cybersecurity

Here Are Five Reasons Consumers Won’t Buy Your Smart Home Device

/ Fiona J McEvoy / 1 Comment

This blog was originally posted on the Hill + Knowlton Strategies website.

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The Aware Home

In 2000, a group of researchers at Georgia Tech launched a project they called “The Aware Home.” The collective of computer scientists and engineers built a three-story experimental home with the intent of producing an environment that was “capable of knowing information about itself and the whereabouts and activities of its inhabitants.” The team installed a vast network of “context aware sensors” throughout the house and on wearable computers worn by the home’s occupants. The hope was to establish an entirely new domain of knowledge — one that would create efficiencies in home management, improve health and well-being, and provide support for groups like the elderly.

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If internet trolls are cybercriminals, can AI stop them?

/ Fiona J McEvoy / Leave a comment

This article by Fiona J McEvoy (YouTheData.com) was originally posted on All Turtles.

Troll

In May 2017, the WannaCry ransomware attack made international headlines. The breach (which was later linked to North Korea) used leaked NSA tools to target businesses that were running outdated Windows software. WannaCry wreaked havoc by encrypting user data and then demanding  Bitcoin ransom payments. Hackers gave victims 7 days to pay, threatening to delete the files of those who wouldn’t comply.

Though a “kill switch” was ultimately discovered, the attack affected over 200,000 business in 150 countries. It has been estimated that WannaCry caused hundreds of millions – and perhaps even billions – of dollars of damage.

Despite the alarm and headlines associated with it, the WannaCry attack was neither unique nor especially surprising. In today’s connected world we have almost become accustomed to these types of hostile acts. Yahoo. Equifax. Ashley Madison. The list goes on.  Technology has catalyzed big changes to our conception crime, and while the word still attaches itself to physical infringements like theft and assault, “crime” now captures a broad range of clandestine activities, including so-called cybercrimes.

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