Source: Gizmodo
https://gizmodo.com/a-bug-at-social-security-admin-has-been-rerouting-phone-calls-to-random-offices-2000640762
The agency initially denied there was an issue. A technical issue at the Social Security Administration recently caused phone calls to various field offices to be routed to other offices that didn’t have jurisdiction over the claims, thus making service fulfillment difficult.
On Tuesday, NPR reported that the agency’s field offices were having difficulties connecting callers to the proper staff who could fulfill their requests. “If it’s someone else’s office, the jurisdiction is someone else’s,” Angela Digeronimo, a SS claims specialist in Woodbridge, N.J., told the news service. “You can’t take action on it because your office does not have the ability to clear that claim. You have to refer it over to the servicing office, which is what the member of the public thought they were doing. So, it gets a little bit cumbersome.”
SSA seems to have initially denied the allegations. “All SSA field offices are equipped to handle inquiries and resolve issues for callers, irrespective of where a caller lives or where their case originated,” a statement shared with NPR reads.
…
Subject: Instagram’s new map feature sparks child safety concerns among senators
Source: The Hill
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5444207-blackburn-blumenthal-meta-instagram-maps-feature/
The Hill has reached out to Meta for comment.
[…]
[I wonder if they have a Compliance Dept? and if they do, what do they do? /pmw1]
Source: tech.co
https://tech.co/news/leading-ai-agents-at-risk-of-hacks
AI Agents “Highly Vulnerable” to Hacking, Research ShowsA new report from Zenity Labs [reg. req’d] outlines how some of the most popular AI agents on the market are vulnerable to exploitation by bad actors.
During a presentation at the Black Hat USA cybersecurity conference, researchers revealed that the platforms in question all demonstrated serious security weaknesses.They showed that once hackers get access to these AI agents, they can exfiltrate sensitive data, manipulate workflows, and potentially even impersonate users. It is thought that they may even be able to gain memory persistence, which would give them long-term control and access.
Zenity Labs set out to establish how attackers could utilize zero-click exploits to compromise leading AI agents.
Tagged:
Subject: How the US Plans to Monitor AI Chips Exports Amid China Tech Rivalry
Source: Android Headlines
https://www.androidheadlines.com/2025/08/how-the-us-plans-to-monitor-ai-chips-exports-amid-china-tech-rivalry.html
The US government doesn’t want China to get ahead of it in semiconductor technology and AI. This is why there are several restrictions in place to prevent that. However, there have been some instances where chips get shipped to China, despite these restrictions. But the US government might have a plan, which is to embed trackers in AI chip shipments.US to embed trackers in AI chip shipments
Filed: https://www.androidheadlines.com/category/tech-news/artificial-intelligence
Source: Android Headlines
https://www.androidheadlines.com/2025/08/fbi-alert-new-smartphone-scam-qr-code-steal-data.html
The FBI is warning of a new “brushing” scam where criminals send unsolicited packages containing malicious QR codes. When scanned, these codes can download malware to smartphones or steal personal information—and even wipe your data. The FBI urges vigilance to protect financial accounts and personal data from this emerging threat.
FBI warns about QR code “brushing” scam targeting smartphones
In this new “brushing” scam, criminals send you an unexpected package with merchandise you didn’t order. To entice you to open it, the package often has no sender information. The real threat, however, is a QR code found inside the package. The criminals want you to scan this code, which can do one of two things: it either directs you to a fake website designed to steal your personal and financial information, or it secretly downloads malicious software onto your phone.
The FBI’s Pittsburgh office warns that this malware can then be used to access your bank, securities, and credit card accounts, potentially wiping them out completely.
How to protect yourself
The FBI has issued a clear list of recommendations to help you avoid becoming a victim of this scam:
NB — from 2 weeks ago: https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250731
Other ICS news: https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/
Source: Slate
https://slate.com/technology/2025/08/uk-online-safety-act-reddit-wikipedia-open-internet.html
Moves from popular platforms and world governments threaten the open web, privacy rights, and your favorite sites.This week, two of our most essential online institutions reckoned with major shifts in the operation and governance of the World Wide Web—and they all point to a future where the once immutable principle of the “open internet” will be dismantled, byte by byte, pixel by pixel.
