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    13Mar, 2023
    Girl With ‘AI Earrings’ in Dutch Museum Sparks Fierce Art Controversy Over Use of Artificial Intelligence

    At first glance it seems to be just a modern take on Johannes Vermeer’s masterpiece “Girl with a Pearl Earring”. But look more closely and things get a little strange.

    Firstly, there are two glowing earrings in the image hanging in the Mauritshuis museum in the Dutch city of The Hague. And aren’t those freckles on her face actually… a slightly inhuman shade of red?

    That’s because the work — one of several fan recreations replacing 1665 original while it’s on loan for a huge Vermeer show at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum — was made using artificial intelligence (AI).

    Its presence has sparked a fierce debate, with questions over whether it belongs in the hallowed halls of the Mauritshuis — and whether it should be classed as art at all.

    “It’s controversial, so people are for it or against it,” Mauritshuis press officer Boris de Munnick told AFP.

    “The people who selected this, they liked it, they knew that it was AI, but we liked the creation. So we chose it, and we hung it.”

    – ‘Incredible insult’ –

    Berlin-based digital creator Julian van Dieken submitted the image after Mauritshuis asked people to send in their versions of the famous painting for an installation called “My Girl with a Pearl”.

    Van Dieken said he had used the AI tool Midjourney — which can generate complex pictures on the basis of a prompt, using millions of images from the internet — and Photoshop.

    The Mauritshuis then chose it as one of five images out of 3,482 submitted by fans that would be printed and physically hung in the room where “Girl with a Pearl Earring” is normally housed.

    “It’s surreal to see it in a museum,” van Dieken wrote on Instagram.

    The budding artists ranged in age from three to 94, depicting the “Girl” in diverse styles ranging from a puppet to a dinosaur and a piece of fruit. 

    But the decision to choose an AI-generated image sparked a backlash.

    One artist said on the Instagram feed for the Mauritshuis exhibition that it was a “shame and an incredible insult”, and dozens of others piled in.

    A common complaint was that AI tools can breach the copyright of other artists by using their works as the base for artificially generated images.

    Artist Eva Toorenent, of the European Guild for Artificial Intelligence Regulation, criticised what she called “unethical technology”.

    “Without the work of human artists, this program could not generate works at all,” she was quoted as saying by the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant.

    – ‘What is art?’ –

    “It’s such a difficult question — what is art, and what is not art?” said the Mauritshuis’s de Munnick.

    But he insisted that the museum, whose collection boasts three Vermeers and nearly a dozen Rembrandts, had not deliberately set out to make an artistic statement on AI.

    “Our opinion is, we think it’s a nice picture, we think it’s a creative process,” he said. “We’re not the museum to discuss if AI belongs in an art museum.”

    He admitted though that “up close, you see that the freckles are a little spooky.”

    Visitors to the Mauritshuis were equally divided, he added.

    “Younger people tend to say, it’s artificial intelligence, what’s new. Elderly people sometimes say we like the more traditional paintings.”

    The Mauritshuis were looking forward to the return of the real “Girl” in April, he added. The painting’s fame has increased in recent years due to a 1999 novel by US author Tracy Chevalier and an ensuing Hollywood film.

    “Well, she is beautiful in the (Rijksmuseum) exhibition… But we will be very happy when she is at home.”

    Resource : https://www.gadgets360.com/internet/news/girl-with-a-pearl-earring-ai-recreation-julian-van-dieken-criticism-mauritshuis-exhibit-johannes-vermeer-3850111

    13Mar, 2023
    AI is taking phishing attacks to a whole new level of sophistication

    92% of organizations have fallen victim to successful phishing attacks in the last 12 months, while 91% of organizations have admitted to experiencing email data loss, according to Egress

    Not surprisingly, 99% of cybersecurity leaders confess to being stressed about email security. Specifically, 98% are frustrated with their Secure Email Gateway (SEG), with 53% conceding that too many phishing attacks bypass it.

