Teach a Man to Phish
In the early days of the internet, tech industry folks were justifiably excited about the possibilities presented by the internet. What we weren’t really thinking about was the fact that the bad guys would have the same access to the tools as the good guys do. We’re not nearly as naive this time around, but we’re still creating massively powerful AI tools that will give the nefarious a new set of weapons to deploy, more quickly, more cheaply, and more maliciously. I’m not sure that AI is really going to destroy a large percentage of humanity, but the age of empowered hackers has already arrived. Tech has released the tools that most endanger the future of tech. But in this fight, we’re all in the ring. From individual phishing attempts made on your parents to major attacks on healthcare infrastructure, we’ve entered into a sort of war in which the same companies are essentially providing the weapons to all sides. DJ Patil, the nation’s first Chief Data Scientist, posted a good overview in LinkedIn. It’s mostly aimed at cybersecurity professionals, but anyone can (and should) get the gist. We Built for Peacetime. Prepare for Wartime: The AI Cybersecurity Reckoning Is Here. “Sustained, destructive, adaptive pressure used to require the resources of a state. It now requires a laptop, a few dollars of compute, and a model that does not get tired. When the price of relentless hostility falls to zero, you should expect relentless hostility from actors who could never have afforded it before — including some who want nothing from you but your absence. That is the new equilibrium: an environment in which someone is always trying to hurt you, and in which the tools you would use to fight back are themselves targets.” We came for the cute cat photos, we ended up in a war.
+ “Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said on Thursday that it had halted withdrawals after it was attacked by hackers who made off with more than $6 billion in digital coins, in what appears to be the biggest crypto heist in history.”
+ Wired: Massive Leak Exposes 41,000 Homeland Security Workers—Including Undercover ICE Agents.
