DarkCyber for July 3, 2018, Now Available
July 3, 2018
DarkCyber for July 3, 2018, is now available at www.arnoldit.com/wordpress and on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/277849110 .
Stephen E Arnold’s DarkCyber is a weekly video news and analysis program about the Dark Web and lesser known Internet services.
This week’s program covers four stories.
The first story reports that French authorities conducted multi-city simultaneous raids to take down Dark Hand. The Dark Web contraband site was operated by a housewife. Authorities seized digital currency and user and customer data.
Second, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has published the results of a study of active shooters. The report is available without charge and provides details about the demographics of active shooters. One set of data provides a snapshot of where active shooters obtain their weapons. One of the surprising findings revealed in the report is that most active shooters are over the age of 35.
The third story explains how an individual can use the open source SpiderFoot software to scour the regular and Dark Web for personal information. Instead of paying for a commercial service, the SpiderFoot system can be used effectively by an individual with some programming skills.
The fourth story reveals that Iran’s blocking of Telegram, a popular encrypted messaging application, had unexpected consequences. Despite the disruption of some Iranian government processes, censorship of the Internet is gaining momentum in Iran and other countries.
Kenny Toth, July 3, 2018
Calendars Are Now Search… If One Is Busy and Eschews Print Schedulers
July 3, 2018
You might not think it, but your doctor’s appointments and dinner parties are a big deal to search companies. With the rise of digital assistants like Siri and Alexa, your datebook is the next big horizon to conquer. The ways in which this will unfold might surprise you, according to a recent Japan Today story, “Google’s ‘Reserve’ Tool Winning Converts and Taking Search to the Next Level.”
According to the story:
“[S]even software firms that supply schedule data to Google described the volume as significant, with as much as 75 percent of bookings representing new customers. Consumers like the convenience. Business owners say the tool is putting their names in front of more potential clients.”
It is no coincidence that several experts are touting the ability of digital assistants to help with travel planning. In a weird way, voice search can now do a lot of the work of a travel agent, in terms of eyeing your schedule, finding deals, and even purchasing flight tickets. From getting reservations to booking flights to making sure someone is picking up junior from soccer practice, there is a revolution happening in search and how it relates to daily life. Search and scheduling: A wonderful way to fill one’s day with useful activities.
Patrick Roland, July 3, 2018
GitHub Rides Donkeys, Elephants, and Undecideds Too
July 3, 2018
We don’t often see many overtly political stories in the world of search, AI, and machine learning. Bias, yes. Politics, not so much. When a political theme surfaces, we think it is worth a look. Recently, an interesting dustup involving Microsoft and the border deportation issue came up in an Inquirer article, “GitHub Devs Warn Microsoft ‘Ditch That Contract with ICE or Lose Us’”.
For GitHub, the company’s deal with ICE (The US customs branch responsible for deportation) was a potential deal breaker:
“The signatories join several hundred employees of Microsoft who are now joining calls for the company to ditch its ICE contract over the matter.
“The GitHub petition talks openly of how many developers chose to leave GitHub specifically over the Microsoft takeover of its company for $7.5bn. It goes on to point out that those who remain had decided to give Microsoft a chance to prove itself, and this is that time.”
We have a hunch this battle isn’t over. As The Verge reported recently, Microsoft’s own employees also worked up a petition protesting the company’s relationship with ICE. Amazon wants employees to have a voice in what projects the digital WalMart pursues.
Has management become a reflection of political agendas? Is social justice a new management concept?
Patrick Roland, July 3, 2018
Will Cognitive Search (Whatever That Is) Change Because of Squrro?
July 2, 2018
We are not exactly sure what cognitive search is. That’s a plus. Changing cognitive search should be easy. Tweak technology, do some wordsmithing, and the landscape is different. I think this works for some search wizards in today’s fluid environment for information access.,
Cognitive search is ready to undergo a major shift and a few companies seem to be leading the pack. The way that we not only process search, but the questions we ask, could see a drastic change quite soon. We were alerted to this move from a recent product called Squrro, with their post “Add Context, Accuracy, and Speed to Your Enterprise Searches.”
According to the piece:
“Cognitive search is the new generation of enterprise search that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to return results that are more relevant to the user or embedded in an application issuing the search query. The benefits of understanding and extracting more insights from content changes search from, “This document has the keyword in the title so it must be more relevant” to understanding user intent…”
According to reports, a wide variety of businesses are responding to this more detailed ability of cognitive search to serve customers. For example, one Swiss insurance company recently adopted Squrro technology to provide customers with better search options. The company, Helevetia, claims its five million customers are benefiting from this change.
We will have to wait until industry fonts of wisdom like LinkedIn and CMSWatch provide their views. LinkedIn is, however, a Microsoft entity and there is that Fast Search ESP stub. CMSWatch often views the world from the perspective of content management or CMS. (Is there such a thing as cognitive CMS?)
