Daily Digest on AI and Emerging Technologies (4 December 2024)

TOP OF THE DAY

 

RFI Response: Safety Considerations for Chemical and/or Biological AI Models

 

(Steph Batalis, Vikram Venkatram – Center for Security and Emerging Technology – 3 December 2024) In the opportunity to provide feedback to the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute (AISI) regarding future practices for the responsible development and use of chemical and biological (chem-bio) AI models, the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown University examines the convergence of AI and biotechnology and its impact on U.S. national, economic, and health security. AI tools present exciting possibilities for biomedical research and scientific innovation. At the same time, these same tools have raised concerns about their potential to contribute to biological threats. – https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/rfi-response-safety-considerations-for-chemical-and-or-biological-ai-models/

 

UK Cyber-Attacks Surge as Threats Hit Harder, Warns NCSC

 

(Kevin Poireault – Infosecurity Magazine – 3 December 2024) Cyber-attacks are becoming more frequent and severe, posing a greater risk to British organizations and the public, warned the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in its latest Annual Review. The report, published on December 3, shows that the NCSC’s Incident Management (IM) team has intervened 430 times out of the 1957 cyber-incident reports it received over the past year, exceeding the 371 needing the agency’s involvement in 2023. Of these incidents, 89 were nationally significant, including 12 critical incidents – a threefold increase compared to last year. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/uk-cyberattacks-surge-ncsc/

 

Security Pros Positive About GenAI in Cyber, Despite Raising Attack Severity

 

(James Coker – Infosecurity Magazine – 3 December 2024) Security professionals are overwhelmingly positive about GenAI’s impact on cybersecurity, despite the technology making cyber-attacks more dangerous. This is according to Ivanti’s Generative AI and Cybersecurity: Risk and Reward report, published on December 3. The report found that security professionals are eight-times more likely to say gen AI is a net positive versus a net negative for cybersecurity. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/security-pros-genai-attack/

 

STRATEGIES

 

Ministry of Commerce Notice 2024 No. 46: Notice Concerning Strengthening Controls on Exports of Relevant Dual-Use Items to the United States

 

(Center for Security and Emerging Technology – 3 December 2024) The following notice from China’s Ministry of Commerce, issued December 3, 2024, bans the export of gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard materials to the United States, and enacts stricter export control checks on dual-use graphite materials. This move immediately follows the U.S. announcement on December 2 of new export controls and sanctions designed to prevent sales of advanced U.S. microchips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China. – https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/china-rare-earth-export-ban/

 

GOVERNANCE AND LEGISLATION

 

AI has high energy demands but could also speed up energy production, officials say

 

(Edward Graham – NextGov – 3 December 2024) Meeting the growing energy demands of data centers and artificial intelligence technologies will require speeding up the often protracted permitting process for deploying clean energy infrastructure, but AI tools can also help accelerate these mandatory efforts, according to federal officials.  Speaking at a Brookings Institution event on Monday, Emma Nicholson — a senior economic advisor with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — said “nothing has come on the scene faster than this new load growth from AI and data centers in computing loads.” – https://www.nextgov.com/artificial-intelligence/2024/12/ai-has-high-energy-demands-could-also-speed-energy-production-officials-say/401409/?oref=ng-homepage-river

 

DEFENSE, INTELLIGENCE, AND WAR

 

NATO CIO: Alliance-wide classified cloud system is in the works

 

(Carley Welch – Breaking Defense – 3 December 2024) In an effort to move toward data centricity, NATO is in the process of creating a classified cloud system in which member nations can share secret information, NATO’s chief information officer told Breaking Defense. “It puts data together that right now is in different repositories,” Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer said in an interview. “The very fact of collocating the data in the same instance, or within the same environment or infrastructure, is very, very helpful. Moving into a common cloud environment also forces you to think about data differently and to prepare it for the move, which in itself will be conducive to analyzing the data later.” – https://breakingdefense.com/2024/12/nato-cio-alliance-wide-classified-cloud-system-is-in-the-works/

 

NATO draws up plans for its own fleet of naval surveillance drones

 

(Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo – Defense News – 3 December 2024) The NATO alliance has begun planning for its own fleet of unmanned boats meant to help protect critical undersea infrastructure across the Baltic and Mediterranean seas. Following a pattern of undersea cable damage across European waters in the last year, with the most recent disruptions happening just weeks ago, top NATO officials have begun envisioning a capability that would allow the alliance to have permanent eyes above and under the waterline. – https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-news/2024/12/03/nato-draws-up-plans-for-its-own-fleet-of-naval-surveillance-drones/

 

SECURITY

 

French Mobile Operators Join Forces to Tackle Rising Fraud

 

(Kevin Poireault – Infosecurity Magazine – 3 December 2024) France’s four leading mobile network operators (MNOs) have joined forces to fight against online fraud and identity theft. Bouygues Telecom, Free, Orange and SFR announced on December 3 that they will launch two network Application Programmable Interfaces (APIs) for the French market in the first half of 2025 to help online businesses combat fraud and digital identity theft. This move comes as part of the Global System for Mobile Communications Association’s (GSMA) Open Gateway initiative. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/france-mno-tackle-rising-fraud/

 

Ransomware Attack Disrupts Operations at US Contractor ENGlobal

 

(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Magazine – 3 December 2024) Houston-based ENGlobal Corporation, a contractor specializing in engineering and automation services for the energy sector and US government, announced Monday that a ransomware attack has disrupted its operations. The company disclosed the incident on Monday in a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-disrupts-us-contractor/

 

Kimsuky Group Adopts New Phishing Tactics to Target Victims

 

(Alessandro Mascellino – Infosecurity Magazine – 3 December 2024) North Korean-linked threat actors have escalated their phishing efforts with a series of campaigns designed to steal credentials from researchers, financial institutions and corporate officials. Recent investigations reveal that these attacks involve shifting origins, impersonating trusted institutionsand adopting malware-free strategies to avoid detection. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/kimsuky-adopts-new-phishing-tactics/

 

Police Shut Down Matrix Encrypted Criminal Hub

 

(James Coker – Infosecurity Magazine – 3 December 2024) An international law enforcement operation has taken down Matrix, an encrypted messaging service used by criminals. This followed a large-scale investigation into the messaging service, which was coordinated by Eurojust and Europol. The operation was executed by Dutch and French authorities on December 3 and follow-up actions undertaken by their Italian, Lithuanian and Spanish counterparts. The main servers used by Matrix in France and Germany have been taken down as a result. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/police-shut-down-matrix-criminal/

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