Cybersafety Sentinel September 2023 Week 1

Claudiu’s Top Post

On one hand, it’s getting worse. On the other hand, it’s getting better. Let me explain: The reason I say that it could be getting better is that for the past two decades, Canadian companies have either ignored breaches or failed to detect them. Now it’s a new age, we’re able to detect breaches. Of course, cyber criminals are no longer accepting being ignored, so they usually tell the victims, look, unless you pay, we’re going to go public with this information.

1,000+ AI Spam Bots Scamming Users

People keep finding new uses for ChatGPT. One of the latest is flooding social media with spam bots and AI-generated content that could further degrade the quality of information on the internet. A new study shared last month by researchers at Indiana University’s Observatory on Social Media details how malicious actors are taking advantage of OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT, which became the fastest-growing consumer AI application ever this February. Read More

British Officials Warn of Cybersecurity Risks in AI Chatbots

British officials are warning organizations about integrating artificial intelligence-driven chatbots into their businesses, saying that research has increasingly shown that they can be tricked into performing harmful tasks. In a pair of blog posts published Wednesday, Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said that experts had not yet got to grips with the potential security problems tied to algorithms that can generate human-sounding interactions – dubbed large language models, or LLMs. Read More

Meta News Block Impact

Though Meta’s block of news availability on the social media giant’s platforms is already taking its toll on web traffic to news sites, local media outlets aren’t united on a path forward. Just over two weeks ago, Meta — which owns Facebook and Instagram — began ending the availability of news on those sites in Canada in response to the passage of Bill C-18, the Online News Act, which takes effect by the end of this year. Read More

Telescope Shutdowns Amid Mysterious Cyber Incident

National Science Foundation (NSF) telescopes are being targeted by mysterious cyber attacks, as per a new report by Science.org. Since the beginning of August, a major “cyber incident” has disrupted the NSF centre which coordinates international astronomy efforts. The attacks have knocked out telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, further halting operations, and preventing the scientists from conducting research, the report said. Read More

University of Michigan’s Internet Down After Cybersecurity Incident

The University of Michigan has been without full internet access for two days after staff shut the school’s connections down in response to a “significant [cyber]security concern” on the eve of the new school year. The internet shutdown affected campus IT systems used for research and fundraising, and could delay financial aid reimbursements, the university said Monday. Read More