CoinMarketCap User Data Leaked
November 3, 2021
The IRS may be interested in these data. Many turn to crypto currency because it is (nearly) untraceable. The major website where users go to keep up to date on crypto currency markets, however, has proven to be less secure. Gadgets360 reports, “Data of Over Three Million CoinMarketCap Users Breached, Crypto-Tracker Acknowledges.” We learn:
“Data of over three million CoinMarketCap (CMC) users was leaked earlier in October, the crypto tracker confirmed. Every day, over 27 million people from the US, India, and Japan among other nations visit the platform to price-track and stay updated on cryptocurrency, a report by statistics firm HypeStat claimed recently. This data breach comes at a time when cyber-attacks specifically targeting the crypto-community are rising in numbers, worldwide. Despite several nations still being skeptical about legalizing crypto currencies, the crypto space is witnessing rapid expansion in many parts of the world. Registered email addresses of 3,117,548 CMC users were unlawfully obtained and uploaded on hacking forums by nefarious cyber criminals on October 12, CryptoPotato reported earlier this week. These email ids are now being traded on the dark web. CMC has acknowledged this data breach while noting that the passwords of these leaked email addresses remain safe.”
We suppose that is something to be grateful for. CMC insists the data leak was not on their own servers, and is still investigating what went awry. Writer Radhika Parashar reminds us this is not the first time a crypto firm has been breached, pointing to BitMEX and Ledger as examples. Also, a recent Business Insider report identifies 32 fraud and hacking attacks on crypto targets so far this year to the tune of nearly $3 billion. The same study states the number of attacks is growing by 41% each year. Ah, secure crypto.
Cynthia Murrell, November 3, 2021
Facebook under the Meta Umbrella May Be a Teddy Bear
November 2, 2021
Facebook (oops, Meta) appears to be changing now that it is under the Meta umbrella. “Facebook Will Let Kazakhstan Government Directly Flag Content the Country Deems Harmful” reports:
Facebook owner Meta Platforms has granted the Kazakh government access to its content reporting system, after the Central Asian nation threatened to block the social network for millions of local users.
Will Kazakhstan be a pace-setter like China and Russia when it comes to country specific censorship? If Facebook (oops, Meta) finds that TikTok and other non-Zuck properties do not appeal to young people, Facebook (oops, Meta) will have to trade off its long-cherished policies for deals that generate revenue.
Money is the pressure point which caused Facebook (oops, Meta) to indicate that it has a kinder, gentler side. What other countries will want to embrace the warm and fuzzy social media giant’s alleged new approach?
Stephen E Arnold, November 2, 2021
Encouragement for Bad Actors: Plenty of Targets Guaranteed
November 2, 2021
If the information in the Silicon Valley-esque business news service Venture Beat is accurate, 2022 is going to be a good year for bad actors. “Report: 55% of Execs Say That SolarWinds Hack Hasn’t Affected Software Purchases.” Now “purchase” is a misleading word. Vendors like users to subscribe, so the revenue projections are less fraught. Subscriptions can be tough to terminate, and paying that bill is like a bad habit, easy to fall into, tough to get out of.
The article states:
According to a recent study by Venalfi, more than half of executives (55%) with responsibility for both security and software development reported that the SolarWinds hack has had little or no impact on the concerns they consider when purchasing software products for their company. Additionally, 69% say their company has not increased the number of security questions they are asking software providers about the processes used to assure software security and verify code.
This statement translates to status quo-ism.
The Microsoft products are targets because Microsoft’s yummy software is widely used and is like a 1980s Toys-R-Us filled with new Teddy bears, battery powered trucks, and role-model dolls.
What’s the fix for escalating cyber attacks? Different business policies and more rigorous security procedures.
To sum up, a potentially big year for bad actors, some of whom practice their craft from prison with a contraband smartphone. The Fancy Bear types will be dancing and some of the APT kids will be wallowing in endless chocolate cake.
Digitally speaking, of course.
Stephen E Arnold, November 2, 2021
The Zuck Strikes Back
November 2, 2021
Well, when Facebook strikes back it probably won’t use words. A few threshold modifications, a handful of key words (index terms), and some filter tweaking — – the target will be in for an exciting time. Try explaining why your Facebook page is replete with links to Drug X and other sporty concepts. Yeah, wow.
“Mark Zuckerberg angrily Insists Facebook Is the Real Victim Here” includes some interesting observations:
At the top of his company’s third quarter earnings call, the Facebook CEO broadly railed against the 17 news organizations working together to report on a massive trove of leaked internal documents dubbed the Facebook Papers.
Okay, victim.
What could Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp do to make life difficult for bylined journalists digging through the company’s confidential-no-more content.
My DarkCyber research team offered some ideas at lunch today. I just listened and jotted notes on a napkin. Here we go:
- Populate a journalist’s Facebook page with content related to human trafficking, child sex crime, contraband, etc.
- Inject images which are typically banned from online distribution into a journalist’s Instagram content. What no Instagram? Just use Facebook data to locate a relative or friend and put the imagery on one or more of those individuals’ Instagram. That would have some knock on consequences.
