Libraries Will Save the Internet
June 10, 2016
Libraries are more than place to check out free DVDs and books and use a computer. Most people do not believe this and if you try to tell them otherwise, their eyes glaze offer and they start chanting “obsolete” under their breath. BoingBoing, however, agrees that “How Libraries Can Save The Internet Of Things From The Web’s Centralized Fate”. For the past twenty years, the Internet has become more centralized and content is increasingly reliant on proprietary sites, such as social media, Amazon, and Google.
Back in the old days, the greatest fear was that the government would take control of the Internet. The opposite has happened with corporations consolidating the Internet. Decentralization is taking place, mostly to keep the Internet anonymous. Usually, these are tied to the Dark Web. The next big thing in the Internet is “the Internet of things,” which will be mostly decentralized and that can be protected if the groundwork is laid now. Libraries can protect decentralized systems, because
“Libraries can support a decentralized system with both computing power and lobbying muscle. The fights libraries have pursued for a free, fair and open Internet infrastructure show that we’re players in the political arena, which is every bit as important as servers and bandwidth. What would services built with library ethics and values look like? They’d look like libraries: Universal access to knowledge. Anonymity of information inquiry. A focus on literacy and on quality of information. A strong service commitment to ensure that they are available at every level of power and privilege.”
Libraries can teach people how to access services like Tor and disseminate the information to a greater extent than many other institutes within the community. While this is possible, in many ways it is not realistic due to many factors. Many of the decentralized factors are associated with the Dark Web, which is held in a negative light. Libraries also have limited budgets and trying to install a program like this will need finances, which the library board might not want to invest in. Also comes the problem of locating someone to teach these services. Many libraries are staffed by librarians that are limited in their knowledge, although they can learn.
It is possible, it would just be hard.
Whitney Grace, June 10, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Weakly Watson: Unusual Watson Applications
June 9, 2016
The change in leadership at IBM Watson is a bit like the weather. One does not know how the weekend will turn out. I read “5 Unusual Things You Can Do with IBM’s Watson.” I must admit that I have missed the full page ads with weird made up chemical symbols suggesting Watson’s combinatorial magic. I also have missed the “Watson cures cancer” write ups. I always wonder how that project is coming along.
In the unusual write up, I noted the five things; to wit:
- Create a “custom” order for granola.
- Shop for clothes.
- Find a bottle of wine. [Shades of Endeca’s long standing example!]
- Ask health questions. [When I worked at Ziff in the 1990s, we had a health reference center which performed the same trick. Libraries loved the system. Doctors, not so much.]
- Check into a Hilton and ask about bus routes. [Uber, anyone?]
My hunch is that IBM wants to make darned certain it is in the race for smart software. Okay, IBM Watson with its open source technology, home brew scripts, and acquired technology is really big in artificial intelligence. I give up already.
Custom granola? A slam dunk. Help me shop for clothes? My wife may have some thoughts about that. These five items comprise compelling use cases for someone I assume. Oh, when I check into a hotel, I think Uber, not bus routes. Ever try to take a bus in Xian, China?
Stephen E Arnold, June 3, 2016
More Data to Fuel Debate About Malice on Tor
June 9, 2016
The debate about malicious content on Tor continues. Ars Technica published an article continuing the conversation about Tor and the claims made by a web security company that says 94 percent of the requests coming through the network are at least loosely malicious. The article CloudFlare: 94 percent of the Tor traffic we see is “per se malicious” reveals how CloudFlare is currently handling Tor traffic. The article states,
“Starting last month, CloudFlare began treating Tor users as their own “country” and now gives its customers four options of how to handle traffic coming from Tor. They can whitelist them, test Tor users using CAPTCHA or a JavaScript challenge, or blacklist Tor traffic. The blacklist option is only available for enterprise customers. As more websites react to the massive amount of harmful Web traffic coming through Tor, the challenge of balancing security with the needs of legitimate anonymous users will grow. The same network being used so effectively by those seeking to avoid censorship or repression has become a favorite of fraudsters and spammers.”
Even though the jury may still be out in regards to the statistics reported about the volume of malicious traffic, several companies appear to want action sooner rather than later. Amazon Web Services, Best Buy and Macy’s are among several sites blocking a majority of Tor exit nodes. While a lot seems unclear, we can’t expect organizations to delay action.
