Edwin Kwan: The Australian Cybersecurity Centre, ACSC, is urging all Australians to report cyber crimes using their easy online service. The reporting can be done anonymously and reports by individuals will be referred directly to the relevant state or territory law enforcement agency.

Hillary Coover: ChatGPT and other cutting-edge AI chatbots are revolutionizing industries with the potential to replace human jobs from customer service representatives to screenwriters. However, behind the scenes, the technology relies on a disturbing form of human labor.

Ian Garrett: 2023 has been the year for state privacy laws to take off. While California has long been at the forefront of the privacy conversation, this year, several other states are joining the ranks with their own regulations. Organizations doing business in Virginia, Colorado, Utah, and Connecticut are facing new compliance challenges, and the cost of data breaches is taking on a whole new dimension.

Katy Craig: Google is side-eyeing Microsoft’s Office 365, alleging it’s been used to coax Azure adoption. Salesforce, owner of Slack, is alleging Microsoft is using its Office suite to unfairly bundle Teams.

Marcel Brown: July 25th, 2008. The FCC approves the merger of the two satellite radio companies, Sirius and XM, now known as SiriusXM. The development of the internet and streaming mobile radio has diminished the competitive advantages of satellite radio.

From Sourced Network Productions in Washington DC, It’s 5:05. I’m Hillary Coover. Today is Thursday, July 25th, 2023. Here’s the full story behind today’s cybersecurity and open source headlines.

 

Edwin Kwan: Australian Cyber Crime Reporting Resource

This is Edwin Kwan from Sydney, Australia.

The Australian Cybersecurity Centre, ACSC, is urging all Australians to report cyber crimes using their easy online service. The reporting can be done anonymously and reports by individuals will be referred directly to the relevant state or territory law enforcement agency. They receive on average one cyber crime report every seven minutes, and each report helps them build a better understanding of cyber threats and trends.

This will allow them to protect other Australians from similar attacks. They also have a tool called, ” Have You Been Hacked,’ which allows individuals to step through a series of scenarios to help them determine if they are a victim of a cyber crime. It also contains information to help individuals and businesses take the necessary steps to recover and secure their accounts if their details have been compromised.

Resources
– ACSC urges victims to report cybercrimes | Cyber.gov.au
– Report and recover | Cyber.gov.au
– Have you been hacked? | Cyber.gov.au

 

Hillary Coover: Casualties of ChatGPT

Hi, this is Hillary Coover reporting from Washington, DC.

ChatGPT and other cutting-edge AI chatbots are revolutionizing industries with the potential to replace human jobs from customer service representatives to screenwriters. However, behind the scenes, the technology relies on a disturbing form of human labor. Low paid workers in East Africa have been tasked with a traumatic job of preventing chatbot technology from generating offensive and grotesque content.

ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is built upon a powerful large language model trained on vast amounts of internet text. The data supercharges its capabilities, but it also creates a dangerous potential for generating toxic content inspired by the darkest corners of the internet.

To address this, OpenAI hired workers in Kenya to review and categorize thousands of graphic and harmful text passages obtained from the internet and generated by AI itself. The passages often contain descriptions of violence, harassment, self-harm, rape, child sexual abuse, and bestiality. The categorized data was used to build an AI safety filter to prevent ChatGPT from exposing its tens of millions of users to harmful content.

Unfortunately, the toll on the workers was severe. Many experienced mental health issues and strained relationships as a result of their distressing work. They were paid on average between $1.46 and $3.74 an hour; far below a living wage. Despite the critical role they played in making AI systems safe, OpenAI and the outsourcing company were criticized for exploiting the poverty and gaps in Kenya’s legal framework.

On July 11th, some OpenAI workers petitioned the Kenyan parliament for legislation to protect AI workers and content moderators, recognizing the hazards of being exposed to harmful content as an occupational risk.

The disturbing aspect of AI development sheds light on the ethical challenges the industry faces. While AI technologies hold immense promise, they must be developed responsibly and with care for the well-being of the workers involved. The case of ChatGPT serves as a powerful reminder of the human cost behind cutting-edge AI advancements.

