Geek-Guy.com

Month: December 2024

Klarna’s CEO says it stopped hiring thanks to AI but still advertises many open positions

Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski recently told Bloomberg TV that his company essentially stopped hiring a year ago and credited generative AI for enabling this massive workforce reduction. However, despite Siemiatkowski’s bullishness on AI, the company is not relying entirely on AI to replace human workers who leave, as open job listings — for more humans…

‘Reasoning’ AI models have become a trend, for better or worse

Call it a reasoning renaissance. In the wake of the release of OpenAI’s o1, a so-called reasoning model, there’s been an explosion of reasoning models from rival AI labs. In early November, DeepSeek, an AI research company funded by quantitative traders, launched a preview of its first reasoning algorithm, DeepSeek-R1. That same month, Alibaba’s Qwen…

Germany Disrupts BADBOX Malware on 30,000 Devices Using Sinkhole Action

Germany’s Federal Office of Information Security (BSI) has announced that it has disrupted a malware operation called BADBOX that came preloaded on at least 30,000 internet-connected devices sold across the country. In a statement published earlier this week, authorities said they severed the communications between the devices and their command-and-control (C2) servers by sinkholing the…

Thai Officials Targeted in Yokai Backdoor Campaign Using DLL Side-Loading Techniques

Thai government officials have emerged as the target of a new campaign that leverages a technique called DLL side-loading to deliver a previously undocumented backdoor dubbed Yokai. “The target of the threat actors were Thailand officials based on the nature of the lures,” Nikhil Hegde, senior engineer for Netskope’s Security Efficacy team, told The Hacker…

OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever believes superintelligent AI will be ‘unpredictable’

OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever spoke on a range of topics at NeurIPS, the annual AI conference, Friday afternoon before accepting an award for his contributions to the field. Sutskever gave his predictions for “superintelligent” AI, AI more capable than humans at many tasks, which he believes will be achieved at some point. Superintelligent AI will…

Kalshi CEO admits enlisting influencers to dis Polymarket in a now-deleted podcast segment

Kalshi’s CEO, Tarek Mansour, confirmed on a podcast interview that his employees did ask social media influencers to promote memes about the FBI’s raid on the home of his arch rival, the CEO of Polymarket.  Both of these companies offer competing events-betting markets, a new kind of betting industry where people wager about the outcomes…

Unauthenticated Webpages: Hidden HIPAA Risks on Public-Facing Websites

When we think about HIPAA compliance and websites, the focus often shifts to patient portals, online scheduling systems, and other secure areas requiring user authentication. However, it’s crucial to recognize that even unauthenticated webpages, those accessible to the public without logging in, can present hidden HIPAA risks. Let’s explore these often-overlooked vulnerabilities and discuss how…

Databricks is on track to raise a record $9.5+ billion round at $60B valuation

Databricks is close to finalizing a $9.5 billion round at a $60 billion valuation, including a secondary sale for employees that could climb even higher before it closes, Reuters reports. Just 17 days ago, Reuters reported that the deal was at $8 billion and a $55 billion valuation. Thrive Capital is leading the deal with…

Why the Recent Telecom Hack Underscores the Need for End-to-End Encryption

The recent massive telecom hack by the Chinese state-sponsored group Salt Typhoon has highlighted critical vulnerabilities in traditional communication systems. The breach targeted major U.S. telecom providers, including Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, compromising sensitive communications of government officials, political entities, and businesses. Attackers accessed call records, unencrypted text messages, and even live call audio by…

What failed before might succeed now — or fail again — and other startup bets

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week in startup news, we have some contrarian bets, funding rounds from all around the world, new VC funds, and a final word of warning. Most…

Arizona man arrested for alleged involvement in violent online terror networks

Baron Martin, a 20-year-old resident of Tucson, Arizona, was arrested Wednesday on charges of producing child sexual abuse material and cyberstalking. His arrest is connected to his involvement in online terror networks, specifically 764 and CVLT, which are known for violent extremist activities. Martin, also known under the alias “Convict,” is charged with significant involvement…

