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Winning the worldwide “race to 5G” is a top priority for the United States. As the global competition unfolds, we have continued to hear about the technological and economic benefits associated with leadership in the wireless domain. Earlier this year, CTIA, a trade association representing the wireless communications industry, released a report that said, “America’s…
An FBI bulletin provides an overview and detailed recommendations on how cyberattackers are targeting audio/visual systems to compromise corporate networks along with recommendations on how to prevent such attacks.
The newly formed Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)has released a strategic intent document outlining the agencies role in protecting U.S. critical infrastructure and cyberspace. It is important for OODA Network Members to track the emergent roles and responsibilities of this agency as it will be a critical component of cyber and infrastructure security moving…
Conventional wisdom is telling us that “assumption of breach” is the new normal. Some well-respected names in computer security would have you believe that the appropriate response to such conditions is to increase the cost to the attackers. If you’re too expensive to breach – so the logic goes – the bad guys will go…
For all the benefits IT in general and the Internet specifically have given us, it has also introduced significant risks to our well-being and way of life. Yet cybersecurity is still not a priority for a majority of people and organizations. No amount of warnings about the risks associated with poor cybersecurity have helped drive…
This post is based on an interview with Andy Lustig at Cooley. It is part of our series of interviews of OODA Network members. Our objective with these interviews is to provide actionable information of interest to the community, including insights that can help with your own career progression.
There are places on this planet where good, civilized people simply do not voluntarily go, or willingly stay. What elected governments do in safer and more developed parts of the world are carried out in these areas by despots and militias, often at terrible cost to those who have nowhere else to go and no…
There is something you really need to know about the State of California. They have optimized around a key function that they do very very well. They know how to collect money from corporations. They know how to collect taxes, and know how to levy large fines and collect on them. The business that owes…
There are literally hundreds of cybersecurity conferences hosted around the world each year and as a result it can be difficult to determine which conferences provided the highest value in the domain. While each of these events bring community value in their own unique way, Def Con is the most valuable event of the year…
A Forlorn Hope No matter how much you try to spin it, cybersecurity is a cost. You can implement cheap or even free solutions to address a wide range of problems, but there has yet to be a demonstration of security adding real, sustainable value. JPMorgan Chase spends a half-billion dollars on security, but if…
This is the next in our series of special reports for OODA members focused on federal business strategies for the Startup CEO (find them all here). This special report focuses on channel partner strategies for high tech firms.
For decades we’ve heard that iCalamity is right around the corner. For decades we’ve largely ignored pleas to try and address computer security issues when they are relatively cheap and easy, before they got too large and complicated to do at all. We have been living a fairy tale life, and absent bold action and…
What should your business do in response to the current situation between the U.S. and China? The short answer is to stay agile! We provide tips on what do do in this special report. Although trade tensions with China have been brewing for decades, the U.S. began accelerating actions in response in early 2017 and…
One of the more common reasons why most organizations push back on spending for cyber security is the lack of a “return on investment.” All that fancy, shiny cyber-y stuff costs a lot of money without providing a clear benefit that is commensurate with the expenditure. Firewalls are expensive. IDS/IPS are expensive. SIEMs are expensive.…
We are all targets! This story and many more in the analysis by Mike Tanji in this week’s Cyber Threat Analysis Report.
