RSA Conference or Black Mirror? Either way, we're doomed... probably
(2023/04/30)
- Reference: 1682850131
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/04/30/rsa_conference_black_mirror/
- Source link:
RSA Conference The RSA Conference this year had a decidedly Black-Mirror-meets-modern-warfare feel to it, with AI permeating almost every session, and conversations about geo-political threats happening as frequently as plans to meet for cocktails.
Cisco's former CEO John Chambers predicted that AI will be bigger than the internet and cloud combined "in every aspect of defense," while retired US Army general Richard Clarke forecast a future where [1]warfighters battle swarms of autonomous ships and planes.
Acting US National Cyber Director Kemba Walden reminded attendees that the " [2]first 'shot' in the current Ukraine conflict was a cyberattack against a US space company." Meanwhile, Kevin Mandia, CEO of Mandiant at Google Cloud, said his firm tracked [3]55 zero-day exploits in 2022, with China leading the pack.
[4]
"Folks, we are in a whole 'nother planet when it comes to zero-day exploitation since 2019," Mandia said.
[5]
[6]
While this macro-level security talk may seem a bit heavy-handed for a largely enterprise-security focused event, it shouldn't, according to CrowdStrike Chief Security Officer Shawn Henry.
"The alignment of Russia and China, and China and North Korea, and Iran and Russia: It's disconcerting," he told The Register , during an interview at the show. "When I'm thinking about military alliances or intelligence alliances between certain countries, cyber [is] one of the issues they're aligned on and discussing and sharing."
[7]
Western governments have been warning about the cyberthreats aimed at critical infrastructure coming from these Big Four nation-state actors for years, and, more recently, lofty claims of [8]AI-related threats from China and others.
Additionally, Russia, this week, entered the AI race with its own [9]version of ChatGPT , he noted.
C-suite execs should be paying attention to these developments, Henry said, adding that these geo-political threats are just as important as, say, protecting your perimeter.
[10]
"When I talk to CISOs, and when I talk to executives, and I talk to boards, I talk about cyber being a tool in the arsenal of every single nation state," Henry said.
"There's not a first-world government that's not developing these capabilities, if, for no other reason, than to better inform themselves as they defend their own infrastructure. So this problem only gets bigger."
[11]Future of warfare is AI, retired US Army general warns
[12]US National Cyber Director: Fending off cyber threats in space is 'urgent,' needs 'high level attention'
[13]US alleges China created troll army that tried to have dissidents booted from Zoom
[14]Let's play a game: Deepfake news anchor or a real person?
From a commercial perspective, this puts a target on the back of companies doing business overseas, whether that involves building manufacturing plants or opening retail shops, he added.
"If your responsibility is to protect the assets of your company, you need to be thinking broadly about what's happening in the world, and not just about the ones and zeros," Henry said. "The second most powerful weapon in [a nation's] arsenal after nuclear weapons is cyber capability."
Henry cited Russia's destructive [15]cyberattacks against Ukraine , which began before the current invasion and include the [16]NotPetya intrusion in 2017.
"Three nations have launched destructive attacks against the commercial sector, inside the United States of America," he said, noting the Department of Homeland Security and FBI's warning about Russian hackers breaking into energy-sector networks and distributing malware that would effectively allow the Kremlin to shut off the power supply if it wanted to. This, of course, could have catastrophic results.
"If you turned off the power in any major city for more than a few days, people will start to die. Do it in the middle of the summer, or the height of the winter, in the North or in the South, and it will happen expeditiously,"Henry said.
"You can't pump gasoline, you can't move water, it all relies on electric energy, and that all relies on TCP/IP — it's all internet connected. We have built a society that relies on the internet for us to survive."
Fake news works, too
However, beyond disrupting critical infrastructure, nations can deal cyber blows to their adversaries via [17]disinformation campaigns . The US has seen this with Russian election trolls since 2016 on, as well as the Chinese [18]YouTube and social media campaigns that aim to deepen political, social and racial divides. These campaigns allow other countries to influence the way Americans think through misinformation, Henry opined.
"Yet another reason adversaries are developing these capabilities is because when you change the way people think, you're able to inject misinformation into the conversation and cause people who are allies to distrust each other," he explained. "You're weakening your adversary, and you are in a better position to have a negative impact."
Plus, the barrier of entry to information operations is "pretty low," Henry added. "I can make something up and tweet it out."
When miscreants start using AI and developing better deepfake technology, however, the disinformation becomes more believable and the campaigns increase their reach.
