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Chinese hackers are using AI to inflame social tensions in US, Microsoft says

posted onApril 8, 2024
by l33tdawg
Credit: The Record

Beijing-linked influence operations have begun to use generative artificial intelligence to amplify controversial domestic issues in places like the U.S. and Taiwan, according to new research.

The campaigns mainly used the technology to create visual content designed to spark conflict ahead of elections, a report published by Microsoft on Thursday found.

A Vigilante Hacker Took Down North Korea’s Internet. Now He’s Taking Off His Mask

posted onApril 5, 2024
by l33tdawg
Credit: Wired

A little over two years have passed since the online vigilante who would call himself P4x fired the first shot in his own one-man cyberwar. Working alone in his coastal Florida home in late January of 2022, wearing slippers and pajama pants and periodically munching on Takis corn snacks, he spun up a set of custom-built programs on his laptop and a collection of cloud-based servers that intermittently tore offline every publicly visible website in North Korea and would ultimately keep them down for more than a week.

Ukraine gives award to foreign vigilantes for hacks on Russia

posted onApril 4, 2024
by l33tdawg
Credit: BBC

A team of vigilante hackers carrying out cyber-attacks against Russia has been sent awards of gratitude by Ukraine's military.

The team, One Fist, has stolen data from Russian military firms and hacked cameras to spy on troops. The certificates are a controversial sign of how modern warfare is shifting.

The Mystery of ‘Jia Tan,’ the XZ Backdoor Mastermind

posted onApril 4, 2024
by l33tdawg
Credit: Wired

The scourge of software supply chain attacks—an increasingly common hacking technique that hides malicious code in a widely used legitimate program—can take many forms. Hackers can penetrate an update server to seed out their malware, or even break into the network where the software was developed to corrupt it at the source. Or, in the case of one particularly insidious software supply chain attacker known as Jia Tan, they can spend two years politely and enthusiastically volunteering to help.

Man pleads guilty to stealing former coworker’s identity for 30 years

posted onApril 4, 2024
by l33tdawg
Credit: Arstechnica

A high-level Iowa hospital systems administrator, Matthew Kierans, has admitted to stealing a coworker's identity and posing as William Donald Woods for more than 30 years, The Register reported.

On top of using Woods' identity to commit crimes and rack up debt, Kierans' elaborate identity theft scheme led to Woods' incarceration after Kierans' accused his victim of identity theft and Los Angeles authorities failed to detect which man was the true William Donald Woods. Kierans could face up to 32 years in prison, The Register reported, and must pay a $1.25 million fine.

The fine art of human prompt engineering: How to talk to a person like ChatGPT

posted onApril 4, 2024
by l33tdawg
Credit: Arstechnica

While AI assistants like ChatGPT have taken the world by storm, a growing body of research shows that it's also possible to generate useful outputs from what might be called "human language models," or people. Much like large language models (LLMs) in AI, HLMs have the ability to take information you provide and transform it into meaningful responses—if you know how to craft effective instructions, called "prompts."

Chinese Hackers Hijack Swedish Routers to Launch Cyber Attacks

posted onApril 3, 2024
by l33tdawg
Credit: Cyber Security News

The Security Police (Säpo) has disclosed that a Chinese hacker group, APT31, has commandeered Swedish routers to perpetrate cyber attacks against multiple countries.

This sophisticated cyber espionage campaign, believed to be orchestrated by elements within the Chinese state apparatus, underscores the evolving threat landscape and the intricate methods state-sponsored actors employ to achieve their objectives.

He Emptied an Entire Crypto Exchange Onto a Thumb Drive. Then He Disappeared

posted onApril 3, 2024
by l33tdawg
Credit: Wired

Faruk Fatih Özer stood in front of a passport control officer at Istanbul Airport, a line of impatient travelers queuing behind him. He pulled his face mask below his chin for the security camera. Surely he was nervous. The 27-year-old had unruly black hair, a boy-band face, and a patchy beard. Normally he overcompensated for his callow features by dressing in a pressed three-piece suit. But this spring day he wore black trainers and a navy-blue sweater hastily pulled over a white polo shirt, as if he had dressed in a dash. A small backpack was slung over his right shoulder.

Billie Eilish, Pearl Jam, 200 artists say AI poses existential threat to their livelihoods

posted onApril 3, 2024
by l33tdawg
Credit: Arstechnica

On Tuesday, the Artist Rights Alliance (ARA) announced an open letter critical of AI signed by over 200 musical artists, including Pearl Jam, Nicki Minaj, Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, and the estate of Frank Sinatra. In the letter, the artists call on AI developers, technology companies, platforms, and digital music services to stop using AI to "infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists." A tweet from the ARA added that AI poses an "existential threat" to their art.

Hackers stole Russian prisoner database to avenge death of Navalny

posted onApril 2, 2024
by l33tdawg
Credit: CNN

Within hours of opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s death in February in a Russian prison, a group of anti-Kremlin hackers went looking for revenge.

Using their access to a computer network tied to Russia’s prison system, the hackers plastered a photo of Navalny on the hacked prison contractor’s website, according to interviews with the hackers, screenshots and data reviewed by CNN.