    “The growing sophistication of phishing emails is a major threat to organizations and needs to be urgently addressed,” said Jack Chapman, VP of Threat Intelligence, Egress. “The signature-based detection used by Microsoft 365 and secure email gateways (SEGs) can filter out many phishing emails with known malicious attachments and links, but cybercriminals want to stay one step ahead. They are evolving their payloads and increasingly turning to text-based attacks that utilize social engineering tactics and attacks from a known or trusted source, such as a compromised supply chain email address.”

    “Unfortunately, phishing attacks will only become more advanced in the future, as cybercriminals use AI-powered technologies, such as chatbots, to automate and improve their attacks, such as adding video and voice capabilities to text-based phishing,” Chapman concluded.

    Inbound and outbound email security

    The report investigates both inbound phishing attacks and outbound data loss and exfiltration, highlighting the importance of a holistic approach to email security.

    Interestingly, 71% of surveyed cybersecurity leaders view inbound and outbound email security as a unified issue to tackle, recognizing their interconnected nature. The survey goes on to examine the technical controls and security awareness and training (SA&T) programs in place to reduce email security risk.

    Sophistication of phishing emails cause major financial losses

    86% of surveyed organizations reported that they were negatively impacted by sophistication of phishing emails, and 54% suffered financial losses due to customer churn following a successful phishing attack.

    Additionally, 40% of incidents resulted in employees leaving the organization. Cybersecurity leaders found that 85% of successful account takeover (ATO) attacks began with a phishing email.

    Risky behavior lead to costly data loss

    The survey found that people making mistakes or taking risks to accomplish their tasks are more common than malicious insiders. In fact, 91% of cybersecurity leaders surveyed reported that data had been leaked externally by email.

    The top three causes for these incidents include reckless or risky employee behavior, such as transferring data to personal accounts for remote work, human error, including employees emailing confidential information to incorrect recipients, and malicious or self-serving data exfiltration, such as taking data to a new job.

    Furthermore, 49% of organizations surveyed experienced financial losses from customer churn following a data loss incident, and 48% of incidents resulted in employees leaving the organization.

    Too many phishing emails bypassing employee inboxes

    58% of cybersecurity leaders believed their SEG was not effective in preventing employees from accidentally emailing the wrong person or with the wrong attachment.

    Additionally, 53% of respondents reported too many phishing emails still made it to employees’ inboxes, while 50% of organizations found it takes a lot of administrative time to manage their SEG.

    Security awareness and training

    Although 98% of the surveyed organizations conducted some form of Security Awareness and Training (SA&T), 96% of them expressed concerns or limitations with their SA&T programs.

    59% of organizations reported that SA&T is necessary for compliance with regulations or cyber insurance, and 46% of organizations reported that employees tend to skip through SA&T as fast as possible.

    Additionally, 37% of organizations admitted they lack confidence that employees remember what they have been taught during SA&T, and 29% of organizations reported that employees find SA&T to be annoying.

    Email security is a necessity for stoping phishing attacks

    The report highlights that people need real-time teachable moments that alert them to threats and engage them at the point of risk to tangibly reduce the number of security incidents that occur.

    Data throughout the report highlights that advanced email security is a necessity for everyday business. Despite investments in traditional email security and SA&T, surveyed organizations remain highly vulnerable to phishing attacks, human error, and data exfiltration.

    The only way to change the situation is to use intelligent email security solutions that augment traditional SEGs and Microsoft 365, offering the defense-in-depth required with a layered security approach.

    Resource : https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/03/08/sophistication-of-phishing-emails/?web_view=true

    7Mar, 2023
    AI is making a long-running scam even more effective

    You’ve no doubt heard of the scam where the perpetrator calls up an elderly person and pretends to be their grandchild or some other close relative. The usual routine is to act in a distressed state, pretend they’re in a sticky situation, and ask for an urgent cash transfer to resolve the situation. While many grandparents will realize the voice isn’t that of their grandchild and hang up, others won’t notice and, only too keen to help their anxious relative, go ahead and send money to the caller’s account.

    A Washington Post report on Sunday reveals that some scammers have taken the con to a whole new level by deploying AI technology capable of cloning voices, making it even more likely that the target will fall for the ruse.

