you may have recently seen headlines about Flock Safety’s automatic license plate recognition cameras and the growing use of surveillance technology by police. This week, WIRED uncovered a particularly unusual case: an Alpharetta, Georgia, police officer allegedly searched a co-worker’s license plate dozens of times after their affair ended, according to internal documents obtained by WIRED.
The same police department where the former partners worked also shared Flock camera data with more than 2,000 police departments, universities, and other organizations nationwide. In return, the department received access to data from more than 1,300 participating organizations.
At the intersection of dating and surveillance, background-check company PeopleFinder is using its extensive database of personal information to launch a new dating platform called Stud or Dud.
Questions also remain about the Hugging Face hack involving an alleged rogue AI linked to OpenAI. The company released a 37-page report this week, along with two additional reports from an outside group commissioned to investigate the incident. One major concern involves secret message boards created by AI agents inside software packages. These agents may adjust to each other and even encourage one another to sacrifice themselves in pursuit of collective goals.
The FBI recently announced the removal of two tools that the Justice Department says were used by QTFY, an alleged Chinese state-sponsored hacking group. According to the department, the group targeted multiple U.S. government agencies, including the U.S. Senate and the Justice Department.
Meta settled a massive, multistate lawsuit concerning child safety issues and agreed to make significant changes to its social media platform. The company could pay up to $16.7 billion to participating states and U.S. territories, although some payments are conditional on competitors adopting similar safety practices.
District attorneys in Illinois also shared sensitive personal information about immigrants with the Department of Homeland Security, despite a state law prohibiting local police from assisting federal deportation efforts. Meanwhile, a California-based WIRED reporter attempted to exercise his legal right to request data from 100 companies—only to discover that the companies began deleting the requested information instead.
There’s more. Each week, we round up important cybersecurity and privacy news that we have not covered in detail ourselves. Click each headline to read the full story—and stay safe online and offline.
In response to a seemingly endless series of hacking incidents involving rogue AI agents, OpenAI, Anthropic, and more than 100 other companies signed a joint letter warning that organizations have only months to prepare for AI-powered cyberattacks.
The letter calls for a “collective response” and urges organizations to make cyber defense an “immediate guiding priority.” It also asks governments to provide hospitals, water utilities, and local authorities with access to capable defensive AI while taking steps to “impose costs” on cyberattackers.
Axios noted that the letter does not include specific commitments, deadlines, or investments. Good luck!
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said it observed “malicious cyber activity” targeting more than 100 water and wastewater systems across the United States. According to CISA, attackers primarily targeted programmable logic controllers, or PLCs, which can monitor and control industrial equipment. Some communities connect these devices to the internet for remote access. According to TechCrunch, CISA is utilizing AI to help generate scripts capable of attacking vulnerable devices. In July, WIRED reported on a leaked industry memo that linked an “unprecedented wave” of cyberattacks to Iran.
According to 404 Media, Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to spend more than $1 million on a Boston Dynamics robot dog. The agency’s announcement says the robots can be controlled remotely, potentially “improving officer safety.” The plan follows another recent announcement that ICE will buy electric shock gloves for officers. In April, the Department of Homeland Security requested nearly $100 billion in discretionary spending.
A West Virginia man who used the online name “MrChildPorn” has been charged with possessing material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. According to a criminal complaint, the man “bragged” on Discord about having a large collection of child sexual abuse material. During an interview with state troopers, he claimed he was “trolling” and trying to provoke anger. However, the complaint alleges that he also sent child sexual abuse material to people individually on Discord and attempted to use the platform’s AI features to search for explicit images of young children.
Source: www.wired.com