Worried about the risks of robot warfare, some countries want new legal constraints, but the U.S. and other major powers are resistant, writes ‘The New York Times’. It seems like something out of science fiction: swarms of killer robots that hunt down targets on their own and are capable of flying in for the kill…
Amazon on Tuesday announced a new chatbot called Q for people to use at work. The product, announced at Amazon Web Services’ Reinvent conference in Las Vegas, represents Amazon’s latest effort to challenge Microsoft and Google in productivity software. It comes one year after Microsoft-backed startup OpenAI launched its ChatGPT chatbot, which has popularized generative artificial…
Developing more intelligent robots in the cloud is about to get a speed multiplier. NVIDIA Isaac Sim and NVIDIA L40S GPUs are coming to Amazon Web Services, enabling developers to build and deploy accelerated robotics applications in the cloud. Isaac Sim, an extensible simulator for AI-enabled robots, is built on the NVIDIA Omniverse development platform for…
ChatGPT owner OpenAI is not expected to offer Microsoft and other investors including Khosla Ventures and Thrive Capital seats on its new board, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. In a few tumultuous days last week, OpenAI ousted its CEO and founder Sam Altman without any detailed cause, setting off alarm bells…
In the drama that has just played out in Silicon Valley over the future of OpenAI, one side plot concerned an ambitious chip venture by its chief executive Sam Altman. Before he was ousted and reinstated to the helm of the company, Altman had sought to raise as much as $100bn from investors in the…
As automation advances, a startup can’t expect to stand out just for having yet another robot boot up. But if that robot comes optimized for use cases that other firms have yet to tackle—especially those that are especially inefficient or hazardous for humans—then it’s earned some extra attention. Among the examples that caught ours: washing…
Ten days ago OpenAI was worth $86 billion. Investors in OpenAI were about to launch a tender offer to buy employee shares at that valuation, and employees were lining up to tender; there were willing buyers and sellers at that price. Then events occurred. There was a boardroom coup, and OpenAI’s founder and chief executive…
The parent company of Sports Illustrated is denying accusations that the popular magazine had published articles attributed to fake author profiles using fabricated bios and AI-generated photos after a report accused the outlet of doing so, including allegations that some of the content was also AI-generated. A report from Futurism published Monday featured several screenshots…
Three critical vulnerabilities currently plague the open-source file-sharing software ownCloud. The most serious bug impacts Graph API versions 0.2.0 to 0.3.0 and enables unauthenticated users to access the PHP environment’s configuration details. This environment contains admin passwords, mail server credentials, and license keys. A second vulnerability is an authentication bypass in the WebDAV API, which…
The Pentagon stated on Monday that the recent attempt to hijack a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden was likely conducted by Somali pirates, not Yemeni Houthis. Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder also confirmed that missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen following the incident. After a U.S. Navy warship received a…
On Tuesday, Iranian Deputy Defense Minister Mehdi Farahi told Iran’s Tasnim news agency that Iran finalized arrangements to purchase Russian-made Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, Mil Mi-28 attack helicopters, and Yak-130 jet trainers. Iran’s air force currently operates a mixed fleet of Russian jets and aging U.S. models obtained before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. This new…
North Korea successfully launched its first spy satellite last week with the intention of monitoring U.S. and South Korean military movements. On Tuesday, North Korean state media announced that Kim Jong Un personally reviewed satellite imagery of the White House, Pentagon, and naval installations in Norfolk. State media added that the satellite also monitored military…
Israeli forces and Hamas fighters exhibited limited engagement for a fifth day on Tuesday, following the two groups’ last-minute decision to extend the four-day ceasefire for an additional 48 hours. Hamas released 50 Israeli women and children on October 7, and in return, Israel released 150 women and children during the four-day period. Hamas also…
Ardent Health Services announced on Monday that its clinical and financial operations suffered a debilitating ransomware attack last Thursday. The incident forced Ardent to take its systems offline and pause user access to its corporate servers and clinical programs. Ardent is now rescheduling some non-essential procedures and directing patients to other healthcare providers. The healthcare…
On November 28, Europol announced that law enforcement representatives from seven countries assisted in an operation to arrest ransomware actors in Kyiv, Cherkasy, Rivne, and Vinnytsia. The suspects had connections to the LockerGoga, MegaCortex, and Dharma ransomware families. Europol claimed to have arrested the group’s ringleader, as well as several key accomplices. Some of the…
