Digital Ethics and Cultural Nuances
A global ethics study aims to help AI solve the self-driving “trolley problem” MIT Technology Review article - By Karen Hao - October 24, 2018 In 2014 researchers at the MIT Media Lab designed an experiment called Moral Machine. The idea was to create a game-like platform that would crowdsource people’s decisions on how self-driving cars should prioritize lives in different variations of the “trolley problem.” In the process, the data generated would provide insight into the
Another large-scale cyberattack underway: experts
Another large-scale, stealthy cyberattack is underway on a scale that could dwarf last week's assault on computers worldwide, a global cybersecurity firm told AFP on Wednesday. The new attack targets the same vulnerabilities the WannaCry ransomware worm exploited but, rather than freeze files, uses the hundreds of thousands of computers believed to have been infected to mine virtual currency. Following the detection of the WannaCry attack on Friday, "researchers at Proofpoint
Cryptographers Demonstrate Collision in Popular SHA-1 Algorithm
On February 23rd, a joint team from the CWI Amsterdam and Google announced that they had generated the first ever collision in the SHA-1 cryptographic hashing algorithm. SHA-1 has long been considered theoretically insecure by cryptanalysts due to weaknesses in the algorithm design, but this marks the first time researchers were actually able to demonstrate a real-world example of the insecurity. In addition to being a powerful Proof of Concept (POC), the computing power th
Our connected devices: the greatest privacy threat of all?
Smart-television maker Vizio agreed to pay a penalty this month for spying on 11 million customers. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the company captured second-by-second information on what customers viewed, combined it with their gender, age and income, and sold it to third parties. How much was the fine for Vizio, which has sales in excess of $3 billion? It was $2.2 million — barely a slap on the wrist. These kinds of privacy breaches are increasingly common as
Surveillance: Your Cubicle Has Ears—and Eyes, and a Brain
Sensors and AI can keep tabs on employees better than any boss. Employers have long wanted to know how their workers spend their time. New office surveillance technology is now making the task far easier. Bloomberg reports that an increasing number of companies are outfitting offices with sensors to keep track of employees. These sensors are hidden in lights, on walls, under desks—anywhere that allows them to measure things like where people are and how much they are talking