    To launch this more sophisticated version of the scam, criminals require “an audio sample with just a few sentences,” according to the Post. The sample is then run through one of many widely available online tools that use the original voice to create a replica that can be instructed to say whatever you want simply by typing in phrases.

    Data from the Federal Trade Commission suggests that in 2022 alone, there were more than 36,000 reports of so-called impostor scams, with more than 5,o00 of these happening over the phone. Reported losses reached $11 million.

    The fear is that with AI tools becoming more effective and more widely available, even more people will fall for the scam in the coming months and years.

    The scam still takes some planning, however, with a determined perpetrator needing to find an audio sample of a voice, as well as the phone number of the related victim. Audio samples, for example, could be located online via popular sites like TikTok and YouTube, while phone numbers could also be located on the web.

    The scam can take many forms, too. The Post cites an example where someone pretending to be a lawyer contacted an elderly couple, telling them their grandson was in custody for an alleged crime and that they needed more than $15,000 for legal costs. The bogus lawyer then pretended to hand the phone to their grandson, whose cloned voice pleaded for help to pay the fees, which they duly did.

    They only realized they’d been scammed when their grandson called them later that day for a chat. It’s thought the scammer may have cloned his voice from YouTube videos that the grandson posted, though it’s hard to be sure.

    Some are calling for the companies who make the AI technology that clones voices to be held responsible for such crimes. But before this happens, it seems certain that many others will lose money via this nefarious scam.

    To listen to an example of a cloned voice to see just how close to the original it can get, check out this Digital Trends article.

    Resource : https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/ai-making-long-running-scam-more-effective/

    7Mar, 2023
    LastPass Says Hackers Targeted Employee’s Home PC to Access Secure Servers

    LastPass has been in the news a lot lately, and not because it’s the internet’s number one password manager, as it still proudly proclaims. The company is still reeling from a series of hacks last year that resulted in a trove of user data being stolen. This week, LastPass released new details of the attacks, explaining that the attacker targeted a senior LastPass engineer to gain access to the sensitive internal information that made the data theft possible.

    Problems started for LastPass in August 2022 when it notified users of a “security incident” involving proprietary company information. It said at the time that no user data was accessed, but in November, it announced a second attack that did target the passwords and other sensitive data people had stored on LastPass’ servers. The threat actor leveraged data stolen in the first phase of the attack in August, but how did they get that data in the first place? Well, it’s not pretty.

    LastPass explains in the latest investigation update that the attackers targeted a senior engineer at the company; one of only four people with access to the LastPass corporate vault. The employee in question was working from home, and their employer did not enforce any access restrictions. The DevOps engineer was accessing sensitive company data using a personal computer, which also ran a “media software package.” Other sources claim the media software in question is Plex, which reported a data breach around the same time. Using an undocumented vulnerability in the media software, the attacker installed a keylogger and waited for the engineer to enter the master password and two-factor code.

    That operation gave the threat actor the keys to the kingdom; they obtained decryption keys for the company’s AWS-hosted backups, including critical databases and other resources. Because of the way LastPass had implemented access auditing, nothing seemed amiss at first. The company didn’t know about the second attack until Amazon alerted it to unusual activity on the account. The attacker made off with user vaults that are only partially encrypted. The password data is secure, but the vaults include plain text URLs, emails, and IP addresses. Worse still, the passwords are only protected by the user’s master password, which could be weak on older accounts.

    In addition to the updated blog post, LastPass has published a rundown of all the data lost in the attacks. The company also provides a list of changes made to its security setup, but this is far from the first security issue for LastPass. It suffers a data breach of some sort almost every year, and it always says it has improved its security afterward. Perhaps LastPass, with millions of user passwords, is just too tempting a target. If you’ve got a LastPass account, it might be time to reevaluate.

    Resource : https://www.extremetech.com/internet/343423-lastpass-says-hackers-targeted-employees-home-pc-to-access-secure-servers

    4Mar, 2023
    Cybersecurity trends for 2023 and what to expect

    The rapid proliferation of new attack surfaces means more opportunities for threat actors than ever before, and this will only continue as new technologies are introduced, according to Vulcan Cyber’s Cyber Risk in 2022: A 360° View report.