Henry Schein, a healthcare solutions company, revealed they suffered a cyberattack on October 15. Two weeks later, the ransomware group Alphv/BlackCat took credit for the hack and threatened to re-encrypt files after negotiations with Henry Schein stalled. Last week, the company confirmed that its applications are again down due to the cybercrime group’s activity. Read…
The drama around OpenAI, its board, and Sam Altman has been a fascinating story that raises a number of ethical leadership issues. What are the responsibilities that OpenAI’s board, Sam Altman, and Microsoft held during these quickly moving events? Whose interests should have held priority during this saga and why? Let’s start with the board. We…
Ever since last week’s dramatic events at OpenAI, the rumor mill has been in overdrive about why the company’s chief scientific officer, Ilya Sutskever, and its board decided to oust CEO Sam Altman. While we still don’t know all the details, there have been reports that researchers at OpenAI had made a “breakthrough” in AI that…
Where Sam Altman is known for his risk-taking approach to artificial intelligence development that sometimes even comes at the cost of safety, Ilya Sutskever plays it safer. Sutskever harbours deep concerns about the dangers of AI and reportedly played a key role in persuading fellow board members at OpenAI that Altman’s fast-paced approach to AI…
The application of industrial robots is considered a significant factor affecting environmental pollution. Selecting industrial wastewater discharge, industrial SO2 emissions and industrial soot emissions as the evaluation indicators of environmental pollution, this paper uses the panel data model and mediation effect model to empirically examine the impact of industrial robots on environmental pollution and its…
The United States, Britain and more than a dozen other countries on Sunday unveiled what a senior U.S. official described as the first detailed international agreement on how to keep artificial intelligence safe from rogue actors, pushing for companies to create AI systems that are “secure by design.” In a 20-page document unveiled Sunday, the 18…
The US president says his goal is to prolong the truce as Israel and Hamas express their conditions for an extension. Statements from Israel, Hamas, the United States and others, released overnight and into the morning, stressed the urgency of extending the four-day pause in the war, which is due to end on Monday. The…
The White House aims to lift nearly all restrictions on Israel’s access to weapons from a crucial US stockpile. The White House asked the United States Senate to scrap the restrictions in its latest supplementary budget request on October 20. If granted, the request would enable Israel to access more high-powered US weapons at a…
A Ukrainian strike on a power station in Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine overnight cut power to towns and cities. This happened less than a day after Moscow launched a record number of attack drones toward Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. The overnight attack was another sign of Kyiv’s determination to inflict damage on its adversary’s…
A third group of Gaza Strip hostages was freed on Sunday, raising the prospect more captives could be set free and a fragile truce extended. The 17 hostages released by Hamas, who were seized when the militants raided Israel on Oct. 7, included three Thai citizens, one Russian and a dual American-Israeli citizen. Responding to…
The Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa in Pennsylvania, who provides water and sewer services to more than 6,600 customers, has confirmed that hackers took control of a system associated with a booster station over the weekend, but said there was no risk to the water supply. An alarm quickly alerted the Aliquippa utility of the…
Title insurance giant Fidelity National Financial (FNF) is experiencing service disruptions after it has taken down multiple systems to contain a cyberattack. FNF is one of the largest title insurance entities and underwriters groups in the US. It also offers settlement services to the real estate and mortgage industries. FNF says that an investigation was…
North Korean hackers breached a Taiwanese company and used its systems to deliver malware to the US, Canada, Japan and Taiwan in a supply chain attack, Microsoft reported. The hackers compromised the company’s systems and modified a legitimate application installer. They added malicious code designed to download, decrypt and load a second-stage payload. Microsoft started…
The U.S. military is increasing use of AI technology that will fundamentally alter the nature of war. The Pentagon is intent on fielding multiple thousands of relatively inexpensive, expendable AI-enabled autonomous vehicles by 2026 to keep pace with China. There is little dispute among scientists, industry experts and Pentagon officials that the U.S. will within…
Nvidia is delaying a new artificial intelligence chip for China that has been designed to comply with U.S. export restrictions, according to Reuters. Nvidia shares were down about 0.5% on what will be a shortened trading day in the U.S. Reuters, citing two sources familiar with the matter, reported that Nvidia told Chinese customers that…
