tech-realism

This is a lightly edited transcript of my presentation today at the ACCSS/NCSC/Surf seminar ‘Cyber Security and Society’. I want to thank the organizers for inviting me to their conference & giving me a great opportunity to talk about something I worry about a lot. Here are the original slides with notes, which may be useful to view together with the text below. In the notes there are also additional URLs that back up the claims I make in what follows.

The hacking shut down the nation’s biggest health care payment system, causing financial chaos that affected a broad spectrum ranging from large hospitals to single-doctor practices.

Illegal Glock switches made on 3-D printers modify pistols to fire like machine guns, fueling killings in cities like Washington, D.C.

A higher quality discussion emerged among commenters allowed to use personas instead of their real names.

We terminated accounts associated with state-affiliated threat actors. Our findings show our models offer only limited, incremental capabilities for malicious cybersecurity tasks.

With the business in a tailspin, 23andMe’s CEO assures investors there’s still plenty of money it can make on your genes.

This privacy researcher is old enough to fondly remember choose your own adventure books. Those things were great! In today's world of AI chatbots, we now have chose your own adventure girlfriends. Or, as Eva AI describes itself, "a romantic storytelling game where you can dive into various thrilling scenarios and find true love and/or friendship ... Enjoy interactive romance stories with unexpected plot twists." For around $17 a month (as far as we can tell), you get to "Meet your ideal AI partner who listens, supports all your desires and is always in touch with you." OK, but how is your ideal AI partner at privacy? Well, maybe Eva isn't the worst AI chatbot we reviewed. But we still have questions...so many questions.

SAN DIEGO – The Marine Corps will soon test a prototype logistics supply drone inspired by drug smuggling narco subs, a service official said Tuesday. The upcoming month-long Project Convergence drills in California will allow the Marine Corps to test the autonomous low-profile vessel, a potential way for the Marine Corps to perform resupply missions in a wartime scenario when adversaries would seek to cut off sea lines of communication. “This upcoming Capstone 4 is going to be the first operational [event] in the context of an exercise where we’re going to use it,” Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl told reporters

Police believe a string of nine robberies in Edina have used this tech.

A finance worker at a multinational firm was tricked into paying out $25 million to fraudsters using deepfake technology to pose as the company’s chief financial officer in a video conference call, according to Hong Kong police.

Early in its invasion of Ukraine, Russia lagged behind Kyiv in its use of low-cost explosive drones. But by mid 2023, Russian UAVs were targeting Ukrainian forces, copying some of Kyiv’s most successful tactics. WSJ explains how Moscow is catching up. Photo composite: Planet Labs PBC; VGTRK

With further U.S. military aid in doubt, Kyiv is relying on small airborne weapons worth a few hundred dollars and assembled in workshops across the country.

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In our focus on protecting the present and future from A.I., we have forgotten about the urgent need to protect the past.

Medical recordkeeping was originally a way to chart a patient’s course of illness and support clinicians in finding the best course. Now, electroni...

After boys shared faked pornographic images made of female classmates, both the school and the local police began investigating.

Uncrewed vehicles make combat faster, cheaper and smarter, as shown in Ukraine’s fight against Russia and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

Africa is now the global epicenter of Islamist violence, and drones would allow American forces to provide tactical advice to local troops during combat operations.

Cheap, agile devices can explore tunnels, break through windows and carry explosives.

The use of sea drones highlights a path forward for Ukraine in its fight with Russia that has been promoted by the White House and embraced by the Ukrainian leadership.

Rite Aid has been banned from using facial-recognition technology for surveillance purposes for five years as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

Hackers took advantage of a vulnerability in Citrix cloud-computing software and accessed names and Social-Security details, among others.

Lawmakers want HHS to revise health privacy law to require warrants.

Verizon tricked by fake cop, fake search warrant despite obvious warning signs.

Genetic testing company 23andMe revealed that its data breach was much worse than previously reported, hitting about half of its total customers.

The state’s court system has been offline for more than a month.