"The more sophisticated you can get, the more likely it's going to spread," Henry said. "And the more likely it's going to be believed." ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/27/future_of_warfare_rsa/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/26/kemba_walden_cybersecurity_space/
[3] https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/zero-days-exploited-2022
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/spotlightonrsa&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZE6QnqW75LILs8myKytiGgAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/spotlightonrsa&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZE6QnqW75LILs8myKytiGgAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/12/us_chatgpt_threat/
[9] https://www.wionews.com/technology/russia-enters-ai-race-with-chatgpt-contender-called-gigachat-585806
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/spotlightonrsa&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZE6QnqW75LILs8myKytiGgAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/27/future_of_warfare_rsa/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/26/kemba_walden_cybersecurity_space/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/18/us_vs_yunpeng_bai_julien_li/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/11/deepfake_news_anchors/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/10/us_eu_russia/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2017/06/28/petya_notpetya_ransomware/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/18/americans_russians_doj_disinfomration/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/11/deepfake_news_anchors/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Cisco's former CEO John Chambers predicted that AI will be bigger than the internet and cloud combined "in every aspect of defense," while retired US Army general Richard Clarke forecast a future where [1]warfighters battle swarms of autonomous ships and planes.
Acting US National Cyber Director Kemba Walden reminded attendees that the " [2]first 'shot' in the current Ukraine conflict was a cyberattack against a US space company." Meanwhile, Kevin Mandia, CEO of Mandiant at Google Cloud, said his firm tracked [3]55 zero-day exploits in 2022, with China leading the pack.
[4]
"Folks, we are in a whole 'nother planet when it comes to zero-day exploitation since 2019," Mandia said.
[5]
[6]
While this macro-level security talk may seem a bit heavy-handed for a largely enterprise-security focused event, it shouldn't, according to CrowdStrike Chief Security Officer Shawn Henry.
"The alignment of Russia and China, and China and North Korea, and Iran and Russia: It's disconcerting," he told The Register , during an interview at the show. "When I'm thinking about military alliances or intelligence alliances between certain countries, cyber [is] one of the issues they're aligned on and discussing and sharing."
[7]
Western governments have been warning about the cyberthreats aimed at critical infrastructure coming from these Big Four nation-state actors for years, and, more recently, lofty claims of [8]AI-related threats from China and others.
Additionally, Russia, this week, entered the AI race with its own [9]version of ChatGPT , he noted.
C-suite execs should be paying attention to these developments, Henry said, adding that these geo-political threats are just as important as, say, protecting your perimeter.
[10]
"When I talk to CISOs, and when I talk to executives, and I talk to boards, I talk about cyber being a tool in the arsenal of every single nation state," Henry said.
"There's not a first-world government that's not developing these capabilities, if, for no other reason, than to better inform themselves as they defend their own infrastructure. So this problem only gets bigger."
[11]Future of warfare is AI, retired US Army general warns
[12]US National Cyber Director: Fending off cyber threats in space is 'urgent,' needs 'high level attention'
[13]US alleges China created troll army that tried to have dissidents booted from Zoom
[14]Let's play a game: Deepfake news anchor or a real person?
From a commercial perspective, this puts a target on the back of companies doing business overseas, whether that involves building manufacturing plants or opening retail shops, he added.
"If your responsibility is to protect the assets of your company, you need to be thinking broadly about what's happening in the world, and not just about the ones and zeros," Henry said. "The second most powerful weapon in [a nation's] arsenal after nuclear weapons is cyber capability."
Henry cited Russia's destructive [15]cyberattacks against Ukraine , which began before the current invasion and include the [16]NotPetya intrusion in 2017.
"Three nations have launched destructive attacks against the commercial sector, inside the United States of America," he said, noting the Department of Homeland Security and FBI's warning about Russian hackers breaking into energy-sector networks and distributing malware that would effectively allow the Kremlin to shut off the power supply if it wanted to. This, of course, could have catastrophic results.
"If you turned off the power in any major city for more than a few days, people will start to die. Do it in the middle of the summer, or the height of the winter, in the North or in the South, and it will happen expeditiously,"Henry said.
"You can't pump gasoline, you can't move water, it all relies on electric energy, and that all relies on TCP/IP — it's all internet connected. We have built a society that relies on the internet for us to survive."
Fake news works, too
However, beyond disrupting critical infrastructure, nations can deal cyber blows to their adversaries via [17]disinformation campaigns . The US has seen this with Russian election trolls since 2016 on, as well as the Chinese [18]YouTube and social media campaigns that aim to deepen political, social and racial divides. These campaigns allow other countries to influence the way Americans think through misinformation, Henry opined.
"Yet another reason adversaries are developing these capabilities is because when you change the way people think, you're able to inject misinformation into the conversation and cause people who are allies to distrust each other," he explained. "You're weakening your adversary, and you are in a better position to have a negative impact."
