TOP OF THE DAY

House Dems join push to create AI-focused civil rights offices across government

(Edward Graham – NextGov – 4 November 2024) Several House Democrats proposed legislation that would direct all federal agencies using artificial intelligence technologies to establish civil rights offices focused on mitigating bias posed by the emerging capabilities. The bill — introduced by Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., and co-sponsored by 10 other Democrats — is a companion proposal to legislation previously introduced by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., in the upper chamber last December. – https://www.nextgov.com/artificial-intelligence/2024/11/house-dems-join-push-create-ai-focused-civil-rights-offices-across-government/400792/?oref=ng-homepage-river

Harris and Trump’s shared goal masks a fundamental AI policy divide

(Alex Krasodomski – Chatham House – 4 November 2024) There remain some differences between the US presidential candidates’ positions on the governance of artificial intelligence and other emerging technology, notably around competition. But under either future administration, US decision-making looks set to be heavily influenced by growing securitization, the aims of the US technology industry and broader competition with China. – https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/11/harris-and-trumps-shared-goal-masks-fundamental-ai-policy-divide

International Cyber Incidents: On the Question of Public Attribution

(Arindrajit Basu – Observer Research Foundation – 4 November 2024) The public attribution of a cyber incident—undertaken coherently and underscored by robust decision-making—can be a useful tool for national security. India, thus far, has not publicly attributed any international cyber incident to a specific private perpetrator or nation-state. Studying the models framed by scholars based in other jurisdictions, this brief offers suggestions on how India can approach the issue of public attribution of cyberattacks. Based on existing criteria, if a decision to publicly attribute is made, the brief proposes the following options, either individually or in combination, for Indian decision-makers: criminal indictment; international legal attribution; political attribution; and relying on third-party attribution. – https://www.orfonline.org/research/international-cyber-incidents-on-the-question-of-public-attribution

Google uses large language model to discover real-world vulnerability

(Jonathan Greig – The Record – 4 November 2024) Researchers at Google said (…) that they have discovered the first vulnerability using a large language model. In a blog post, Google said it believes the bug is the first public example of an AI tool finding a previously unknown exploitable memory-safety issue in widely used real-world software. – https://therecord.media/google-llm-sqlite-vulnerability-artificial-intelligence

Artificial Intelligence and Middle Powers: Navigating Sovereignty, Opportunity, and Risk

(Burak Dalgın – Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies – 1 November 2024) In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, countries are grappling with the opportunities and risks presented by artificial intelligence (AI). For middle powers, this creates a particularly unique challenge. Leading powers such as the U.S. and China command vast resources and can control their destiny, at least to some extent. Smaller, more nimble countries such as Singapore and New Zealand can pivot quickly with boutique solutions. However, the middle powers need to balance multiple considerations concurrently – national sovereignty and globalization, AI’s benefits and risks, personal liberties, and regulation. – https://edam.org.tr/en/cyber-governance-digital-democracy/artificial-intelligence-and-middle-powers-navigating-sovereignty-opportunity-and-risk

Will Generative AI make good jobs harder to find?

(Yan Liu, Christine Zhenwei Qiang – World Bank blogs – 1 November 2024) A new player has entered the job market: Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). Will it be the solution we’ve been waiting for, or will it exacerbate an already dire situation? Our recent working paper examines how GenAI might affect the economy – its growth, changes in industry structure, and international production patterns. – https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/digital-development/will-generative-ai-make-good-jobs-harder-to-find-

Closing the AI Gap with Africa

(Florian Cortez, Victor De Decker – EGMONT – 30 October 2024) As countries across the globe are grappling with the emergence of AI, Europe is presented an opportunity to enhance its AI cooperation with African countries, addressing concerns about a looming digital divide and the EU’s need to diversify its strategic partnerships. – https://www.egmontinstitute.be/closing-the-ai-gap-with-africa/

SECURITY

Schneider Electric says hackers accessed internal project execution tracking platform

