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☆ Top Democrat urges Biden admin to do more to help local election officials fight a flood of disinformation
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-27 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

“Unfortunately, throughout this election cycle we have witnessed an unprecedented rise in targeted election disinformation campaigns,” Warner wrote to Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA). They say some understaffed state and local election agencies are ill-equipped to handle the problem and are uncertain how much they can rely on federal agencies for help. In his letter, Warner said state and local governments are hard-pressed to keep up with the rapid advances in AI-generated information operations. CISA has said previously that the agency has focused on helping educate the public and train state and local election officials about the tactics employed in disinformation campaigns. Instead, for any disinformation originating from within the U.S., it will likely be up to state and local election officials to flag it to voters.

Persons: Biden, NBC News . Sen, Mark Warner of Virginia, —, ” Warner, Jen, “, Sen, Mark Warner, Tom Williams, Donald Trump’s, Warner, CISA, Kamala Harris Organizations: Democratic, NBC News ., Senate Intelligence, Infrastructure Agency, Capitol, Inc, Getty, NBC News, Officials, FBI, Department of Homeland, Warner, National Intelligence Locations: Russia, Iran, China, Florida, U.S

☆ US, partners target North Korea with sanctions following satellite launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The list includes senior officials from the National Aerospace Technology Administration, which oversaw the satellite launch, and the munitions industry department. Since the launch of the satellite, North Korea said that its leader, Kim Jong Un, has reviewed spy satellite photos of the White House, Pentagon and U.S. aircraft carriers at the naval base of Norfolk. Kimsuky's hacking operation has been historically focused on South Korea, Japan and the United States. The RGB is a North Korean intelligence agency that is involved in cyber warfare activities, according to analysts, and is under U.S. sanctions. Two Russia-based representatives of North Korean banks and one China-based representative were also hit with sanctions, among others.

Persons: Kim Jong, Brian Nelson, Nelson, Kimsuky, Daphne Psaledakis, David Brunnstrom, Christopher Bing, Hyonhee Shin, Sandra Maler, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Korean Central News Agency, KCNA, REUTERS, U.S . Treasury Department, North, Terrorism, Financial Intelligence, Democratic People's, National Aerospace Technology Administration, United Nations, White House, Pentagon, U.S, North Korea sparred, Security Council, Treasury, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Agency, Security, U.S . National Security Agency, Korea's, Bureau, UN, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, SEOUL, United States, Korea, U.S, Australia, Japan, North Korea, Korean, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, South, New York, Norfolk, South Korea, Guam, Italy, Washington, Europe, Russia, North Korean, Iran, China, North, Seoul

☆ UNESCO, Dutch launch project to prepare for AI supervision
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration taken June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsTHE HAGUE, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The Netherlands and the U.N. on Thursday launched a project to help prepare Europe's national agencies to supervise artificial intelligence (AI). The project, undertaken with support of the European Commission, comes ahead of the passage of the AI Act, the broad legislation that is expected to govern AI use in Europe. In the project, The United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will be assembling information about how European countries are currently supervising AI and putting together a list of "best practices" recommendations. The Dutch digital infrastructure agency (RDI) will be assisting UNESCO in communicating and meeting with national working groups from around Europe, including a first meeting on Thursday in The Hague.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, UNESCO's Gabriela Ramos, Nathalie Berger, Toby Sterling, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: REUTERS, HAGUE, European Commission, United Nations, Cultural Organization, UNESCO, Union, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Netherlands, Europe, The Hague

☆ FBI director urges private sector to lend government more support in cyber intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing on Capitol Hill May 10, 2023 in Washington, DC. WASHINGTON, D.C. – FBI Director Christopher Wray said Monday that the federal government is relying more than ever on private sector support to ensure that U.S. infrastructure remains secure. Wray said that artificial intelligence may help China's cyber intelligence operations in their efforts to overpower U.S. defenses, and reiterated that Chinese hackers outnumber the FBI's cyber and intelligence agents by at least 50 to 1. China is poised to "use the fruits of their widespread hacking to power, with AI, even-more-powerful hacking efforts," he added. North Korean hacking groups, for example, often seek to generate revenue for the government while gathering espionage for the state.

Persons: Christopher Wray, Wray, it's, Colonial's Organizations: Commerce, Justice, Science, Capitol, WASHINGTON , D.C, Mandiant's mWise Conference, Google, FBI, Cybersecurity Infrastructure Agency, Colonial Pipeline Locations: Washington , DC, WASHINGTON ,, Washington, China, Korean, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, U.S, East

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court Friday significantly whittled down a lower court's order curbing Biden administration communications with social media companies over controversial content about COVID-19 and other issues. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Friday said the White House, the Surgeon General, the Centers for Disease Control and the FBI cannot “coerce” social media platforms to take down posts the government doesn’t like. Even the appeals court’s softened order doesn’t take effect immediately. The administration has 10 days to seek a Supreme Court review. The case was heard by judges Jennifer Walker Elrod and Edith Brown Clement, nominated to the court by former President George W. Bush; and Don Willett, nominated by former President Donald Trump.

Persons: evening's, Joe Biden’s, Hunter, Jeff Landry, “, Terry Doughty's, Friday's, Jennifer Walker Elrod, Edith Brown Clement, George W ., Don Willett, Donald Trump, Doughty Organizations: ORLEANS, —, Biden, U.S, Circuit, Centers for Disease Control, FBI, Facebook, District, National Institute of Allergy, Infrastructure Agency, State Department, Trump Locations: New Orleans, Louisiana, Missouri, U.S

☆ Helsinki deputy mayor caught graffitiing the city
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Amy Woodyatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —A deputy mayor in Helsinki is facing possible legal action after being caught spray-painting graffiti with a friend. Paavo Arhinmäki, deputy mayor responsible for culture and leisure in the Finnish capital, issued a statement Saturday admitting that he and a friend had been caught by security guards after painting inside a train tunnel leading to the city’s Vuosaari harbor. “Now there is still on-going police investigation for legal action and its consequences,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The costs of cleaning up are collected from the perpetrators after the police investigation is done,” they added. Meanwhile, Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat published a photo of the graffiti and tweeted about the incident.

Persons: CNN —, Paavo Arhinmäki, Arhinmäki Organizations: CNN, Helsingin Sanomat, Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, Eastern Uusimaa Police Department Locations: Helsinki, Helsingin, Pasila, Arhinmäki

☆ The most-popular big tech default email programs are old and vulnerable
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Elizabeth Macbride | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

All over the world, organizations of all sizes, including small businesses, scrambled to upload patches and to figure out if they'd been infiltrated. Each time big software companies have changed default settings or made blanket changes with cybersecurity in mind, he points out, cybercrime fell measurably. Some of its donors are big technology companies. "Microsoft takes email security very seriously," said Girish Chander, head of Microsoft Defender for Office, in a statement to CNBC. Updating email software default settings.

Last week, Killnet targeted the websites of several U.S. states, successfully knocking Colorado.gov offline for more than a day and briefly interrupting Kentucky.gov. Killnet frequently posts lists of targeted websites on its Telegram channel, encouraging fellow Russia supporters with entry-level hacker skills to join it in trying to disrupt them. The U.S. Department of Transportation and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. It listed the city of Chicago’s general air travel website, flychicago.com, which was inaccessible Monday, but not that of its major airports, like O’Hare International or Midway International. Similarly, it targeted Hawaii’s state website for air travel, which was also inaccessible, but not Honolulu International.

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