Justice Department Appoints Jonathan Mayer Chief AI Officer

Jonathan Mayer has been named the Justice Department’s first chief science and technology advisor and will also hold the title chief artificial intelligence officer, another first. The announcement was made by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who said “the Justice Department must keep pace with rapidly evolving scientific and technological developments in order to fulfill our mission to uphold the rule of law, keep our country safe, and protect civil rights.” Mayer will advise Garland and department leaders and collaborate with other departments “on complex issues requiring technical expertise,” including cybersecurity, AI and other areas of emerging technology. Continue reading Justice Department Appoints Jonathan Mayer Chief AI Officer

Google Targets Global Security with AI Cyber Defense Initiative

Google has unveiled a new policy, the AI Cyber Defense Initiative, designed to harness the power of artificial intelligence to improve global cybersecurity defenses. The proposed policy aims to counteract rapidly evolving threats by using AI to improve threat detection, automate vulnerability management and enhance incident response effectiveness. The Alphabet company introduced its new plan at the Munich Security Conference, where it also announced it has a pool of $2 million to award businesses and academic institutions for research initiatives involving large language models, code verification and other AI uses for cyber offense and defense. Continue reading Google Targets Global Security with AI Cyber Defense Initiative

Linux Foundation Intros Post-Quantum Cryptography Alliance

The Linux Foundation has launched the Post-Quantum Cryptography Alliance, a collaborative approach to research and development aimed at taming the data security threats posed by quantum computing. The PQCA is presenting itself as turn-key source for companies and projects looking for production-ready libraries and service packages that support compliance with the National Security Agency’s new cybersecurity standards for government contractors or would like to provide themselves and their clients with safety precautions equal to “top secret” NSA classification. Founding members include Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Google, IBM and Nvidia. Continue reading Linux Foundation Intros Post-Quantum Cryptography Alliance

CES: Conversation with Cybersecurity Expert Anne Neuberger

CTA Vice President of Regulatory Affairs David Grossman spoke on a range of security topics with Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Tech Anne Neuberger, principal adviser to President Biden on cyber affairs. During CES 2024, the two discussed the debut of the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark and its just-announced international reach, as well as spectrum policy and the reauthorization of the spectrum auction. Neuberger expressed her appreciation for partnerships in the private sector — and especially the Consumer Technology Association — in helping the government bring the Cyber Trust Mark program into being. Continue reading CES: Conversation with Cybersecurity Expert Anne Neuberger

CES: Government, Industry Stakeholders on IoT Certification

National Institute of Standards and Technology Director Dr. Laurie Locascio, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards & Technology, opened a CES discussion on the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark for certification of IoT devices by highlighting “how government and industry can work together to make IoT devices safe and secure — and drive U.S. innovation and productiveness.” “We believe in the power of partnership,” she noted, listing the Consumer Technology Association as an important partner along with academia and consumers in “fostering an environment that enables innovation.” She said this work led to the FCC’s proposal for a Cyber Mark Trust labeling program. Continue reading CES: Government, Industry Stakeholders on IoT Certification

CES: Digital Hollywood Session Explores AI at Inflection Point

Impact and opportunity surfaced as the dominant theme of a full day of Digital Hollywood sessions devoted to artificial intelligence at CES 2024. We are in a period of disruption similar to the early 90s when the Internet went mainstream, said Forbes columnist Charlie Fink, moderating a panel of industry leaders from CAA, Paramount, HTC, Nvidia and Google. Yet despite the transformation already underway, panelists agreed that this is neither the first nor last technology to shift the status quo, more the latest example of inevitable change and adjustment. The current conversations around AI at CES are a refreshing departure after a few years of evolutionary, not revolutionary tech confabs. Continue reading CES: Digital Hollywood Session Explores AI at Inflection Point

FCC Teams with States to Monitor ISPs on Consumer Privacy

The Federal Communications Commission has set its sights on Internet service providers, formalizing an understanding with state attorneys general to protect consumer data and police privacy abuses. Initially, the memoranda of understanding (MOU) with the FCC’s Privacy and Data Protection Task Force includes the attorneys general of Connecticut, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania, but could expand. As per the MOU, the entities will “share close and common legal interests in working cooperatively to investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute or otherwise take enforcement action” in relation to privacy, data protection and cybersecurity issues. Continue reading FCC Teams with States to Monitor ISPs on Consumer Privacy

