Cybersecurity Technologies Fueled by Artificial Intelligence
December 28, 2016
With terms like virus being staples in the cybersecurity realm, it is no surprise the human immune system is the inspiration for the technology fueling one relatively new digital threat defense startup. In the Tech Republic article, Darktrace bolsters machine learning-based security tools to automatically attack threats, more details and context about Darktrace’s technology and positioning was revealed. Founded in 2013, Darktrace recently announced they raised $65 million to help fund their expansion globally. Four products, including their basic cyber threat defense solution called Darktrace, comprise their product suite. The article expands on their offerings:
Darktrace also offers its Darktrace Threat Visualizer, which provides analysts and CXOs with a high-level, global view of their enterprise. Darktrace Antigena complements the core Darktrace product by automatically defends against potential threats that have been detected, acting as digital “antibodies.” Finally, the Industrial Immune System is a version of Darktrace designed for Industrial Control Systems (ICS). The key value provided by Darktrace is the fact that it relies on unsupervised machine learning, and it is able to detect threats on its own without much human interaction.
We echo this article’s takeaway that machine learning and other artificial intelligence technologies continue to grow in the cybersecurity sector. The attention on AI is only building in this industry and others. Perhaps the lack of AI is particularly well-suited to cybersecurity as it’s behind-the-scenes nature that of Dark Web related crimes.
Megan Feil, December 28, 2016
Associative Semantic Search Is a New Technology, Not a Mental Diagnosis
December 6, 2016
“Associative semantic” sounds like a new mental diagnosis for the DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders), but it actually is the name of a search technology that sounds like it amplifies the basic semantic search. Aistemos has the run down on the new search technology in the article, “Associative Semantic Search Technology: Omnity And IP.” Omnity is the purveyor of the “associative semantic search” and it makes the standard big data promise:
…the discovery of otherwise hidden, high-value patterns of interconnection within and between fields of knowledge as diverse as science, medicine, engineering, law and finance.
All of the companies centered on big data have this same focus or something similar, so what does Omnity offer that makes it stand out? It proposes to find connections between documents that do not directly correlate or cite one another. Omnity uses the word “accelerate” to explain how it will discover hidden patterns and expand knowledge. The implications mean semantic search would once again be augmented and more accurate.
Any industry that relies on detailed documents would benefit:
Such a facility would presumably enable someone to find references to relevant patents, technologies and prior art on a far wider scale than has hitherto been the case. The legal, strategic and commercial implications of being able to do this, for litigation, negotiation, due diligence, investment and forward planning are sufficiently obvious for us not to need to list them here.
The article suggests those who would most be interested in Omnity are intellectual property businesses. I can imagine academics would not mind getting their hands on the associative semantic search to power their research or law enforcement could use it to fight crime.
Whitney Grace, December 6, 2016
Could AI Spell Doom for Marketers?
December 1, 2016
AI is making inroads into almost every domain; marketing is no different. However, inability of AI to be creative in true sense may be a major impediment.
The Telegraph in a feature article titled Marketing Faces Death by Algorithm Unless It Finds a New Code says:
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most-hyped topics in advertising right now. Brands are increasingly finding that they need to market to intelligent machines in order to reach humans, and this is set to transform the marketing function.
The problem with AI, as most marketers agree is its inability to imitate true creativity. As the focus of marketing is shifting from direct product placement to content marketing, the importance of AI becomes even bigger. For instance, a clothing company cannot analyze vast amounts of Big Data, decipher it and then create targeted advertising based on it. Algorithms will play a crucial role in it. However, the content creation will ultimately require human touch and intervention.
As it becomes clear here:
While AI can build a creative idea, it’s not creative “in the true sense of the word”, according to Mr Cooper. Machine learning – the driving technology behind how AI can learn – still requires human intelligence to work out how the machine would get there. “It can’t put two seemingly random thoughts together and recognize something new.
The other school of thought says that what AI lacks is not creativity, but processing power and storage. It seems we are moving closer to bridging this gap. Thus when AI closes this gap, will most occupations, including, creative and technical become obsolete?
Vishal Ingole, December 1, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Iran-Russia Ink Pact for Search Engine Services
November 28, 2016
Owing to geopolitical differences, countries like Iran are turning towards like-minded nations like Russia for technological developments. Russian Diplomat posted in Iran recently announced that home-grown search engine service provider Yandex will offer its services to the people of Iran.
Financial Tribune in a news report Yandex to Arrive Soon said that:
Last October, Russian and Iranian communications ministers Nikolay Nikiforov and Mahmoud Vaezi respectively signed a deal to expand bilateral technological collaborations. During the meeting, Russian Ambassador Vaezi said, We are familiar with the powerful Russian search engine Yandex. We agreed that Yandex would open an office in Iran. The system will be adapted for the Iranian people and will be in Persian.
Iran traditionally has been an extremist nation and at the center of numerous international controversies that indirectly bans American corporations from conducting business in this hostile territory. On the other hand, Russia which is seen as a foe to the US stands to gain from these sour relations.
