Tag: misinformation
Musk rattles skeletons in Brussels’ cupboard
The European Union (EU) suffered a major setback this week in its drive to recreate cyberspace in its own image. In a surprising turnaround, the EU appears to have caved into threats by X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk to reveal “secret deals” offered by the EU to himself and other US-based global social network platforms. Until Monday, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton appeared to be preparing for a legal cage fight with Musk, a man who is tipped to become the world’s first trillionaire, over the issue of free speech and Musk’s refusal to censor political debate on X in line with Brussels’ wishes. Breton’s shock resignation yesterday is now being seen by many as evidence of the truth behind Musk’s allegations. X CEO Linda Yaccarino immediately referred to the resignation of European Union commissioner Thierry Breton as "a good day for free speech."
Telegram chief arrested in Paris
Speculation is today mounting concerning the arrest of the popular encrypted messaging app Telegram head and founder, Pavel Durov, at Le Bourget airport north of Paris on Saturday evening. The arrest has been widely reported in France, although the authorities have yet to issue a full statement. In the past, the French president. Emmanuel Macron and his team have been enthusiastic users of Telegram, using it to orchestrate their political strategies. But Durov’s arrest on Saturday is now being seen as part of an attempt by the UK and the European Union to curtail the reach and influence of largely unregulated communications platforms such as Telegram and X (formerly Twitter). This theory is born out of sources close to the situation, who believe that Durov will face charges of complicity in drug trafficking, crimes against children, and fraud – all allegedly stemming from a lack of moderation controls on Telegram.
America’s enemies strive to sway the US presidential election
Nations hostile to America, primarily Russia and China, are currently doubling down on their efforts to influence the outcome of the upcoming US elections. So far, their efforts appear to be directed at preventing Donald Trump from winning a second term as president, possibly fearing a Republican victory could herald the US taking a tougher stance on international affairs. According to an extensive nine-page Microsoft threat intelligence report: “Foreign malign influence concerning the 2024 US election started off slowly but has steadily picked up pace over the last six months due initially to Russian operations, but more recently from Iranian activity.”
Deepfakes set to deceive at DEF CON
It looks as if deepfakes will be the hot topic at the big international hacker conference DEF CON in Las Vegas next week, just as they took center stage at InfoSecurity Europe in London in June. Visitors to DEF CON’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) village will be encouraged to create their own highly professional deepfake videos of fellow conference attendees by cybersecurity company Bishop Fox’s red team. The purpose is to educate conference goers about the growing dangers now posed to all organizations by deepfake calls purporting to come from senior executives or highly-trusted members of staff.
Exclusive: Deepfakes being used to manipulate share prices
Cash-rich cybercriminals are learning that the easiest way to make money on the stock markets while laundering cash at the same time is to use deepfake videos to impact share prices, albeit temporarily. According to Tim Grieveson, Senior Vice President of Global Cyber Risk, BitSight: “Using video and audio deepfakes to manipulate share prices for financial gain is definitely happening, but is something no one is currently talking about.” “Using a deepfake to announce a takeover could, for instance, drive up a stock in which the threat actor owns shares. Alternatively, a negative announcement such as a dire profits warning could be used to lower the share price so that the threat actor could buy the shares at a knock-down price, only to sell them again when the profits warning was seen to be fake” adds Grieveson.
AI is fueling China’s cyber war against the US
Once again, China is harnessing new Western technology to attack and undermine the US at home and overseas. According to a new report from Microsoft, this time, China is using AI-generated fake social media accounts to influence the outcome of the upcoming US presidential elections. The report, Same targets, new playbooks: East Asia threat actors employ unique methods, details China’s recent attempts to discredit the US government, including misinformation regarding: the Kentucky train derailment in November; the Maui wildfires in August; the disposal of Japanese nuclear wastewater, illegal drug use in the US as well as exacerbating the increasing racial tensions across the US.
Change Healthcare Hit by Another Potential Cyber Attack – April 9th
Arriving just a month after a paid ransom was demanded following the massive data breach in February 2024, Change Healthcare reported on another potential cyberattack: extortion from the "ransomhub" group. Initiated by the new "ransomhub" group, with suspected connections to BlackCat, the double-extortion claim has yet to be confirmed by cybersecurity experts.
Iran targets Western journalists
Hackers with close ties to the intelligence arm of Iran’s military, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, are now personally targeting journalists, professors, and researchers. According to Microsoft, which detected the new activity, Iran is anxious to gather information on the entire range of Western views regarding the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. “Based on the identities of the targets observed in this campaign and the use of lures related to the Israel-Hamas war, this campaign may be an attempt to gather perspectives on events related to the war from individuals across the ideological spectrum,” says Microsoft. The Iran-backed hackers, known as Mint Sandstorm, a composite name used to describe several subgroups of activity with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, use a range of new techniques. For example, the hackers use legitimate but compromised email accounts to conduct highly planned phishing attacks against key journalists.
JP Morgan Chase Combats 45 Billion Cyber Attacks Daily – January 18th
On Wednesday, January 17th, JPMorgan Chase's asset and wealth management division head, Mary Callahan Erdoes, said during the World Economic Forum in Davos that the firm faces a staggering 45 billion breach attempts daily. Mary explained on a panel session that they have more security engineers than Google and Amazon, out of necessity, as threat actors increasingly get "smarter, savvier, quicker, more devious and mischievous."
77% of CEOs Believe AI More Risk Than Reward in Cyber – January 16th
Despite the hype of AI in cybersecurity, a PwC survey revealed that 77% of CEOs still believe AI increases the risk of breaches rather than boosts cybersecurity. The PwC survey interviewed 4,700 executives globally, the majority of whom are CEOs. The survey also found that 63% of respondents believed AI to be a misinformation risk, causing a barrier for legal and reputational damage stemming from generative AI.
Global AI summit mired in controversy
The UK-hosted Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Summit due to take place on Wednesday and Thursday this week, attended by world leaders and AI experts, is set to become the focus of a widening global debate on the dangers of AI. Last Thursday, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak set out the agenda for the discussion, coming down heavily on the side of the AI doom-mongers, who once again are warning that AI poses an existential threat to humanity itself.