Mitigating AI Risks

Artificial Intelligence is the buzzword of the day. Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, there has been a flood of AI-based tools and services. Many tech firms are racing to build AI into their products without considering the consequences, let alone taking the time to build in guardrails for privacy and security. Today, I’ll tell you about some of the risks, how to mitigate them and explain why you should spend some time playing with AI tools so we can understand how they do (and don’t) work. In other news: Wyze home webcams had yet another security breach; Poland’s PM calls out illegal use of Pegasus spyware by opposition party; US military finally notifies 20,000 of email data breach; Skiff was bought by Notion and will shut down services; FTC fines Avast antivirus $16.5M for mining user data; Backdoors in encryption violate human rights according to EU court; LockBit ransomware servers were taken over by multinational law enforcement efforts; Apple’s iMessage gaining quantum computer resistant encryption; Signal finally allows users to hide cell phone numbers via usernames; new Android secure browsing features announced. Article Links [Lifehacker] Wyze Had a Security Breach (Again) https://lifehacker.com/tech/wyze-security-breach-again [The Associated Press] Poland’s prime minister says authorities widely used spyware under the previous government https://apnews.com/article/poland-government-pegasus-spyware-tusk-duda-78420fc7099401926d28b5be98669192 [TechCrunch] US military notifies 20,000 of data breach after cloud email leak https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/14/department-defense-data-breach-microsoft-cloud-email/ [The Cut] The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger https://www.thecut.com/article/amazon-scam-call-ftc-arrest-warrants.html https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/05/cyber-dunning-kruger/  [restoreprivacy.com] Skiff Mail Shutting Down in 6 Months (Try These Alternatives) https://restoreprivacy.com/skiff-shutting-down-alternatives-to-skiff-mail/ [404media.co] FTC Fines Avast $16.5 Million For Selling Browsing Data Harvested by Antivirus https://www.404media.co/impact-ftc-fines-avast-16-5-million-for-selling-browsing-data-harvested-by-antivirus/ [Ars Technica] Backdoors that let cops decrypt messages violate human rights, EU court says https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/02/human-rights-court-takes-stand-against-weakening-of-end-to-end-encryption/ [Ars Technica] LockBit ransomware group taken down in multinational operation https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/02/lockbit-ransomware-group-taken-down-in-multinational-operation/ [WIRED] Apple’s iMessage Is Getting Post-Quantum Encryption https://www.wired.com/story/apple-pq3-post-quantum-encryption/ [signal.org] Keep your phone number private with Signal usernames https://signal.org/blog/phone-number-privacy-usernames/ [Lifehacker] These New Android Features Will Keep You Safer Online https://lifehacker.com/tech/android-safer-browsing-and-live-threat-detection-rolling-out Tip of the Week: Mitigating AI Risks https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/how-to-mitigate-the-risks-of-ai/ Further Info Send me your questions! https://fdsd.me/qna  Check out my book, Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons: https://fdsd.me/book  Subscribe to the newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Become a patron! https://www.patreon.com/FirewallsDontStopDragons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support  Generate secure passphrases! https://d20key.com/#/  Table of Contents Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show. 0:00:44: AT&T outage, hot take 0:03:08: News rundown 0:04:44: Wyze Had a Security Breach (Again) 0:07:27: Poland’s PM says authorities used spyware under the previous government 0:10:19: US military notifies 20,000 of data breach after cloud email leak 0:13:50: The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger 0:22:37: Skiff Mail Shutting Down in 6 Months 0:27:14: FTC Fines Avast $16.5 Million For Selling Browsing Data 0:32:20: Backdoors that let cops decrypt messages violate human rights, EU court says 0:36:18: LockBit ransomware group taken down in multinational operation 0:39:41: Apple’s iMessage Is Getting Post-Quantum Encryption 0:45:02: Keep your phone number private with Signal usernames 0:49:20: These New Android Features Will Keep You Safer Online 0:52:12: Tip of the Week: Mitigating AI Risks 1:04:25: Wrap up