As of now, .com and .com.tr domains owned by Yandex are banned in Iran, but with the MoU signed, that will change soon. There is another interesting point to be observed in this news piece:
Looking at Yandex.ir, an official reportedly working for IRIB purchased the website, according to a domain registration search. DomainTools, a portal that lists the owners of websites, says Mohammad Taqi Mozouni registered the domain address back in July.
Technically, and internationally accepted, no individual or organization can own a domain name of a company with any extension (without necessary permissions) that has already carved out a niche for itself online. It is thus worth pondering what prompted a Russian search engine giant to let a foreign governmental agency acquire its domain name.
Vishal Ingole November 28, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
All the Things Watson Could Do
November 21, 2016
One of our favorite artificial intelligence topics has made the news again: Watson. Technology Review focuses on Watson’s job descriptions and his emergence in new fields, “IBM’s Watson Is Everywhere-But What Is It?” We all know that Watson won Jeopardy and has been deployed as the ultimate business intelligence solution, but what exactly does Watson do for a company?
The truth about Watson’s Jeopardy appearance is that very little of the technology was used. In reality, Watson is an umbrella name IBM uses for an entire group of their machine learning and artificial intelligence technology. The Watson brand is employed in a variety of ways from medical disease interpretation to creating new recipes via experimentation. The technology can be used for many industries and applied to a variety of scenarios. It all depends on what the business needs resolved. There is another problem:
Beyond the marketing hype, Watson is an interesting and potentially important AI effort. That’s because, for all the excitement over the ways in which companies like Google and Facebook are harnessing AI, no one has yet worked out how AI is going to fit into many workplaces. IBM is trying to make it easier for companies to apply these techniques, and to tap into the expertise required to do so.
IBM is experiencing problems of its own, but beyond those another consideration to take is Watson’s expense. Businesses are usually eager to incorporate new technology, if the benefit is huge. However, they are reluctant for the initial payout, especially if the technology is still experimental and not standard yet. Nobody wants to be a guinea pig, but someone needs to set the pace for everyone else. So who wants to deploy Watson?
Whitney Grace, November 21, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Dark Web Is a Double Edged Sword
November 3, 2016
Apart from hackers and criminals of all kind, the Dark Web is also used by whistleblowers and oppressed citizens for communicating. The Dark Web thus is one of the most secure modes of communicating online; more than secure apps like WhatsApp.
The Newsweek in an article titled How the Dark Web Works and What It Looks Like says:
Dark web technologies are robustly built without central points of weakness, making it hard for authorities to infiltrate. Another issue for law enforcement is that—like most things—the dark web and its technologies can also be used for both good and evil.
Despite backdoors and exploits, law enforcement agencies find it difficult to track Dark Web participants. Few technology companies like Facebook, Microsoft, and Google through its messenger apps promise to provide end-to-end encryption to its users. However, the same companies now are harvesting data from these apps for commercial purposes. If that is the case, these apps can no longer be trusted. As pointed out by the article:
And yet some of these same communications companies have been harvesting user data for their own internal processes. Famously, Facebook enabled encryption on WhatsApp, protecting the communications from prying eyes, but could still look at data in the app itself.
Thus, for now, it seems Dark Web is the only form of secure communication online. It, however, needs to be seen how long the formless and headless entity called Dark Web remains invincible.
Vishal Ingole, November 3, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Machine Learning Changes the Way We Learn from Data
October 26, 2016
The technology blog post from Danial Miessler titled Machine Learning is the New Statistics strives to convey a sense of how crucial Machine Learning has become in terms of how we gather information about the world around us. Rather than dismissing Machine Learning as a buzzword, the author heralds Machine Learning as an advancement in our ability to engage with the world around us. The article states,
So Machine Learning is not merely a new trick, a trend, or even a milestone. It’s not like the next gadget, instant messaging, or smartphones, or even the move to mobile. It’s nothing less than a foundational upgrade to our ability to learn about the world, which applies to nearly everything else we care about. Statistics greatly magnified our ability to do that, and Machine Learning will take us even further.
The article breaks down the steps of our ability to analyze our own reality, moving from randomly explaining events, to explanations based on the past, to explanations based on comparisons with numerous trends and metadata. The article positions Machine Learning as the next step, involving an explanation that compares events but simultaneously progresses the comparison by coming up with new models. The difference is of course that Machine Learning offers the ability of continuous model improvement. If you are interested, the blog also offers a Machine Learning Primer.
Chelsea Kerwin, October 26, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Partnership Aims to Establish AI Conventions
October 24, 2016
Artificial intelligence research has been booming, and it is easy to see why— recent advances in the field have opened some exciting possibilities, both for business and society as a whole. Still, it is important to proceed carefully, given the potential dangers of relying too much on the judgement of algorithms. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on a joint effort to develop some AI principles and best practices in its article, “Why This AI Partnership Could Bring Profits to These Tech Titans.” Writer Chiradeep BasuMallick explains:
Given this backdrop, the grandly named Partnership on AI to Benefit People and Society is a bold move by Alphabet, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft. These globally revered companies are literally creating a technology Justice League on a quest to shape public/government opinion on AI and to push for friendly policies regarding its application and general audience acceptability. And it should reward investors along the way.
