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ReportFebruary 3, 2024Editorial DepartmentBugs/Social Media
Decentralized social network Mastodon has revealed a critical security flaw that allows malicious actors to impersonate and take over any account.
“Due to insufficient origin verification on all Mastodon, an attacker can impersonate and take over any remote account,” the maintainers said in a brief advisory.
The vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2024-23832, a severity rating of 9.4 (out of 10). Security researcher arcanicanis is believed to be the person who discovered and reported the issue.
It’s described as an “origin validation error” (CWE-346) that typically allows an attacker to “access any functionality that the origin inadvertently has access to.”
Every Mastodon version before 3.5.17 is vulnerable, as are 4.0.x versions before 4.0.13, 4.1.x versions before 4.1.13, and 4.2.x versions before 4.2.5.
Mastodon said it will not provide further technical details about the flaw until February 15, 2024, to give administrators ample time to update server instances and prevent the possibility of exploitation.
“Any detail could easily lead to an exploit,” it said.
The federated nature of the platform means that it runs on separate servers (also called instances), independently hosted and operated by respective administrators who create their own rules and regulations and enforce them locally.
This also means that not only does each instance have a unique code of conduct, terms of service, privacy policy, and content moderation guidelines, but each administrator is also required to apply security updates in a timely manner to ensure that individuals are protected from potential risks.
This disclosure comes nearly seven months after Mastodon addressed two other critical flaws (CVE-2023-36460 and 2023-36459) that could be weaponized by adversaries to cause a denial of service (DoS) or enable remote code execution .
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Welcome to AI This Week, Gizmodo’s weekly in-depth look at the latest happenings in artificial intelligence.
What to watch: Taylor Swift’s “Midnight” What to watch: Taylor Swift’s “Midnight” vinyl sales
Concerns about AI porn—or, more commonly, “Deepfake porn”– This is not new. For years, countless women and girls have been victimized by a deluge of non-consensual pornographic images that spread easily online but are difficult to remove. most notably, Celebrity Deepfake Porn It has been a source of controversy, often attracting attention but rarely legislative traction. Now, Congress may finally take action thanks to a filthy computer-generated image of the world’s most famous pop star.
Yes, it’s an inevitable story: a few weeks ago, AI-generated pornographic images of Taylor Swift Share widely on X (formerly Twitter). Since then, Swift’s fan base has been in an uproar and a national discussion has swirled around this familiar computer topic, debating how to solve this all-too-familiar problem.
Now, Legislation has been introduced to solve this problem. The Disrupting Explicitly Falsified Images and Nonconsensual Editing (DEFIANCE) Act is sponsored by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Lin Lindsey Graham (RS.C.). If passed, the bill would allow victims of deepfake porn to sue individuals who distribute “digital forgeries” of sexual content. The proposed law would essentially open the door to high-profile lawsuits from female celebrities whose photos were used in incidents like the one involving Swift. Obviously other women and victims could also file lawsuits, but wealthier and more famous people would have the resources to pursue such lawsuits.
The bill defines “digital forgery” as “a visual representation created through the use of software, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or any other computer-generated or technological means to falsely appear to be authentic.”
“This month, fake, sexually explicit images Taylor Swift Generated by the artificial intelligence sweeping social media platforms. While these images may be fake, the harm caused to victims by spreading explicit ‘deepfakes’ is very real. ” Press release Relevant to this Act. The press release also states that “the amount of ‘deepfake’ content available online is growing exponentially as the technologies used to create content become more accessible to the public.”
As mentioned before, artificial intelligence or deepfake porn has been an ongoing problem for quite some time, but advances in artificial intelligence over the past few years have led to the creation of realistic (albeit slightly bizarre) porn Much easier. The emergence of free, accessible image generators, such as OpenAI’s DALL-E and other similar image generators, means that almost anyone can create any image they want, or at least create algorithms that do what they want. The best approximation of the image. Just click the button.This leads to a series of cascading problems, including obvious explosion Governments and content regulators seem to have no idea how to combat computer-generated child abuse material.
Discussions around regulating deepfakes have been brought up again and again, even as Congress has repeatedly stalled or abandoned serious efforts to implement some new policies.