Cybersecurity is imperative in the modern digital landscape. As businesses and individuals conduct more activities online, the scope of potential vulnerabilities expands. Here’s the exciting part — natural language processing (NLP) is stepping onto the scene. This innovative technology enhances traditional cybersecurity methods, offering intelligent data analysis and threat identification. As digital interactions evolve, NLP…
Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella’s decision to throw his company’s lot in with OpenAI in 2019 has turned into one of the tech industry’s most successful partnerships, giving the software company a huge head-start in the booming market for generative artificial intelligence. His closeness with OpenAI chief Sam Altman, underlined when Nadella turned up on…
Technological advancements, including software, electronics, and robotics, drive modern society. We see technology developing daily, changing how we work and do business. Arguably, at the forefront of current technological progress are AI technology and autonomous robots. There is little doubt that mobile, self-governing robots will play key roles in the future. In just 50 years,…
OpenAI’s board of directors’ abruptly firing CEO Sam Altman then bringing him back days later did not come out of nowhere. In fact, the boardroom drama represented the boiling over of tensions that have long simmered under the surface of the company. Following days of upheaval, Altman is again leading the company and a newly-formed…
In a fresh revelation, it has now surfaced that several researchers at OpenAI wrote to the board of directors warning of a powerful AI discovery that could threaten humanity, said a report, citing sources. The letter and the discovery of the AI algorithm were the major developments at the San Francisco-based startup before the board…
Billionaire Changpeng Zhao and leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance pleaded guilty on Tuesday to federal charges in a watershed moment designed to bring order to the often-lawless crypto industry. As part of a coordinated settlement across the federal government, Binance has agreed to pay more than $4 billion in fines and other penalties. Zhao, one of the…
Robots can perform surgery, shampoo someone’s hair, read a mammogram and, of course, drive a car. A chatbot could probably write my column, if I let it. Now that machines can do nearly everything humans do, the question is what effect they have on human motivation. Do they make our lives easier and more efficient,…
The competitive nature of AI developments has incentivized companies to move quickly and shroud their efforts in secrecy as AI continues to get more advanced. While playing things close to the vest is understandable (after all, each company wants to build AI solutions that are unique to them), it also creates major information gaps in…
Ahead of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s four days in exile, several staff researchers wrote a letter to the board of directors warning of a powerful artificial intelligence discovery that they said could threaten humanity, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The previously unreported letter and AI algorithm were key developments before the board’s…
After an eventful five days of back-and-forth that included the ouster of Sam Altman and a potential bid for the exec to join Microsoft, the OpenAI co-founder is back where he started. This tentative resolution to the biggest personnel drama in the tech world in years still appears to leave Microsoft emerging as the imbroglio’s…
The deployment of AI-controlled drones that can make autonomous decisions about whether to kill human targets is moving closer to reality. Lethal autonomous weapons, that can select targets using AI, are being developed by countries including the US, China, and Israel. The use of the so-called “killer robots” would mark a disturbing development, say critics,…
Tech giants Salesforce, Qualcomm, Nvidia and high-profile investor Eric Schmidt are pouring investment into open source AI startups that could be winners as the recent OpenAI saga — although now resolved with Sam Altman reinstated as CEO and a new board being composed with the approval of major OpenAI backer Microsoft — has shaken up…
The Ironman Triathlon was conceived in 1978 by a group of endurance athletes who wanted to settle a debate about which athletes were the fittest: swimmers, runners or cyclists. In the time since the first Ironman Triathlon was held over 45 years ago, the brand has evolved and spread across the globe, with thousands of…
Sam Altman has agreed to return to lead OpenAI, the company said in a Tuesday post on X, just days after his surprise ouster as chief executive sparked an employee revolt that threatened to undermine what has been the leading company in the fledgling artificial intelligence industry. “We have reached an agreement in principle for…
In a tragic incident in July 2018, a French pilot, unnamed in reports, has been banned from flying after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for decapitating a skydiver, Nicolas Galy, with the wing of a plane. The pilot, employed by the Midi-Pyrénées Skydiving School Association, received a suspended sentence from Montauban criminal court, while…
South Korea has suspended portions of its 2018 agreement with North Korea following Pyongyang’s claim of successfully launching a spy satellite into space. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo expressed concern over the launch, leading Seoul to resume surveillance flights along the border, defying the established no-fly zone. Despite uncertainties about the satellite’s functionality, analysts suggest its…
