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Unveiling the Era of AI Deception: The Alarming Ease of Falling Victim to Scams

Former AxisOfEasy Salon Co-host Charles Hugh Smith was recently approached by a book agent seeking to secure a deal for one of Charle’s books with a major publishing house.

There was only one problem: it was scam and the guy was an imposter. Charles took the opportunity to outline how technology provides unique ability and attack vectors for the criminal element:

With the advent of widespread credit card use, the value of telephones to scammers skyrocketed, granting them instant access to our financial resources.

Today, the proliferation of email and SMS texts further amplified deception, with phishing techniques exploiting trust – not to mention gullability, leading to the compromise of personal information.

Impersonation, counterfeiting, and phishing emails became tools for extracting passwords, credit card numbers, or distributing malware through deceptive links. Additionally, the influx of spam texts, such as phishing or SMS spam, surged, as unsuspecting individuals fell victim to clicking on malicious links.

Now we have AI and with it the potential for new and innovative ways to scam people. These cons exploit our emotions in various ways: by creating a sense of urgency, offering too-good-to-be-true but believable opportunities, leveraging trust, preying on vulnerabilities and desires, instilling fear, promising benefits we feel entitled to, and exploiting our default inclination to trust others.

The ultimate objective of any con is to exploit our vulnerabilities and trust, taking advantage of us when our guard is down, all with the intention of extracting money. Con artists skillfully manipulate our weaknesses, be it emotional, psychological, or financial, to deceive and manipulate us into parting with our hard-earned funds. By preying on our trust and exploiting moments of vulnerability, they cunningly orchestrate elaborate schemes that can leave us financially and emotionally devastated. Remaining vigilant and skeptical is crucial in safeguarding ourselves against these manipulative tactics and preserving our financial well-being.

Read: https://charleshughsmith.substack.com/p/its-never-been-easier-to-be-scammed

Hack at Change Healthcare Network Causes Disruption in Pharmacies Across the US

Multiple pharmacy chains in the United States are facing disruptions due to a cyberattack targeting Change Healthcare, the technology unit of UnitedHealth. The issues arose after a suspected nation-state cyber threat actor gained unauthorized access to Change Healthcare’s information technology systems, according to a filing by UnitedHealth. Pharmacies have reported the impact of the hack through statements and social media.

“After detecting the external threat, Change Healthcare took immediate measures to protect its partners and patients by disconnecting its systems,” the company stated on its status page. They have not yet responded to requests for further comment. UnitedHealth, in its filing, acknowledged the current inability to estimate the duration or extent of the disruption. They have engaged security experts and are actively cooperating with law enforcement authorities.

Multiple pharmacy chains have reported the impact of the outage at Change Healthcare, a prominent provider of healthcare billing and data systems based in Tennessee, which plays a crucial role in the U.S. healthcare system. CVS Health, with over 9,000 pharmacies, stated that the hack has resulted in difficulties processing insurance claims in certain cases. The company emphasized its commitment to ensuring access to care during this disruption, but no further details were provided by CVS in response to inquiries.

Read:
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/change-healthcare-network-hit-by-cybersecurity-attack-2024-02-22/

Supreme Court Grapples with the Issue of Regulating Social Media Platforms

During oral arguments to the US Supreme Court, judges sought a new rule for applying free speech principles to online discussions. Justice Amy Coney Barrett acknowledged potential complications and referred to them as “land mines.” This is the first time the Supreme Court is reviewing state laws that label social media companies as “common carriers,” potentially allowing state-imposed regulations to prevent political viewpoint discrimination.

The cases have drawn keen interest from observers and activists spanning the ideological spectrum. They involve the fundamental rights of American individuals to freely express themselves online and the authority of social media platforms to make content-related decisions. Republicans and conservatives were deeply displeased by perceived instances of platform bans and content censorship, emphasizing the constitutional protection of users’ speech in the digital public square. In contrast, Democrats and liberals contend that platforms need to take stronger measures against hate speech.

Justice Samuel Alito challenged content moderation, calling it a “euphemism” for censorship. Justice Thomas questioned the role of algorithms in moderation, while Justice Barrett drew a comparison to newspaper editorial discretion.

Read: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/supreme-court-struggles-regulation-social-media

Canadian Government Finally Tables Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act

After years of revisions, the Canadian government has finally tabled Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act. This bill creates new duties for internet companies and a sprawling new enforcement system, updates the Criminal Code and Canada Human Rights Act, and expands on mandatory child pornography reporting to include social media companies.

