Tag Archive for: launch

US, partners target North Korea with sanctions following satellite launch

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WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) -The United States on Thursday targeted North Korea with fresh sanctions after its launch of a spy satellite last week, designating foreign-based agents it accused of facilitating sanctions evasion to gather revenue and technology for its weapons of mass destruction program.

The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it also applied sanctions to cyber espionage group Kimsuky, accusing it of gathering intelligence to support North Korea’s strategic and nuclear ambitions.

Thursday’s action, taken in coordination with Australia, Japan and Korea, comes after North Korea last week successfully launched its first reconnaissance satellite, which it has said was designed to monitor U.S. and South Korean military movements.

“Today’s actions by the United States, Australia, Japan, and the Republic of Korea reflect our collective commitment to contesting Pyongyang’s illicit and destabilizing activities,” Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in the statement.

“We will remain focused on targeting these key nodes in the DPRK’s illicit revenue generation and weapons proliferation,” Nelson added, calling North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Friday that it had blacklisted 11 North Koreans for involvement in the country’s satellite and ballistic missile development, banning them from any financial transactions.

The list includes senior officials from the National Aerospace Technology Administration, which oversaw the satellite launch, and the munitions industry department.

North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday’s sanctions.

Since the launch of the satellite, North Korea said that its leader, Kim Jong Un, has reviewed spy satellite photos of the White House, Pentagon and U.S. aircraft carriers at the naval base of Norfolk. Its state media has also reported that the satellite photographed cities and military bases in South Korea, Guam, and Italy, in addition to Washington.

On Monday, the United Nations ambassadors of the United States and North Korea…

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Life360 enhances family safety app with launch of new features and membership benefits in the UK

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The app trusted by one in ten UK families adds emergency dispatch, breakdown assistance, identity theft protection and more, to help keep families safe

LONDON, Oct. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Life360, the leading family locator app and safety membership, has today announced the rollout of new safety features and enhancements available for UK members. Building upon the Life360 experience that over 3.7 million UK members already depend on, the latest updates extend Life360’s comprehensive range of existing safety features to deliver complete peace of mind and exceptional value to families at home and on the move. This expanded safety offering is made possible through a triple-tier Membership offering – Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

Keep loved ones safe on every journey
Ensuring the safety of your loved ones on every journey has never been easier with Life360’s free Crash Detection feature, which can detect collisions over 25mph, promptly notify the driver or passenger involved, and alert their Circle members if there’s no response. Now, Crash Detection has the option to include Emergency Dispatch with Gold and Platinum membership. In the unfortunate event of an accident, Life360 will contact emergency responders, sharing precise location coordinates and staying on the line until help arrives.

Additionally, Emergency Dispatch is now available alongside Life360’s SOS feature. With a simple tap of the “SOS” button, users can send a silent alert to their Circle members, along with their location. Now, in addition to alerting users’ Circle members and emergency contacts, Life360’s dedicated third-party emergency dispatchers will also call the member, assess the situation, and liaise with the appropriate authorities, whether it’s the police or ambulance service, to ensure timely assistance if needed.

In 2022 alone, in the US and Canada, Life360 received over 2 million help alerts from its members and dispatched over 34,000 ambulances to help those in need.

“Life360 plays a very important role in our lives. With a family of avid motorbike…

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Samsung Partners with the White House to Launch a Cybersecurity Labeling Program to Protect American Consumers

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On July 18, 2023, the White House auditorium served as the backdrop for a significant milestone in the convergence of the tech sector and government. Located in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, steps away from the West Wing, it hosted the U.S. government’s announcement of the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark program, an initiative aiming to guide consumers toward cybersecurity-conscious purchasing decisions.

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The U.S. Cyber Trust Mark is an initiative propelled into reality by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel of the Federal Communications Commission, with robust support from both the White House and the National Security Council. Its aim is to introduce a labeling system for consumer electronics and appliances, providing a valuable key to understanding the cybersecurity strengths and weaknesses of products people bring into their homes. This move will empower consumers, enabling them to make well-informed decisions about the technological devices they choose to incorporate into their daily lives.

As a global tech giant, and a longtime proponent of cybersecurity, has been a longstanding supporter of such measures. Ever since the company launched its security guidelines as part of the “Works with SmartThings” program in 2018 – a precursor to existing global Internet of Things (IoT) standards – it has championed voluntary cyber-labeling programs.


SmartThings

At a roundtable discussion held as part of the event, Samsung was represented by Jaeyeon Jung, Executive Vice President and Head of SmartThings. She relayed the company’s commitment to the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark initiative, underscoring it as a high-priority undertaking for Samsung. This commitment extends to Samsung’s own range of connected products as well as to the open multi-brand IoT ecosystem facilitated by the SmartThings platform.

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Jung emphasized that SmartThings is not only a secure platform but also one that is open and interoperable. She noted that all devices integrated into this platform must pass rigorous functional testing to ensure seamless interoperability. In addition, they must undergo extensive security testing to guarantee

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Hacker demonstrates security flaws in GPT-4 just one day after launch

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OpenAI’s powerful new language model, GPT-4, was barely out of the gates when a student uncovered vulnerabilities that could be exploited for malicious ends. The discovery is a stark reminder of the security risks that accompany increasingly capable AI systems.

Last week, OpenAI released GPT-4, a “multimodal” system that reaches human-level performance on language tasks. But within days, Alex Albert, a University of Washington computer science student, found a way to override its safety mechanisms. In a demonstration posted to Twitter, Albert showed how a user could prompt GPT-4 to generate instructions for hacking a computer, by exploiting vulnerabilities in the way it interprets and responds to text.

While Albert says he won’t promote using GPT-4 for harmful purposes, his work highlights the threat of advanced AI models in the wrong hands. As companies rapidly release ever more capable systems, can we ensure they are rigorously secured? What are the implications of AI models that can generate human-sounding text on demand?

VentureBeat spoke with Albert through Twitter direct messages to understand his motivations, assess the risks of large language models, and explore how to foster a broad discussion about the promise and perils of advanced AI. (Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

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VentureBeat: What got you into jailbreaking and why are you actively breaking ChatGPT?

Alex Albert: I got into jailbreaking because it’s a fun thing to do and it’s interesting to test these models in unique and novel ways. I am actively jailbreaking for three main reasons which I outlined in the first section of my newsletter. In…

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