Megan Feil, June 9, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Palantir Technology Takes on Rogue Traders
June 9, 2016
Rogue trading has always been a problem for the stock market, but the more technology advances the easier it becomes for rogue traders to take advantage. The good news is that security and compliance officers can use the same tools that rogue traders use in their schemes to stop them. CNBC showed the story; “Tech Takes On Rogue Traders” that explains how technology is being used to stop the bad guys. The report is described as:
“Colleen Graham, Chief Supervisory Officer at Signac, discusses Palantir and Credit Suisse’s joint technology initiative to crack down on rogue traders.”
Palantir Technology is being used along with Credit Suisse to monitor trader behavior data trade data, risk data, and market data to monitor how a trader changes over time. They compare individual trader to others invested in similar stocks. Using a combination of all these data fields, unusual behavior is monitored to prevent rogue trading.
The biggest loss on Wall Street is rogue trading. The data Signac gathers helps figure out how rogue trading happens and what causes it. By using analytical software, compliance officers are able to learn from past crimes and teach the software to recognize similar patterns. In turn, this allows them to prevent future crimes. While some false positives are generated, all of the captured data is public. Supervisors and other people actually are supposed to read this data; Signac just does so at a more in-depth level.
Catching rogue traders helps keep Wall Street running smoother and even puts the stockbrokers and other financial force back to work.
Palantir scored a new deal from this venture. The same technology used to monitor the Dark Web is used to capture rogue traders.
Whitney Grace, June 9, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Google Wants China. Does China Want Google?
June 8, 2016
Years ago Google acted more like a nation state than a Silicon Valley outfit selling online advertising. China wanted Google to be — well, China supportive. Google wanted China to change. The dog was not wagged by that dog.
China is a large market. Google is locked in a perceptual battle with regulators, lawyers, and elected officials over its approach to business. Plus, Google has to face the reality of Amazon and Facebook. Both of these outfits are growing in market sectors which Google has not been able to put into its barn; namely, ecommerce and social media.
China, therefore, looks tempting.
I read “Google CEO: Open to returning to China.” I would assume so. China is struggling, but it does have quite a few eyeballs online. [Note that when you follow the link to the original, be careful where you click; otherwise USA Today sends you to an index page so you get to click on the Google story and see another video ad.]
The write up reports Google’s chief ad sales professional as saying:
“If we can do it in the right and thoughtful way, we are always open to it,” said Pichai at the Code conference here. “I care about serving consumers everywhere.”
I wonder if China wants Google in a “right and thoughtful way.”
Stephen E Arnold, June 8, 2016
Image Recognition: Think Tattoo Recognition
June 8, 2016
I know that some bad guys encourage their “assistants” to get facial tattoos. I am not personally into tattoos, but there are some who believe that one’s immune system is strengthened via the process. The prison tattoos I have seen in pictures mind you, did not remind me of the clean room conditions in some semi conductor fabrication facilities. I am confident that ball point pen ink, improvised devices, and frequent hand washing are best practices.
I read “Tattoo Recognition Research Threatens Free Speech and Privacy.” The write up states:
government scientists are working with the FBI to develop tattoo recognition technology that police can use to learn as much as possible about people through their tattoos.
The write up points out that privacy is an issue.
My question:
If a person gets a facial tattoo, perhaps that individual wants others to notice it?
I have heard that some bad guys want their “assistants” to get facial tattoos. With a message about a specific group, it makes it difficult for an “assistant” to join another merry band of pranksters.
Stephen E Arnold, June 8, 2016
Enterprise Search Vendor Sinequa Partners with MapR
June 8, 2016
In the world of enterprise search and analytics, everyone wants in on the clients who have flocked to Hadoop for data storage. Virtual Strategy shared an article announcing Sinequa Collaborates With MapR to Power Real-Time Big Data Search and Analytics on Hadoop. A firm specializing in big data, Sinequa, has become certified with the MapR Converged Data Platform. The interoperation of Sinequa’s solutions with MapR will enable actionable information to be gleaned from data stored in Hadoop. We learned,
“By leveraging advanced natural language processing along with universal structured and unstructured data indexing, Sinequa’s platform enables customers to embark on ambitious Big Data projects, achieve critical in-depth content analytics and establish an extremely agile development environment for Search Based Applications (SBA). Global enterprises, including Airbus, AstraZeneca, Atos, Biogen, ENGIE, Total and Siemens have all trusted Sinequa for the guidance and collaboration to harness Big Data to find relevant insight to move business forward.”
