Friday, September 15, 2017

Media shake-up: Alexa, Siri, Cortana vulnerable to 'silent hacking' attacks


“A people always ends by resembling its shadow.” Rudyard Kipling (quoted by André Maurois in The Art of Writing) ... read more

Speaking of shadows, The North’s launch comes a day after Pyongyang threatened to sink Japan and reduce the United States (Australia) to “ashes and darkness” for supporting a UN security council resolution imposing new sanctions against it for its 3 September nuclear test. North Korea launches unidentified missile

In addition, The Russians (and Chinese) Are Coming ...

PsssssTicked Off: Japanese Officials Accidentally Release Lethal Tick At Press ConferenceJonathan Turley


Media shake-up as broadcasting laws pass parliament



The law is still playing catch-up with social media — and shady behavior on such platforms. See, e.g., Instagram.




Massive genetic study shows how humans are evolving Nature



Do groups lie more than do  individuals?


Apparently we can form an opinion from a person’s face in around 30 to 40 milliseconds. However that doesn’t mean our opinion is right.



Apparently more and more, employees are lying, scamming, and deceiving to advance their interests

The early days of the internet were full of optimism and even utopianism.  Free information about everything, at our fingertips!  A new digital public square where all ideas will get a hearing and truth will win out.  Such hopes have been completely dashed in the last decade, and today’s media theorists are largely, and rightly, pessimistic ... Epistemological Pessimism: My eyes were opened when I realized that humans did not evolve to be knowers of truth.  Humans, instead, evolved to be able to survive long enough to reproduce and pass on their genes.  Humans are equipped to be knowers of truth only insofar as that was conducive to evolutionary fitness in our ancient past.  Let that sink in ...A pessimism manifesto


My review of Conversations with Vladimir Nabokov was published today in the Los Angeles Review of Books

5 Reasons the UN Is Jumping on the Blockchain Bandwagon
Singularity.com, 3/9/17. UN aid efforts have a historic problem of fraud, mismanagement, and bureaucratic red tape, but with the ability to circumnavigate governments and banking institutions transferring aid via blockchain can be far more efficient.


How Blockchain Is Reinventing Your News Feed
Forbes, 28/8/17. In a fitting twist of fate, what the internet did to the print newspaper gatekeepers may already be on the horizon for today’s digital media outlets. New technologies are seeking to again disrupt the industry by decentralizing control, genuinely removing the gatekeepers from public news access, thus ensuring censorship and bias-free news and social media.




OAIC concludes investigation of Australian Red Cross data breach
Allens Linklaters, 5/9/17. The Commissioner found that the Red Cross had failed to implement contractual or other measures to ensure that Precedent Communications had adequate security arrangements. Nonetheless, the Commissioner commended the Red Cross for its quick response and handling of the breach, noting that its response provides a model of good practice for other organisations.


Alexa, Siri, Cortana vulnerable to 'silent hacking' attacks
itnews.com, 8/9/17. Voice assistants from some of the industry's leading companies have been found to be vulnerable to an exploit that allows hackers to take control of a device by issuing silent commands.


Gartner Releases the Hype Cycle for Cloud Security in 2017
gartner.com, 7/9/17. Rapid growth in cloud adoption is driving increased interest in securing data, applications and workloads that now exist in a cloud computing environment. The Gartner, Inc. Hype Cycle for Cloud Security helps security professionals understand which technologies are ready for mainstream use, and which are still years away from productive deployments for most organizations







Opponentsof India’s ID card system win court victory  Global Economic Forum, 3/9/17. The Indian government’s roll-out of a digital identity database has been stopped because of a decision of the Indian Supreme Court to  recognise privacy as a fundamental human right.  The massive project included automated payments of state subsidies and benefits, and a facility enabling users to make remote digital payments to business and individuals.



Open banking and the legal right to be forgotten
finextra.com, 6/9/17. Open banking rests on enabling customers to give consent and control to a third-party relationship involving their data and transactions. This ability to help the customer manage this relationship is key for the bank. The customer has the right to terminate a third party relationship at any time and request to be forgotten.



Using Fingerprints to Bank the Unbanked
finextra.com, 7/9/2017. Biometrics are becoming a growing trend in developing countries to extend ID verification, as it is convenient, secure and only requires an individual’s characteristics to prove who they are – not endless paperwork or identity cards