ICT news

• Gemini AI Platform Accused of Scanning Google Drive Files Without User Permission

  15-07-2024 23:30 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Last week, Senior Advisor on AI Governance at the Center for Democracy & Technology, Kevin Bankston, took to X to report that Google's Gemini AI was caught summarizing his private tax return on Google Drive without his permission. "Despite attempts to disable the feature, Bankston found that Gemini's continued to operate in Google Drive, raising questions about Google's handling of user data and privacy settings," writes TechRadar's Craig Hale. From the report: After failing to find the righ
  
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• Federal Court Blocks Net Neutrality Rules

  15-07-2024 22:50 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: A federal appeals court has agreed to halt the reinstatement of net neutrality rules until August 5th, while the court considers whether more permanent action is justified. It's the latest setback in a long back and forth on net neutrality -- the principle that internet service providers (ISPs) should not be able to block or throttle internet traffic in a discriminatory manner. The Federal Communications Commission has sought to achieve this by
  
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• Russian Boat Implicated in Norway Cable Sabotage Mystery

  15-07-2024 22:10 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  In a perplexing turn of events that has raised concerns about the vulnerability of critical undersea infrastructure, Norway's Institute of Marine Research is reconfiguring its sophisticated underwater observatory after a mysterious incident left a section of its seafloor cable cleanly severed. The Lofoten-Vesteralen Ocean Observatory (LoVe), an advanced array of sensors designed to monitor marine life and environmental conditions off Norway's rugged coastline, unexpectedly went silent in April 2
  
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• Weak Security Defaults Enabled Squarespace Domains Hijacks

  15-07-2024 21:30 via it.slashdot.org
  
  At least a dozen organizations with domain names at domain registrar Squarespace saw their websites hijacked last week. Krebs on Security: Squarespace bought all assets of Google Domains a year ago, but many customers still haven't set up their new accounts. Experts say malicious hackers learned they could commandeer any migrated Squarespace accounts that hadn't yet been registered, merely by supplying an email address tied to an existing domain. The Squarespace domain hijacks, which took place
  
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• Kaspersky Lab Closing US Division, Laying Off Workers After Ban

  15-07-2024 20:50 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Russian cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky Lab, has told workers in its U.S.-based division that they are being laid off this week and that it is closing its U.S. business, Zero Day reported Monday, citing sources. From a report: The sudden move comes after the U.S. Commerce Department announced last month that it was banning the sale of Kaspersky software in the U.S. beginning July 20. The company has been selling its software here since 2005. Kaspersky confirmed the news to Zero Day, saying that be
  
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• Microsoft CTO Says AI Progress Not Slowing Down, It's Just Warming Up

  15-07-2024 20:18 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: During an interview with Sequoia Capital's Training Data podcast published last Tuesday, Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott doubled down on his belief that so-called large language model (LLM) "scaling laws" will continue to drive AI progress, despite some skepticism in the field that progress has leveled out. Scott played a key role in forging a $13 billion technology-sharing deal between Microsoft and OpenAI. "Despite what other people think, we're not at diminishin
  
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• How Bad Amazon Review Destroyed a Mom-and-Pop Business

  15-07-2024 19:38 via slashdot.org
  
  A small business selling washable swim diapers on Amazon is facing financial difficulties following a one-star review claiming they received a used, stained product. Paul and Rachelle Baron, owners of Beau & Belle Littles, say their once-thriving business has been severely impacted by the review, which remains on the site despite their appeals.
  The incident, described in detail in a Bloomberg story, highlights ongoing concerns about Amazon's handling of returned items. While the company clai
  
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• FBI is Working To Break Into the Phone of the Trump Rally Shooter

  15-07-2024 18:45 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Investigators are working to break into the phone of the man who shot at former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday. The Verge: The FBI said in a statement that it had obtained the shooter's phone "for examination." Officials told reporters in a conference call on Sunday, as reported by The New York Times, that agents in Pennsylvania were unable to break into the phone. It's been shipped to the FBI's lab in Quantico, Virginia, where the FBI hopes to get past the phone's pa
  
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• Facebook Ads For Windows Desktop Themes Push Info-Stealing Malware

  15-07-2024 18:06 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Cybercriminals are using Facebook business pages and advertisements to promote fake Windows themes that infect unsuspecting users with the SYS01 password-stealing malware. From a report: Trustwave researchers who observed the campaigns said the threat actors also promote fake downloads for pirated games and software, Sora AI, 3D image creator, and One Click Active. While using Facebook advertisements to push information-stealing malware is not new, the social media platform's massive reach makes
  
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• AT&T, Verizon Tangle Over 5G Service for Emergency Responders