It’s hard to know whether this particular effort will be successful, though according to Wired’s Amanda Hoover recently pointed outif Taylor Swift can’t beat deepfake porn, no one can.
Today’s question: Can Meta’s new robot clean up your disgusting bedroom?
OK-Robot: Home 10
There is currently a race going on in Silicon Valley to see who can create the most commercially viable robot.While most companies seem preoccupied with Create a fancy “humanoid” robot Reminding onlookers of C3PO, Meta may be winning the race to create a truly functional robot that can do things for you. This week, researchers with ties to the company unveiled their OK-Robot, which looks like a light stand that attaches to a Roomba. While the device may look silly, the artificial intelligence system driving the machine means serious business. In multiple YouTube videos, robots can be seen moving quickly around cluttered rooms, picking up and repositioning various objects. The researchers say the robot uses “a visual language model (VLM) for object detection, navigation primitives for movement, and grasping primitives for object manipulation.” In other words, this thing can see things, grab things, and move around physical space with quite a few abilities. Furthermore, the robot performed this operation in an environment it had never experienced before, an impressive feat for a robot since most of them can only perform tasks in highly controlled environments.
Other headlines this week:
Artificial Intelligence companies just lost a lot of stock value. Several large artificial intelligence companies saw their market values plummet this week after quarterly earnings reports showed that their revenue was significantly lower than investors expected. Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft and chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices all suffered massive sell-offs on Tuesday.Reuters reported thatThese companies lost a combined $190 billion in market value. Seriously, ugh. so many.
FCC may criminalize AI-generated robocalls. Artificial Intelligence is making online fraud rampant – online fraud is already a nuisance, but now more serious than ever due to new forms of automation. President Joe Biden was the subject of an artificial intelligence-generated robocall last week, and the Federal Communications Commission now wants to legally ban such calls. FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel a statement Send to NBC.
Amazon launches artificial intelligence shopping assistant. The world’s largest e-commerce company has launched an AI-trained chatbot called “Rufus” designed to help you shop more efficiently.Rufus is described as “Expert Shopping Assistants are trained on Amazon’s product catalog and online to answer customer questions about their shopping needs, products, and comparisons.” As much as I want to laugh about this, I have to admit: shopping can be difficult. People often feel like they need to do a lot of research just to make the simplest of purchases. Only time will tell if Rufus can actually save the average internet user time, or if it will “generate” some bad advice that will make your e-commerce journey even worse. If it turns out to be the latter, I vote to lobby Amazon to rename the robot “Doofus.”
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The terms of the FTC’s enforcement actions apply only to the companies involved, and the settlement with social network Myspace over alleged privacy-related issues is no exception. But how should other companies respond?
Some people will scan the headlines to make sure their company isn’t named and then do that covering their ears thing. But savvy executives know that understanding what might be going wrong at another company is a great way to put their own company on the right track. What advice can your business gain from the FTC’s settlement with Myspace and other recent privacy cases?
Guarantee Policy. You may be tired of hearing this, but it bears repeating: review your privacy policy, and double-check that your promises (express or implied) align with your day-to-day practices. As with any other claim, what you say about how you process information must be true and supported by solid evidence. The FTC’s lawsuit alleges that Myspace’s policies did not live up to the guarantees it made. Sure, have your legal experts review it, but include your operations staff in the conversation. They are more likely to know what is really going on behind the scenes. In short, only promise what you know the facts are delivering.
Default line. Myspace’s default setting allows public access to a user’s full name. Of course, every website is different, but think carefully about your presets. Don’t make these decisions by default. If people can choose which messages are shared, make it easy for them to understand how and where to exercise their choices.
Everything but kitchen sync? According to the FTC complaint, Myspace enabled ad networks to match or synchronize a user’s friend IDs with other data, giving them access to a user’s personal information, including in many cases his or her full name. The FTC said this violated Myspace’s commitments in its privacy policy. Smart companies will consider how easily others can synchronize information, making their privacy promises misleading. (FTC technology expert Ed Felten discusses this more on his Tech@FTC blog.)
