National security

Electrical engineer Gilbert Herrera was appointed research director of the US National Security Agency in late 2021, just as an AI revolution was brewing inside the US tech industry.The NSA, sometimes jokingly said to stand for No Such Agency, has long hired top math and computer science talent. Its technical leaders have been early and avid users of advanced computing and AI. And yet when Herrera spoke with me by phone about the implications of the latest AI boom from NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, it seemed…

From asteroids, vampires and wendigos to killer asteroids, TikTok users are pumping out outlandish end-of-the-world conspiracy theories, researchers say, in yet another misinformation trend on a platform whose fate in the United States hangs in the balance. In the trend reported by the nonprofit Media Matters, TikTok users seek to monetize viral videos that make unfounded claims about the US government secretly capturing or preserving mythical monsters that include -- wait for it -- King Kong. It is the latest…

Cyberattacks, regional conflict, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, commercial spyware, AI, misinformation, disinformation, deepfakes and TikTok. These are just some of the top perceived threats that the United States faces, according to the U.S. government’s intelligence agency’s latest global risk assessment. The unclassified report published Monday — sanitized for public release — gave a frank annual window into the U.S. intelligence community’s collective hive mind about the threats it sees facing the U.S.…

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday told CNBC on Monday that TikTok was a national security threat but likened it to threats posed by other social media networks such as Meta's Facebook.Trump reiterated his concerns as lawmakers weigh a bill this week that would give TikTok owner ByteDance about six months to divest the popular short video app.Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill CoursesOffering CollegeCourseWebsiteIndian School of BusinessISB Product ManagementVisitIIT DelhiIITD…

A former software engineer at Google has been charged with stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets from the company while secretly working with two companies based in China, the Justice Department said Wednesday.Linwei Ding, a Chinese national, was arrested in Newark, California, on four counts of federal trade secret theft, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill CoursesOffering CollegeCourseWebsiteIIM LucknowIIML Executive Programme in FinTech, Banking &…

From genomic information to internet-connected cars, the United States is rethinking its data protection policies -- with further trade curbs aimed at China in the cards -- as tech like AI brings new risks.In the past week alone, President Joe Biden took steps expanding Washington's national security toolkit, sounding the alarm on possible risks from Chinese vehicles and tech, a day after issuing an order to limit the flow of sensitive personal data abroad. The fear is that such data can be used to track citizens,…

China's top memory chip maker YMTC said on Saturday its technology is not for military use after it was added to a Pentagon list of entities assisting China's military.Last week, the United States added more than a dozen Chinese companies to the list, created by the Defense Department to highlight firms it alleges are working with Beijing's military.Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill CoursesOffering CollegeCourseWebsiteIndian School of BusinessISB Professional Certificate in Product ManagementVisitIIM…

The U.S. National Security Agency is buying vast amounts of commercially available web browsing data on Americans without a warrant, according to the agency’s outgoing director. NSA director Gen. Paul Nakasone disclosed the practice in a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden, a privacy hawk and senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Wyden published the letter on Thursday. Nakasone said the NSA purchases “various types” of information from data brokers “for foreign intelligence, cybersecurity, and authorized mission…

While artificial intelligence (AI) is capable of transforming societies in positive ways, it also presents risks that need to be better understood and managed, new research has warned. Joe Burton, a professor at Lancaster University, UK, contends that AI and algorithms are more than mere tools used by national security agencies to thwart malicious online activities. In a research paper recently published in the Technology in Society Journal, Burton suggests that AI and algorithms can also fuel polarisation, radicalism,…

While artificial intelligence (AI) is capable of transforming societies in positive ways, it also presents risks that need to be better understood and managed, new research has warned. Joe Burton, a professor at Lancaster University, UK, contends that AI and algorithms are more than mere tools used by national security agencies to thwart malicious online activities. In a research paper recently published in the Technology in Society Journal, Burton suggests that AI and algorithms can also fuel polarisation, radicalism,…