Tag Archive for: Objects

SAF’s Digital and Intelligence Service to be set up after Parliament passes amendments to SAF Act and Constitution; WP objects to changes to Constitution

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While the SAF has built up capabilities in Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) in its three existing services – Army, Navy, and Air Force – Dr Ng said the C4I community’s role has been largely that of a “supporting agency”, akin to combat support, logistics and maintenance.

With growing use of disinformation in warfare and cyber threats, Dr Ng said the SAF needs a dedicated service to raise, train and sustain cyber troops and capabilities to defend Singapore’s digital borders.

“We are thankful that hitherto, our intelligence agencies have not detected any campaign against Singapore of that nature in the digital domain,” said Dr Ng.

“But we should not wait for one and it would be prudent to start and build up the fourth service. That alone would serve as a deterrent.”

He added that the DIS will ensure that Singapore is defended against the full spectrum of threats against potential aggressors.

“The digital environment is more porous than the physical one, but the DIS will be responsible to guard against these aggressors in that domain,” he said.

For the SAF, the DIS will protect its networks and systems and strengthen soldiers’ commitment and resilience in operations. It will also continue to provide accurate, relevant and timely intelligence to support SAF operations, and capitalise on cutting-edge digital technologies to advance the SAF’s digitalisation as a networked force.

As for threats to Singapore’s internal environment, it will work closely with the Home Team, Cyber Security Agency (CSA) and other national agencies to leverage on their strengths in Singapore’s digital defence.

This is similar to the SAF’s support to the whole- of-government for counter-terrorism, said Dr Ng.

SAFEGUARDS AGAINST ABUSE

During the debate on the SAF Bill, several Members of Parliament (MPs) raised concerns such as whether safeguards are in place to protect against abuse of powers and information leaks that could compromise national security.

In particular, MP Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (PAP-Chua Chu Kang) and MP Dennis Tan (WP-Hougang) asked if foreigners could be part of the DIS.

Responding to their questions, Dr Ng said:…

Source…

Welcome To A World Of 500-Megapixel Cameras, And Surveillance Systems Able To Zoom In On Small Objects A Kilometer Away

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Here on Techdirt, we love digital technology. We love how Moore’s Law and its equivalents help drive continual innovation and open up interesting new uses and possibilities. But powerful technology is just a tool, and like any other tool it can be used in good and bad ways. Which brings us to this latest piece of high-tech wizardry: a 500-megapixel cloud-based camera system with built-in AI, developed in China. The English-language Global Times, which is closely aligned with the views of the Chinese government, explains one possible use of such a system:

For example, in a stadium with tens of thousands of people, the camera can shoot a panoramic photo with a clear image of every single human face, the report said.

When integrated with AI, facial recognition, real-time monitoring and cloud computing technology, the camera can detect and identify human faces or other objects based on massive data and instantly find specific targets, according to the report.

The article notes that the camera’s impressive capabilities could be applied to “national defense, military and public security”. Well, yes, now you come to mention it, they probably could. But it would be wrong to think that only China is active in this field. The Japanese company Fujifilm is also working on surveillance systems with extreme specifications:

The SX800, the first to be launched in this initiative, is a long-range surveillance camera with 40x optical zoom to cover the focal length range from 20mm to 800mm. When combined with the digital zoom of up to 1.25x, the camera can reach the focal length equivalent to 1000mm in long-range surveillance. This means it can capture the vehicle registration plate on a car at about 1km away. Fujifilm’s proprietary image stabilization mechanism accurately controls camera shake without any time lag.

It’s easy to imagine how 500-megapixel cameras, or surveillance systems that can zoom in on details a kilometer away, might be abused by governments or companies to carry out new levels of covert surveillance. Moreover, there’s no sign yet of any slowdown in the constantly increasing power of digital technology. It’s only a matter of time before there are 5-gigapixel cameras, or surveillance systems that can zoom in on details ten kilometers away.

As well as producing more powerful systems at the top end of the market, Moore’s Law and its equivalents mean that yesterday’s leading-edge technology often becomes something found routinely on tomorrow’s smartphones. Here’s further evidence of that trend:

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today introduced 108 megapixel (Mp) Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX, the first mobile image sensor in the industry to go beyond 100 million pixels.

The 108-megapixel component was jointly developed with the Chinese company Xiaomi, which said: “We are very pleased that picture resolutions previously available only in a few top-tier DSLR cameras can now be designed into smartphones.” Smartphones with 100-megapixel cameras is an exciting prospect, but also one that is bound to bring with it new problems, as Techdirt will doubtless be reporting in due course.

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Remotely hosted objects used to spread Formbook malware

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  1. Remotely hosted objects used to spread Formbook malware  SC Magazine

  2. New Distribution Method Makes FormBook Malware More Insidious  http://totalsecuritydailyadvisor.blr.com/ (press release) (blog)

    3. Full coverage

malware news – read more

That time a bot invaded Thingiverse and created weird new 3D objects

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12 more images in gallery

Shiv Integer is a bot whose entire purpose in life is to create bizarre objects for 3D printers. It has been living for several months on 3D printer project site Thingiverse, posting objects cobbled together out of dozens of other objects listed on the site. The results are art or spam, depending on your perspective. Last month, artists Matthew Plummer-Fernandez and Julien Deswaef finally came out as the humans behind Shiv Integer, showcasing the results of the bot’s work at an event called (appropriately) The Art of Bots in London’s Somerset House.

Taken on its own terms, Shiv Integer’s work is fanciful and amusing. Each piece looks like a mutant gadget, possibly unprintable, often with one recognizable item merging into another one. The best part is that even the names of the objects are a random salad of words taken from other objects on Thingiverse, creating inadvertent absurdist poetry like “quick cat near a jaw,” “disc on top of an e-juice golf,” “automatic event adapter,” and “customizable damage mask.” The bot is known to post several times per day, and in the “about” section of the entry it always credits users whose objects it has repurposed (the bot only works with objects that have been CC licensed for remixing).

Artists Plummer-Fernandez and Julien Deswaef explain the idea behind their project:

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Technology Lab – Ars Technica