Will Self-Aware Computers Keep Humans as Pets?

“Never trust a computer you can’t throw out a window.” – Steve Wozniak, co-creator of the Apple computer

I just started reading a book from 1999, written by Ray Kurweil called The Age of Spiritual Machines.  This book explores the consequences of our technological changes as they relate to AI or Artificial Intelligence, sometimes called “the Singularity,” and the future of the human race in the age of self-aware machines.  We have all see the “Terminator” movie series, with its ...

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30
MAR
0

artificial intellegence, Computers and Internet

Sunday Funnies: The Rules – Roadrunner Version

roadrunner-primaryThanks to Joe Soucheray and his radio show’ “Garage Logic” I learned that animator Chuck Jones of Looney Tunes fame had rules for this staff to follow when creating the story arc for a Road Runner cartoon.  Back in the day, when there were only 3 broadcast networks, a public broadcast network, and maybe an independent local channel, (that’s right ...

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29
MAR
0

Sunday Funnies

Personal Information: What is the Worst to Lose?

anthem-250I was reading an article on Sophos about the Anthem Healthcare breach, and putting this information together with some other articles I have read recently, and this question came to mind: what personal information is the worst to lose?  In the Anthem breach, people lost information that included their “names, dates of birth, member ID/social security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, ...

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27
MAR
0

cybersecurity, Identity Theft, passwords

Hackers Impersonate IT Staff To Gain Network Access

We have alerted our readers to many of the approach vectors that are used by cyber-criminals to gain network access, tactics such as phishing and spearphishing, drive-by downloads from compromised websites, installing remote access Trojan horse software, and the like.  Sometimes the easiest way to get the network credentials you need is simply to ask for them.  One of the methods that have been increasing is impersonating IT staff, either by email, or directly via a phone call.   We ...

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25
MAR
0

General

1.2 Billion User Names and Passwords For Sale

Is it time to change your password?  Now that security researcher Alex Holden, of Hold Security in Milwaukee has uncovered a huge trove of stolen user credentials on the Dark Net, you might as well assume that yours are in this mammoth collection.

Alex Holden was born in the Ukraine, and his current surname is not the one he was given at birth.  But he discovered that Russian cyber-criminals had gathered 542 million email addresses and 1.2 billion unique email and ...

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23
MAR
0

cybersecurity, passwords, Spyware

Removing Junk Programs From Your Computer

Bloatware, crapware, trialware, PUPs Potentially Unwanted Programs)  This stuff fills up our hard drive and usually has a component that starts automatically when we reboot our computer.  With all this unnecessary stuff running in the background, your computer runs slower. And a lot of this stuff pushes advertising, either as pop-up, search redirects, or on the web pages we are viewing.  Where does all this stuff come from?

If you bought your computer at retail, much of this stuff comes preinstalled. ...

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20
MAR
0

Computers and Internet, crapware, Spyware

Post-Snowden Paranoia Causes Changes in Communication

“Just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they are not out to get you.”

Since Edward Snowden’s revelations about the domestic surveillance activities of the NSA and other US and foreign government agencies, it turns out that many people have changed their online and telephone communication behavior.  accord to a recent post on Sophos:

“Out of those surveyed who are at least somewhat aware of the NSA’s surveillance programs (30% of adults), 34% have taken at least one step to ...

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18
MAR
0

cybersecurity, News and politics, NSA, surveillance

Protecting Yourself (And Elderly Family Members) From Fraud

We generally delve pretty exclusively in cybersecurity issues here, but I received an email from Marie Villeza of Elder Impact and thought the information was worth posting. Members of my own family have fallen for some of these scams, one lost $16,000 to scammers claiming to be the police, who accepted this payment in lieu of charging a “grandchild” with a crime.  Below is the body of Marie’s email.

From: Marie Villeza <information@elderimpact.org>

Subject: Resource Guides to Help Catch Scammers Before ...

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12
MAR
0

General

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