Registrars can now block all domains that resemble brand names
Registrars can now block people from registering tens of thousands of domain names that look like, are spelling variations of, or otherwise infringe on brand names. GlobalBlock, a solution already in use by leading registrars like GoDaddy Corporate Domains, 101domain, and MarkMonitor lets businesses pay a subscription fee to reserve a part of the domain space, as a means to protect their trademark. But, is there more to this than meets the eye?
Epic Games: “Zero evidence” we were hacked by Mogilevich gang
Epic Games said they found zero evidence of a cyberattack or data theft after the Mogilevich extortion group claimed to have breached the company’s servers. “We are investigating but there is currently zero evidence that these claims are legitimate,” Epic Games told BleepingComputer in a statement. “Mogilievich has not contacted Epic or provided any proof of the veracity of these allegations.”
Senator asks FTC to investigate automakers’ data privacy practices
Calling automakers’ responses to his demand for answers “evasive and vague,” Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) on Wednesday called on Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan to investigate the car industry’s data privacy practices. In a letter to Khan, Markey said in December he asked 14 major car manufacturers to offer transparency on how they implement and enforce privacy protections in their vehicles. Markey told Khan that the answers he received were far from clear and even prevaricating. Car manufacturers “sidestepped my questions or focused on the beneficial uses of this data — all while ignoring the real privacy risks their data practices create,” Markey wrote to Khan.
Stolen Donald Trump Court Files Will Be Published February 29, Hackers Say
Only days after the highly-publicized takedown of the prolific ransomware criminal gang known as LockBit, the group appears to have already made a comeback. Operation Cronos, a joint venture between the FBI, Europol and the NCA, was announced February 20 as being successful in taking control of LockBit’s infrastructure and data. In my report for Forbes, Javvad Malik, the lead security awareness advocate at cybersecurity training specialist KnowBe4, said that “we must consider the resilience of these cybercriminal enterprises; history has shown us time and again their ability to adapt, evolve, and resurface under new guises.” Malik was almost right, although no new guise appears to have been adopted.
UK government wants to use AI to cut civil service jobs
The two primary fears around AI are that the information these systems produce is gibberish, and that it’ll unjustly take jobs away from people who won’t make such sloppy mistakes. But the UK’s current government is actively promoting the use of AI to do the work normally done by civil servants, including drafting responses to parliamentary inquiries, the Financial Times reports. UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is set to unveil a “red box” tool that can allegedly absorb and summarize information from reputable sources, like the parliamentary record. A separate instrument is also being trialed that should work similarly but with individual responses to public consultations. While it’s unclear how quickly the AI tool can perform this work, Dowden claims it takes three months with 25 civil servants. However, the drafts would allegedly always be double-checked by a human and include sourcing.
