Tag Archive for: Voices

Synthetic voices, ChatGPT reflections, and social skirmishes • Graham Cluley

/in


Smashing Security podcast #309: Synthetic voices, ChatGPT reflections, and social skirmishes

AI-generated voices are weaponised by online trolls, how ChatGPT reflects who we are as a society, and social media is in the firing line again.

All this and much much more is discussed in the latest edition of the “Smashing Security” podcast by computer security veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault, joined this week by The Cyberwire’s Dave Bittner.

Hosts:

Graham Cluley – @gcluley
Carole Theriault – @caroletheriault

Guest:

Dave Bittner – @[email protected]

Episode links:

Sponsored by:

  • Bitwarden – Bitwarden vaults are end-to-end encrypted with zero-knowledge encryption, including, the URLs for the websites you have accounts for. Migrate to Bitwarden for a more secure password manager.
  • DigiCert – DigiCert’s Trust Lifecycle Manager sets a new bar for unified management of digital trust.
  • SecurEnvoy – With growing cyber security threats everyone in your organisation needs multi-factor authentication tailored to their specific access needs and the risk profile of their role. Check out SecurEnvoy’s free guide now.

Support the show:

You can help the podcast by telling your friends and colleagues about “Smashing Security”, and leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser.

Become a supporter via Patreon or Apple Podcasts for ad-free episodes and our early-release feed!

Follow us:

Follow the show on Twitter at @SmashinSecurity, or on Mastodon, on the Smashing Security subreddit, or visit our website for more episodes.

Thanks:

Theme tune: “Vinyl Memories” by Mikael Manvelyan.
Assorted sound effects: AudioBlocks.

Found this article interesting? Follow Graham Cluley on Twitter or Mastodon to read more of the exclusive content we post.

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon’s Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy.
Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.

Source…

‘Hacking should be used to wake up and rebel,’ says hacker group Guacamaya · Global Voices

/in


Illustration by Global Voices featuring two guacamaya birds

In an interview with Global Voices, Guacamaya, the group that hacked the computers of several Latin American governments explains their motivations and the impact they expect after their massive leaks.

The hacktivist group says their role is not defending nature, but rather they are nature. According to them, their rebellion comes from years of repression against the living beings that inhabit Abya Yala, or the American continent. This led to entering the digital world, where they fight to promote collaborative models online and denounce territorial exploitation.

This concern ought to be shared by any government in Latin America, given the critical global environmental situation. According to a report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), published in July of this year, the situation of vital systems such as glaciers, the Amazon rainforest, and coral reefs is acute and practically irreversible in the region. According to the document, deforestation reached its highest point since 2009 and the warming temperatures are increasing. On the other hand, the threats against environmental activists are increasingly intense. According to Global Witness, 227 land defenders and environmentalists were murdered worldwide in 2020, the vast majority in Latin America.

Guacamaya revealed a massive hack in September 2022 in which they extracted almost 10 terabytes of information with millions of emails. The documents reveal Latin American government projects that are damaging the environment. Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Venezuela, Brazil, and Ecuador are some of the targets of the group, which not only leaked the information, but also published a video explaining how they did it.

Screen capture of the video in which they explain how they hack

The group emphasized the selection process of the organizations from which they would extract information. Guacamaya told us:

On the one hand, we chose the worst companies and state entities, the ones that are committing most abuses and where there is the most resistance from local communities. On the other hand, as in the case of what we just leaked, we scanned the entire internet…

Source…

Beijing’s two voices in telecommunications

/in


External Chinese government and commercial messaging on information technology (IT) speaks in one voice. Domestically, one hears a different, second voice. The former stresses free markets, openness, collaboration, and interdependence, themes that suggest Huawei and other Chinese companies ought to be treated like other global private sector actors and welcomed into foreign networks. Meanwhile, domestic Chinese government, commercial, and academic discourse emphasizes the limits of free markets and the dangers of reliance on foreign technologies — and, accordingly, the need for industrial policy and government control to protect technologies, companies, and networks. Domestic Chinese discourse also indicates that commercial communication networks, including telecommunications systems, might be used to project power and influence offensively; that international technical standards offer a means with which to cement such power and influence; and — above all — that IT architectures are a domain of zero-sum competition.

That external Chinese government and corporate messaging might be disingenuous is by no means a novel conclusion. However, the core differences between that messaging and Chinese internal discussion on IT remain largely undocumented — despite China’s increasing development of and influence over international IT infrastructures, technologies, and norms. This report seeks to fill that gap, documenting the tension between external and internal Chinese discussions on telecommunications, as well as IT more broadly. The report also parses internal discourse for insight into Beijing’s intent, ambitions, and strategy. This report should raise questions about China’s government and commercial messaging, as well as what that messaging may obscure.

This report is motivated by China’s growing influence in telecommunications and the growing controversy accompanying that influence. However, China’s telecommunications resources, ambitions, and strategic framing are intertwined with those around IT more broadly. For that reason, this report reviews Chinese government, commercial, and academic discussion of both IT generally and telecommunications…

Source…

EU’s Borrell voices solidarity with US in SolarWinds hack

/in


BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’ foreign policy chief expressed “solidarity” with the U.S. Thursday in the wake of the so-called SolarWinds hack, a breach of federal government agencies and American corporations that’s blamed on Russian hackers.

At least nine federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, were hacked, along with dozens of private-sector companies. The months-long cyberespionage operation was carried out largely through a hack of widely used software from Texas-based SolarWinds Inc.

EU top diplomat Josep Borrell said in a statement that the “compromise affected governments and businesses worldwide, including in EU Member States.”

“We share the concerns of our partners about the increasing number of malicious cyber activities,” Borrell said.

He expressed particular alarm at the recent increase in activities affecting information and communication technology products and services, “which might have systemic effects and cause significant harm to our society, security and economy.”

The Biden administration is expected to soon announce a response to the SolarWinds hack, and has also been occupied by an intrusion affecting Microsoft Exchange email software. The company has said that was carried out by Chinese state hackers.


“All actors must refrain from irresponsible and destabilizing behavior in cyberspace,” Borrell said, adding that the EU would work closely with international partners to deter and respond to malicious cyber activities.

Source…