  15-07-2024 17:31 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Two of the nation's major telecommunications companies are feuding over a plan to boost service for police, firefighters and other state and local agencies -- a move Verizon says would amount to a $14 billion gift to rival. From a report: AT&T and its allies are asking regulators to provide more wireless frequencies to FirstNet, a cellular network launched in 2017 to connect emergency responders and other public-sector groups. The Dallas-based telecom giant holds an exclusive 25-year contrac
  
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• Google Near $23 Billion Deal for Cybersecurity Startup Wiz

  15-07-2024 16:49 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Alphabet, Google's parent company, is reportedly in advanced negotiations to acquire cloud security startup Wiz for approximately $23 billion, Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. The potential deal, which would value Wiz at nearly double its most recent private valuation of $12 billion, underscores the growing importance of cybersecurity in Alphabet's enterprise strategy as it seeks to narrow the gap with cloud computing rivals such as Microsoft, Morgan Stanley said in a note.
  Founded in Jan
  
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• AI Stocks Balloon Even As Earnings Lag, Jefferies Warns

  15-07-2024 15:21 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: A basket of 27 large-cap AI stocks created by wealth manager and brokerage house Jefferies has surged 127% in value since ChatGPT's launch in late 2022, adding about $10 trillion in market cap. However, 2025 earnings forecasts for these companies have increased only 25% over the same period, Jefferies warned in a note to clients.
  This disconnect has pushed the incremental price-to-earnings ratio for AI stocks to 73 times, suggesting investors are pricing in e
  
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• 'Eno' Documentary: Different at Every Screening, to Explore Randomness and 'Generative' Film-making

  15-07-2024 13:34 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  From The New York Times:
  The key to "Eno" comes near the beginning of the film — at least, the beginning of the first version I saw. The musician Brian Eno, the documentary's subject, notes that the fun of the kind of art he makes is that it's a two-way street. "The audience's brain does the cooking and keeps seeing relationships," he says.
  Most movies are made up of juxtapositions of scenes, carefully selected and designed by the editor. But "Eno," directed by Gary Hustwit, turns that con
  
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• Scientists Discover How Pancreatic Cancer Switches Off a 'Tumor Suppressor' Gene

  15-07-2024 09:34 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shared this report from the Guardian:A team of researchers from the UK and US have found that pancreatic cancer is able to shut down molecules in one of the body's most important genes, helping the disease to grow and spread rapidly... Dr Maria Hatziapostolou, of Nottingham Trent University's John van Geest Cancer Research Centre, said: "This work, which has provided new understanding and knowledge of how the cancer behaves, will hopefully help pave the way for potential new
  
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• Virgin Galactic Flies 3D Printer Into Space. Its Next Mission: Bioprinting on the ISS

  15-07-2024 06:46 via science.slashdot.org
  
  "In a significant advancement for space technology, a team of UC Berkeley researchers, led by doctoral student Taylor Waddell, successfully launched a 3D printer into space," reports the university's student newspaper:As part of the Virgin Galactic 07 mission, the team sent a 3D printer named SpaceCAL to space to explore the potential of Computed Axial Lithography, or CAL, and additive manufacturing in space... During its 140-second flight in suborbital space, the SpaceCAL printer autonomously d
  
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• Linux Kernel 6.10 Released

  15-07-2024 03:44 via linux.slashdot.org
  
  "The latest version of the Linux kernel adds an array of improvements," writes the blog OMG Ubuntu, " including a new memory sealing system call, a speed boost for AES-XTS encryption on Intel and AMD CPUs, and expanding Rust language support within the kernel to RISC-V."
  Plus, like in all kernel releases, there's a glut of groundwork to offer "initial support" for upcoming CPUs, GPUs, NPUs, Wi-Fi, and other hardware (that most of us don't use yet, but require Linux support to be in place for whe
  
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• How Will AI Transform the Future of Work?

  15-07-2024 02:20 via it.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shared this report from the Guardian:In March, after analysing 22,000 tasks in the UK economy, covering every type of job, a model created by the Institute for Public Policy Research predicted that 59% of tasks currently done by humans — particularly women and young people — could be affected by AI in the next three to five years. In the worst-case scenario, this would trigger a "jobs apocalypse" where eight million people lose their jobs in the UK alone.... Darre
  
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• The World's Population Is Projected To Peak At 10.3 Billion In the 2080s

  15-07-2024 00:53 via slashdot.org
  
  Long-time Slashdot reader Geoffrey.landis writes: According to a new report from the United Nations, the world population is expected to grow to an estimated peak of 10.3 billion people in the mid-2080s, an increase over the current global population of 8.2 billion people.The estimated world population at the end of the century (2100) is now expected to be 6% less than estimates from a decade ago.
  However, calculating the number of future people is not a perfect science, with "many sources of un
  
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