    The report, developed by the Vulcan Cyber in-house research team, Voyager18, highlights the biggest developments and underlying narratives to cyber risk in 2022 and suggests ways to improve and maintain security posture as we enter 2023. According to the report, organizations need to be aware of the following seven trends in 2023:

    1. More attacks in the cloud

    Security in the cloud remains immature, with default cloud services often providing inadequate essential security functions. Threat actors are keenly aware of this, and security teams must keep up with their organizations’ appetite for cloud adoption.

    2. Mobile security attack surface

    With around two-thirds of the world’s population using smart devices as of 2021, it is no surprise that mobile is fast emerging as a major target for threat actors. Attackers leverage easy opportunities in e-commerce, banking and online booking applications. With mobile devices not going anywhere soon, this attack surface will only continue to grow.

    3. Threat actors turn to iot

    Expect to see more sophisticated and targeted attacks on Internet of Things (IoT) devices and a greater range of malicious actors targeting this technology in their attacks.

    4. Healthcare sector at risk

    The healthcare sector is increasingly vulnerable with more patient data being stored online and in the cloud, and the residual impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare services.

    5. AI in security efforts

    A welcome development for 2023 will be the increased implementation of advanced machine learning and other artificial intelligence (AI) techniques in identifying and responding to threats.

    6. Users as an attack surface

    An organization’s user base will remain a primary target, with threat actors leveraging phishing, social engineering, and other techniques to try to compromise the organization’s employees and their customers.

    7. Diversified cyber risk requires a better solution

    With the avenues of attack growing in number, IT security teams cannot rely on outdated methods to stay secure.

    The report explores a number of ways organizations can meet the increased demands of the cyber risk landscape, including:

    • Making employees part of the company’s security defense
    • Keep patches up to date
    • Restrict unnecessary access
    • Implement multi-factor authentication
    • Follow industry best practices

    Resource : https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/98916-cybersecurity-trends-for-2023-and-what-to-expect#:~:text=AI%20in%20security%20efforts,identifying%20and%20responding%20to%20threats.

    4Mar, 2023
    Password manager security: Which is the right option for me?

    The first guide of our two-part series helps consumers choose the best way to manage their login credentials

    While we continue to wait for the long-awaited password-less future to arrive, individuals and enterprises are still stuck with the problem of how to manage their countless, proliferating login credentials.

    Whether they allow browsers to save passwords, rely on Apple’s Keychain or another operating system utility, or trust a dedicated app, most people and organizations now use some form of password management utility.

    A password manager creates an encrypted vault that securely stores credentials. These are protected by a master password.

    Most consumer-focused apps can also create unique, random passwords and support safe credential sharing between friends and family members.

    Some also contain extra perks such as detecting reused passwords and monitoring your accounts for possible data breaches.

    Given the differences in functionality and pricing tiers, The Daily Swig is offering a comparative, two-part guide to some of the most popular password management utilities available for consumers and businesses.

    This article, part one of our series, looks at consumer password manager options, while part two will showcase some of the best choices for enterprises. Stay tuned for the forthcoming second guide.

    1Password

    1Password offers an easy sign-up process and printable digital key for recovering your account in case you forget your master password.

    The application has apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS as well as a Chrome extension that enables a user to auto-fill login information on websites and store new credentials in their vault.

    The tool allows you to create multiple vaults to organize your data for various purposes (personal, work, etc). In addition to login information, you can use 1Password to store credit card information, API tokens, crypto wallet recovery seeds, and other sensitive documents or data.

    The password manager also allows you share to passwords with other users. You can tweak the sharing feature by setting expiry dates, maximum number of views, and specific email addresses that can access a password.

    1Password’s Watchtower feature monitors your account for reused passwords, vulnerable passwords, and potentially compromised accounts.