Can I order something for you? Once a company is ordered by the FTC, compliance becomes legally binding. But many of the provisions in the recent order make good business sense and cost next to nothing to implement. For example, the Myspace directive requires companies to designate someone responsible for implementing and enforcing mandatory privacy programs. Of course, data security and privacy are the responsibility of every employee. But now that you’ve built them into your day-to-day operations, does it make sense for businesses of all sizes to appoint an in-house leader to coordinate these efforts?
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Elgato fully supports HDMI 2.1. The company has just released a pair of capture cards that support the latest display technology specifications. 4K X and 4K Pro offer true HDR10 support, USB 3.2 connectivity, VRR, and the ability to capture 4K gaming content at 144 fps.
Additionally, the card actually works with newer USB-C iPad models. Elgato and its parent company Corsair say this is the first time a capture card has provided native support for the iPad. 4K X is compatible with Windows and Mac computers and captures 4K gameplay at 144 fps, you need a native monitor that supports these metrics. Otherwise, you’ll capture 4K at 120 fps. Thanks to the magic of HDMI 2.1, you won’t experience any screen tearing when using this device.
4K Pro goes one step further. This is a capture card in the traditional sense, as it sits inside your PC. You get everything 4K X offers, but in pass-through specs up to 8K and 60fps. Elgato claims the card will “turn your high-end single or dual PC setup into a live streaming engine.”
To this end, 4K Pro offers 4K low-latency passthrough support up to 240fps, while capturing 4K content at 1080p and 240fps. As you can see, the card comes in a variety of specs, so you can adjust it to find the one that best suits your streaming needs. The card also integrates with the company’s multi-app tool, allowing you to send feeds to multiple apps simultaneously. Elgato gave an example of recording raw gameplay while simultaneously streaming in OBS, Discord, and Zoom. 4K Pro is only compatible with Windows machines via PCIe 2.0 x4 connections.
These cards work with the most popular broadcasting applications, including OBS Studio, Twitch Studio, Streamlabs Desktop, vMix, and more. You can also access the company’s capture management application, which exports content as AAF files for editing in Adobe Premiere, Vegas Pro, and related software.
Both capture cards are available now. The portable 4K X is priced at $230, while the PCIe-adjacent 4K Pro is priced at $280. In related news, Samsung just plugged HDMI 2.1 support into its Q990D soundbar.
The Pew Research Center has released its latest survey on social media use among U.S. adults. While YouTube (especially) and Facebook maintained their dominance in the last poll in 2021, TikTok is the fastest-growing platform, with more than a third of adults now saying they use the app.
The survey surveyed 5,733 U.S. adults between May 19 and September 5, 2023. YouTube is far and away the most used platform, with 83% of respondents reporting using it at some point. Meanwhile, 68% of users reported using Facebook.
These two platforms are the only ones where most people of every age group are using them. However, age gaps persist – especially among YouTube users. For example, 93% of 18- to 29-year-olds say they use Google’s video platform, while 60% of those 65 and older say the same. (Facebook has only a 9% difference between the same two demographics.)
Instagram ranked third overall, with 47% of respondents saying they use it. Pinterest (35%), TikTok (33%), LinkedIn (30%), WhatsApp (29%) and Snapchat (27%) are all in the next tier. TikTok’s growth has been the most eye-catching: The ByteDance-owned platform surged 12 percentage points from 21% two years ago. This is by far the biggest leap of any platform on this list.
Twitter changed its name to X and hired CEO Linda Yaccarino during the on-site investigation.(Richard Bode via Getty Images)
Followed by Reddit and X, each accounting for 22%. To complicate matters further, Musk’s company changed its name from Twitter to X (and named a new CEO) during the on-site investigation. The company reported a slight decline in user numbers over two years, down from 23% in 2021. Meanwhile, Reddit’s user base is up 4 percentage points from 18% two years ago – despite the platform’s API controversy at the end of the survey.
Other platforms with significant age group differences include Instagram (78% of survey participants 29 and younger use it, compared with 15% of those 65 and older) and Snapchat (65% use it of people under 30 and 4% of people using it are over 65 (up). People aged 40 to 49, which includes younger Generation Xers and all but the youngest Millennials, are particularly high on LinkedIn (40%), WhatsApp (38%) and Facebook (75%).
