Subject: T-Mobile was fined $33 million in a SIM swapping lawsuit
Source: Android Headlines
https://www.androidheadlines.com/2025/03/t-mobile-fined-33-million-sim-swapping-lawsuit-crypto.html
T-Mobile has paid $33 million in fines after a customer lost millions in cryptocurrency in a SIM swapping attack. The Los Angeles-based law firm Greenberg Glusker has announced that it has secured a massive arbitration award against T-Mobile over the telco’s mishaps related to the SIM swap hack. A T-Mobile customer lost his crypto fortune due to a major security failure.
The huge sums of fines on T-Mobile originated from a February 2020 SIM swapping attack that targeted the tech entrepreneur Joseph “Josh” Jones. Glusker suggests that the attackers stole more than 1,500 Bitcoin (BTC) and nearly 60,000 Bitcoin Cash (BCH), valued at $38 million at the time.
…
Infiltration of the carrier’s systems allowed threat actors to conduct the attack…
“SIM swapping has been an unchecked security flaw for years. Carriers like T-Mobile have known about it and failed to take basic precautions. This award makes it clear: they must do better,” said Paul Blechner of Greenberg Glusker.
Subject: AI Experts Say We’re on the Wrong Path to Achieving Human-Like AI
Source: Gizmodo
https://gizmodo.com/ai-experts-say-were-on-the-wrong-path-to-achieving-human-like-ai-2000581717
According to a panel of hundreds of artificial intelligence researchers, the field is currently pursuing artificial general intelligence the wrong way. This insight was revealed at the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)’s 2025 Presidential Panel on the Future of AI Research. The lengthy report was put together by 24 AI researchers whose expertise ranges from the state of AI infrastructure to the social aspects of artificial intelligence.
The report included a main takeaway for each section, as well as a community opinion section where respondents were asked their own thoughts about the section.
The section on “AI Perception vs. Reality”, chaired by MIT computer scientist Rodney Brooks, referenced the Gartner Hype Cycle characterization, a five-stage cycle common for technology hype.
“I included the Gartner Hype Cycle as it is something they have used for years and is a generalization of all the hype up followed by disappointment across so many different fields,” Brooks told Gizmodo in an email, “and therefore its existence and accuracy over so many fields tells us something about how we should use caution in accepting the current levels of hype about what is coming, any second now, with some caution.”
Source: VentureBeat
https://venturebeat.com/security/beyond-encryption-why-quantum-computing-might-be-more-of-a-science-boom-than-a-cybersecurity-bust/
Last August, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released the first three “post-quantum encryption standards” designed to withstand an attack from a quantum computer. For years, cryptography experts have worried that the advent of quantum computing could spell doom for traditional encryption methods. With the technology now firmly on the horizon, the new NIST standards represent the first meaningful step toward post-quantum protections.But is quantum computing the threat to encryption it’s been made out to be? While it’s true that quantum computers will be able to break traditional encryption more quickly and easily, we’re still a long way from the “No More Secrets” decryption box imagined in the 1992 movie Sneakers. With energy demands and computing power still limiting factors, those with access to quantum computers are likely considering putting the technology to better use elsewhere — such as science, pharmaceuticals and healthcare.
The practical reality of quantum computing – First, it’s important to understand how quantum computing works. Despite the way movies like to portray hackers, it isn’t a magic wand that will instantly end cryptography as we know it. It will still need to be fed individual messages and tasked with breaking encryption — which means attackers will need to have a pretty good idea of which messages contain valuable information. That might sound easy, but more than 300 billion emails are sent each day, along with trillions of texts. There are ways to narrow the scope of the search, but it still requires the attacker to throw an awful lot of computing power at the problem.
That leads me to the real issue: Computing power is not infinite. Quantum computing is at the cutting edge of technology, which means your average script kiddie or hacker collective isn’t going to be able to get their hands on it. The only players who will have access to quantum computers (and the energy needed to run them) will be nation-state actors and large corporations like Google, Microsoft and AI companies.
Is breaking encryption on the list of use cases for quantum computing? Yes. But it’s not high on the list. So before we spend billions of dollars to rip and replace every cryptographic algorithm in use, it might be time to take a deep breath and consider how quantum computing will actually be used.
Tagged: https://venturebeat.com/tag/data-security-privacy/
Source: Help Net Security
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/03/31/how-to-prevent-deepfake-scams/
Deepfakes are a type of synthetic media created using AI and machine learning. In simple terms, they produce videos, images, audio, or text that look and sound real, even though the events depicted never actually happened.
The technology behind deepfakes – Deepfakes mostly rely on a technology called Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). Essentially, GANs involve two algorithms working together.
The first one, the generator, creates the fake content—like a video or image. The second, called the discriminator, tries to figure out if the content is real or fake. These two algorithms keep pushing each other to improve: the generator gets better at making realistic-looking fakes, while the discriminator becomes more skilled at spotting imperfections.
How to spot deepfakes – Although deepfakes are continuously improving, they still have imperfections, allowing you to enhance your ability to detect them.
How to mitigate deepfake risks – There are some preventative measures we can implement to protect ourselves…
With the advancement of technology, it will become increasingly difficult to distinguish what is real from what is fake, and there is simply no magic wand with which we can protect ourselves. All we can do is exercise caution and take every measure within our power to safeguard ourselves. And, of course, don’t believe everything you see on the internet or social media.
