Tag Archive for: attention

Edge computing security issues attract attention amid AI application development boom


ChatGPT has taken the world by storm, bringing unprecedented AI experiences to numerous consumers. This highlights the continuous development of AI technology and its rapid proliferation in people’s daily lives. Meanwhile, with the vigorous development of technologies such as 5G, IoT, and cloud native computing, the concept of edge computing has also emerged to provide the best online experience for Internet users.

Traditional AI applications involve using the Internet to upload raw data to large cloud servers for analysis. However, with the increasing number of IoT devices, this often leads to issues such as raw data leakage, insufficient network bandwidth, and communication delays. Therefore, when cloud AI is deployed in smart manufacturing, smart transportation, and other scenarios, there may be a significant degradation in service quality as devices may not work together properly, potentially causing traffic accidents, industrial safety hazards, and other problems. For this reason, using edge computing servers to analyze data locally to mitigate such problems is a popular option in the market today. However, with the rapid proliferation of AI services, the issue of potential information security risks has also come to the fore. Hacker groups have begun launching attacks on AI applications such as ChatGPT to steal large amounts of sensitive data. Edge computing security has therefore become a major challenge that needs to be addressed in the development of AI services.

Dr. John K. Zao, the founder and chairman of FiduciaEdge Technologies, pointed out that existing information security solutions can be roughly divided into three categories. The first category includes the use of virtual private networks (VPNs), firewalls, and other mechanisms to protect data in transit. The second category deals with security mechanisms for websites and databases to ensure the security of data in storage. The third category aims to implement appropriate information isolation in the trusted edge computing environments to protect those data in use. Trusted edge computing is becoming increasingly important as more manufacturers are now running AI applications on their sites to…

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Are companies paying enough attention to cybersecurity culture among employees?


The advent of new technologies such as cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things have made today’s IT world a lot different than what it was a decade ago. As the technology has been evolving substantially, so have the cyber criminals, with attacks getting increasingly sophisticated. 

The pandemic’s role in pushing companies of all sizes and sectors toward adopting an always-online mode and cloud and other cyber technologies is accompanied by a whirlwind of scams and fraudulent activity hitting companies in 2020 and 2021 with cybercriminals targeting employees’ access to the organization’s systems. 

In this time of digital disruption and increased cyber threats, many companies are focusing their cybersecurity efforts on the technology component—to the detriment of the human factor. When data is compromised, often it’s tied to negligence or failure in the cybersecurity system within the company or from a third-party working with the company.

First line of defense: Employees 

It is imperative that companies focus on building and sustaining a culture of cybersecurity and cultivate it in the workplace for effective cyber risk management. This would entail moving beyond the typical strategy used in which most businesses simply allocate a certain portion of their IT budgets or revenue to security without considering their actual needs. The approach must include helping employees realize that the risk is real and that their actions can have an impact on increasing or reducing that risk. Companies’ cybersecurity blanket must also include third-parties and others on their IT architecture.

Effective cybersecurity necessitates a persistent effort that covers employee behavior, third-party risks, and numerous other potential vulnerabilities in addition to application security, penetration testing, and incident management.

Enterprises spend millions of dollars on hardware and software but may neglect the simple act of properly training their employees on security practices. Teaching employees to recognize threats, curb poor cyber behavior, and follow basic security habits can provide the best return on…

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Cyber Security Authority calls on business to pay attention to cyber risks


The Cyber Security Authority has called on businesses to pay attention to cyber risks which pose a threat to all businesses.

Speaking on Joy Business Social, Isaac Mensah, an officer at the Cyber Security Authority, noted that cyber security just like any form of security begins with the user or individual, and as such businesses and employees should pay attention to social engineering attacks, aimed at swindling businesses.

“The issue is about awareness, if you want to do an online business, you should know the risks involved. Having the business alone or migrating your business online may be cost-effective, but we need to pay attention to the risks which exist on various platforms we list our businesses.”

He further stated that majority of the attacks on small and medium businesses recorded in Ghana are socially engineered attacks rather than hacking.

