AI against businesses: More than 40 percent of U.K. companies believe Artificial Intelligence will destroy their business models within five years, according to a Microsoft survey featured on CNBC.com. Still, more than half of businesses in the U.K. have no AI strategy. And while 45 percent workers are concerned their job could be replaced by AI, 51 percent are not learning skills to prepare for the changes.
Government AI board: Meanwhile, Public Knowledge, a digital rights advocacy group, has called on the U.S. government to create a new federal authority to develop AI expertise, as a way to effectively regulate and govern the technology, reports IP-watch.org. “The rapid and pervasive rise of artificial intelligence risks exploiting the most marginalized and vulnerable in our society,” the group argues.
Math against fake news: Professors from the U.K. and Switzerland have released a mathematical definition of fake news, in the hope that it will give lawmakers ideas on how to combat it, Phys.org says. The researchers have also introduced a model for fake news that can be used to study the phenomenon.
Vietnam against fake news: A new cybersecurity law in Vietnam is intended to combat fake news and other security problems, government officials say. But companies like Google and Facebook have objected to the law, saying it will make it easier for authorities to seize customer data and expose local employees to arrest, Reuters reports.
Giant bundle of bad: A huge bundle of ransomware is being offered for sale in a discounted bundle deal on the dark Web, ZDNet reports. Infamous pieces of ransomware available in the $750 “2018 ransomware pack” include SamSam, Satan, CryBrazil, and XiaoBa.
Don’t surf for porn at the office: Employees of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earth Resources Observation and Science Center in South Dakota used the office network to surf over to more than 9,000 porn sites, reports Securityboulevard.com. Some of those adult sites redirected to Russian pages infected with malware, compromising the agency’s computer system. Oops.
Free the speech: One member of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission suggested community-financed broadband networks threaten free speech, reports Motherboard. His thinking: Government-owned broadband networks could put speech limits on users. There’s no evidence of this happening, however, critics say.
Community networks can help close the digital divide. You can be a part of the movement to build a digital future that puts people first! #SwitchItOn