    The application also has a Travel Mode for special circumstances where your devices might fall into unwanted hands. Vaults that you mark as not safe for travel will disappear from your devices when you turn on Travel Mode and reappear when you turn the feature and re-connecvt to the internet.

    The password manager offers no free-of-charge plan and instead offers personal ($2.99 per month) and family ($4.99 per month) subscriptions. With the family subscription, you get five premium accounts and the ability to create shared vaults that you can use together.

    Bitwarden

    Bitwarden offers a full range of standard features including the ability to import data from other password managers, creating multiple vaults, sharing passwords with other users, and syncing vaults across multiple devices. It has apps for all major operating systems, extensions for nine different browsers, and a command-line interface for writing scripts.

    One feature that sets Bitwarden apart is its strong free-tier option, which provides features that most users typically need. The premium subscription ($10 per year) also adds security reports, stronger 2FA (two-factor authentication) options, 1GB of encrypted storage, a OTP (one-time password) generator, and emergency access to your vault by other (nominated) Bitwarden users.

    Bitwarden also has a family plan ($40 per year) with six accounts, shared password collections, and shared encrypted storage.

    Bitwarden is an open source program, which means you can host it on your own servers if company or industry regulations prevent you from storing your credentials in the public cloud. However, to get the full range of features, you’ll need to purchase a premium license.

    Dashlane

    Dashlane is another online password manager that provides basic features to store and secure your passwords, including creating vaults, generating passwords, filling online forms, and importing data from other managers.

    The tool provides a very limited free plan that only works on one device. The advanced tier ($2.75 per month) removes the device limit and adds a service that monitors the dark web for breached passwords and compromised accounts.

    The premium plan ($4.99 per month) adds VPN support, and the family plan ($7.49 per month) provides 10 premium accounts plus a dashboard to manage accounts and shared resources.

    Unlike other password managers, Dashlane doesn’t have a desktop application – PC users must do everything through the web portal and browser extensions. But it does have mobile apps for Android and iOS.

    Dashlane allows you to share passwords with other Dashlane users and set limits to what kind of access they will have to your credentials.

    Dashlane’s emergency access feature also allows you to specify a contact who can assume ownership of your account in case you lose access, and you can specify a waiting period to accept or reject the user’s request to access your vault.

    KeePass

    For users who don’t trust online services with their passwords – a legitimate concern after the LastPass debacle – KeePass is a convenient alternative.

    KeePass is a standalone application that provides many of the functions you would expect from a professional password manager, but with some notable exceptions. Absent features include the ability to auto-capture new passwords, syncing across multiple devices, password sharing, and scanning the web for breached accounts.

    KeePass also fails to offer a web interface, browser extensions, or support for multiple platforms. The package comes as a Windows application, although being an open-source project means developers have ported it to other platforms. You’ll find links to these software packages on the KeePass website.

    In KeePass, you can create password databases to store passwords, notes, and documents. These password databases can be copied to other devices, but you’ll have to sync them manually.

    KeePass lacks support for many types of data, such as credit card info and API tokens, by default, but you can customize the utility to support different data types. Instead of autofill, KeePass has an auto-type feature that emulates typing your credentials on the keyboard, a feature than can require a bit of getting used to.

    While this is not the most convenient password manager, it is a decent option for advanced users who want full control of their data and the ability to tinker with the software.

    Operating system password managers

    Alternatively, you can use a tool that comes bundled with your operating system. Most popular among them is Apple’s Keychain, which encrypts and stores your passwords in a secure vault on your device.

    The main advantage of Keychain is its deep integration with the Apple ecosystem. It automatically detects and fills passwords for websites, applications, WiFi networks, and more. It can also be synced to your iCloud account and made available across all your Apple devices, including Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

    So Keychain is convenient if you only use Apple devices. But if you have other operating systems in the mix (Android, Windows, Linux), then you’ll need a separate password manager. You also won’t be able to use it if you want to log into one of your accounts from a friend’s device or a public computer.

    Resource : https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/password-manager-security-which-is-the-right-option-for-me

    3Mar, 2023
    AMD Ryzen Master has a bug that can let someone take full control of your PC

    AMD has just revealed that it spotted a new vulnerability in its Ryzen Master software. The bug sounds pretty dangerous — it could potentially allow an attacker to take full control of your PC.