He went on to say that such attacks prey on the vulnerability of users by swindling them.

“When you look at the trend of attacks, a lot of these attacks is not hacking, it is socially engineered attacks which prey on your intelligence. It is about your level of operation and what you need to know to arm yourself”.

“Once you know the schemes, you will be able to detect an attack and find solutions to it”, he said.

On his part, Henry Cobblah, Project Lead at Skillmine Africa cautioned users to make an effort to understand the various services operating on the internet before signing up.

According to him, just as every home is not safe, no matter the levels of security put in place for protection so is the internet, therefore the users should be vigilant.

“Whenever you are getting into anything on the internet, make sure you understand the platform or service before jumping on. Read about it, ask about before investing or signing up to anything on the internet. Lack of understanding of platforms makes you more vulnerable to scamming”, he stressed.

“Ensuring cyber safety has become very important especially now that a lot of businesses are migrating online and relying on cloud services for business support. Though a lot of attacks we see here in Ghana are mainly social engineered attacks, it becomes imperative for businesses…

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High School Student’s Speech About Campus Sexual Assault Gets Widespread Attention After School Cuts Her Mic

It’s that time of year when kids are graduating from high school, and the age old tradition of the valedictorian speech is happening all around the country. While exciting for the kids, families and other students, these kinds of speeches are generally pretty quickly forgotten and certainly tend not to make the national news. However, in nearby Petaluma, California, something different is happening, all because a bunch of spineless school administration officials freaked out that the valedictorian, Lulabel Seitz, wanted to discuss sexual assault. During her speech, the school cut her mic when she started talking about that issue (right after talking about how the whole community had worked together and fought through lots of adversity, including the local fires that ravaged the area a few months back). Seitz has since posted the video of both her mic being cut off and then with her being filmed giving the entire speech directly to a camera.

And, of course, now that speech — and the spineless jackasses who cut the mic — are getting national news coverage. The story of her speech and the mic being cut has been on NPR, CBS, ABC, CNN, Time, the NY Post, the Washington Post and many, many more.

In the ABC story, she explains that they told her she wasn’t allowed to “go off script” (even pulling out of a final exam to tell her they heard rumors she was going to go off speech and that she wasn’t allowed to say anything negative about the school) and that’s why the mic was cut, even as the school didn’t know what she was going to say. She also notes — correctly — that it was a pretty scary thing for her to continue to go through with the speech she wanted to give, despite being warned (for what it’s worth, decades ago, when I was in high school, I ended up in two slightly similar situations, with the administration demanding I edit things I was presenting — in one case I caved and in one I didn’t — and to this day I regret caving). Indeed, she deserves incredible kudos for still agreeing to give her speech, and it’s great to see the Streisand Effect make so many more people aware of (1) her speech and (2) what a bunch of awful people the administrators at her school are for shutting her speech down.

As for the various administrators, their defense of this action is ridiculous. They’re quoted in a few places, but let’s take the one from the Washington Post:

“In Lulabel’s case, her approved speech didn’t include any reference to an assault,” [Principal David Stirrat] said. “We certainly would have considered such an addition, provided no individuals were named or defamed.”

As Seitz notes, she never intended to name names, and the school had told her so many times not to talk about these things it was obvious to her that she wouldn’t have been able to give that speech if she had submitted the full version. In the ABC interview she explained that rather than just letting the valedictorian speak as normal, the school had actually told her she had to “apply” to speak.

Dave Rose, an assistant superintendent, told the Press Democrat that he could remember only one other time that administrators had disconnected a microphone during a student’s graduation speech in the past seven years, but said he believed it was legal.

“If the school is providing the forum, then the school has the ability to have some control over the message,” Rose said.

Actually, that’s not how the First Amendment works. Schools can limit some things, but not if it’s based on the content of the message, which appears to be the case here. Of course, I doubt that Seitz is going to go to court over this as it’s not worth it, but thanks to the Streisand Effect, she doesn’t need to. The world has learned about her speech… and about how ridiculous the administrators are in her school district.

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