Beyond all the enterprise search jargon in this article, the collaboration between Sinequa and MapR appears to offer an upgraded service to customers. As we all know at this point, unstructured data indexing is key to data intake. However, when it comes to output, technological solutions that can support informed business decisions will be unparalleled.
Megan Feil, June 8, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Websites Found to Be Blocking Tor Traffic
June 8, 2016
Discrimination or wise precaution? Perhaps both? MakeUseOf tells us, “This Is Why Tor Users Are Being Blocked by Major Websites.” A recent study (PDF) by the University of Cambridge; University of California, Berkeley; University College London; and International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley confirms that many sites are actively blocking users who approach through a known Tor exit node. Writer Philip Bates explains:
“Users are finding that they’re faced with a substandard service from some websites, CAPTCHAs and other such nuisances from others, and in further cases, are denied access completely. The researchers argue that this: ‘Degraded service [results in Tor users] effectively being relegated to the role of second-class citizens on the Internet.’ Two good examples of prejudice hosting and content delivery firms are CloudFlare and Akamai — the latter of which either blocks Tor users or, in the case of Macys.com, infinitely redirects. CloudFlare, meanwhile, presents CAPTCHA to prove the user isn’t a malicious bot. It identifies large amounts of traffic from an exit node, then assigns a score to an IP address that determines whether the server has a good or bad reputation. This means that innocent users are treated the same way as those with negative intentions, just because they happen to use the same exit node.”
The article goes on to discuss legitimate reasons users might want the privacy Tor provides, as well as reasons companies feel they must protect their Websites from anonymous users. Bates notes that there is not much one can do about such measures. He does point to Tor’s own Don’t Block Me project, which is working to convince sites to stop blocking people just for using Tor. It is also developing a list of best practices that concerned sites can follow, instead. One site, GameFAQs, has reportedly lifted its block, and CloudFlare may be considering a similar move. Will the momentum build, or must those who protect their online privacy resign themselves to being treated with suspicion?
Cynthia Murrell, June 8, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Google Voice Search: An Optimistic View
June 7, 2016
I read “Google Voice Search Records and Keeps Conversations People Haver Around their Phones but You Can Delete the Files.” I like the “you can delete the files. How does one know what has or has not been deleted in this era of real time cloud goodness?
I assume that the information in the write up is accurate.
The write up states:
The feature works as a way of letting people search with their voice, and storing those recordings presumably lets Google improve its language recognition tools as well as the results that it gives to people.
If you want to “delete” these recordings, the write up asserts:
It’s found by heading to Google’s history page and looking at the long list of recordings. The company has a specific audio page and another for activity on the web, which will show you everywhere Google has a record of you being on the internet.
Optimism is good. One presidential hopeful believed certain emails had been deleted. I am not sure that the FSB agrees. It seems that the Independent’s “real journalist” was not aware of “Your Data Is Forever.”
Stephen E Arnold, June 7, 2016
Alibaba Eyes Twiggle, Not the US Ecommerce Search Players
June 7, 2016
I read “Alibaba, the Chinese and Global Powerhouse, Is Investing in Twiggle, a Stealthy Israeli Ecommerce Search Start Up.” I love the stealthy part. Twiggle cannot be too stealthy because Alibaba found out about the system.
I learned in the write up:
Twiggle was funded back in 2013, and its founders were formerly leaders at Google, namely Dr. Amir Konigsberg, previously one of the members of Google’s operations in the emerging markets and former managing director of MySupermarket.com, and Dr. Adi Avidor, a former engineering tech lead at Google. Combined, the two have authored more than 35 U.S. patents and bring a wealth of experience in digital innovation in the fields of search, artificial intelligence and ecommerce.
The system delivers search and discovery. Crunchbase points out that the company has ingested about $20 million since it opened its doors in 2014.
I assume that the heartbeats of EasyAsk and SLI Systems sped up when word of Alibaba’s search proclivities diffused. With this alleged tie up, I assume the heart rates of the principals at EasyAsk and SLI Systems, assorted open source firms, and probably the every ready IBM Watson have slowed.
Stephen E Arnold, June 7, 2016
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