    Here’s everything we know about the vulnerability and the steps you need to take to secure your computer.

    AMD Ryzen Master is a useful piece of software if you’re using an AMD processor. It lets you monitor your CPU in real time as well as alter the clock speeds and the voltage. While it’s definitely handy, if it falls into the wrong hands, you could be in trouble — and it seems that the tool has been hit with a pretty severe vulnerability.

    The vulnerability was spotted by Conor McNamara and later disclosed by AMD itself. Its severity was ranked high, and AMD described the potential impact as “privilege escalation.”

    “Failure to validate privileges during installation of AMD Ryzen Master may allow an attacker with low privileges to modify files potentially leading to privilege escalation and code execution by the lower privileged user,” said AMD.

    According to what AMD said, this means that users with low privilege levels could use Ryzen Master to gain control of the system. It’s unclear if this would be possible without administrator access, though, and it does sound like the user would need to be able to access the computer in person in order to carry out an attack.

    This is one of those vulnerabilities that are unlikely to affect a whole lot of users, but once someone is affected, the impact could be severe. Another example of this type of vulnerability in the last year is Hertzbleed, which is thought to affect most of the best processors on the market.

    Even if you feel like you’re not at risk, it’s best to update Ryzen Master to the latest version of the software (2.10.1.2287). You’ll be protected from the vulnerability and also get a few new features, such as the ability to set a maximum temperature for your CPU. You can also set the voltage of the processor above 5.2V, but you shouldn’t do this unless you’re an expert at overclocking your CPU.

    Resource : https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/amd-ryzen-master-vulnerability-patch/

    3Mar, 2023
    The 5 best ChatGPT tips we use constantly

    ChatGPT continues to dominate the internet, but it has several hidden functions that most users don’t know about. By leveraging the best ChatGPT tips, you can go from just chatting to turning ChatGPT into a tool that works for you.

    The chatbot uses the basic input format — [length] [writing results] on in the style of [style] — to allow its machine learning algorithm to process the prompt it receives. Using this basic template can unlock a myriad of tips and tricks that you can use for many beneficial everyday tasks. Here are five of our favorites.

    Generating emails and subjects

    You can use ChatGPT to develop concise emails for whatever purpose you desire. Using simple prompts such as “write a 100-word email explaining why I need to take the day off for a doctor’s appointment” will deliver a concise email template that you can copy and paste with ease. You can give ChatGPT the word count, dialect, topic, etc., in the prompt and it will return the email. Whether it is an elevator pitch, a professional email, or a conversational response, all you have to do is start with the parameters you want.

    ChatGPT is also good at generating email subjects if that is all you need. If you have no issue writing your own emails, but just need a little help with the subject, you can input a prompt such as “can you write me 10 subject email lines for a sales email to potential clients for my cake-baking business?” The text generator will then give you several options that you can select for a clickworthy email header.

    Spelling and grammar corrector

    There are many separate AI tools in existence that already work to edit text for spelling and grammar errors. One such tool is QuillBot, which is a paraphraser, a grammar checker, a plagiarism checker, a co-writer, a summarizer, and a citation generator. However, many of its features are behind a paywall. Even though there is now a subscription-based ChatGPT Plus version that goes for $20, you can easily use the free version of ChatGPT as a spelling and grammar checker.

    You can unlock ChatGPT’s text editor ability with a prompt such as “check the following text for spelling and grammar errors,” then enter the text. The chatbot will return to you freshly edited text.

    Language translator

    ChatGPT says it is capable of translating a variety of languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Russian, Dutch, Polish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Danish. However, it does admit its translations are not perfect due to the machine-learning nature of their generation.

    Still, having a source that can quickly and automatically translate almost 20languages is an excellent option if you require fast text editing. For longer text, you can use a prompt such as “translate the following text into this language” and then enter the text. The chatbot will return to you the text in your desired language.