- Recycle WhatsApp messages from interesting WhatsApp groups to a journalist’s WhatsApp posts; for example, controlled substances, forbidden videos on Dark Web repositories, or some of those sites offering fraudulent Covid vaccination cards, false identification papers, or Fullz (stolen financial data).
Facebook has some fascinating data, and it can be repurposed. I assume the journalists spending time with the company’s documents are aware of what hypothetically Facebook could do if Mr. Zuckerberg gets really angry and becomes – what’s the word – how about vindictive?
How will investigators get access to these hypothetical poisoned data? Maybe one of the specialized services which index social media content?
Stephen E Arnold, November 2, 2021
Microsoft Search: Still Trying after All These Years
November 2, 2021
That was “FAST,” wasn’t it? You lived through LiveSearch, right? Jellyfish? Powerset? Outlook Search in its assorted flavors like Life Savers? I could go on, but I am quite certain no one cares.
Nevertheless,
Bing’s new feature may possibly prompt some workers to switch to the search-engine underdog. TechRadar Pro reports the development in its brief write-up, “One of Microsoft’s Most-Hated Products Might Actually Be Getting a Useful Upgrade.” Writer Mike Moore reveals:
“The tech giant is boosting one of its less-celebrated products to give enterprise users an easier way to search online. The update means that enterprise users will now get their historical searches as suggestions in the autosuggest pane on Bing and Microsoft Search in Bing, according to the official Microsoft 365 roadmap entry. … The new update should mean that enterprise users looking to quickly find files that they’ve searched for or opened before will no longer need to manually trawl through endless files and folders in search of the elusive location. The update is still currently in development, but Microsoft will doubtless be keen to get it out soon and help boost Bing engagement. The feature is set to be available to Microsoft Search users across the globe via the company’s general availability route, meaning web, desktop and mobile users will all be able to utilize it upon release.”
Moore notes Microsoft’s tenacity in continuing to support Bing despite Google’s astounding market share lead. He wonders whether the company may have lost some enthusiasm recently, though, when it was revealed that the most searched-for term on Bing is “Google.” A tad embarrassing, perhaps. Does Microsoft suppose its file-finding feature will turn the tide? Unlikely, but some of our readers may find the tool useful, nonetheless.
What’s next for Microsoft search? Perhaps broader and deeper indexing of US government Web sites for a starter?
Cynthia Murrell, November 2, 2021
DarkCyber for November 2, 2021: Spies, Secrets, AI, and a Robot Dog with a Gun
November 2, 2021
The DarkCyber for November 2, 2021 is now available at this link. This program includes six cyber “bites”. These are short items about spies who hide secrets in peanut butter sandwiches, a drug lord who required 500 troops and 22 helicopters to arrest, where to get the Pandora Papers, a once classified document about autonomous killing policies, a US government Web site described as invasive, and a report about the National Security Agency’s contributions to computer science.
The feature in the cyber news program is a look at the Allen Institute’s Ask Delphi system. The smart software serves up answers to ethical questions. The outputs are interesting and provide an indication of the issues that bright AI engineers will have to address.
The final story provides information about a robot dog. The digital canine is equipped with a weapon which fires a cartridge the size of a hot dog at the World Series snack shop. That’s interesting information, but the “killer” feature is that the robot is its own master. Watch DarkCyber to learn the trick this machine can perform.
DarkCyber is produced by Stephen E Arnold. The video contains no advertising and the stories are not subsidized. The video is available at www.arnoldit.com/wordpress or at https://youtu.be/Y24vJetf5eY.
Kenny Toth, November 2, 2021
Novara: Why One Has to Buy Google Ads, Comply with Google Rules, and Embrace AMP
November 1, 2021
I read “How a Mistake by YouTube Shows Its Power over Media.” The write up is is sort of accurate. I learned:
Novara [a media outfit, not a province in Italy] had spent years using YouTube to attract more than 170,000 subscribers for its left-leaning coverage of issues like climate change, capitalism and social policy. Suddenly, and without warning, that powerful distribution tool was zapped — leaving people in the newsroom wondering how the organization could survive.
Okay, Alphabet (the outfit which is not to be confused with Google which is not to be confused with YouTube) deleted a content creator.
The New York Times is concerned. Keep in mind. This is the outfit which Google-izes its headlines in order to keep the Google clicks coming.
The New York Times’ story overlooks one key point: When Alphabet, Google, YouTube flexes its censorship muscles there is just one takeaway: If you are not in Google, you don’t exist.
What’s the fix? Buy Google ads.
Example: Novara. Others may be getting the same message. Buy Google ads. My hunch is that Google ad sales professionals and affiliates are delighted with the New York Times’ story because it is a compelling case for locking down a Google pointer.
Stephen E Arnold, November 1, 2021
Can Waze Foreshadow AI Innovations at Google?