Apple Says U.S. Data Breaches Up by More Than 20 Percent

Apple is emphasizing the importance of data encryption with a report that shows personal data breaches up 300 percent between 2013 and 2022. In the past two years, more than 2.6 billion personal records have been exposed, according to the newly released study “The Continued Threat to Personal Data: Key Factors Behind the 2023 Increase.” The report, created by Dr. Stuart Madnick, the founding director of Cybersecurity at MIT Sloan, cites increasing dependence on cloud computing as the main factor for the surge. U.S. data intrusions through Q3 of this year are 20 percent higher than all 12 months of 2022. Continue reading Apple Says U.S. Data Breaches Up by More Than 20 Percent

U.S., Britain and 16 Nations Aim to Make AI Secure by Design

The United States, Britain and 16 other countries have signed a 20-page agreement on working together to keep artificial intelligence safe from bad actors, mandating collaborative efforts for creating AI systems that are “secure by design.” The 18 countries said they will aim to ensure companies that design and utilize AI develop and deploy it in a way that protects their customers and the public from abuse. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) jointly released the Guidelines for Secure AI System Development. Continue reading U.S., Britain and 16 Nations Aim to Make AI Secure by Design

Google Seeks Out Scammers Using Bard to Spread Malware

Google has filed suit in federal district court in California to stop alleged fraudsters from leveraging public interest in artificial intelligence generally and Bard in particular to spread malware. The perpetrators, who are believed to be based in Vietnam, are said to be using Facebook to promote an “unpublished” version of Bard that when downloaded installs password-stealing malware into the host system. The suit claims the scammers are using Google’s trademark-protected intellectual property — including its name and that of Bard, its brand look and colors, and photographs of CEO Sundar Pichai to promote an illegal scheme. Continue reading Google Seeks Out Scammers Using Bard to Spread Malware

OpenAI Creates a Team to Examine Catastrophic Risks of AI

OpenAI recently announced it is developing formal AI risk guidelines and assembling a team dedicated to monitor and study threat assessment involving imminent “superintelligence” AI, also called frontier models. Topics under review include the required parameters for a robust monitoring and prediction framework and how malicious actors might want to leverage stolen AI model weights. The announcement was made shortly prior to the Biden administration issuing an executive order requiring the major players in artificial intelligence to submit reports to the federal government assessing potential risks associated with their models. Continue reading OpenAI Creates a Team to Examine Catastrophic Risks of AI

Intel Touts AI and Debuts New Chip Tech at Innovation Event

Intel Innovation 2023 provided a springboard for the new Core Ultra generation of chips, known as “Meteor Lake,” which uses the new Intel 4 process and is also the first series to feature a dedicated AI coprocessor, shipping December 14. Intel confirmed its “five-nodes-in-four-years” process technology plan is on schedule. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger’s keynote demos included “Pike Creek,” introduced as “the world’s first multi-chiplet package using Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe) interconnects.” For all that, it was AI that took center stage at the 2-day event in San Jose. Continue reading Intel Touts AI and Debuts New Chip Tech at Innovation Event

Windows 11, GitHub, Nintendo Are Latest to Support Passkeys

Passkeys — a secure way to login to accounts without passwords — are back in the news as a bevy of companies lend their support to the cryptographic technology. Windows 11, GitHub and Nintendo are among the latest to go passwordless. The standard, which began gaining momentum last year, has also been embraced by companies including Apple, Google, the FIDO Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium. Each passkey involves two keys — one public and registered with an online service or app, and one private and stored on individual devices, like smartphones or computers. Continue reading Windows 11, GitHub, Nintendo Are Latest to Support Passkeys

Cisco to Acquire Cybersecurity Firm Splunk in $28 Billion Deal

Cisco is poised to make its biggest acquisition ever, with an agreement in place to buy cybersecurity firm Splunk for $28 billion. Cisco, which turns 30 next year, is a global leader in the manufacture of computer networking equipment. Splunk is a 20-year-old company with more than 1,100 patents and a business built around keeping systems and data safe, resolving technical issues and minimizing the risk of hacks, most recently introducing new AI-based services. The companies expect the deal to close in late 2024. Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins says the deal will be financed with a combination of cash and debt. Continue reading Cisco to Acquire Cybersecurity Firm Splunk in $28 Billion Deal

Google Is Using AI to Bring Zero Trust Security to Workspace

Google has unveiled a spate of security enhancements to products in its Google Workspace collection including Gmail and Drive. Artificial intelligence is helping to steer some of the changes, automating specific tasks. The upgrades take a new approach, combining the idea of zero trust with the concept of data loss prevention (DLP). Under zero trust, all users, devices and components are considered untrustworthy at all times — even those within an organization’s network. These Workspace tools are in development or at various stages of testing, but Google says they will begin going live in general release later this year and into Q1 2024. Continue reading Google Is Using AI to Bring Zero Trust Security to Workspace