Some of the brightest scientist and technology leaders are urging the ban of killer robots and unmanned intelligence weapons.
A letter was written and signed by Professor Steven Hawkins, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and other respected leaders of the science technology community. This letter was signed by over 1,000 robotic researchers and 1,000 others. This letter calls for a ban on “offensive autonomous weapons”, weapons that can kill people on their own without human help and can’t be stopped by human intervention. This letter warned against a ‘military artificial intelligence arms race’ that could destroy the human race. The letter was presented at the International Joint Conference of Artificial Intelligence in Argentina. The letter writers aren’t anti-artificial intelligence. In fact, the letter argues AI can be good. For example, AI can protect our military in combat zones. They acknowledge that. But there’s concern offensive weapons could turn wherever they want and cause great human death and destruction. Hawkins even said such AI is our biggest threat. They’re calling on the UN to stop the threat. And there are other groups like Campaign to Stop Killer Robots to call attention to this issue.
I’m glad someone is exposing the potential threat. When I was a kid, I used to hear stories and watch shows about how robots could take over the world and destroy the Earth and her inhabitants. I never thought we’d see it happen. But here we are faced with this threat. What if someone turns on these machines and can’t turn them off? Next thing you know, dozens are dead. There’s no apology, explanation, investigation, lawsuit, or criminal trial that’s going to bring the dead back. This is why we need to prevent offensive autonomous weapons before they’re turned on in the first place. Or worse, what if they’re deliberately turned on with malicious intent to kill innocent human beings? You don’t think somebody is that psychopathic?
In the last year or so, we’ve learned anything can be hacked. Even entire retail corporations?and government entities aren’t safe. Can a car be hacked?
The answer is yes. That’s according to professional hacker Charlie Miller of Ladue, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Earlier this week, he and a friend tested their hacking skills on a 2014 Jeep Cherokee. One person was on a laptop while another was on the road driving around greater St. Louis. From the laptop, Miller was able to lock the doors. He blasted the car radio. He was took control of the steering wheel. Miller even shut down the breaks and transmission. Charlie Miller plans to discuss these disturbing results at the Black Hat convention in Las Vegas in August 2015. Miller’s experiment is so alarming that everyone is taking note, from consumers to car makers to political leaders. Chrysler is already teaming up with Miller to fix their soft security spots. A Chrysler spokesperson said the company is “…focused on identifying and implementing software best practices…”. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) and Edward Markey (D-Mass) are pushing for laws that secure cars and protect the lives and privacy of everyone on the road. Miller worries the more automobiles depend on 21st century software technology, the more vulnerable?we all are. There could be hundreds of thousands of vulnerable cars on the road right now.
I agree with Charlie Miller. And I hope more legislators and car companies take note and do something. Don’t wait for tragedy to strike to combat evil and chaos. If they have a chance to stop it before they get started, then take it! We consumers should stay on their case until something is done. So share this and other stories like this all over social media. Write to your local Congressmen, Senator, car dealership and car company and insist this security threat is solved before someone gets hurt or killed. Don’t think somebody would hijack somebody’s car from home? Tell that to terrorists, cyber criminals, psychopaths, or anybody with a grudge. I‘m thinking even jilted ex-lovers could use this against each other. Can we afford to wait any longer to fight car hacking?
Controversial dating service Ashley Madison was hacked. All 37 million accounts have been compromised and threatened.
For those unfamiliar with Ashley Madison, it’s a dating website that encourages adulterous relationships. In fact, their slogan is, “Life is short, have an affair.” ?Hackers threaten to release nude photos, hook up plans and sexual fantasies for all 37 million customers unless Ashley Madison shuts down their website once and for all. Avid Life Media, Ashley Madison’s parent company, confirmed this massive breach. A hacking organization called The Impact Team claimed responsibility. They’ve already leaked some of the data they broke into. Now they’re threatening to name names, credit cards to the company profiles to the fantasies, pictures and potential hook ups. An Impact Team spokesperson messaged, ?”Shutting Down Ashley Madison and Established Men will cost you, but non-compliance will cost you more.” Yes, Impact Team also went after Established Men, a website catering to older men looking for much younger women. They threatened to name names and profiles if Established Men wasn’t shut down completely. Avid Life Media says they’re working with authorities to bring these hackers to justice.
I find it interesting they didn’t go after Cougar Life…yet. That’s a site targeting older women looking for younger guys. But that’s another issue. You may not agree with what Ashley Madison is doing morally. I don’t. But hacking is not the way to express your disapproval. Don’t be fooled. The Impact Team hackers are not moral crusaders. In fact, they’re more wicked than Ashley Madison. They could have carried out peaceful protest. They could have put up videos raising awareness. They could have lectured and taught what adultery can do to families. But they just had to pay wrongdoing with outright evil. That’s what this hacking is…evil. Plus, Ashley Madison’s services are protected by free speech and the Constitution. Impact Team’s actions are illegal and I hope they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. An old wise man once said, “You can’t answer curses for curses and blows for blows.” How can anybody condone or support The Impact Team?
