White house AI meeting, Australia Ban, Apple Intelligence, Airport Ransomware, 23andMe Settlement

GenAI Safety & Security Newsletter (Sept 9 - Sept 15, 2024)

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This week's tech news is dominated by AI's growing presence, data security concerns, and a controversial social media policy.

Highlights:

1. White House AI meeting: Energy, Infrastructure, and a New Task Force.

2. Australia Bans Social Media for Minors: Age Limit Sparks Debate.

3. Apple Unveils On-Device AI: Privacy and Enterprise Implications.

4. Ransomware Attack Hits Sea-Tac Airport: Systems Offline, No Ransom Paid.

5. 23andMe Settles Data Breach Lawsuit: $30 Million Payout, 3 Years of Monitoring.

Deep Dive:

1. White House AI Meeting: Energy, Infrastructure, and a New Task Force CNBC

• Tech Giants Meet: OpenAI, Anthropic, Nvidia, Microsoft, Google, and others met with White House officials to discuss the growing energy and the importance of developing data center infrastructure in the US.

• New Task Force: The meeting resulted in the formation to coordinate policy across government regarding AI infrastructure, ensuring it aligns with economic, national security, and environmental goals.

• Public-Private Collaboration: Participants acknowledged the need to address the challenges and opportunities presented by AI's rapid growth.

Notice: Likely an anual event with 1 or 2 meetings in the upcoming adminitration.

2. Australia Bans Social Media for Minors: Age Limit Sparks Debate Reuters

• Proposed Minimum Age: Considering a social media minimum age limit, potentially between 14 and 16, to address concerns about the negative impacts of social media on young people's mental and physical health.

• First of Its Kind: This move would place Australia among the first countries to impose such a restriction, with previous attempts by the EU failing due to concerns about restricting online rights of minors.

• Unregulated Alternatives: An age restriction could drive young people to less regulated online spaces, potentially increasing their exposure to harmful content.

Notice: Last July, US senate also passed an Online Safety bill for children under 17.

AI Safety Treaty, 1Billion Dollar Venture, Musk's X Ban, Censorship, US Election cycle.

3. Apple Unveils On-Device AI: Privacy and Enterprise Implications The Stack

• Focus on Privacy: Prioritizing privacy and security by running most processing directly on the device, limiting data transmission to the cloud.

• Private Cloud Compute: For more complex tasks requiring greater processing power to extend privacy and security into the cloud environment, ensuring data is never stored or shared with Apple.

• New Standard for Enterprise AI: A significant shift in the enterprise adoption of AI, potentially addressing data privacy concerns and enabling companies to reimagine workflows and enhance productivity.

Notice: We previously discussed this in Previous newsletter

4. Ransomware Attack Hits Sea-Tac Airport MyNorthwest

• Rhysida Criminal Organization: The ransomware attack that disrupted Sea-Tac Airport systems in August was attributed to the Rhysida criminal group.

• No Ransom Payment: The Port of Seattle declared it would not pay the ransom, despite the potential for the group to release stolen data on the dark web.

• Ongoing Investigation: The Port of Seattle is working with forensic specialists and law enforcement to identify and mitigate the impact of the attack.

Advice: Assume your stolen data will be on the dark web despite of paying ransom.

5. 23andMe Data Breach Settlement Reuters

• $30 Million Settlement: to customers whose personal information was exposed in a data breach last year, affecting nearly half of its 14.1 million users.

• Specific Targeting: failed that ustomers with Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry were targeted, posting their information for sale on the dark web.

• Three Years of Security Monitoring: As part of the settlement, customers will have access to a program Privacy & Medical Shield + Genetic Monitoring.

Advice: You are very likely to pay for settlement and customers’ follow up protection.