All posts tagged: security

Chatbots can hide secret messages in seemingly normal conversations

Chatbots can hide secret messages in seemingly normal conversations

Published by skeptic

Encrypted messages could be hidden within a normal-looking conversation on social media Tero Vesalainen/iStockphoto/G​etty Images Secret messages can be hidden inside fake conversations generated by AI chatbots. The technique could give people a way to communicate online without arousing the suspicion of oppressive governments. When messages are encrypted for secure transmission, the resulting cipher text – an unusual string of garbled characters – stands out like a sore thumb. That is fine if you are keeping secrets in a country where secrets are allowed, but under brutal dictatorships, this could land a citizen in hot water. Even the UK government recently … Source link

The Fiasco at the National Security Council

The Fiasco at the National Security Council

Published by José

The national security adviser seemed at a loss. It fell to Michael Waltz to explain to handpicked members of his staff this month why the president had ordered their dismissal after a meeting with Laura Loomer, the far-right activist who rose to prominence by making incendiary anti-Muslim claims and who last year shared a video that labeled 9/11 an “inside job.” “He was upset and couldn’t explain it,” a person familiar with Waltz’s reaction told me. But the abrupt dismissals shouldn’t have come as a surprise at the National Security Council, a highly sensitive part of the U.S. government that provides a forum for the president to consider the most pressing national-security and foreign-policy issues with senior advisers and the Cabinet. The NSC was the first part of the federal workforce to be purged of expertise when Donald Trump returned to power in January. Two days into Trump’s second term, before agents of Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative arrived at federal agencies with orders to cull their ranks, the NSC performed its own amputation. That’s when …

Major security scare sparks no-fly zone order over King Charles’s beloved home | Royal | News

Major security scare sparks no-fly zone order over King Charles’s beloved home | Royal | News

Published by Sam

A new no-fly zone has been imposed over a much-loved royal residence amid fears of drones circulating in the area. The blanket year-long no-fly area was imposed over Sandringham, in Norfolk, within days of the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, it is reported. The no-fly zone order has been passed for “security for members of the Royal Family and other dignitaries staying at or visiting Sandringham House”. Ahead of the Ukrainian President’s visit to the UK in March, witnesses told The Sun there was a major security operation around the King’s 60-acre estate. Before Zelensky flew in to see the King, one of the drones spotted hours before was traced back to a man sitting in a car. A source said: “It prompted a security scare. The operator was tracked down and spoken to.” One drone was also traced to a photographer, but the source of others are still believed to be unknown. Modern technology, such as using drones, could mean there is a risk of explosive devices or surveillance cameras being used that …

Why policy professionals must adapt – POLITICO

Why policy professionals must adapt – POLITICO

Published by Sam

The need for new approaches to leadership education has never been more urgent. Policy professionals in the public sector and international institutions, as well as in business and civil society, must be equipped to lead responsibly, with foresight, agility and collaboration. Leaders who can take a holistic approach to problem-solving and innovate across sectors will be best equipped to tackle today’s complex, interconnected challenges. The need for new approaches to leadership education has never been more urgent. Policy professionals in the public sector and international institutions, as well as in business and civil society, must be equipped to lead responsibly, with foresight, agility and collaboration. Recognizing these pressing challenges, the EUI launched the Global Executive Master (GEM) — an executive program designed to transform policy professionals into the adaptive, agile and responsible leaders that today’s world demands. Welcoming its first cohort in September 2024, the GEM was conceived as a direct response to the rapidly changing policy landscape, offering an education model that blends academic excellence with real-world application. The blended structure combines flexible online …

Decarbonisation improves energy security for most countries

Decarbonisation improves energy security for most countries

Published by skeptic

A pivot from fossil fuels to clean energy technologies by 2060 would improve energy security and reduce trade risks for most nations, according to a new study. Lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, and rare earth elements are among the prized materials for countries and corporations racing to secure supplies for energy systems that do not add greenhouse gases to our atmosphere. Unlike fossil fuels, natural reserves of these materials are most concentrated in the Global South, shuffling the geopolitics of energy and global trade. “For most countries in a net-zero emissions system in the future, trading off the reduced dependence on imported fossil fuels and increased dependence on these new materials is actually a win for energy security,” explained Steve Davis, the study’s senior author and a professor of Earth system science in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. The impact of decarbonisation on oil-rich nations Even for the United States, which has some of the world’s largest fossil fuel reserves but only a sliver of critical mineral deposits, decarbonisation could boost energy security, especially if …