Source: Texas Observer
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-dps-surveillance-arsenal-artificial-intelligence-lege/
Editor’s Note: This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Network.
Over the past several years, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has quietly built out an expansive surveillance apparatus—one that’s increasingly powered by artificial intelligence. Many of these technology acquisitions have been made under the auspices of Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, an $11 billion program that has supercharged the state’s decades-long border militarization.The powerful and well-funded state police agency has not just expanded its existing surveillance capabilities, which include a fleet of spy planes, unmanned drones, and a network of wildlife game cameras that are deployed all across the borderlands of Texas, but it also is increasingly using AI-powered software to perform intelligence gathering.
DPS records obtained and reviewed by the Texas Observer in recent months shed new light on the scope of the state police’s surveillance toolbox. The agency has spent millions acquiring an array of powerful—and controversial—artificial intelligence software tools that can mine billions of images to provide facial recognition, track vehicle locations from automatic license plate readers, monitor phone conversations of inmates in Texas prisons and jails, break into and search for data evidence from seized cell phones and computers, and even track cell phones without a warrant.
This all comes as Texas lawmakers are considering how to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the private sector and by state government. It’s not clear, though, whether any currently proposed legislation would restrict DPS’ use of AI tools for policing or provide meaningful transparency or oversight.
When used in concert, DPS’ current tech capacity for open-source web intelligence gathering, license plate reading, facial recognition, and phone location tracking gives the agency the ability to look up a person or a car, figure out who they are, what they’re doing, where they’ve been, and who they associate with—all without a warrant, said Savannah Kumar, a staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas.
[more … lots more … ]
Source: 404media.co
https://www.404media.co/andreessen-horowitz-invests-in-civitai-key-platform-for-deepfake-porn/
Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z, the influential Silicon Valley venture capital firm that was an early investor in Facebook, Lyft, and other tech giants, has invested in Civitai, a giant platform for sharing AI models that enables and profits from the creation of AI generated nonconsensual sexual images of real people. That includes launching a feature where people can list “bounties” for others to create AI models of specific targets.
Civitai said that it raised $5.1 million in a seed funding round led by a16z.
A16z’s official website, which includes a jobs board with open positions at companies in its portfolio, currently lists five jobs at Civitai. According to a16z’s site, these jobs were posted more than 30 days ago.
A16z regularly announces investments the company is making on its site, but has not publicly announced its investment in Civitai yet.
Source: MakeUseOf
https://www.bespacific.com/why-encryption-matters-for-your-data-backups-and-how-to-do-it-easily/
- Why Backing Up Your Data Isn’t Enough
- How to Encrypt Local Backups Easily
- How to Encrypt Files for Cloud Backups
- What to Do After Encrypting Your Backups
…
Abstracted from beSpacific
Copyright © 2025 beSpacific, All rights reserved.
Source: Android Headlines
https://www.androidheadlines.com/2025/04/apple-faces-5-billion-dollar-class-action-lawsuit-ebooks.html
Summary: Apple is facing a $5 billion class action lawsuit over eBooks. Customers claim that Apple misled them into thinking the eBooks they purchased were theirs to keep forever.Apple has been hit with a $5 billion class action lawsuit over eBooks. The lawsuit alleges that Apple is in violation of Califonia’s false advertising law by “intentionally misleading” customers. Customers aren’t happy to learn that when they purchase an e-book from Apple’s Books app, they do not actually own the book. Instead, they are merely purchasing a revocable license to it.
Owning content in the digital era – Does this sound familiar? This is because it is similar to songs and albums purchased through platforms like iTunes. When you buy a digital copy of a song from a storefront like iTunes, you don’t actually own the song. Not in the same way you would if you were to buy a CD of that song/album.
According to Apple’s support page, “Content you purchase from Apple will generally remain available for you to redownload or otherwise access from Apple. Though it is unlikely, content may be removed from Apple Media Services and become unavailable for further download or access.”
Source: New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/your-money/paper-checks-tax-refunds-social-security.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9E4.H7uc.DAnUStRX3mn-&smid=url-share
An executive order from President Trump will require government agencies to make electronic payments for tax refunds, Social Security and other benefits as of Sept. 30.President Trump signed an executive order on March 25 directing the federal government to stop issuing paper checks as of Sept. 30. Instead, government agencies must make payments electronically, by direct deposit to a bank account, debit card or digital wallet.
Kathleen Romig, director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said she agreed that direct deposit was a “best practice” for secure payments. But, she said, newly announced verification requirements for creating online Social Security accounts could mean more people may need government help to set up the payments.
Over time, though, reliance on paper checks has fallen. More than 99 percent of the roughly 69 million monthly Social Security payments are made by direct deposit, according to the latest statistics from the Social Security Administration. Beneficiaries are already required to receive electronic payments except in “rare” circumstances, such as receiving a hardship waiver because of a mental impairment or geographic location, according to the agency’s website.
How many people get tax refunds by paper check?
The majority of federal income tax refunds are sent by direct deposit. As of March 21, the I.R.S. had issued about 55.7 million refunds for 2024 tax returns, of which about 1.9 million, or about 3.5 percent, were paper checks. (The president’s order isn’t expected to affect refunds for this spring’s tax season, which is nearing its April 15 deadline for most filers, an I.R.S. spokesman said.)
What if I don’t have a bank account? The president’s order specified that “limited exceptions” would be made, such as “for people without banking or electronic payment access.”
“We’ll have to see how the exceptions play out,” said Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center.