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Category: security – Page 34

With US car thefts up 25.1% since 2019, it’s clear that high-tech key fob immobilizers aren’t cutting the mustard. But this might: UMich researchers have created a charmingly low-tech anti-theft device that turns the whole car into a security keypad.

Keyless entry and ignition are a brilliant step up in convenience from the old “stick key in hole and turn” method of starting cars, but thieves and hackers with a bit of know-how and some specialist gear are finding late-model keyless cars quick and easy to break into and steal. Between this kind of thing and Tik Tok car theft challenges, criminals are having a field day in the post-COVID era.

A team at the University of Michigan has come up with a fun solution that doesn’t use wireless signals at all. The “Battery Sleuth,” as they’ve called it, sits between the car’s battery and its electrical system, and measures fluctuations in voltage, looking for a specific set of voltage changes that act as a secret handshake of sorts between driver and car. Only when this handshake is complete will the device let the full power of the battery through to fire up the starter motor.

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The Biden administration announced on Friday a voluntary agreement with seven leading AI companies, including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. The move, ostensibly aimed at managing the risks posed by AI and protecting Americans’ rights and safety, has provoked a range of questions, the foremost being: What does the new voluntary AI agreement mean?

At first glance, the voluntary nature of these commitments looks promising. Regulation in the technology sector is always contentious, with companies wary of stifling growth and governments eager to avoid making mistakes. By sidestepping the direct imposition of command and control regulation, the administration can avoid the pitfalls of imposing… More.

That said, it’s not an entirely hollow gesture. It does emphasize important principles of safety, security, and trust in AI, and it reinforces the notion that companies should take responsibility for the potential societal impact of their technologies. Moreover, the administration’s focus on a cooperative approach, involving a broad range of stakeholders, hints at a potentially promising direction for future AI governance. However, we should also not forget the risk of government growing too cozy with industry.

Still, let’s not mistake this announcement for a seismic shift in AI regulation. We should consider this a not-very-significant step on the path to responsible AI. At the end of the day, what the government and these companies have done is put out a press release.

Continue reading “Biden Administration Secures Voluntary Commitments From AI Firms: A Step Forward Or Empty Rhetoric?” | >

Secondly, remember that all cloud services are not created equal. So, take time to select a vendor that aligns with your firm’s security, scalability and regulatory compliance requirements. Implement robust security measures at your end and prepare a plan for data backups and disaster recovery.

Lastly, remember that change management is essential. Keep the lines of communication open, address concerns proactively and involve your team throughout the transition process. Navigating these challenges can set you on the path to successful digital transformation.

Are you all set to bid farewell to those paper mountains and extend a warm welcome to the digital cloud? Cloud storage equips your law firm not only to brace for the future but to lead the vanguard in this digital revolution. Bear in mind, the future isn’t a distant entity floating far beyond our reach; it’s here. So, what’s your next strategic move in this exciting game of legal digital transformation?

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Microsoft will expand access to important security log data after being criticized for locking detailed audit logs behind a Microsoft 365 enterprise plan that costs $57 per user per month. The logging updates will start rolling out “in September 2023 to all government and commercial customers,” the company said.

“Over the coming months, we will include access to wider cloud security logs for our worldwide customers at no additional cost. As these changes take effect, customers can use Microsoft Purview Audit to centrally visualize more types of cloud log data generated across their enterprise,” Microsoft announced yesterday.

Microsoft Purview Audit Premium is available on the $57-per-user Microsoft 365 E5 plan for businesses as well as the similar A5 education plan and G5 government plan. There’s also a Purview Audit Standard service that comes with a much wider range of plans, including the Microsoft 365 Business Basic tier that costs $6 per user per month.

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Remember what it’s like to twirl a sparkler on a summer night? Hold it still and the fire crackles and sparks but twirl it around and the light blurs into a line tracing each whirl and jag you make.