November 1, 2021
Yep. The article “Waze CEO Admits That Its Algorithm Is Sending Users Awry” triggered a thought on this cloudy and cold Monday morning: What other misdirections are Google smart software delivering. Confidence in one’s smart engineering is one thing; marketing is another.
The write up states:
According to media reports out of Israel where Waze was founded, the navigation app has been giving travelers incorrect directions and has accidentally sent some of its 1 million Israeli users directly into the heart of a traffic jam.
Didn’t Waymo send its smart cars to a dead end street in San Francisco? (See Dead-End SF Street Plagued with Confused Waymo Cars Trying to Turn Around Every 5 Minutes.”
The Phonearena article I read reported:
Waze CEO Guy Berkowitz admitted that “We have a problem with the algorithm. The more people we serve, the more it’s affected. The coronavirus has put us in a situation where we have to reinvent our algorithm.”
But I thought Snorkel type innovations allowed fast learning and other “almost smarter than a temp worker” type adaptations?
Nope. I learned:
A change in traffic patterns in Israel has screwed up Waze’s algorithm leading to incorrect directions.
The article suggests that the issue is Israel specific. Nice assertion, but I don’t believe it. Fancy Dan systems can drift. Let’s hope those “smart decisions” don’t demonstrate the flawed design of the snorkels needed when a Waymo drives off the Bay bridge into the chilly water.
Stephen E Arnold, November 1, 2021
Google Pathways: The Nodes Not Traveled
November 1, 2021
A new post from Jeff Dean, Google Senior Fellow and Senior Vice President, Google Research, posted “Introducing Pathways: A next-generation AI Architecture.” I associate Mr. Dean with Chubby, recipes, and other Google plumbing like spelling variants of the name Britney Spears. Oh, I also recall that he was involved in the non-termination of the Google AI ethics researcher Timnit Gebru and may have provided input to the “find your future elsewhere” approach to Margaret Mitchell. I am not going to walk my French bulldog down memory lane, but these AI ethics people did not get with the Google program and put on a snorkel, a mask, and floppy swim fins. I suppose they wanted to duck walk down a different pathway to a different path to smart software.
The blog post explains that “Google is building a new AI architecture that will handle many tasks at once, learn new tasks quickly, and reflect a better understanding of the world.” Note that the progressive tense is used my Mr. Dean, so the Pathways are still under construction.
The idea, the post explains:
…today’s machine learning models tend to overspecialize at individual tasks when they could excel at many. They rely on one form of input when they could synthesize several. And too often they resort to brute force when deftness and specialization of expertise would do.
Yep, now it is time for weak supervision, packaged AI modules, and orchestration across different tasks. What’s a task? These are not explained in the write up.
Mr. Dean’s write up states:
Pathways will enable a single AI system to generalize across thousands or millions of tasks, to understand different types of data, and to do so with remarkable efficiency…
Mr. Dean emphasizes what seems to me to be an assertion similar to Google’s statements about the company’s quantum supremacy. These fuzzy words sound great and spark buzz, but exactly what’s the yardstick? I don’t know and, of course, neither does Google because this is work which is not completed and explained in Silicon Valley speak.
Mr. Dean makes clear that the recently refurbished staff organization involving DeepMind and the AI Ethics group:
are also sure there are major future challenges we haven’t yet anticipated, and many will demand urgent solutions. So, with great care, and always in line with our AI Principles, we’re crafting the kind of next-generation AI system that can quickly adapt to new needs and solve new problems all around the world as they arise, helping humanity make the most of the future ahead of us.
With Google record profits, a strong belief in the methods crafted in part at SAIL, and the AI professionals who buy into the Google program — the future looks bright.
I like the helping humanity. The “us” seems to reference Googlers.
Sounds good, right? Free email, anyone? Objective search results, anyone? Baked in bias, anyone? I can’t hear you over the industrialized machine learning system. Is there too much bias in those drive belts?
Stephen E Arnold, November 1, 2021
A Great Idea: New Coke
November 1, 2021
I don’t think too much about companies changing their names. The reason is that brand shifts are a response to legal or financial woes. I may have to start paying more attention if I read analyses like “From Facebook to Meta: The Most Notable Company Rebrands.” Wow.
The article identifies name changes which emphasize the underlying desire to create distance between one name and a new, free floating moniker. The goal is no baggage and a lift to the beleaguered executives MBA-inspired strategic insights.
USA Today mentions Tronc. That is a name that flows trippingly on the tongue. The newspaper with color pictures points out that Andersen Consulting morphed into Accenture and then demonstrated that CPAs can make quite poor business decisions about how to report a client’s financial condition. Think Enron. Do you remember Jeffrey Skilling, who has a Harvard MBA and was a real, live Baker scholar. Impressive. He was able to explain bookkeeping to Andersen/Accenture. Good job! The must-read newspaper mentioned a cigarette outfit which became the Altria outfit. Think processed cheese, not nicotine delivery.
But the write up is about Facebook, which is now “meta.” I think “meta” is a subtle move. No one will know the difference, just like Coca Cola’s push of New Coke. Brilliant.
Stephen E Arnold, November 1, 2021
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