decide whether you should go passwordless. What do you think? –
90% of internet users fear that their passwords might be stolen¹.
More than 23 million people use “123456” (one of the most common passwords) as their password to protect their data¹.
78% of Generation Z have been found using the same password across multiple accounts and websites⁸.
73% of internet users believe that forgetting passwords is the most frustrating element of security⁸.
69.7% of internet users fail to update their passwords once a year⁸.
53% of internet users use only their memory to store and retrieve passwords⁸.
Only 35% of Americans trust password managers¹.
Every minute, 5-6 businesses become a victim of ransomware¹.
Bibliography
¹Krstic, Branko. “Impressive Password Statistics to Know in 2022.” WebTribunal, 6 Apr. 2022, webtribunal.net/blog/password-stats/#gref. Accessed 02 Nov. 2022.
²Bateman, Tom. “Big Tech Plans to Kill off Passwords Altogether. What next?” Euronews.next, 5 May 2022, www.euronews.com/next/2022/05/05/forget-passwords-apple-google-and-microsoft-say-you-won-t-need-them-at-all-in-the-future. Accessed 02 Nov. 2022.
³Holt, Rene. “A Short History of the Computer Password.” WeLiveSecurity, 4 May 2017, www.welivesecurity.com/2017/05/04/short-history-computer-password/. Accessed 03. Nov. 2022.
⁴Jirik, Pavel. “5 Popular Types of Biometric Authentication: Pros and Cons.” PHONEXIA Speech Technologies, 9 Sept. 2021, www.phonexia.com/blog/5-popular-types-of-biometric-authentication-pros-and-cons/. Accessed 04 Nov. 2022.
⁵Tillman, Maggie. “What Is Apple Face ID and How Does It Work?” Pocket-Lint, 4 Mar. 2022, www.pocket-lint.com/phones/news/apple/142207-what-is-apple-face-id-and-how-does-it-work. Accessed 04 Nov. 2022.
⁶Groeneveld, Rachid. “The Password Problem.” Nomios, 7 July 2021, www.nomios.com/news-blog/password-problem/. Acessed 04 Nov. 2022.
⁷Fernandez, Ray. “The Challenges Facing the Passwordless Future.” ESecurityPlanet, 25 Sept. 2022, www.esecurityplanet.com/applications/passwordless-challenges/. Accessed 04 Nov. 2022.
⁸Vojinovic, Ivana. “Save Your Data with These Empowering Password Statistics.” DataProt, 2 Nov. 2022, https://dataprot.net/statistics/password-statistics/. Accessed 05 Nov. 2022.
Honan, Mat. “The End of Passwords.” MIT Technology Review, 23 Feb. 2022, www.technologyreview.com/2022/02/23/1044953/password-login-cybersecurity/. Accessed 03 Nov. 2022.
Kinzer, Kelsey. “The Benefits and Challenges of Passwordless Authentication.” JumpCloud, 12 Jan. 2022, jumpcloud.com/blog/benefits-challenges-passwordless-authentication. Accessed 05 Nov. 2022.
Berhanu, Manny. “The Beginning of the End for Passwords.” FutureBusiness, 10 June 2022, future-business.org/the-beginning-of-the-end-for-passwords/. Accessed 03 Nov. 2022.
Rob. “The End of Passwords? Why the World Is Moving Away from This Traditional Method.” ROWND, 27 June 2022, blog.rownd.io/the-end-of-passwords-why-the-world-is-moving-away-from-this-traditional-method/. Accessed 05 Nov. 2022.
Since 2006, North Korea is struggling with sanctions. It was imposed shortly after NK’s first nuclear test. With every nuclear test and explosion, United Nations Security Council has been strengthening sanctions, banning new export and import products. The newest sanctions, banning North Korea from exporting their most profitable products, is estimated to take $1 billion from their annual trade of $3 billion. In order to compensate the loss, North Korea engages in various cyber crimes, violating international law. North Korea operations are thought to have generated over $2 billion, balancing their economical damage.