Among other notable demographics, TikTok is particularly popular among Hispanic users, with 49% reporting using the app (females are 15% more likely to use it than men), the Pew Research Center reports. The And, given its career-oriented focus, LinkedIn has a higher share of respondents with a bachelor’s degree or above (25 percentage points higher than those with “some college education” and 25 percentage points higher than those with a high school diploma or less 43% more respondents, which is perhaps not surprising.)
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Planet A Foods, a B2B sustainable ingredients company, announced it has received $15.4 million in Series A funding.
The sibling founding team of Drs. Max and Sara Marquart founded the Munich-based company to create sustainable alternatives to cocoa. When TechCrunch first reported on the company in 2021, the company’s name was QOA.
Max Marquart told TechCrunch that the idea behind the name change is that “Planet B does not exist” due to climate change and other environmental threats faced by the cocoa production industry.
“We need to pay attention so that our planet can survive,” he said.
Climate concerns have driven chocolate prices to a 45-year high in 2023, with cocoa bean futures trading at $4,362 per ton, up 84% from 2022. The global chocolate confectionery industry is expected to grow at an annual rate of 5.6% by 2028.
Planet A Foods uses fermentation technology to transform all-natural, local ingredients like oats and sunflower seeds into cocoa-free chocolate ChoViva. This product has a melt-in-your-mouth texture and rich chocolate flavor and is available in milk, semi-sweet and white varieties. The product can be used in everything from baking to ice cream and contains up to 30% less sugar.
“I’ve always said we want to be the ‘next generation of Cargill’ and a high-tech food ingredients company that provides sustainable food ingredients to the industry,” Marquardt said.
The company’s customer base includes food manufacturers Griesson-de Beukelaer and Peter Kölln as well as Lufthansa. The company also launched a variety of products in partnership with German retailer REWE last year, while chocolatier Lindt recently launched a vegan chocolate product containing ChoViva.
Marquart expects to reach eight-figure revenue by the end of 2024 as Planet A Foods plans international expansion of ChoViva, first in the UK and then other European markets, Asia and the US. The company is also expanding its fermentation platform to other botanical ingredients, with additional products expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2024.
He plans to use the new funding to hire more scientists to join Planet A Foods’ 50-person team in Germany to scale up production of cocoa butter and palm oil alternatives to industrial levels. The company has scaled up its factory to produce 750 kilograms of ChoViva per hour.
Meanwhile, the Series A round was led by World Fund, with participation from investor groups including Omnes Capital, Cherry Ventures, Mudcake, Nucleus Capital, Triple Point Capital and Feast Ventures.
“Sara, Max and the team have created the right product to address cocoa’s widespread climate impacts,” Daria Saharova, managing partner of The World Foundation, said in a statement. “In three years, , they turned proof-of-concepts into shelf-ready, industry-ready products and forged partnerships with global giants. The fact that this Series A round was oversubscribed, despite a general decline in food tech investment, is a testament to their success.”
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Final Fantasy fans may want to spare some time to watch Sony’s next State of Play. Before the latest presentation concluded, the company announced that it would share new gameplay details and “exciting news” [fans] Don’t want to miss it” About Final Fantasy VII Reborn at the next event.It also promises expanded research for the upcoming sequel Final Fantasy 7 Remakewill be released on PS5 on February 29, 2024.
The action RPG will continue from the first game in the planned trilogy, with players still primarily controlling Cloud Strife, who joined the eco-terrorist group Avalanche during the events of the first game. ). Zack Fair, who only appeared in flashback scenes in the first film, is expected to play a bigger role this time around.Although the new game is based on the old game Final Fantasy VIIthey feature reimagined elements, new concepts, and expansions (and maybe even changes) to the original title’s storyline and character development.
Sony has been showing fans rebirth The trailer has been out for a while, but it sounds like the reveal will give a better idea of what they can expect. The company’s next State of Play event will be held on February 6 at 6:30 pm ET.
More State of Play coming soon! Tune in next Tuesday, February 6th at 3:30pm PT / 11:30pm (GMT) to learn more about Final Fantasy VII Reborn.
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