    For shorter text, you can use a prompt such as “translate the lazy dog jumped over the log into Norwegian.” ChatGPT will return to you the text in Norwegian. ChatGPT notes that it is a good idea to have a human translator review important documents for accuracy.

    Teach ChatGPT your writing style

    ChatGPT is a constant learning algorithm. But not just from the thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons built into its layout. You can train the chatbot to produce text based on your own writing style, according to YouTuber The AI Advantage. This is helpful if you have a solid text of your own that you want to use as a template to recreate the style and flow for future writings.

    You can use a prompt such as, “Analyze the following text for style and tone of voice. Apply that exact style and tone of voice to all of your future responses.” Include your text with the prompt for ChatGPT to analyze. The chatbot will respond with a breakdown of the style and tone of voice of the text and explain how it will respond to prompts in the future. Then you can use a more standard prompt to generate whatever text you desire.

    You can draft any sort of text, but it is best to be consistent. So, if want to generate an email, it’s best to have ChatGPT analyze an old email of yours to learn your writing style. If you want to generate an essay, it’s best to have the chatbot analyze an old essay of yours.

    Using follow-up prompts to improve results

    Overall, ChatGPT is meant to be a conversational machine learning algorithm that you can talk to with ease. So, if the chatbot doesn’t give an ideal response or you want more information or to keep the conversation going, you can do so with follow-up prompts.

    Follow-up prompts can help you get closer to your desired result by giving you different options. Say you used the prompt “write me a 50-word essay about elephants in the style of Octavia Butler with a Ph.D. in zoology.” You could then use the prompt “now in the style of Maya Angelou” to get a completely different result. Better yet, you can use the prompt “try again,” instead of inputting the same prompt to try and get a different result.

    Another interesting trick for using follow-up prompts is getting past the 1,000-word limit on ChatGPT. Your initial prompt will be something like “write me the first 500 words of a 1000-word essay on XYZ.” Then you just follow up with “keep going,” and the chatbot will continue with another 500 words.

    Resource : https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-chatgpt-tips/

    2Mar, 2023
    Is the future of computing biological?

    Human brains have a leg up on computers—so what’s the next logical step?

    Trying to make computers more like human brains isn’t a new phenomenon. However, a team of researchers from Johns Hopkins University argues that there could be many benefits in taking this concept a bit more literally by using actual neurons, though there are some hurdles to jump first before we get there.

    In a recent paper, the team laid out a roadmap of what’s needed before we can create biocomputers powered by human brain cells (not taken from human brains, though). Further, according to one of the researchers, there are some clear benefits the proposed “organoid intelligence” would have over current computers.

    “We have always tried to make our computers more brain-like,” Thomas Hartung, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University’s Environmental Health and Engineering department and one of the paper’s authors, told Ars. “At least theoretically, the brain is essentially unmatched as a computer.”

    It’s alive (kind of?)

    Organoids are small pieces of tissue grown in the lab to resemble whole organs; they contain many of an organ’s specialized cell types and some internal structures. They enable researchers to perform studies without needing to do human or animal testing. Hartung and various colleagues have been working with organoids grown from human brain cells. He started growing them back in 2012 from human skin samples that he reprogrammed into a stem cell-like state. The organoids are small, roughly the size of the point of a pen, but they contain many neurons—around 50,000—and various other structures that allow them to learn and remember.

    According to Hartung, these cells could be used to create computers with several benefits. For one, such machines would result in less energy consumption relative to conventional computers—and supercomputers in particular. Human brains learn faster and use less energy than computers do. The game-playing algorithm AlphaGo, for instance, was trained on data from 160,000 amateur games of Go. It would take an incredibly long amount of time for a human to play these games, yet humans still perform admirably at Go. Additionally, the human brain is very good at storing data—it’s estimated to be able to store 2.5 million gigabytes.

    In theory, organoid computers would also take up less space. In the future, they could have a three-dimensional structure—as opposed to just something on a Petri dish—meaning that their cell density could increase considerably, and more connections between the neurons could form. Finally, while wholly non-human computers are better at processing large amounts of data, human brains are better at making logical decisions—like being able to quickly identify an animal.