The job at hand is very simple: Create a wave of goodwill for AI, talk about the best practices and then indirectly push for change. Remember, global laws are still obscure when it comes to AI and its impact.
Curiously enough, this elite team is missing two major heavyweights. Apple and Tesla Motors are notably absent. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, always secretive about AI work, though we know about the estimated $200 million Turi project, is probably waiting for a more opportune moment. And Elon Musk, co-founder, chief executive and product architect of Tesla Motors, has his own platform to promote technology, called OpenAI.
Along with representatives of each participating company, the partnership also includes some independent experts in the AI field. To say that technology is advancing faster than the law can keep up with is a vast understatement. This ongoing imbalance underscores the urgency of this group’s mission to develop best practices for companies and recommendations for legislators. Their work could do a lot to shape the future of AI and, by extension, society itself. Stay tuned.
Cynthia Murrell, October 24, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
The Design of Our Future
September 26, 2016
An article at Co.Exist suggests we all pause to consider what we want our world to look like, in “We Need To Spend More Time Questioning Our Technology-Driven Future.” Along with the boundless potential of today’s fast-evolving technology come consequences, many of them unforeseen. Writer Ben Schiller cites futurist Gerd Leonhard, author of the book, Technology vs. Humanity. Far from a modern Luddite, Leonhard is a consultant for Google and a daily advocate for the wonders of advancing technology. His thorough understanding of the topic allows him to see potential pitfalls, as well.
The shape of technology today calls for society to update the way it approaches doing business, says Leonhard, and move past the “industrial-age paradigm of profit and growth at all costs, or some outmoded technological imperative that may have served us well in the 1980s.” He also points to the environmental problems created by fossil fuel companies as an example—if we aren’t careful, the AI and genetic engineering fields could develop their own “externalities,” or problems others will pay for, one way or another. Can we even imagine all the ways either of those fields could potentially cause harm?
Schiller writes of Leonhard:
The futurist outlines a philosophy he calls ‘exponential humanism’—the human equivalent of exponential technology. As a species we’re not developing the necessary skills and ethical frameworks to deal with technology that’s moving faster than we are, he says. We may be able to merge biology and technology, augment our minds and bodies, become superhuman, end disease, and even prolong life. But we’re yet to ask ourselves whether, for example, extending life is actually a good thing (as a society—there will always be individuals who for some reason want to live to 150). And, more to the point, will these incredible advances be available to everyone, or just a few people? To Leonhard, our current technological determinism—the view that technology itself is the purpose—is as dangerous as Luddism was 200-odd years ago. Without moral debate, we’re trusting in technology for its own sake, not because it actually improves our lives.
The write-up gives a few ideas on how to proactively shape our future. For example, Facebook could take responsibility for the content on its site instead of resting on its algorithm. Leonhard also suggests companies that replace workers with machines pay a tax that would help soften the blow to society, perhaps even with a minimum guaranteed income. Far-fetched? Perhaps. But in a future with fewer jobs and more freely-available products, a market-driven economy might just be doomed. If that is the case, what would we prefer to see emerge in its place?
Cynthia Murrell, September 26, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
There is a Louisville, Kentucky Hidden Web/Dark Web meet up on September 27, 2016.
Information is at this link: https://www.meetup.com/Louisville-Hidden-Dark-Web-Meetup/events/233599645/
Featurespace Raises Capital for Bank Fraud Monitoring Technology
September 21, 2016
Monitoring online fraud has become an increasingly popular application for machine learning and search technology. The Telegraph reported Cambridge AI fraud detection group raises £6.2m. The company, Featurespace, grew out of Cambridge University and its ARIC technology goes beyond rule-based fraud-detection. It scans all activity on a network and thus learns what registers as fraudulent or suspicious. The write-up tells us,
The company has now raised $9m (£6.2m), which it will use to open a US office after signing two big stateside deals. The funding is led by US fintech investor TTV Capital – the first time it has backed a UK company – and early stage investors Imperial Innovations and Nesta.
Mike Lynch, the renowned technology investor who founded software group Autonomy before its $11.7bn sale to Hewlett Packard, has previously invested in the company and sits on its board. Ms King said Featurespace had won a contract with a major US bank, as well as payments company TSYS, which processes MasterCard and Visa transactions.”
Overall, the company aims to protect consumers from credit and debit card fraud. The article reminds us that millions of consumers have been affected by stolen credit and debit card information. Betfair, William Hill and VocaLink are current customers of Featurespace and several banks are using its technology too. Will this become a big ticket application for these machine learning technologies?
Megan Feil, September 21, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
There is a Louisville, Kentucky Hidden Web/Dark Web meet up on September 27, 2016.
Information is at this link: https://www.meetup.com/Louisville-Hidden-Dark-Web-Meetup/events/233599645/
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