DEF CON 32 – Cultivating M4D SK1LLZ In the DEF CON Community

Authors/Presenters: Yan Shoshitaishvili, Perri Adams Our sincere appreciation to DEF CON, and the Presenters/Authors for publishing their erudite DEF CON 32 content. Originating from the conference’s events located at the Las Vegas Convention Center; and via the organizations YouTube channel. Permalink The post DEF CON 32 – Cultivating M4D SK1LLZ In the DEF CON Community…

390,000+ WordPress Credentials Stolen via Malicious GitHub Repository Hosting PoC Exploits

A now-removed GitHub repository that advertised a WordPress tool to publish posts to the online content management system (CMS) is estimated to have enabled the exfiltration of over 390,000 credentials. The malicious activity is part of a broader attack campaign undertaken by a threat actor, dubbed MUT-1244 (where MUT refers to “mysterious unattributed threat”) by…

See what Google’s Project Astra AR glasses can do (for a select few beta testers)

Google has released a prototype of Project Astra’s AR glasses for testing in the real world. The glasses are part of Googles long-term plan to one day have hardware with augmented reality and multimodal AI capabilities. In the meantime, they will be releasing demos to get the attention of consumers, developers, and their competition. Along…

Addressing BYOD Vulnerabilities in the Workplace

Secure the workplace of today by exploring how to address BYOD vulnerabilities Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies have become commonplace in many workplaces. Employees use personal smartphones, tablets, and laptops to access corporate resources, blending work and personal activities on the same device. While BYOD offers several benefits, it also introduces significant cybersecurity vulnerabilities……

The 3 Most Common Misconceptions About Workplace Violence

Learn how to overcome C-suite resistance to investing in workplace violence prevention programs — keeping your business safe and strong Introduction Misconception 1: “Don’t worry, we’ll know it when we see it.” Misconception 2: “We must be doing something right because nothing’s happened yet” Misconception 3: “Incidents of workplace violence start suddenly and are unpredictable.”……

The 3 Most Common Misconceptions About Workplace Violence

Learn how to overcome C-suite resistance to investing in workplace violence prevention programs — keeping your business safe and strong Introduction Misconception 1: “Don’t worry, we’ll know it when we see it.” Misconception 2: “We must be doing something right because nothing’s happened yet” Misconception 3: “Incidents of workplace violence start suddenly and are unpredictable.”……

The 3 Most Common Misconceptions About Workplace Violence

Learn how to overcome C-suite resistance to investing in workplace violence prevention programs — keeping your business safe and strong Introduction Misconception 1: “Don’t worry, we’ll know it when we see it.” Misconception 2: “We must be doing something right because nothing’s happened yet” Misconception 3: “Incidents of workplace violence start suddenly and are unpredictable.”……

Breaking the Air Gap Through Hardware Implants

IoT security assessments expose diverse technologies, use cases, and protocols. While wireless components like WiFi and Bluetooth enhance functionality and enable features like OTA updates, they also increase the attack surface. This blog explores the challenges of assessing non-wireless IoT devices and considers the potential of adding wireless capabilities for comprehensive security testing. The post…

Biden administration races to approve clean energy loans before Trump takes over — here’s who is benefiting

The Department of Energy (DOE) is on a loan-approval spree in the lead-up to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, and the winners are all companies manufacturing clean energy solutions on U.S. soil. Companies like Stellantis and Samsung, Rivian, and most recently, EVgo. Trump has promised to cancel any unspent federal dollars under President Joe Biden’s Inflation…

EVgo secures $1.25 billion loan amid Biden’s rush to approve clean energy loans

Electric vehicle charging startup EVgo is the latest company to secure funds from the U.S. Department of Energy as the Biden administration races to approve clean energy loans before Donald Trump takes over.  Trump has promised to cancel any unspent funds from Biden’s bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act, including the $7,500 tax credit for new EV…

Google’s NotebookLM now lets you to talk to its AI podcast hosts

A few months ago, Google’s NotebookLM note-taking app debuted an Audio Overviews feature that generates a podcast with AI virtual hosts based on information you have shared with the app. Now, NotebookLM is rolling out the ability for users to interact with the AI podcast hosts. The idea behind Audio Overviews and the AI hosts…

