DarkCyber for August 24, 2021, Now Available
August 24, 2021
The program for August 24, 2021, is now available at this link. This program, number 17 in the 2021 series, contains five stories. These are:
The NSO Group matter has produced some interesting knock on effects.
The consequence of NSO Group’s activities include criticism from the United Nations and Edward Snowden, a whistle blower and resident of Moscow. The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan was remarkable.
The core technology for the antagonists is discussed. You will learn about the musician Tankz and his method for making illegal credit card fraud accessible to young people in the UK and elsewhere. In addition to alleged financial crime, Tankz sings about Pyrex whipping. Ask your children what this is and then decide if you need to take action.
The program includes another reminder than one can find anti-security actors on the Regular Web and the Dark Web. The challenge is to make sure you do not become the victim of a scam.
The US government created an interesting report about nuclear war. It is not clear how lo9ng this document will remain available from a public Web server. You can check the link in the DarkCyber video for yourself. Tip: The document explains how the US may select a target for a nuclear strike.
The final story reports that the drone called Avenger has a new capability: Autonomous decision capability enabled by track and follow electronics. No human operator needed when a target is identified.
DarkCyber is produced by Stephen E Arnold and the DarkCyber research team. New programs appear every two weeks unless one of the video distribution services decides to remove the content derived from open sources of information. Tankz and a fellow traveler named DankDex, purveyor of the Fraud Bible, appear to post without pushback.
Kenny Toth, August 24, 2021
Traditional Sports Media: Sucking Dust and Breathing Fumes?
August 12, 2021
The TikTok video format is becoming a norm core channel. I want to mention that Amazon Twitch is having a new media moment as well. I read “Lionel Messi’s Twitch App Interview Shows How Social Media Is Conquering Sports.” Note that this link is generated by DailyHunt and the story itself is output by smart software; thus, the link may be dead, and there’s not much I can do to rectify the situation.
The story contained this statement, which may be spot or or just wild and crazy Internet digital baloney:
Spanish influencer Ibai Llanos chatted with Lionel Messi on Amazon.com Inc.’s streaming platform Twitch after the world’s best-paid athlete signed with French soccer club Paris Saint Germain from Barcelona.
Here’s the kicker (yep, Messi-esque I know):
More than 3,17,000 people watched the exclusive interview, the kind of prestigious content that would often be sold to the highest bidder for TV broadcast in different territories. Llanos was introduced to Messi by Sergio Aguero, a fellow Barcelona player and video-game enthusiast who is friendly with the social media celebrity. Sports viewing is shifting steadily onto streaming platforms, and even overtaking traditional broadcast TV in the Asia Pacific region, according to GlobalWebIndex.
What? Twitch? Who is the star? Messi? The write up states:
Soccer clubs are eager to tap this new revenue source after they were hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, especially as they need to win over younger audiences who enjoy video gaming just as much as traditional sports. Llanos has drawn 7 million Twitch followers since he started out commenting on esports tournaments from his home. He’s brought a humorous commenting style to everything from toy-car races to chess games. He’s now becoming a sports entrepreneur in his own right, collaborating with Barcelona’s Gerard Pique to broadcast the Copa America soccer competition in Spain. Llanos streamed a top-tier Spanish game for the first time in April under a deal between the Spanish league and TV rights owner Mediapro.
Observations I jotted down as I worked through this “smart software” output:
- Amazon Twitch plays a part in this shift to an influencer, streaming platform, and rights holder model
- The pivot point Llanos has direct access and channel options
- Eyeballs clump around the “force” of the stream, the personalities, and those who want to monetize this semi-new thing.
Big deal? Well, not for me, but for those with greyhounds in the race, yep. Important if true.
Stephen E Arnold, August 12, 2021
ECommerce to VCommerce the TikTok Way
August 9, 2021
TikTok is the most popular non-gaming app downloaded in the Western world. Amazingly it is owned by Chinese company ByteDance Limited. Trump attempted to ban it during his tenure, but failed. The Taipei Times published a Bloomberg Opinion entitled, “TikTok eyes E-Commerce, Gaming And Everything Else” about ByteDance’s future for TikTok. It is astounding how much TikTok has grown over the past year:
“TikTok’s growth and the level of its user engagement have been remarkable. According to Sensor Tower, the app was the most downloaded and highest-grossing non-game during the first half of this year, surpassing 3 billion total installs. Analysts expect TikTok to keep growing faster than its competitors, and industry tracker eMarketer projects that the app’s user base in the US would rise 18 percent this year, compared with a 1 percent increase for Facebook Inc and a 4 percent gain for Facebook’s Instagram.
Most impressive of all, TikTok users are growing more addicted to the short-video service. Research firm App Annie has said that the app has surpassed Google’s YouTube for average time spent per user in the US and the UK.”