A new patented software system developed at Sandia National Laboratories can find the curves of motion in streaming video and images from satellites, drones and far-range security cameras and turn them into signals to find and track moving objects as small as one . The developers say this system can enhance the performance of any remote sensing application.

“Being able to track each pixel from a distance matters, and it is an ongoing and challenging problem,” said Tian Ma, a computer scientist and co-developer of the system. “For physical security surveillance systems, for example, the farther out you can detect a possible threat, the more time you have to prepare and respond. Often the biggest challenge is the simple fact that when objects are located far away from the sensors, their size naturally appears to be much smaller. Sensor sensitivity diminishes as the distance from the target increases.”

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The United States remains the only nation to have landed humans on the Moon and returned them safely to Earth. It is among the greatest achievements in human history, and it has significantly contributed to America’s leadership on the world stage. As a young man I had the opportunity of working on the Apollo program as an inspector with McDonnell Douglas. It was an exciting experience, and I am both grateful and humbled to have been a part of it.

The success of the Apollo Missions led to other significant accomplishments like building reusable Space Shuttles to test the limits of human space flight, prolonged robotic exploration of Mars, deploying a space-based telescope that can see far beyond our solar system, and conducting scientific research on the International Space Station. In more recent years we’ve seen an explosion in commercial space activity which has culminated in private companies conducting successful human space launches. This too is a significant milestone.

Our investment in space is critical to our national security, scientific discovery, technological advancement, and economic competitiveness. So much of our modern-day life is dependent on space making a bank transaction, for example, or even a phone call, these days requires using some type of space-faring technology. And while NASA’s leadership of our space efforts will continue to be indispensable, the U.S. commercial space industry’s role in space exploration will grow larger and more critical. American companies must continue to lead the way.

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“Some men just want to watch the world burn.” Zachary Kallenborn discusses acts of existential terrorism, such as the Tokyo subway sarin attack by Aum Shinrikyo in 1995, which killed or injured over 1,000 people.

Zachary kallenborn is a policy fellow in the center for security policy studies at george mason university, research affiliate in unconventional weapons and technology at START, and senior risk management consultant at the ABS group.

Zachary has an MA in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies from Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and a BS in Mathematics and International Relations from the University of Puget Sound.

His work has been featured in numerous international media outlets including the New York Times, Slate, NPR, Forbes, New Scientist, WIRED, Foreign Policy, the BBC, and many others.

Continue reading “Zachary Kallenborn — Existential Terrorism” | >

Restoring And Extending The Capabilities Of The Human Brain — Dr. Behnaam Aazhang, Ph.D. — Director, Rice Neuroengineering Initiative, Rice University

Dr. Behnaam Aazhang, Ph.D. (https://aaz.rice.edu/) is the J.S. Abercrombie Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Director, Rice Neuroengineering Initiative (NEI — https://neuroengineering.rice.edu/), Rice University, where he has broad research interests including signal and data processing, information theory, dynamical systems, and their applications to neuro-engineering, with focus areas in (i) understanding neuronal circuits connectivity and the impact of learning on connectivity, (ii) developing minimally invasive and non-invasive real-time closed-loop stimulation of neuronal systems to mitigate disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson, depression, obesity, and mild traumatic brain injury, (iii) developing a patient-specific multisite wireless monitoring and pacing system with temporal and spatial precision to restore the healthy function of a diseased heart, and (iv) developing algorithms to detect, predict, and prevent security breaches in cloud computing and storage systems.

Dr. Aazhang received his B.S. (with highest honors), M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1981, 1983, and 1986, respectively. From 1981 to 1985, he was a Research Assistant in the Coordinated Science Laboratory, University of Illinois. In August 1985, he joined the faculty of Rice University. From 2006 till 2014, he held an Academy of Finland Distinguished Visiting Professorship appointment (FiDiPro) at the University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.

Continue reading “Dr. Behnaam Aazhang, Ph.D. — Director, Rice Neuroengineering Initiative (NEI), Rice University” | >