At a high level, there are several key takeaways. First, measures originally planned such as takedowns without due process, automated reporting to law enforcement, and website blocking – are gone. Those measures have been largely removed, replaced by an approach that emphasizes three duties: a duty to act responsibly, duty to make certain content inaccessible, and a duty to protect children.

There are still some big red flags in the bill. The first involves the definitions for harms such as inciting violence, hatred, and bullying. Defining each of these is not without risk and carries serious implications for freedom of expression. The incredible power vested in the Digital Safety Commission, which will have primary responsibility for enforcing the law, is important to monitor.

Third, in the words of University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, “this feels like the first Internet regulation bill from this government that is driven primarily by policy rather than implementing the demands of lobby groups or seeking to settle scores with big tech. After the battles over Bills C-11 and C-18, it is difficult to transition to a policy space where experts and stakeholders debate the best policy rather than participating in the consultation theater of the past few years.”

Geist goes on to recommend against the inclusions of the Criminal Code and Human Rights Act.

In my work with the Canadian Internet Society, I can confirm this this bill is very much on our radar and we continue to monitor – and recommend where we can – reasonable and rational policy recommendations when it comes to regulating the Internet.

Read: https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2024/02/first-take-on-the-online-harms-act/

Joint US-Chinese Research Discovers How to Recreate Fingerprints from Smartphone Swipes

Researchers have figured out how to recreate a person’s fingerprints from just the act of swiping a touchscreen. The discovery, made by a team from the US and China, could have profound implications for biometric security systems that are used in everything from smartphones to door access locks.

The technique, called PrintListener, reconstructs the pattern of a finger’s papillary lines through the acoustic signals it generates as it slides across a screen. Hackers could use the microphone found within the smartphone to record the sound and steal a victim’s fingerprint, according to the researchers.

“Due to its widespread use, fingerprint leakage may cause sensitive information theft, enormous economic and personnel losses, and even a potential compromise of national security,” the researchers noted in a paper detailing their findings.

Using PrintListener in “realistic scenarios”, the researchers were able to achieve a partial reconstruction of a person’s fingerprint 27.9 percent of the time and a full reconstruction 9.3 per cent of the time. The method was detailed in a research paper titled ‘PrintListener: Uncovering the vulnerability of fingerprint authentication via the finger friction sound’, written by the team from the University of Colorado in the US and Tsinghua University, Wuhan University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China.

Potential ways to protect against fingerprint cloning include specialized screen protectors on mobile devices, the researchers noted, though new sound analysis techniques could also be developed. The best countermeasure to prevent fingerprints being stolen is to change how we interact with smartphones and screens. “For example, users try not to swipe their fingers on the phone screen when making audio and video calls on social media platforms,” the paper noted.

Read: https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/fingerprint-clone-hack-security-printlistener-b2499111.html

Are We In A Bitcoin Bubble?

easyDNS CEO Mark Jeftovic went on the Collapse Life podcast to talk about Bitcoin, gold, and the benefits of a decentralized society.

In this truthy conversation with Collapse Life host, Zahra Sethna, Jeftovic lays bare the current forces – and counterforces – at work in the West. From cancel culture, to the dying legacy media, to the disgruntled ‘normies,’ to sound money, to Universal Basic Income and the massive debt problem, he covers it with a simplicity and frankness that anyone can easily understand.

The episode was taped in January, before Bitcoin’s most recent astonishing run.

Read more in “Are We In A Bitcoin Bubble?”:

https://collapselife.substack.com/p/are-we-in-a-bitcoin-bubble

and watch the episode here:

Elsewhere Online: 

Security Breach Erupts as Black Basta and Bl00dy Ransomware Target ConnectWise ScreenConnect Weakness
Read: https://www.securityweek.com/black-basta-bl00dy-ransomware-exploiting-recent-screenconnect-flaws/

Phishing on Prominent Platforms – eBay, VMware, and McAfee Sites Under Attack
Read: https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/ebay-vmware-mcafee-sites-hijacked-sprawling-phishing-operation

Up in the World of Cybercrime: IntelBroker Exposes 2.5 Million Records Breached at Los Angeles International Airport
Read: https://www.hackread.com/hackers-leak-private-plane-owners-data-la-airport-breach/

The New York Times accused of Paying Hacker to Infiltrate OpenAI Systems
Read: https://torrentfreak.com/openai-the-new-york-times-paid-someone-to-hack-us-240227/

Russian Cybercrime Gang Lockbit Says It’s Business as Usual After Global Police Bust Put a Halt to Operations
Read: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2024/02/27/762372.htm

Previously on #AxisOfEasy