Clarity will be forthcoming in step with the anticipated Elastic IPO. That financial event makes enterprise search more interesting again. Frankly making IBM Watson and Coveo equivalents did not do it for our research team.
Here in Harrod’s Creek, we want our old fashioned Boolean queries to return relevant results. We like the old school precision and recall approach.
Patrick Roland, July 2, 2018
The Spirit of 1862 Seems to Live On
July 2, 2018
Years ago I learned about a Confederate spy who worked in a telegraph office used by General Henry Halleck and General US Grant. The confederate spy allegedly “filtered” orders. This man in the middle exploit took place in 1862. You can find some information about this incident at this link. The Verge dipped into history for its 2013 write up “How Lincoln Used the Telegraph Office to Spy on Citizens Long Before the NSA.” Information about the US Signals Corps and Bell Telephone / AT&T is abundant.
Why am I dipping into history?
The reason is that I read several articles similar to “8 AT&T Buildings That Are Central to NSA Spying.” The Intercept’s story, which struck me as a bit surprising, triggered this cascade of “wow, what a surprise” copycat articles.
Even though I live in rural Kentucky, the “spy hubs” did not strike me as news, a surprise, or different from systems and methods in use in many countries. Just as Cairo, Illinois, was important to General Grant, cities with large populations and substantial data flows are important today.
Stephen E Arnold, July 2, 2018
Dark Web News Reviews DarkCyber Video News about the Dark Web
July 2, 2018
The DarkCyber research team was surprised and honored with Dark Web News’s review of our weekly video news program. “DarkCyber: Weekly Video Series Explores the Dark Web in Depth” describes the weekly videos as a “well timed show.”
The core research team, working with Stephen E Arnold, consists of Cynthia Murrell, Patrick Roland, Whitney Grace, and Stuart Schram IV. On an on going basing, this team uses its “Overflight” system and other research tools to identify news about events, tools, and procedures which are related to the Dark Web, i2p, and related services such as encrypted chat, deanonymization of digital currency transactions, and intelligence-centric procedures, software, systems, and hardware.
The Dark Web News review stated:
A show such as Arnold’s DarkCyber has been long overdue.
That’s an important point.
Stephen E Arnold, the producer of the show, told Stuart Schram in an interview about the program review:
Dark Web News provides high value information to its readers. I wanted to provide a weekly video news program. Coverage of stories like the OxyMonster arrest, the Dark Web drug dealer housewife, tools like OSINT Framework, and the investigative procedures used in the Hansa case are not gathered in one place and explained in our eight to 10 minute program format. Our goal is to provide education plus useful information to those curious about the Dark Web and related services.
Funding for the program comes from Arnold Information Technology, and the program features no commercial advertising or paid endorsements. Note that DarkCyber sometimes includes information about Mr. Arnold’s books and lectures. As a result, the selection of what to cover is only influenced by the research team and by Mr. Arnold, not advertisers who pay to play in the DarkCyber information sandbox.
If you are not familiar with Dark Web News, we strongly recommend that you visit the online information services. You can find the story about DarkCyber plus a wealth of other cyber information at https://www.darkwebnews.com.
Also, you can locate the weekly program at the Beyond Search blog at www.arnoldit.com/wordpress and on Vimeo. You can also locate programs by searching Google, Google Video, YouTube, or Vimeo for “Arnold DarkCyber.”
Kenny Toth, July 2, 2018
Amazon and Google: Two Different Investment Angles
July 1, 2018
I read “Alphabet Joins $300m Funding Round for Electric Scooter Start-Up.” (You may have to pay to read this because the outfit that thought Endeca was the next big thing in search charges for scooter stories.) I thought about Segways, the allegedly revolutionary personal transportation scooter. Lessons may be needed even though there once was a Segway polo league. Practical and no horsey duties after a match.
I assume that Alphabet Google sees smaller scooters as the next big thing. Is this a strategic investment, a tactical play, or just a nifty idea warranting Google bucks?
I thought about Amazon’s investment in PillPack. You can get some of the business information at this link.
Somewhere in Twitterland, an ink stained wretch may come up with the title for a post called “A Tale of Two Investments.” I would flip to the end of the write up to answer the question:
Which company is making a more strategic play?
From my vantage point in Harrod’s Creek, these two deals illustrate a difference between the GOOG and the Bezos buck machine. Younger people dig scooters. Scooters are fun.
Filling prescriptions and then following the orders of a real live doctor is another. Plus, some ageing American is into prescriptions. Boomers are a here and now market. I for one dislike going to the pharmacy, giving codes, showing IDs, and answering questions to get whatever my cardiologist thinks is good for me.
I assume that if a millennial falls off a scooter or is hit by an autonomous vehicle, that click to buy outfit will be ready to respond. Google will let the Lime rider snag another scooter when he or she is once again ready to move from Point A to Point B as long as it is not raining, snowing, too far, requires a jaunt on an expressway, or a short cut through a field.
Stephen E Arnold, July 1, 2018
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