Cyber crimes are low cost, easily performed and hard to trace. Reward for good execution is also very attractive to North Korea. Behind those attacks stands the Reconnaissance General Bureau – top North Korean military intelligence agency. The Bureau targets mainly financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges to generate income. Targeting cryptocurrencies in their attacks make it a lot harder to trace than a regular banking sector. 2019 United Nations report stated that money from North Korea cyber crimes are raised for its WMD (weapons of mass destruction) programs. Anne Neuberger, US deputy national security adviser for cyber security, confirmed that information and provided additional numbers about North Korea funding „North Korea uses cyber to gain, we estimate, up to a third of their funds for their missile program”. North Korea is now treated as one of the world’s four principal nation state-based cyber threats, alongside China, Russia, and Iran. Thing also worth mentioning is that, because of the UN sanction North Korea is unable to export coal, they found a pretty good use for it. It uses the excessive coal to power its own crypto-mining plants to accumulate even more digital currencies, says Harvard University’s researchers.
Lazarus Group
It is a North Korean state-sponsored cybercrime group, attributed to the Reconnaissance general Bureau. The group has been active since at least 2009 and is responsible for numerous cyberattacks around the world. Multinational cybersecurity provider, Kaspersky Lab reported in 2017 that Lazarus have a sub-group called Bluenoroff which performs financial cyberattacks. Kaspersky found a direct connection between Bluenoroff and North Korea. According to a 2020 report by the U.S. Army Bluenoroff has about 1700 members. The group target is mainly financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges. The revenue most likely go towards development of missile and nuclear tech.
Lazarus Group has been responsible for many cyberattacks against at least 17 countries. Examples:
The Sony Pictures studio hack in 2014. Sony Pictures released a comedy The Interview about a fictional assassination attempt on Kim Jong Un. Attack resulted in leaking unreleased movies and thousands of private documents. Lazarus Group was also responsible for this attack.
Theft of $951 million from the Central Bank of Bangladesh in 2016 via a hack of SWIFT banking system. Analysts cite that this heist is a great example of how time consuming it is to target traditional banking. Lazarus Group broke into the bank’s computer lurked inside a system for a year before executing the attack.
In 2017 the Lazarus Group unleashed WannaCry ransomware, which infected at lease 200k computers in 150 countries. It infected computers at hospitals, oil companies, banks and many other organizations around the world.
According to Chainalysis the Lazarus group have stolen more than $1.75 billion worth of cryptocurrency. They attacked exchange KuCoin and stole $275 million worth of cryptocurrency, which is a third-largest crypto theft of all time.
In 2018 Recorded Future report linked the Lazarus Group to attacks on Bitcoin and Monero. To perform this attack the group used phishing to steal users credentials from various crypto exchanges and then take the currency from the account.
Future risks
There are more and more decentralized exchanges on the market, and launch of new cryptocurrencies such as monero, are obviously make it a lot harder for law enforcement to track. Moreover, some analysts predict that more goods and services will be purchasable using crypto. It would allow North Korea to avoid sanctions on importing some products. Rohan Massey, partner at US law firm Ropes and Gray says „you could already use crypto to buy missile parts on the dark web years ago – so imagine what you could buy a few years from now.” This quote shows that even with ongoing sanctions on North Korea, it can bypass them easily with crypto which now they even mine themselves.
On November 18, 2018, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau planned “An act to amend the broadcasting act and to make consequential amendments to other acts” this means the Canadian government would control all media. But because of Covid-19, this was moved to another date. On June 2022, Bill C-11 went true in the Canadian parliament and became law in Canada.
Bill c-11 will let CRTC(Canadian radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) controls the media posted in all of Canada. The point of this is to have cleaner content on the Canadian internet. C-11 is all about controlling what is posted, Anything that has to do with Youtube, Tiktok, Spotify, and more media that can influence people. The idea of this is for people to have more Canadian content from media outside of the TV. As more people don’t watch TV news at home and rely on gathering media from other sources the Canadian government wants to regulate people that upload would have to include some Canadian content/information. Anything to do with racism or feminism would be blocked from being posted or listened to. CRTC also has the power to impose a financial penalty for people and businesses that would post something that is against the law in Canada. Many YouTubers made videos that this law made them have to move out of the country to continue their channels most of them say “that it is not fair that they have to implement something that they don’t believe is right”.