Plus, the barrier of entry to information operations is "pretty low," Henry added. "I can make something up and tweet it out."
When miscreants start using AI and developing better deepfake technology, however, the disinformation becomes more believable and the campaigns increase their reach.
"The more sophisticated you can get, the more likely it's going to spread," Henry said. "And the more likely it's going to be believed." ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/27/future_of_warfare_rsa/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/26/kemba_walden_cybersecurity_space/
[3] https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/zero-days-exploited-2022
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/spotlightonrsa&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZE6QnqW75LILs8myKytiGgAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/spotlightonrsa&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZE6QnqW75LILs8myKytiGgAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/spotlightonrsa&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZE6QnqW75LILs8myKytiGgAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/spotlightonrsa&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZE6QnqW75LILs8myKytiGgAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/12/us_chatgpt_threat/
[9] https://www.wionews.com/technology/russia-enters-ai-race-with-chatgpt-contender-called-gigachat-585806
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/spotlightonrsa&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZE6QnqW75LILs8myKytiGgAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/27/future_of_warfare_rsa/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/26/kemba_walden_cybersecurity_space/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/18/us_vs_yunpeng_bai_julien_li/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/11/deepfake_news_anchors/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/10/us_eu_russia/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2017/06/28/petya_notpetya_ransomware/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/18/americans_russians_doj_disinfomration/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/11/deepfake_news_anchors/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Softly, Softly, Catchee Monkey and Leading Donkeys
The following short tale, which is recently shared in response to the US doom and gloom shared in the news item entitled " CJ Hopkins Advice To RFK Jr: "F**k It, F**k Them... Tell The Truth... The Angry, Uncensored Truth" " ..... [1]https://www.zerohedge.com/political/cj-hopkins-advice-rfk-jr-fk-it-fk-them-tell-truth-angry-uncensored-truth ...... paints a completely different picture of what is out there, booted and suited and rooting for a suppressed and oppressed human race waging SMARTR war against a dumb common foe and two-faced frenemy.
And it certainly correctly mirrors the real valid concerns and deep dark worries that an outdated and outmoded and outgunned status quo quite rightly should be feeling/expecting/fearing, and as is reflected in this EL Reg report from Jessica [Lyons Hardcastle]
Hope springs eternal and nothing is ever going to be lost to the psychotic politically incorrectly connected mobster whenever new special forces and sources arrive on the local scene with their novel almighty weapons arsenals on what are in both reality and augmented virtual reality, constantly changing and engaging virtual fields of Universal Greater IntelAIgent Games Play ..... for Hearts and Minds Capture and Captivation ...... with a vast series of Stealthy Effective Brainwashing and ReProgramming Projects
I Kid U Not .... for the following is already readily available and launched and activated for self-actualisation, AIMentoring and Alternative Media Monitoring ....... [2]https://forums.theregister.com/forum/all/2023/04/27/uk_pm_sunak_to_allocate/#c_4657877
Has the UK not informed the US [a Five Eyes Brother in Arms] of the radical and fundamental change of direction and leadership in its Future ProgramMING? Surely it cannot be another one of those COSMIC* Top Secrets one does a great deal better with whilst keeping the information well away from hostile enemies?
Are they not supposed to have a Special Relationship/Licensed to Thrill Bond ‽
COSMIC* .. Control Of Secret Materiel in an Internetional Command
"Folks, we are in a whole 'nother planet when it comes to zero-day exploitation since 2019," Mandia [Kevin Mandia, CEO of Mandiant at Google Cloud] said.
And that is an extremely conservative estimate of the troubles existing SCADA Systems and traditional generational hierarchies/oligarchies/monarchies and monopolies are stuck with and mired in, as novel competitor bases and SMARTR IntelAIgently Designed Entities run rings around them and rain ignominious defeat upon ignominious defeat upon them in fields of influence and power which do neither recognise nor accept the corrupt bullshit they're forced to be peddling to be able to continue to exercise any pathetic degree of ignorant human command and control.
And, .... How sophisticated is that of them? .... is something to ponder on, given the likelihood of the notion shared by CrowdStrike Chief Security Officer Shawn Henry ....
"The more sophisticated you can get, the more likely it's going to spread," Henry said. "And the more likely it's going to be believed."
[1] https://www.zerohedge.com/political/cj-hopkins-advice-rfk-jr-fk-it-fk-them-tell-truth-angry-uncensored-truth
[2] https://forums.theregister.com/forum/all/2023/04/27/uk_pm_sunak_to_allocate/#c_4657877