Researchers expose a surge in hacker interest in SAP systems

A review of four years of threat intelligence data, presented Friday at Black Hat by Yvan Genuer, a senior security researcher at Onapsis, reports a spike in hacker interest in breaking into enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems from SAP in 2020 that was sustained until the end of 2023. The vast majority (87%) of the…

The federal crash-reporting rule Tesla opposes could be on the chopping block

The Trump transition team wants to end a federal rule requiring automakers to report crashes when advanced driver-assistance or autonomous driving technology is engaged, Reuters reports. Federal safety agencies would lose the ability to investigate and regulate the safety of vehicles with automated-driving systems should the rule — which went into effect in 2021 —…

Podcast Episode 21: Interview with the University of Richmond’s CTF Winning Team

What happens when passion, talent, and opportunity collide in the university’s tech scene? Meet David Nathanson and Daniel Garay, the freshmen duo who took the University of Richmond’s Capture the Flag (CTF) competition by storm. With David bringing his coding journey from Nicaragua and Daniel harnessing his self-taught skills in AI and machine learning, they……

Time of Reckoning – Reviewing My 2024 Cybersecurity Predictions

The brutal reality is that cybersecurity predictions are only as valuable as their accuracy.  As 2024 comes to a close, I revisit my forecasts to assess their utility in guiding meaningful decisions. Anyone can make predictions (and far too many do), but actually being correct is another matter altogether. It is commonplace for security companies…

Liquid AI just raised $250M to develop a more efficient type of AI model

Liquid AI, an AI startup co-founded by robotics luminary Daniela Rus, has raised $250 million in a Series A led by AMD. Per Bloomberg, the round values Liquid AI at over $2 billion. Liquid AI aims to build general-purpose AI systems powered by a relatively new type of AI model called a liquid neural network. Liquid…

Sam Altman and Jeff Bezos are the latest billionaires to donate $1M to Trump fund

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Jeff Bezos’ Amazon plan to donate $1 million each to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, according to reports from Fox and the Wall Street Journal.  TechCrunch has confirmed Altman’s plans to personally commit the money, which is not coming directly from OpenAI.    The donations from the billionaires follow plans by…

Critical OpenWrt Vulnerability Exposes Devices to Malicious Firmware Injection

A security flaw has been disclosed in OpenWrt’s Attended Sysupgrade (ASU) feature that, if successfully exploited, could have been abused to distribute malicious firmware packages. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-54143, carries a CVSS score of 9.3 out of a maximum of 10, indicating critical severity. Flatt Security researcher RyotaK has been credited with discovering and…

Ultralytics Supply-Chain Attack

Last week, we saw a supply-chain attack against the Ultralytics AI library on GitHub. A quick summary: On December 4, a malicious version 8.3.41 of the popular AI library ultralytics ­—which has almost 60 million downloads—was published to the Python Package Index (PyPI) package repository. The package contained downloader code that was downloading the XMRig…

DEF CON 32 – Outlook Unleashing RCE Chaos CVE 2024 30103

Authors/Presenters: Michael Gorelik, Arnold Osipov Our sincere appreciation to DEF CON, and the Presenters/Authors for publishing their erudite DEF CON 32 content. Originating from the conference’s events located at the Las Vegas Convention Center; and via the organizations YouTube channel. Permalink The post DEF CON 32 – Outlook Unleashing RCE Chaos CVE 2024 30103 appeared…

DEF CON 32 – Outlook Unleashing RCE Chaos CVE 2024 30103

Authors/Presenters: Michael Gorelik, Arnold Osipov Our sincere appreciation to DEF CON, and the Presenters/Authors for publishing their erudite DEF CON 32 content. Originating from the conference’s events located at the Las Vegas Convention Center; and via the organizations YouTube channel. Permalink The post DEF CON 32 – Outlook Unleashing RCE Chaos CVE 2024 30103 appeared…

DEF CON 32 – Outlook Unleashing RCE Chaos CVE 2024 30103

Authors/Presenters: Michael Gorelik, Arnold Osipov Our sincere appreciation to DEF CON, and the Presenters/Authors for publishing their erudite DEF CON 32 content. Originating from the conference’s events located at the Las Vegas Convention Center; and via the organizations YouTube channel. Permalink The post DEF CON 32 – Outlook Unleashing RCE Chaos CVE 2024 30103 appeared…

