Another growing technology topic that is being discussed these days is centered around Artificial Intelligence or AI. Artificial Intelligence allows computers to process information like we do on a daily basis and make judgements and decisions based on how humans will normally act. On April 23rd, Forbes released an article surrounding Artificial Intelligence and one of the ways Artificial Intelligence will impact our world in the future. They believe one of the ways Artificial Intelligence will be relevant in the future is in connection to our military defense systems. As of right now, countries around the world have or are in the process of obtaining unmanned military systems such as drones to limit the amount of soldiers that countries jeopardize in the line of duty every year. But, with the push of innovation of new Artificial Intelligence technologies and machine-learning capabilities, countries are trying to find ways to make machines think for themselves and execute certain capabilities without the aid of human interaction. Are you ready for a world without human interactions? Please comment and let me know what your opinion is!

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/04/23/weaponizing-artificial-intelligence-the-scary-prospect-of-ai-enabled-terrorism/#16c3b46277b6

This past week Forbes released an article online about a recent hacker group that had the capability of infecting medical equipment such as X-Ray Machines in healthcare facilities. Another group called the dubbed Orangeworm attacked healthcare facilities in the United States. They were successfully able to infect multiple computers in healthcare facilities connected to medical equipment such as MRI and X-Ray machines. This has not been the first of it’s kind. This has actually been one of many attacks on healthcare facilities in recent months. In the future, this will become one if not the main concern involving the security. The security of infrastructure is essential for us to function on a day-to-day basis. Infrastructure such as hospitals, electricity plants, and water treatment plants are all essential for the type of life we want to sustain, and for us to sustain that way of life, we must find answers to this solution fast!

https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2018/04/23/x-ray-machines-taken-over-by-healthcare-hackers/#52c338f944c8

In continuation with our Internet of Things (IoT) discussions we’ve had in class, Amazon just recently made an investment in the product called the Ring. Ring is a smart doorbell that acts as a security system as well.  The Ring doorbell, allows you to see who is at the door and speak to them remotely. The company also produces security products such as security cameras and wireless security systems. Just recently, Amazon made a $1 billion dollar acquisition from those responsible for the Ring doorbell. Ring is now the second largest acquisition in Amazon’s history right behind Whole Foods Market. Amazon believes it’s was a great push for providing “effective and affordable protection for neighborhoods”. Big things are coming down the road for Amazon and its customers!

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/12/ring-amazon-smart-home-acquisition-video-doorbell-maker

So everyone remembers the controversy over this past presidential elections. The biggest headliner during, post, and into Trump’s presidency has been focused on Russia. Russia played a key role in hacking the overall elections. Now, Australia is now publicly blaming Russia over malicious cyber-attacks they have been receiving over the course of the year, backing the United States and the UK. Australia is publicly blaming Russia for stealing intellectual property and installing means to attempt future cyber attacks on critical infrastructure. Uncovered in an investigation, in August 2017 Russia was a state-sponsor in multiple attacks on Cisco routers that house technology called “Smart Install”. Hackers were able to infiltrate and target the vulnerability and impact government offices, companies, and infrastructure that had these routers in use.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/17/australia-joins-us-and-uk-in-blaming-russia-for-cyber-attacks

Over the past couple of weeks, one of the biggest headliners in the news has been centered around one man – Mark Zuckerberg. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, has been testifying in front of Congress for his mishandling of personal private data by his users. He is in questioning for possibly selling personal user data to third party organizations over the course of a couple years.

As a member of Facebook this was very disheartening. I was very disappointed to hear about this for the very reason being that I am very protective of my data. From a privacy standpoint, I feel as though that I have been stripped of some of the very liberties that I should have when I am online. I wanted to get the classes perspective on this though. How do you personally feel about the whole Facebook issue and do you feel as though you can’t trust some of the sites you visit on a daily biases???

On March 28th, a piece in The New York Times was written with regards to the recent malware attack that targeted Boeing. Although the malware attack wasn’t substantial in size, it had the possibility of crippling Boeing’s production systems as well as airline software being implemented in aircrafts. Last week I wrote my post on the ransomware attack that crippled local infrastructure sites in Atlanta for approx. a week. This is nonetheless an ongoing problem that is really affecting the world today. We are starting to become to involved in pushing for innovation that we lose site of how to protect the very innovation that we develop. This is just an interesting topic that I wanted to bring up, and wanted to get peoples perspective on. How do you view technology in today’s society and what types of solutions do you believe can be implemented to fix these types of security issues?

In the last week of March, Atlanta had to battle a series of ransomeware attacks that almost crippled the city. Thirteen of the attacks were targeted at local government departments around the city. As a result of the attacks, people around the city were effected from not being able to pay their water bills, to limited communications. The ransomeware called SamSam is one of a kind. It’s one of the first most effect types of ransomeware attacks that have been able to cripple a large population like such. This event proves to us more than ever that technology has many upsides, but can also create chaos when put in the wrong hands. We need to be vigilant and diligent to do our part in protect ourselves from possible cyber attacks. We also need to be mindful that this problem is not going to go away anytime soon. As a society living in a technology driven world, we need to do better and take security more serious!

https://www.wired.com/story/atlanta-ransomware-samsam-will-strike-again/

This past week Fifth Avenue, Saks Off 5th, and Lord & Taylor department stores (all owned by The Hudson’s Bay Company) were breached. The breach consisted of a hack of more than 5 million credit card and debit card numbers being stollen. The group responsible for the attack is known as Fin7. They allegedly have had some history with breaching companies such as Omni Hotels & Resorts, Trump Hotels, Jason’s Deli, Whole Foods, and Chipotle. As innovation is growing in the technology industry, there is now more than even a growing concern over security. How will we be able to safely and effectively use technology that can help us grow, but at the same time protect us from harm? This is a very big question, but ultimately needs to be solved in order for the safe advancement of technology and for us all to be safe and secure in the technologic world we live in today!

https://www.wired.com/story/fin7-carbanak-hacking-group-behind-a-string-of-big-breaches/