TikTok’s competitors are ramping up their own game. Facebook will upgrade Instagram to also be a mobile video entertainment platform. YouTube and Snap Inc. started their own short-video services and are paying creators for content. TikTok is expected to remain the top short-video platform due to its popularity, continues to add new features, and creators do not need to go anywhere else.
TikTok’s current job listings have over one hundred listings for e-commerce positions and nearly ninety with the word “live.” ByteDance wants to become the one stop hub for live-streaming social commerce and they plan to focus on several industries: fashion, beauty, lifestyle, technology, and anything else that allows them to sell merchandise directly through the platform. ByteDance already does this with TikTok’s Chinese counterpart, Douyin.
TikTok could face regulatory action in the US, because it might pose a data-security risk. It could complicate TikTok’s initial public offering, but any advertising is good. Making TikTok “illegal” could make not all the more appealing.
Whitney Grace, August 9, 2021
YouTube Snaps Up Simsim Video E-Commerce App
August 4, 2021
This seems like a natural extension. Gadgets 360 announces, “YouTube Acquires Indian Video Shopping App simsim, to Introduce E-Commerce Features in Future.” We are told simsim will continue to operate independently, but YouTube is working to help it reach new customers. Google-owned YouTube is sure to build on its new purchase, extending online video commerce to any market it can. Writer Tasneem Akolawala tells us:
“The simsim platform enables e-commerce through videos — creators make videos of products, and viewers can then buy those products from local businesses, through the simsim platform. Video-driven e-commerce is a growing category, which recently saw another company, Firework, launch in this space. Instagram has been a popular platform for small businesses to sell products online, and it appears that YouTube plans to build online video commerce in a similar manner with the simsim acquisition. On simsim, videos are available in three local languages: Hindi, Tamil, and Bengali. YouTube has not offered details on how it plans to introduce this video shopping feature on its platform. YouTube says that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire simsim and expects to complete the transaction in the coming weeks.”
The company announced the deal in a Google India Blog post, but it did not share the financial details. We can all look forward to seeing some sort of extension of this video e-commerce approach on YouTube soon.
Cynthia Murrell, August 4, 2021
Hiring Excitement: TikTok Helps Ensure Dedicated Applicants with Social Video Skills
July 30, 2021
Even before AI assistance, employers were considering applicants’ social media presence in the hiring process. According to Fast Company, that may be a good thing for companies and workers alike. Writer Tomas Chamorro-Premuzik describes “How Social Media Data Secretly Reveals Your Personality to Hiring Managers.” The premise is that embracing the phenomenon can lead workers into more satisfying careers. We’re told:
“A constant feature throughout this time has been organizations lamenting their inability to find the right talent, and, on the other side of the problem, too many talented people complaining about meaningless or uninspiring jobs. … Our notions of talent have not evolved to keep up with the times. When university credentials have become disconnected from job-relevant knowledge, hard skills quickly become outdated, and what we know is less important than what we can learn, organizations are often left looking for talent in all the wrong places. This also harms their desire to create a diverse and inclusive workforce. When your main talent currency is still the resume, and the value of a resume depends on outdated talent currencies like college qualifications or past experience, it is hard to avoid hiring the same type of people over and over again, optimizing for ‘culture fit’ rather than diversity. In this context, social media emerges as a promising alternative to the dominant currency for talent. Its data acts as a talent bitcoin capable of redefining human capital more inclusively and meritocratic. Our social media activity already reveals a great deal of information about our deep character traits, precisely the type of stuff employers need to know (and at times also want to know) before they decide to hire us.”
Chamorro-Premuzik gives some examples to support his premise, from Facebook and Twitter to TikTok and Spotify. He admits to the ethical and legal issues here, but suggests they could be addressed with transparency and an option for applicants to opt in. We wonder, though, how optional would that really feel (or be) for most job hunters. We are reminded this use of data is happening anyway, so we might as well welcome the process and make it official. It is true that old hiring methods are woefully out of touch, but the idea that this trend is the best solution may be a stretch.
Cynthia Murrell, July 30, 2021
DarkCyber for July 13, 2021, Now Available
July 13, 2021
DarkCyber is a twice-a-month video news program about the Dark Web, lesser known Internet services, and cyber crime. You can view the program at this link or use the viewer on the Beyond Search splash page. The DarkCyber for July 13, 2021, discusses the new US GAO report on facial recognition. Plus a 2019 report, with numerous FR vendors and accuracy tests, provides data not in the 2021 report. Also, in this program are stories about: [a] what cohort (age group) is most susceptible to online scams, [b] Amazon eCommerce vulnerabilities, and [c] a report about the US Navy’s autonomous mid-air refueling drone. DarkCyber is produced by Stephen E Arnold.
Kenny Toth, July 13, 2021
More Content Under Scrutiny: Jail Time for Some? Work Camps for Others?