(Jonathan Greig – The Record – 5 November 2024) French multinational Schneider Electric confirmed on Monday that it is investigating a cyberattack following reports of a breach. The company told Recorded Future News that its global incident response team has been mobilized to look into an alleged ransomware attack, which was claimed by a relatively unknown group on Saturday. – https://therecord.media/schneider-electric-hackers-accessed-internal-project-tracking-platform

Cisco notifies ‘limited set’ of customers after hacker accessed non-public files

(Jonathan Greig – The Record – 4 November 2024) Cisco said it has notified a limited set of customers about files that were accessed by a hacker during an incident announced in October. The tech giant has repeatedly denied that it suffered a breach but said on October 18 its investigation into the incident revealed that a threat actor downloaded data on a public-facing DevHub environment — a platform the company uses to make software code, scripts and more available for customers. Cisco admitted that a “small number of files that were not authorized for public download may have been published.” – https://therecord.media/cisco-notifies-limited-set-of-customers-hacker-accessed-non-public-info

Cyberattack disrupts classes at Irish technology university

(Alexander Martin – The Record – 4 November 2024) The South East Technological University (SETU) in Ireland has announced experiencing a cybersecurity incident targeting its IT systems. In a statement on SETU’s website, students were advised that classes at its Waterford campuses would be postponed so academics could plan around the disruption. – https://therecord.media/cyberattack-disrupts-classes-at-irish-tech-university

GOVERNANCE

Employee group urges centralized response to increase in doxxing and threats against federal workers

(Erich Wagner – NextGov – 4 November 2024) An employee association within the Justice Department is urging departmental leaders to take new steps to combat the recent uptick in instances of doxxing and threatening federal employees on the Internet. Doxxing refers to the malicious publication of a person’s personal information, such as home address, phone number and other contact information, and as such is often closely tied with an uptick in online threats made against the practice’s target. Officials at the Department of Justice Gender Equality Network, an employee group representing nearly 2,000 Justice Department workers, said the workforce has seen an uptick in both doxxing and online threats against individual employees as federal law enforcement began investigating and prosecuting cases in relation to the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol. – https://www.nextgov.com/people/2024/11/employee-group-urges-centralized-response-increase-doxxing-and-threats-against-federal-workers/400783/?oref=ng-homepage-river

Unpacking the ‘AI wardrobe’: How national policies are shaping the future of AI

(JP Singh – OECD.AI – 30 October 2024) Grand pronouncements about artificial intelligence appear daily: AI will produce autocrats and demolish democracies. Algorithms are replacing workers and do not lead to prosperity. Data flows remain an alarming cause for concern from governments to human rights activists. There are also optimistic declarations that say AI is the fourth industrial revolution and positively transforms our politics, economics and society. The large interdisciplinary team of AI researchers at George Mason University  uses AI to examine AI-related policies and regulations from governments worldwide as they evolve. We find regional variations in AI governance and break them down into pluralistic or autocratic systems, advanced states and those in the developing world. Increasingly, we see more detailed approaches to some of the biggest issues in AI today: the economy, workforce development, contracts and liability, data flows, transportation, and health. – https://oecd.ai/en/wonk/ai-wardrobe-national-policies

DEFENSE, INTELLIGENCE. AND WAR

Europe picks consortium for sovereign satellite constellation IRIS²

(Rudy Ruitenberg – Defense News) The European Commission picked a consortium led by SES, Eutelsat and Hispasat to deploy the IRIS² satellite constellation, as the European Union seeks its own satellite broadband system to ensure the bloc isn’t reliant on foreign entities such as Elon Musk’s Starlink. The parties will sign a 12-year concession contract by December, the Commission said in a statement on Thursday. Core subcontractors for the contract, which envisages more than 290 satellites in multiple orbits, include Thales Alenia Space, Airbus Space and Defence, Italy’s Telespazio and Thales SIX. – https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2024/11/04/europe-picks-consortium-for-sovereign-satellite-constellation-iris/