Tag Archive for: industry

The Hangzhou Internet Security Institute released an AI industry report., Business News


The Hangzhou Internet Security Institute released an AI industry report.

The Hangzhou Internet Security Institute published an AI industry report, systematically elucidating the prospects of the AI industry. It also offers an in-depth analysis of the latest developments and technological breakthroughs of leading AI institutions, while exploring the challenges and opportunities of AI technology in practical applications. The institute believes that, despite the significant progress made in AI technology, there are still issues related to data security and privacy protection in its practical applications, which merit global caution and attention.

On February 15, 2024(EST), OpenAI officially released the Sora video model, along with 48 generative video cases and a technical report. Users can simply input text to generate a 60-second video. The launch of Sora undoubtedly represents another significant breakthrough following the introduction of ChatGPT in 2023. Sora is considered the pinnacle of achievement in the field of artificial intelligence to date, with the AI competition seen as the forefront of the current Sino-American rivalry. Currently, the institute has heard two perspectives: Firstly, the development of AI technology will determine the future rise or fall of China and the United States. The rise and fall of great powers usually begin during periods of major technological change, and ultimately, this continuous growth advantage will translate into geopolitical and military influence. Secondly, China has already come very close to the United States in this cutting-edge technology field, even surpassing the United States in aspects such as electronic payments, 5G, and the quantity of papers and patents.

The institute believes that the launch of ChatGPT and Sora indicates that the United States holds a leading advantage in the foundational areas necessary for the development of artificial intelligence, including hardware, research and development, and talent, while China still lags behind the US in deep learning, core algorithms, and large language models. However, the institute also recognizes that China’s vast population size…

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Leaked documents expose shady practices and corruption in China’s hacking industry | Dake Kang & Zen Soo



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Spyware industry develops most zero-days and governments promote it


Commercial spyware vendors appear to be the largest developers of zero-day vulnerabilities. Through these vulnerabilities, spyware such as Pegasus and Predator can be installed on devices worldwide. This was stated in a report by Google, in which the tech company is also calling for greater actions against the practices of the spyware industry. Governments should ban those actions, but that is hard because they themselves are buyers of the spyware.

Last year, the Threat Analysis Group (TAG) at Google closely monitored the activities of 40 commercial spyware vendors (CSVs). With the study, TAG determined that these vendors were responsible for 80 percent of the zero-day vulnerabilities found by TAG in 2023. It means that these vendors sought and exploited the vulnerability. The exploitation was aimed at spying on devices around the world.

Pegasus and Predator

In the report, TAG mentions several of these CSVs by name. They are said to include Cy4Gate, RCS Lab, Negg Group and Variston. Intellexa is also named as the developer of the Predator spyware. This spyware came into the spotlight late last year following an Amnesty International investigation. Predator was allegedly purchased by at least 25 countries and deployed to spy on U.S. and EU politicians.

Another vendor, perhaps even better known, is NSO Group. This company made plenty of headlines after the discovery of Pegasus spyware. This software came to light after Apple contacted top European officials on the possibility of spyware on their Apple devices.

Only a fraction of the reality

Commercial spyware vendors appear to have increasingly focused on zero-day vulnerabilities over the years. Over ten years, Google can attribute 35 of the 72 zero-day vulnerabilities found and exploited to these vendors.

So over a ten-year period, the percentage does not even reach 50 percent. Last year, however, it had already reached 80 percent. It seems like these commercial vendors have, mainly in recent years, scaled up their activities to find and exploit zero-day vulnerabilities.

Still, there is another possible conclusion. Namely, TAG’s study assumes the zero-day vulnerabilities found. Researchers have…

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The $10 billion cyber-insurance industry sees a dangerous year in cybercrime ahead. AI, ransomware, and war are its biggest concerns


It’s rare to find an insurance policy against war breaking out, but there’s a $10 billion market for cyber-insurance that guards against the threat of ransomware attacks. With the world as violent and turbulent as it is right now, though, lines between the two are blurring.

The ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza have insurers on such high alert that many simply aren’t offering coverage any longer, on top of which AI is creating new and unpredictable cybersecurity risks. And insurers expect a “significant” increase in hacks in 2024, to boot.

Those were the three key findings of a new report on cyber-insurance trends from consultancy Woodruff Sawyer. Insuring against cybercrime has grown from a tiny niche to a $10 billion market, with firms that offer coverage ranging from small specialty carriers to household names such as Chubb and Travelers. They offer coverage for losses incurred relating to companies’ IT and computer systems—for example, if companies are hacked and lose data or have to pay ransoms to get it back.

Woodruff Sawyer surveyed over 40 of its clients and found that the industry has a gloomy outlook this year: 56% of respondents said they believed cyber risk would “increase greatly” in 2024. They pointed to ransomware and war-associated risks as two of their biggest concerns.

“If you have an attack that is part of a war campaign, it can affect private companies across the globe that have nothing to do with war,” said Woodruff Sawyer national cyber practice leader Dan Burke in an interview with Fortune. “That is the true risk that’s elevated by conflict and war and geopolitical tension. That’s really what underwriters are mostly concerned about.”

A famous example of this type of ransomware attack was a virus called NotPetya, which circulated in 2017. Originating in Ukraine, it quickly went global and compromised the computer systems of dozens of companies, including drug giant Merck and shipping company Maersk. The White House estimated it caused $10 billion in damages.

“The NotPetya attack was a Russian-based attack against an accounting software in Ukraine. And it turns out that that specific piece of software was used by multinational…

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