Resources
– How ChatGPT took its toll on human workers | Mint

 

Ian Garrett: Coast to Coast – The Rise of State Data Privacy Laws in 2023

2023 has been the year for state privacy laws to take off. While California has long been at the forefront of the privacy conversation, this year, several other states are joining the ranks with their own regulations. Organizations doing business in Virginia, Colorado, Utah, and Connecticut are facing new compliance challenges, and the cost of data breaches is taking on a whole new dimension.

Hey folks, this is Ian Garrett in Arlington, Virginia.

2023 is shaping up to be a landmark year for data privacy laws in the United States. In addition to the already active California Consumer Privacy Act, which recently saw amendments in the California Privacy Rights Act, four more states have enacted their own regulations.

The Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, Connecticut Data Privacy Act, Colorado Privacy Act, and Utah Consumer Privacy Act are all coming into play. While these laws focus on protecting consumer information, navigating the differences between them can be a real challenge for businesses operating across multiple states.

These state privacy acts grant consumers the right to access, delete, and opt out of data collection and storage. Correcting existing information is generally allowed, except for the Utah Consumer Privacy Act. However, when it comes to sensitive data processing, the rules can vary state by state. Each regulation applies to different types of organizations based on their size and data processing volume. For instance, California’s CCPA and CPRA affect businesses with revenues of $25 million or more, while the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act targets those processing data from at least 100,000 consumers or deriving 50% of gross revenue from sales.

The cost of data breaches has never been higher, making it crucial for organizations to take proactive steps in protecting themselves and their users. The trend of state privacy laws will only continue, so businesses should take steps to build out a comprehensive plan to protect data as more laws come into place.

Resources
– More US States are ramping up data privacy laws in 2023/

 

Katy Craig: Cloud Wars

Google is side-eyeing Microsoft’s Office 365, alleging it’s been used to coax Azure adoption. Salesforce, owner of Slack, is alleging Microsoft is using its Office suite to unfairly bundle Teams.

This is Katy Craig in San Diego, California.

Google has pointed an accusatory finger at Microsoft, claiming it’s playing dirty by locking clients into its Azure ecosystem with some crafty licensing rules. The FTC, donning their detective hats, is investigating cloud market competition, while AWS and Microsoft are shouting their innocence from the rooftops.

Google’s major gripe? Microsoft’s wielding its enterprise software power to sideline competitors. But Microsoft? They claim they’ve loosened cloud restrictions rolling out the red carpet for rival cloud providers.

Despite their 10% stake in the global cloud market, Google isn’t about to back down. They’re leveraging their flexibility and adaptability, even as they trail behind Microsoft’s mighty 23% and AWS’s colossal 32%.

With global cloud spending hitting a staggering $600 billion this year, and a third going to Software-as-a-Service, this playground fight for tech dominance is far from over. This is the Cloud War, my friends. As organizations bid farewell to on-prem data centers for the comforting fluffiness of the cloud, you can bet this tussle is only going to get hotter.

This is Katy Craig. Stay safe out there.

Resources
– Cloud tensions flare as Google accuses Microsoft of vendor lock-in
– Submit a Comment on Cloud Computing Request for Information

 

Marcel Brown: This Day, July 25, in Tech History

This is Marcel Brown, bringing you some technology history for July 25th.

July 25th, 1990. Microsoft becomes the first software company to exceed $1 billion in sales in a single year, reporting revenues of $1.18 billion for 1990. This was a sign of the growth of the personal computing industry, as well as Microsoft’s dominance.

July 25th, 2008. The FCC approves the merger of the two satellite radio companies, Sirius and XM, now known as SiriusXM. The development of the internet and streaming mobile radio has diminished the competitive advantages of satellite radio.

July 25th, 2010. WikiLeaks publishes classified documents about the war in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in US military history. The leak brought to the mainstream, the continuing ability of internet sources to bring to light controversial government secrets.
That’s your technology history for today. For more, tune in tomorrow, and visit my website, thisdayintechhistory.com.

Resources
– http://thisdayintechhistory.com/07/25

 

Hillary Coover

That’s our update for today, July 25th, 2023. I’m Hillary Coover. We’ll be back tomorrow at 5:05.