DoJ Indicts 14 North Koreans for $88M IT Worker Fraud Scheme Over Six Years

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has indicted 14 nationals belonging to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) for their alleged involvement in a long-running conspiracy to violate sanctions and commit wire fraud, money laundering, and identity theft by illegally seeking employment in U.S. companies and non-profit organizations. “The conspirators, who…

OpenAI blames its massive ChatGPT outage on a ‘new telemetry service’

OpenAI is blaming one of the longest outages in its history on a “new telemetry service” gone awry. On Wednesday, OpenAI’s AI-powered chatbot platform, ChatGPT; its video generator, Sora; and its developer-facing API experienced major disruptions starting at around 3 p.m. Pacific. OpenAI acknowledged the problem soon after — and began working on a fix.…

WatchGuard CISO on What MSPs Need to Know to Stay Secure in 2025

Security vendor WatchGuard has deep channel connections and years of expertise in network security, endpoint protection, and other specialties. WatchGuard Chief Information Security Officer Corey Nachreiner spoke with Channel Insider to discuss the emerging technology and impending threats MSPs must consider for themselves and their clients as the calendar turns to a new year. Supporting…

Cybersecurity Insights with Contrast CISO David Lindner | 12/13/24

Insight No. 1: Stop patching the CVE dumpster fire with Vulnrichment It’s time to integrate the crucial data — Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) scores and other crucial information  — from CISA’s Vulnrichment program directly into the NVD. Centralize, streamline, and then focus on what really matters: runtime analysis of your applications. Insight No. 2: Zero days don’t give…

Cybersecurity Insights with Contrast CISO David Lindner | 12/13/24

Insight No. 1: Stop patching the CVE dumpster fire with Vulnrichment It’s time to integrate the crucial data — Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) scores and other crucial information  — from CISA’s Vulnrichment program directly into the NVD. Centralize, streamline, and then focus on what really matters: runtime analysis of your applications. Insight No. 2: Zero days don’t give…

Cybersecurity Insights with Contrast CISO David Lindner | 12/13/24

Insight No. 1: Stop patching the CVE dumpster fire with Vulnrichment It’s time to integrate the crucial data — Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) scores and other crucial information  — from CISA’s Vulnrichment program directly into the NVD. Centralize, streamline, and then focus on what really matters: runtime analysis of your applications. Insight No. 2: Zero days don’t give…

Controversial EU ad campaign on X broke bloc’s own privacy rules

The European Union’s executive body is facing an embarrassing privacy scandal after it was confirmed on Friday that a Commission ad campaign on X (formerly Twitter) breached the EU’s own data protection rules. The finding, by the EU’s oversight body the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), relates to a microtargeted ad campaign that the Commission…

API Security is Not a Problem You Can Solve at the Edge

In today’s interconnected digital ecosystems, traditional security mechanisms like Web Application Firewalls (WAFs), API gateways, and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) act as enforcement points. Think of them as bouncers at the entrance of a high-profile nightclub—they decide who gets in and who doesn’t. However, relying solely on these edge solutions to secure APIs is like…

API Security is Not a Problem You Can Solve at the Edge

In today’s interconnected digital ecosystems, traditional security mechanisms like Web Application Firewalls (WAFs), API gateways, and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) act as enforcement points. Think of them as bouncers at the entrance of a high-profile nightclub—they decide who gets in and who doesn’t. However, relying solely on these edge solutions to secure APIs is like…

API Security is Not a Problem You Can Solve at the Edge

In today’s interconnected digital ecosystems, traditional security mechanisms like Web Application Firewalls (WAFs), API gateways, and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) act as enforcement points. Think of them as bouncers at the entrance of a high-profile nightclub—they decide who gets in and who doesn’t. However, relying solely on these edge solutions to secure APIs is like…

How to Create Microsoft Copilot Use Cases for Clients

Organizations of all sizes are continuously looking to AI and machine learning to automate processes and enhance efficiency. The big players in the AI space are creating all-encompassing AI tools to meet the needs of enterprises and create value for their customers. One of those tools is Microsoft’s Copilot solution, which can be used for…

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