June 15, 2021
I spotted an interesting article called “Hong Kong to Censor Films Under National Security Law.” The write up appears to make Hong Kong separate from China. That’s not my understanding. Some in Hong Kong may not agree with me. British stiff upper lip, horse racing, and tea – absolutely.
The write up states:
The government said the changes that give the film censor authority to ban films perceived as promoting or glorifying acts or activities that could endanger national security take effect from Friday. The Film Censorship Authority should stay “vigilant to the portrayal, depiction or treatment of any act or activity which may amount to an offence endangering national security”, the government said in a statement. “Any content of a film which is objectively and reasonably capable of being perceived as endorsing, supporting, promoting, such act or activity” will be censored, according to the guideline.
What’s not clear is the scope of the law. Will frisky TikTok creators find themselves and their work reviewed? What happens if a Chinese citizen studying in the US appears in a video which the Chinese government finds a danger to national security?
Observations of course:
- Prudence, the voice on my shoulder, says, “Self censor or risk some time in a state controlled factory. Better yet a few years in a re-education program.” Will those Chinese students listen to my Prudence?
- The context of “national security” is interesting. The law suggests that TikTok and similar creator centric video programs pose sufficient threat to move beyond routine blurring of objectionable items, restricting distribution, or levying a fine. A question arises, “What about TikTok itself?” A threat or a source of information for some governments?
Net net: Some governments emulating the Great Firewall method will observe the downstream impact of this law. If the idea seems like a good one, information control may become more popular in some circles. Jack Ma is unlikely to invest in motion picture and video productions I think.
Stephen E Arnold, June 15, 2021
DarkCyber for June 15, 2021, Now Available
June 15, 2021
DarkCyber is a video news program issued every two weeks. The June 15, 2021, show includes five stories:
- Pentest tools you can download and use today for free
- A free report that explains Britain’s cyber weaknesses
- Additional information about the E2EE revolution
- Another tip for finding flexible developers and programmers who will do exactly what you want done
- The FireScout, a drone with a 100 mile range and the ability to drop sonobuoys and other devices, perform surveillance, and remain aloft for up to 10 hours.
The DarkCyber video news program contains information presented in Stephen E Arnold’s lectures to law enforcement and intelligence professionals. His most recent lecture was the New Dark Web. He presented his most recent research findings to a group of more than 100 cyber fraud investigators working in Connecticut for a variety of LE and related organizations. The
The June 15, 2021, DarkCyber video program is available from Mr. Arnold’s blog splash page and can be viewed on YouTube. One important note: The video program does not contain advertisements or sponsored content. We know that’s unusual today, but the DarkCyber team prefers to operate without an invisible hand on the controls or an invisible foot on the team’s neck.
Kenny Toth, June 15, 2021
DarkCyber for June 1, 2021, Now Available
June 1, 2021
DarkCyber is a video news program about the Dark Web, cyber crime, and lesser known Internet services. This edition’s story line up includes a bad actor promoting on the regular Internet, a look at Europol’s business process analysis for industrialized cyber crime, a University of Washington research project for a do-it-yourself IMSI sniffer, two free reports about phishing, the go-to method for compromising users’ computer security, and a look at the Gaza, a new drone designed to strike at those who would wrongfully act toward certain groups. DarkCyber is produced by Stephen E Arnold with assistance from the DarkCyber research team. The programs appear twice each month. The videos are available on YouTube. You can view the video via the player on the Beyond Search blog or at https://youtu.be/f1ym19l2Y0I. No ads, no vendor supported posts, nothing but Mr. Arnold commenting on important news stories. How is this possible? No one who thumb typers knows.
Kenny Toth, June 1, 2021
Microsoft GitHub Embraces Dev Video
May 26, 2021
How easy will it be for frisky developers and programmers to surf on Microsoft GitHub’s new video feature? My hunch is that it will be pretty easy. The news of this Amazon and YouTube type innovation appears in “Video Uploads Now Available across GitHub.”
The write up states:
At GitHub, we’ve utilized video to more concisely detail complex workflows, show our teammates where we’re blocked, and inspire our colleagues with the next big idea. Today, we’re announcing that the ability to upload video is generally available for everyone across GitHub. Now you can upload
.mp4and.movfiles in issues, pull requests, discussions, and more.
A number of video sites present fascinating technical information. Some of those videos include helpful pointers to even more interesting content. Here’s an example of a screenshot I made from a YouTube video:
The video’s title is “How to Get Sony Vegas Prog 18 for Free *2021* Permanent Activation Pack.” Other services offer similar technical work flow videos.
GitHub is a go to resource for a wide range of content, including penetration testing software similar to that used by some bad actors.
But video is hot, and Microsoft is going for it.
Stephen E Arnold, May 26, 2021
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