In Uttarakhand, India, where 41 workers have been trapped for 10 days in a tunnel, drilling operations have resumed near the tunnel’s mouth after a temporary suspension due to concerns about cracking sounds. Efforts include drilling from the mountain’s top and continuing to dig through debris to create a micro-tunnel for the workers to exit.…
A Russian actress, Polina Menshikh, tragically lost her life in a Ukrainian shelling incident on November 19 while performing in an occupied Ukrainian dance hall. She was reportedly celebrating a Russian military holiday during her show when the hall was struck. The strike claimed the lives of about 20 Russian soldiers, as confirmed by Ukrainian…
Microsoft has launched the Microsoft Defender Bounty Program, encouraging global researchers to identify vulnerabilities within Defender products and services. The program initially focuses on Defender for Endpoint APIs and offers rewards ranging from $500 to $20,000, based on the impact and quality of the reported flaws. The highest bounties are reserved for critical-severity remote code…
After a controversial ousting, Sam Altman is set to return to OpenAI as CEO following an agreement reached between him and the company, forming a new board. Former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor will chair this board, joined by Larry Summers, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, and others. The removal of Altman had sparked internal chaos and…
Security researchers from Blackwing Intelligence and Microsoft’s Offensive Research and Security Engineering (MORSE) discovered vulnerabilities in fingerprint sensors used for Windows Hello authentication on popular laptops. The Dell Inspiron 15, Lenovo ThinkPad T14s, and Microsoft Surface Pro X were targeted, all equipped with Match-on-Chip fingerprint sensors, ensuring fingerprint data stays within the sensor. However, the…
The car parts giant AutoZone has notified nearly 185,000 individuals about compromised personal information due to the MOVEit hacking campaign. Cybercriminals exploited a vulnerability in the MOVEit Transfer file transfer app, accessing data like social security numbers. While no fraud cases have been reported, affected customers are offered credit monitoring and identity protection. AutoZone responded…
If they had been the plot of a science fiction movie, or an episode of “Succession,” the events at OpenAI last weekend would have seemed a little over-the-top. A secret board coup! Fears of killer A.I.! A star C.E.O., betrayed by his chief scientist! A middle-of-the-night staff revolt that threatens to change the balance of…
It seems like something out of science fiction: swarms of killer robots that hunt down targets on their own and are capable of flying in for the kill without any human signing off. But it is approaching reality as the United States, China and a handful of other nations make rapid progress in developing and deploying…
Automation is fundamentally changing industries and workplaces. The International Federation of Robotics predicts that in a decade, more than half of production operators will be working with robots. Big companies? They’re already there, harnessing advanced technology and optimizing their output. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)? Not so much. Let’s take a moment to think about why…
One AI startup’s undoing is another’s opportunity. Case in point: today, AI21 Labs, a company developing generative AI products along the lines of OpenAI’s GPT-4 and ChatGPT, closed a $53 million extension to its previously-announced Series C funding round. The new tranche, which had participation from new investors Intel Capital and Comcast Ventures, brings AI21’s total…
OpenAI Vice President of Global Affairs Anna Makanju said in a memo to staff Monday that the company is in “intense discussions” to unify its divided staff, according to a statement reviewed by Bloomberg. The note comes after days of high-stakes negotiations over who would lead the company, and a threat by almost the entire…
Argentinian president-elect Javier Milei has previously criticized China and stated he will not deal with communists. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the two countries made significant progress under Alberto Fernandez’s administration and cutting ties now would be a serious mistake. Read More: https://www.reuters.com/world/china-says-would-be-serious-mistake-if-argentina-cuts-ties-2023-11-21/
Hamas and Israeli leadership both indicated that they are on the cusp of reaching a temporary truce on Tuesday. The deal would likely secure the release of 50 civilian hostages from Hamas and an unspecified number of minor-aged Palestinian captives from Israeli custody, as well as a multi-day pause in fighting. Read More: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/white-house-says-israel-hamas-hostage-deal-closer-than-before-2023-11-21/
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency announced on Monday it will expand its managed cybersecurity services to non-federal critical infrastructure organizations in need of risk management. CISA previously offered its direct services to federal clients. Read More: https://www.securityweek.com/cisa-offering-free-cybersecurity-services-to-non-federal-critical-infrastructure-entities/
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