Is this something we should implement everywhere in the world to have better, cleaner content for people? Can you agree with this new law that has been forced in Canada on the people because of safety?
I see this as another method of control over people. I don’t see how there is any more freedom in Canada after this law. Where the freedom of speech that Canada and America were known as. (Not going to include America in this because they’re not part of this law) but why is Canada not letting people be able to show and say their beliefs? We all know the problems we have today, but not letting people say what they will let you say is the answer to the elimination of our society’s problems? What if this would be used to least say change your mind about someone? Or give you fake news? All of their types of control for “our safety” never work. why would this?
Data has become the central focus of our time. Everything around us can now be measured, recorded, and analysed thanks to modern technology. Additionally, it creates a whole new universe of opportunities for businesses to take advantage of. Datafication is the most recent in a line of customer-focused, data-driven business intelligence techniques that are currently reshaping the entire business environment.
For many years, the only tech titan in the top ten list of most valuable firms was Microsoft; today, Apple, Google, and Amazon share the honor. Why then are technology businesses outperforming the rest of the economy by such a wide margin? The solution is data. The new infrastructure and the new promised land are data. History demonstrates that data is simply doing what computing, steam, and electricity did before it—it is fostering innovation, scientific discoveries, and improvements to our world.
The widespread and integrated use of computer, telecom, and chip technology in most facets of our societies and daily lives has resulted in this phenomenon. Local governments have already begun to digitize, and Smart Cities are quickly gaining favor. This smart revolution in cities has great promise for tackling even the most difficult issues.
It is time for the e-government community, which consists of government employees, academia, and business, to change the focus from digitalization present to datafication future. In this approach, governments can ensure that the increasingly digital society is a better place for everyone by preparing for their new position in it.
We are in extraordinary times. Computers and widespread Internet connectivity transformed how we live today as the industrial age came to an end. Almost everyone creates data on a computer that is connected to the Internet. Additionally, the number of data-generating gadgets is always increasing.
The biggest winners in this situation are businesses, but in some areas, the government also benefits from ongoing surveillance. If the data itself isn’t the issue, we should always consider whether datafication may be made even more considerate of specific consumers. Although the idea of datafication may terrify some of us, properly handled datasets (by legal requirements, security precautions, and work ethics) could usher in a new era of less intrusive advertising and more customer-friendly services across a wider range of industries, as each experience could be enhanced thanks to the thousands of records amassed (as opposed to decades on the market). And in which brand name and size will no longer be important considerations when picking a supplier.
Check your databases right away if you don’t want to get left behind when the datafication comes.
Cookie files have been a controversy for a while now. On one hand, they allow for a better user experience, on the other hand, accepting them is a way of giving up on your internet privacy. It is almost impossible to avoid having a cookies notification pop up when you browse various websites.
I am sure we have all had an instance when we were prompted with an agreement to give our precious data away, the site simultaneously becomes unaccessible to us until we either agree or try our luck elsewhere. I think we all agree that this is a very greedy approach when it comes to our data and none of us likes being monitored or spied on. Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come. Recently it has come to my attention that certain EU websites initiated a new policy where to see the contents without agreeing to their cookie files you will have to pay money. So far, this occurrence was noted only in Germany with the price of free browsing costing us 4.99€ a month. Sites like: T-Online, Bild, and Die Welt, are just a handful of examples. “It’s a win-win for the websites. They get paid with data or they get paid with money,” said Cristiana Santos, an assistant professor of privacy and data protection law at Utrecht University. This totals about 75€ a year for non-invasive browsing.
Overall this will not change much for average users who do not value their data nevertheless it creates a dark vision of the internet where no information is free anymore and everything has a cost. That leaves us either paying the fee or chipping in for a VPN. And what is your opinion about this? Comment down below 🙂
Emerging AI technologies are changing our lives already. They proved to be useful in various industries. Their main purpose is to increase the efficiency of work in companies and decrease the margin of error in human work, which is a big problem many of them have to face daily.
