Tag Archive for: Craft

New Carolina center to craft public policy for a better internet

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How can internet users speak freely online while also being protected from harmful content? How can real security threats from foreign technology products be addressed without depriving people of apps they use daily? How can technology better protect minors, while still giving them access to innovative, private online experiences? These are the questions that now dominate conversations surrounding technology.

A new center at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill aims to answer them.

The Center on Technology Policy, housed in the UNC School of Information and Library Science, launched on April 21 and aims to offer public policy solutions that can inform lawmakers in developing tech policy. As a result, emerging technologies can be regulated to minimize user risks and maximize benefits.

“Our goal is for the Center on Technology Policy to offer an affirmative vision for public policy that will improve our tech products and online content,” Matt Perault, CTP’s director and professor of the practice at SILS, said. To achieve this, CTP plans to release policy briefs, podcasts, research papers and other materials to guide tech policy development and provide resources to the public on informed internet technology use.

One such resource has already been published. Perault and J. Scott Babwah Brennen, who serves as head of online expression at CTP, co-authored a guide for state lawmakers on how they can regulate online content. The guide was released in tandem with the center’s launch.

“The guide offers state lawmakers practical and legal options for better regulating online content,” Babwah Brennan said. “As a result, states have an opportunity to address the root causes of hate speech, harassment, misinformation, illegal content and problematic content moderation while strengthening the institutions and infrastructures required to build healthy communication systems.”

Developing the future of tech policy professionals

Using a practitioner-oriented approach to technology policy, CTP hopes to connect Carolina students with educational and professional opportunities in the field. The end goal? To develop the next generation of technology policy professionals, developers,…

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Researchers craft network attack to “hack” surgical robot (sort of)

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As part of a series of experiments, a group of researchers at the University of Washington’s BioRobotics Lab launched denial-of-service attacks against a remotely operated surgical robot, causing it to become difficult to control. The goal was to help design systems that could correct for such attacks and filter them out by identifying legitimate commands from the operator.

The robot used in the test was an experimental system, however, and it used a different networking approach from existing FDA-approved surgical robots. The researchers admitted that mounting such an attack on current surgical robots would be much more difficult. Rather than finding security flaws in existing robots, the researchers focused on finding ways to secure future “telerobots” that might use public network infrastructure not just for surgery but for other life-saving tasks such as fire fighting, explosive ordnance disposal, and searching collapsed buildings after earthquakes.

Today, the vast majority of robotic surgeries are carried out over hardwired, dedicated local networks in hospitals. But there have been a number of cases where physicians have remotely performed surgery via robot—most notably during the war in Iraq. New surgical robots could potentially be applied to assist people with life-threatening conditions in the wake of disasters since they reduce the complications that could be caused by transporting patients to distant hospitals.

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Ars Technica » Technology Lab

Craft store Michaels faces second credit card compromise in 3 years

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The largest craft supply store in North America, Michaels, has indicated it may be the latest retail company to have credit cards compromised in a large scale malware attack.
Naked Security – Sophos