A 25-year-old police drone founder just raised M led by Index

A 25-year-old police drone founder just raised $75M led by Index

Published by skeptic

If you ever call 911 from an area that’s hard to get to, you might hear the buzz of a drone well before a police cruiser pulls up. And there’s a good chance that it will be one made by Brinc Drones, a Seattle-based startup founded by 25-year-old Blake Resnick, who dropped out of college to run the company. Brinc, which was founded in 2017 and counts OpenAI CEO Sam Altman as a seed-stage investor, just announced today that it has raised $75 million in new funding led by Index Ventures. This brings the startup’s total funding to $157.2 million. While Brinc isn’t disclosing its exact valuation, Resnick told TechCrunch it’s an “up-round” compared to its most recent round, a $55 million Series B in 2022. Brinc was last valued at $300 million in 2023, Bloomberg reported. Brinc sells a variety of drone systems to police and public safety agencies. It’s part of a broader trend of U.S. drone startups manufacturing domestically due to increasing restrictions against Chinese companies that dominate the commercial drone industry. …

Inside DOGE’s AI Push at the Department of Veterans Affairs

Inside DOGE’s AI Push at the Department of Veterans Affairs

Published by skeptic

“DOGE’s actions at the VA are putting veterans’ lives at risk,” representative Gerald Connolly, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, tells WIRED. Veterans, he adds, risk being “stripped of the care they need and deserve because [President Donald] Trump and Elon have turned the VA over to lackeys who do not know the first thing about what it means to serve your country.” VA employees have expressed concern about the changes the DOGE staffers have already started to make to the agency. “These people have zero clue what they are working on,” a VA employee tells WIRED. The VA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither did Volpert, Roussos, Fulcher, Rehling, or Koval. Lavingia’s past work, however, appears to have informed his present outlook at the VA, especially when it comes to AI. In a blog post on his personal website from October 2024, Lavingia discussed how Gumroad, which laid off most of its employees in 2015, had achieved financial stability: “replacing every manual process with an automated one, by pushing …

Taiwan’s latest computer chip has serious implications for technology – and the island’s security

Taiwan’s latest computer chip has serious implications for technology – and the island’s security

Published by skeptic

On April 1, 2025, the Taiwanese manufacturer TSMC introduced the world’s most advanced microchip: the 2 nanometre (2nm) chip. Mass production is expected for the second half of the year, and TSMC promises it will represent a major step forward in performance and efficiency – potentially reshaping the technological landscape. Microchips are the foundation of modern technology, found in nearly all electronic devices, from electric toothbrushes and smartphones to laptops and household appliances. They are made by layering and etching materials like silicon to create microscopic circuits containing billions of transistors. These transistors are effectively tiny switches, managing the flow of electricity and allowing computers to work. In general, the more transistors a chip contains, the faster and more powerful it becomes. The microchip industry consistently endeavours to pack more transistors into a smaller area, leading to faster, more powerful, and energy efficient technological devices. Compared to the previous most advanced chip, known as 3nm chips, TSMC’s 2nm technology should deliver notable benefits. These include a 10%-15% boost in computing speed at the same power …

Ex-UK cyber chief says asking Apple to break encryption was ‘naive’

Ex-UK cyber chief says asking Apple to break encryption was ‘naive’

Published by skeptic

Apple has withdrawn one of its encryption services from UK customers slandstock / Alamy A former cyber security chief has called the UK government “naive” for demanding that Apple add a backdoor to its software – allowing the UK’s intelligence agencies to snoop on customers’ data – and expecting the request to remain secret. Ciaran Martin was head of cyber security at the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and served as the first chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) before joining the University of Oxford in 2020. He spoke to New Scientist about reports that the UK government has made an unprecedented demand for Apple to grant it access to data stored by any customer, anywhere in the world, even if it is encrypted. Such orders, made under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, are intended to be made in secret, but Martin says it is no surprise that details seem to have leaked. “I just think the idea that this type of order against a company like Apple would work in secret was …

Trump National Security Adviser Accidentally Sent Plans for a Bombing Campaign to a Random Journalist

Trump National Security Adviser Accidentally Sent Plans for a Bombing Campaign to a Random Journalist

Published by José

The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic was accidentally added to a group text message between key national security advisers as they discussed an upcoming offensive strike in Yemen — and nobody seemed to know he was there until after the bombs went off. In an editorial about the stunning breach, The Atlantic‘s EIC Jeffrey Goldberg explained that he thought he was being pranked earlier in March when he was added to a Signal chat titled “Houthi PC small group” that seemed to contain users with handles corresponding to vice president JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and defense secretary Pete Hegseth. The debacle began on March 11 when Goldberg received a Signal message request from a “Michael Waltz,” the name of Trump’s national security adviser. The two had met before, but the Atlantic editor doubted the person who added him was the real Waltz because Trump has a personal beef with Goldberg. A few days later, the Houthi group chat was created. Along with Golberg, the Waltz account included users with handles related to Rubio, Vance, …