It’s good to report some good news, especially when it comes to computer security issues. Spam rates are down, and the lowest they’ve been in over a decade.
According to computer security firm Symantec, spam rates and junk email are at their lowest rates since September 2003. In June 2015, the spam rate fell to just 49.7 percent. As recently as April 2015, 52.1 percent of our emails were spam and/or junk. Symantic studied 704 billion emails. Of those, 353 billion were spam. Six years ago, around 90 percent of our emails were spam. In June 2009 alone, there were 5.7 trillion, with a T, pieces of spam invaded our email accounts. ?Several factors can be credited for the spam decrease, such as legal action against spammers, filtering by email providers, and better blocking. Just hit spammers in the pocketbook and slash their revenue. They won’t want to spam anymore.
This is good news for everyone involve, well, except for spam providers. Spam isn’t just an annoyance or nuisance, it can also be dangerous. It can lead to malware, identity theft, cyber attacks, computer shutdown. The list goes on and on. Yes, I know every business needs to advertise and promote themselves just to survive. That’s American free enterprise. There’s nothing wrong with that. But with some of these spammers, you don’t know where they’re lurking from. Some maybe trying steal your bank account information. Some spammers may be working for a hostile nation, criminal organization or even a terrorist group. I’m not trying to scare anyone. I’m just raising awareness of where spam could lead. That’s why I’m happy my email filter is working overtime. This is why we should all be relieved and happy with this report. I’m thankful for all the steps taken to bring this technology epidemic to a decline. I can only hope it declines even more. How do you feel about spam rates being down?
We’ve reported on disturbing cases about?the savagery of sextortion. But this has to be the worst sextortion case ever! This one is so bad it got the culprit 105 years in prison.
That culprit’s name is 31-year-old Lucas Michael Chansler from St. John’s, Florida, a suburb 25 miles south of Jacksonville, FL. Chansler pleaded guilty to nine counts of producing child pornography, but that’s only the beginning. ?Authorities representing the FBI have identified 109 victims. Most victims were underage teen girls. These victims span 26 US states, three Canadian provinces, and throughout the United Kingdom. Authorities believe there are 240 more victims out there. ?Chansler would seek out girls on social media sites. Eventually, he’d persuade girls to take inappropriate photos of themselves. Then, he’d threaten to blast the inappropriate photos online or even to their parents if they didn’t send him more explicit photos. Back in 2010, Chansler was indicted when one girl and her parents came forward. Here’s the real chilling part: Chansler himself confessed he targeted teenagers because he felt adults were too smart to fall for his scheme. Chansler used many aliases from VictorHugo to CaptainObvious. That’s one reason he was able to do so much damage.
The other is the reason this case is still fluid. There’s over 200 victims yet to be identified. Authorities believe, and I agree, it’s because of the shame this could put on themselves, their futures and their families. Thank God Chansler was caught. If not, he would have gone on and on and on. Parents, please keep an extremely close eye on what your children and/or teenagers are doing online, especially on social media. I urge adults to use caution and be very picky about who they let in their computer. If you don’t know that person, don’t accept that friend or follower request. If your?kid doesn’t know that alias, that alias shouldn’t be there! I’m not here to blame the victim. It’s a?shame?the internet has to be spoiled by a handful of sociopaths like Lucas Micheal Chansler. I hope authorities step up their game in the war against sextortion. Chansler will never experience another day of freedom, nor should he. What can we do to keep our families and friends safe?
The FBI is investigating not one, not five, but eleven different attacks on the San Francisco Bay Area’s Internet system. This isn’t your typical attack.
This attack was physical, not cyber. This attack messed up internet cables 11 times going back to about a year. According to the FBI, the first of these attacks took place in July 2014. This attack disrupted the Internet for businesses and residential homes alike. The disruptions went as far as Sacramento, the state capital and 88 miles from downtown San Francisco. In one very recent attack, the culprit broke into a vault underground and cut several fiber optic cables. What makes this so concerning is that these fiber optic cables are the lifeblood of the information super highway. If you infect, disrupt, or tamper with the lifeblood, then the rest of the body, in this case the whole Internet, is going to suffer. In this latest attack, the fiber optic cables tampered with belong to Colorado based service providers called Level 3 and Zedo. ?Unfortunately, this case isn’t unique. Earlier this year someone cut through Arizona cables and cut off Internet services for tens of thousands. In 2009 California, underground fiber optics were deliberately cut. This virtually killed Internet and cell phone service for three heavily populated Southern California counties.
But what’s scary is we don’t know who is responsible for these attacks. What’s even scarier is they don’t have a motive. Authorities believe the culprit(s) are dressing up as utility workers using utility workers’ tools to break in and cut the cables. This could be a disgruntle employee. But something tells me this is far more sinister. Isn’t it bad enough that we’ve got cyber criminals trying to wipe out corporations and the shoppers therein? And what about international enemies who want to do harm? I wonder what would happen if a group of enemies decide to cut off fiber optics all over the country at once? Some may say, “That’s too far fetched.” Is it really though?