    Sukhpal Gill, an assistant professor of electronic engineering and computer science at Queen Mary University of London, similarly sees the potential of this kind of computing. He noted that energy consumption presents a big limitation for computing, AI, and machine learning. “Human brain cells, on the other hand, integrate such tasks with ease and also have exceptionally low energy requirements, needing just a relatively small volume of a nutrient-rich solution to function,” he told Ars.

    A long road ahead

    However, there’s a good deal of work ahead before these biocomputers can become a reality. One of the most pressing issues is size. The organoids would need to increase from 50,000 to closer to 10 million cells, he said. But it’s hard to sustain these cells at a size larger than half a millimeter because the oxygen and nutrients fed to them can’t reach the center easily, meaning you could have a “rotten core” on your hands. One solution might be perfusion, or channeling liquid into the organoid’s interior, Hartung said.

    Researchers also need to find new ways of communicating with the organoids to exchange information with them, much like how a computer works. Improving their memory is also vital. Right now, brain organoids can only hold short-term memory. You could, for instance, train them to play Pong, but they will forget everything the next day, Hartung said. Some of this likely has to do with the fact that the organoids lack microglial cells, he said. These are a kind of immune cell that also appear in the brain and perform synaptic pruning, or killing off superfluous synapses, allowing healthy brains to function normally.

    Then there are also ethical questions about creating and growing brain cells and about whether or not these organoids would be alive—if they could develop a kind of consciousness or experience pain. As such, Hartung notes that his team has been partnering with bioethicists to assess and ensure everything is done in a way that’s not morally terrifying.

    Resource : https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/03/is-the-future-of-computing-biological/

    2Mar, 2023
    GitHub’s secret scanning alerts now available for all public repos

    GitHub has announced that its secret scanning alerts service is now generally available to all public repositories and can be enabled to detect leaked secrets across an entire publishing history.

    Secrets are sensitive data accidentally added to GitHub repositories, including API keys, account passwords, authentication tokens, and other confidential data that can enable attackers to perform security breaches or gain access to non-public data.

    Threat actors commonly search public GitHub repositories for authentication secrets to breach networks, steal data, or impersonate the company in their own attacks.

    In December 2022, GitHub began rolling out a beta of a free secret scanning feature to all public repositories that scan for 200+ token formats to help developers find accidental public exposure of sensitive data. Since then, 70,000 public repositories have enabled the new feature.

    Today, GitHub announced that the service is now generally available, and all public repository owners/admins can enable secret scanning alerts to secure their data.

    “As of today, GitHub secret scanning’s alert experience is generally available and free for all public repositories,” reads GitHub’s announcement.

    “You can enable secret scanning alerts across all the repositories you own to notify you of leaked secrets across your full repository history, including code, issues, description, and comments.”

    In addition to notifying the repository owners of leaked secret incidents, GitHub will continue to notify its over 100 secret scanning partners of exposed secrets so that they can revoke the authentication token and notify their customers.

    If it’s impossible to reach a concerned partner, the alert to the admin should be enough to ensure the exposed secrets are removed from the public repositories.

    The code hosting platform uses the example of DevOps Consultant and Trainer @rajbos to highlight the power of the secret scanner and alerts. The developer says he enabled the feature on 13,954 public GitHub Action repositories and found secrets on 1110 of them (7.9%).

    “Even though I train a lot of folks on using GitHub Advanced Security, I found secrets in my own repositories through this,” admits Rob Bos.

    “Despite multiple years of experience, it also happens to myself. That’s how easy it is to include secrets by mistake.”

    Any GitHub user administrating a public repository can easily enable secret scanning alerts by opening the “Settings” tab, clicking on the “Code security and analysis” option under the Security section, and then clicking “Enable” on “Secret Scanning” at the bottom of the page.

    GitHub settings

    Check out GitHub’s documentation for more information about how secret scanning works and how you can make the most of the new feature.

    Resource : https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/github-s-secret-scanning-alerts-now-available-for-all-public-repos/