First, the increasingly powerful social network (slash search engine) Reddit announced another plan to shield itself against the artificial intelligence firms that have been scraping its vast forum ecosystem to train their bots. According to a Monday report from the Verge’s Jay Peters, Reddit is indefinitely blocking the Internet Archive from caching most of its new webpages, starting this week; going forward, the only archivable parts of Reddit will be the daily homepages, which list out the most popular links and discussions on any given hour of any given day.
[…]
The second major development from this week concerns the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act, a controversial digital regulation that, as of this year, requires websites that host user-generated content to impose “robust” age-screening tools and preserve the innocence of under-18 netizens who might come across “certain mature content” (e.g., sexual material, suicide depictions, terrorist orgs). These particular sites will also need to appoint a senior representative who’ll report on their employer’s compliance efforts to the U.K. government’s Ofcom agency, and keep a content-moderation team well-staffed enough to monitor user complaints, quickly take down offending content, and tweak recommendation algorithms.
[…]
Subject: Crypto Security and Scams
Source: BrianKrebs’ Mastodon toot
https://newsie.social/deck/@[email protected]/115028871856604273
Drop into any conversation online about securing your cryptocurrency and you will find a great number of people who clearly need help and an almost equal number of people who talk down their noses at people who don’t have a clue (and who in their minds maybe even deserve to get robbed).
The truth is, securing your cryptocurrency against theft is not a simple matter, requires a fair bit of preparation and foreknowledge. and is remarkably easy to fuck up, with unseen, massive consequences either immediately or down the road.
My theory is that anyone who has been in the cryptocurrency space for any length of time has been through one or more experiences where they lost some or all of their coin to some scam, rug-pull, phishing scheme or outright physical theft. That’s a really expensive way to learn about security, but it has its adherents.
Subject: Meta’s AI rules have let bots hold ‘sensual’ chats with children
Source: Reuters via beSpacific
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/meta-ai-chatbot-guidelines/
An internal Meta Platforms document detailing policies on chatbot behavior has permitted the company’s artificial intelligence creations to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,” generate false medical information and help users argue that Black people are “dumber than white people.”
These and other findings emerge from a Reuters review of the Meta document, which discusses the standards that guide its generative AI assistant, Meta AI, and chatbots available on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, the company’s social-media platforms.
Meta confirmed the document’s authenticity, but said that after receiving questions earlier this month from Reuters, the company removed portions which stated it is permissible for chatbots to flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children.
Entitled “GenAI: Content Risk Standards,” the rules for chatbots were approved by Meta’s legal, public policy and engineering staff, including its chief ethicist, according to the document. Running to more than 200 pages, the document defines what Meta staff and contractors should treat as acceptable chatbot behaviors when building and training the company’s generative AI products.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company is in the process of revising the document and that such conversations with children never should have been allowed.
Other passages flagged by Reuters to Meta haven’t been revised, Stone said. The company declined to provide the updated policy document.
“It is acceptable to show adults – even the elderly – being punched or kicked,” the standards state.
Source: Newser
https://www.newser.com/story/373570/to-dodge-algorithms-political-protests-get-their-own-lingo.html
Demonstrators are promoting going to ‘music festivals’ amid language shift in the Trump era. As President Trump continues to try to wrest control of Washington, DC, away from local leaders and police, protests are unsurprisingly popping up—but you may not realize that at first if you don’t speak the updated language revolving around them. Axios reports that “music festival” is the new coded term used on social media to indicate political demonstrations, an attempt to circumvent any online algorithms that would censor content around these protests or even possibly bring unwanted attention to individual protesters.
Both Axios and Her Campus note that this language choice is an example of “algospeak,” which ditches words or terms that could flag the social media platform you’re on and replaces them with more “algorithm-friendly alternatives.”
[…]