Month: July 2024

The biggest data breaches in 2024: 1 billion stolen records and rising

Posted on by esimantiras

The biggest data breaches in 2024: 1 billion stolen records… and rising

source: techcrunch.com (contributed by FAN, Steve Page)  |  image: pixabay.com

 

We’re over halfway through 2024, and already this year we have seen some of the biggest, most damaging data breaches in recent history. And just when you think that some of these hacks can’t get any worse, they do.

From huge stores of customers’ personal information getting scraped, stolen and posted online, to reams of medical data covering most people in the United States getting stolen, the worst data breaches of 2024 to date have already surpassed at least 1 billion stolen records and rising. These breaches not only affect the individuals whose data was irretrievably exposed, but also embolden the criminals who profit from their malicious cyberattacks.

Travel with us to the not-so-distant past to look at how some of the biggest security incidents of 2024 went down, their impact, and in some cases, how they could have been stopped. 

Mystery AT&T data leak exposed 73 million customer accounts

Some three years after a hacker teased a published sample of allegedly stolen AT&T customer data, a data breach broker in March dumped the full cache of 73 million customer records online to a known cybercrime forum for anyone to see. The published data included customers’ personal information, including names, phone numbers and postal addresses, with some customers confirming their data was accurate. 

But it wasn’t until a security researcher discovered that the exposed data contained encrypted passcodes used for accessing a customer’s AT&T account that the telecoms giant took action. The security researcher told TechCrunch at the time that the encrypted passcodes could be easily unscrambled, putting some 7.6 million existing AT&T customer accounts at risk of hijacks. AT&T force-reset its customers’ account passcodes after TechCrunch alerted the company to the researcher’s findings. 

One big mystery remains: AT&T still doesn’t know how the data leaked or where it came from. Continue reading “The biggest data breaches in 2024: 1 billion stolen records and rising” →

They Are Using Lab-Grown Human Brains Called “Organoids” To Run Computers

Posted on by esimantiras

They Are Using Lab-Grown Human Brains Called “Organoids” To Run Computers

source: zerohedge.com (contributed by FAN, Robert Keach)  |  image: pixabay.com

 

When I first started researching this, I could hardly believe that it was true. A company in Switzerland known as “Final Spark” has constructed a bizarre hybrid biocomputer that combines lab-grown miniature human brains with conventional electronic circuits.  This approach saves an extraordinary amount of energy compared to normal computers, but there is a big problem.  The lab-grown miniature human brains keep wearing out and dying, and so scientists have to keep growing new ones to replace them. 

Stem cells that are derived from human skin tissue are used to create the 16 spherical brain “organoids” that the system depends upon.  I realize that this sounds like something straight out of a really bad science fiction movie, but it is actually happening.

Continue reading “They Are Using Lab-Grown Human Brains Called “Organoids” To Run Computers” →

Listening is so last year — Meta’s new tech wants to feel your voice

Posted on by esimantiras

Listening is so last year — Meta’s new tech wants to feel your voice

source: media.hubspot.com (contributed by Artemus founder, Bob Wallace)  |  image: pixabay.com

 

Great news for the vocal fry community: Your vocal cord vibrations could soon be put to good use protecting your data.

Seriously. Meta filed a patent application for user authentication using a “combination of vocalization and skin vibration,” per Patent Drop.

That title is a mouthful, so let’s break it down:
  • Meta wants to replace the need for passwords or fingerprint scanning with voice authentication for accessing systems like its AR headset or smart glasses.
  • But AI has made impersonating someone’s voice really easy, with convincing voice cloning and deep fakes already swirling.
  • So Meta is taking voice authentication one step further by scanning the “vibration of tissue” during speech in addition to one’s voice.
  • When a user says a wake word, a “vibration measurement assembly” picks up the vibrations of their skin and the acoustic waves of their voice to authenticate them.

The combined dataset would create a unique audio fingerprint and, when built into headsets and glasses, would let users access their systems with a single word.

And while no one likes their password getting hacked, the stakes are getting a hell of a lot higher, with new tech poised to start harvesting data directly from our brains.

Sounds interesting

This patent is just the latest of Meta’s voice authentication tech. A separate “user identification with voice prints” patent application would see voice prints integrated into the two-factor authentication process for the company’s social media apps.

And Meta is far from the only company thinking about voice biometrics — the market is projected to hit 11.1B by 2032.

It will only become more important as AI companies crank out new voice generation tools, like OpenAI’s Voice Engine, which can clone someone’s voice using only a 15-second clip of them speaking, or ElevenLabs’ Reader App, which can clone celebrity voices.

 

 

Diving Drones

Posted on by esimantiras

Diving Drones

source: axios.com (contributed by FAN, Bill Amshey)  |  image: pixabay.com

 

An animal-like uncrewed underwater vehicle dubbed Manta Ray can be seen maneuvering off the Southern California coast in new footage captured during testing, Axios’ Colin Demarest reports.

  • Why it matters: Sea drones are reshaping naval combat — especially in Eastern Europe, where Ukrainian forces are sinking prized Russian ships using far smaller and cheaper tech.

The Manta Ray’s almond-shaped body, rounded nose, horizontal fins and vertical tail can be spotted in the 360-degree video shared by maker Northrop Grumman.

  • While its dimensions aren’t publicly discussed, the UUV (uncrewed underwater vehicle) looks gigantic next to people and boats.
  • The vessel glides through the water, dips below the waves and resurfaces in the clip. Little wake is seen.

The big picture: The U.S. Navy is banking on uncrewed systems to reduce logistical demands, boost surveillance and augment firepower for sailors and Marines.

VIDEO:  Take a dive with Manta Ray.  Click here to watch the video