Speech recognition is one of the most popular examples of AI technologies. It significantly improved the way we write articles, papers or simply look things up online and shortened the time of doing research. Nearly every iPhone user knows how to use this virtual assistant or at least what it is. It can be helpful in various aspects of life: navigation, smart home, everyday tasks, research, music, podcasts and so on. Moreover, Apple’s privacy policy states that it “keeps users’ information private and secure — whatever he asks Siri is not associated with his Apple ID. The power of the Apple Neural Engine ensures that the audio of users requests never leaves his iPhone or iPad unless he chooses to share it.”
Another extremely useful solution provided by the AI technologies is face recognition. It is used mainly by phone companies as a another, “fun” way in which customer can unlock their device. Although it proved to be quite essential in social media too. What has face recognition to do with social media, you might ask. The answer is actually quite simple. Millions of Instagram, TikTok and Facebook influencers became famous mainly because of their videos with funny, scary or beautifying filters. That might sound a little bit immature or childish, but that industry generates in fact millions of dollars monthly.
A few years ago, a team from UC Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon University started working on a stumble-proof robot that would adapt to challenging, difficult terrain in real time. “The system was trained entirely in simulation, in a virtual version of the real world where the robot’s small brain (everything runs locally on the on-board limited compute unit) learned to maximize forward motion with minimum energy and avoid falling by immediately observing and responding to data coming in from its (virtual) joints, accelerometers and other physical sensors.”(Devin Coldewey, TechCrunch, July 9, 2021). The possibilities of this technology are endless if we would be able to apply it to our daily work or research. Robots like these would be able to explore hard-to-reach areas and make human work so much easier and more efficient.
But what if one machine could have all these qualities? What if it could speak, understand human speech, recognize faces and move, while constantly readapting to the changing environment? That’s an extremely exciting perspective. Teams from “Boston Dynamics” – robotics and engineering design company from Massachusetts and automotive company owned by Elon Musk- “Tesla” are both currently working on humanoids, which would have all of the above. If the projects are successful, it could change our daily lives forever.
Atlas – because that is the name of the Boston Dynamics robot – “was initially designed for search and rescue tasks and unveiled to the public in 2013. The robot stands about 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall and weighs about 190 pounds (86 kilograms). It is battery-powered and hydraulically actuated with 28 degrees of freedom. […] It can adapt behaviors based on what it sees. That means engineers do not have to pre-program jumping motions for all the platforms and gaps the robot might encounter.” (Leslie Katz, CNET.com, “See Boston Dynamics Atlas robots work a parkour course like it’s nothing”). Tesla’s robot – “Optimus”, although not that impressive in terms of athletics, looks much more humanlike.
Robots with all the human abilities would be able to replace people in many industries. Moreover, since their work and actions are repetitive, there would be less mistakes and misunderstandings than in human work.
Keyless entry technology has been released by the biggest car companies. For some of you that do not know what is it. Let me explain. The main purpose of this brilliant piece of tech is to allow car owner to get into it without any interaction besides pulling the handle. It is possible thanks to keys and cars using the same algorithms where the key sends a signal to your car which has to be the matching.
I will concentrate on one of the most dangerous, time and cost effective type of attack which is not well known in Poland.
Replay attack
The best method if you want to steal your neighbour’s ride. Its simplicity is almost unbelievable.
In order to perform that type of attack you only need a 20$ arduino board and a piece of code which is available online on github for free. I will not link it in this blog post, because I do not want to be responsible of you commiting a car theft later.
How it might look in practice?
The first step is to leave the arduino board somewhere under the car with the programme turned on which is looking for a key signal. When the owner of a car unlocks it, it will record the original signal and send it to the attacker. The second and also the last step of perfoming this attack is to come near the car with mobile device which can emmit a signal in order to repeat the original signal which was sent to us earlier. Then attacker can casually get into the car, start it and drive towards the setting sun.
I found a video which shows that kind of illegal practice, of course in educational purposes. I will link it down below if this topic caught your attention and you want to know more about it in order to be informed and know how to protect yourself against common car theft methods.
What do you think about technology which is create to make our lives easier and more enjoyable, but at the same time creates an opportunity which someone might use against us.
Do you think there are more examples of that kind of tech ? I strongly encourage you to discuss about that in the comment section down below.
