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Audio: Evaluating the Effectiveness of AI Legislation in Cybersecurity with Bruce Schneier
Listen to the Audio on SanjayPuri.com
The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence in cybersecurity presents both significant opportunities and daunting challenges. On this episode, I’m joined by Bruce Schneier, who is renowned globally for his expertise in cybersecurity and is dubbed a “security guru” by the Economist. Bruce, a best-selling author and lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School, discusses the fast-paced world of AI and cybersecurity, exploring how these technologies intersect with national security and what that means for future regulations…
Audio: History of RSA Conference. Bruce Schneier. The First ‘Exhibitor’ in 1994.
Listen to the Audio on SoundCloud.com
Bruce Schneier was at the first ever RSA Conference in 1991, and he was the first ‘exhibitor’ in 1994 when he asked Jim Bidzos, Creator of the RSA Conference, if he could sell copies of his book “Applied Cryptography.” Bidzos set Schneier up in the hotel lobby where the conference was being held—and the rest is history. Listen to some great RSA Conference memories on this episode of the History of RSA Conference.
The Hacking of Organizational Systems
“There are only two types of organizations. Those that have been hacked and those that don’t know it yet.”—John Chambers
Comcast said nearly 36 million U.S. Xfinity accounts were compromised after hackers accessed its systems through a vulnerability in third-party cloud-computing software. The breach occurred between October 16 and October 19, 2023.
On Sunday, February 18, 2024, at the Munich Security Conference, FBI Director Christopher Wray said China’s cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure are “unprecedented.”
AT&T announced that the cause of its 12-hour nationwide outage on February 22, 2024, was the “execution of an incorrect process,” not a cyberattack. In simpler terms, the company admitted to human error…
Harvard Technologist Encourages Use of AI to Protect Democracy
Exploring ways in which generative artificial intelligence will affect democracy, prominent Harvard lecturer and public-interest technologist Bruce Schneier said it’s important for people to look both ways and to be unafraid of using the technology when it can help.
Schneier said he foresees an “arms race” where those who fail to engage with the technology will quickly lose ground to those who do. He offered examples of how AI can be used throughout the democratic process, including to augment polling, fundraising and campaign strategies in electoral politics, and to more routinely submit comments to regulatory agencies, craft legislation, and improve law enforcement…
Audio: Bruce Schneier Predicts a Future of AI-Powered Mass Spying
Listen to the Audio on Captivate.fm
If the internet helped create the era of mass surveillance, then artificial intelligence will bring about an era of mass spying.
That’s the latest prediction from noted cryptographer and computer security professional Bruce Schneier, who, in December, shared a vision of the near future where artificial intelligence—AI—will be able to comb through reams of surveillance data to answer the types of questions that, previously, only humans could.
“Spying is limited by the need for human labor,” Schneier wrote. “AI is about to change that.”…
Video: Why Is Regulation Slower Than Technology?
Watch the Video on YouTube.com
Cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier discusses the challenges of applying traditional systems like democracy and capitalism to the information age. He argues that these outdated systems are struggling to adapt to the complexities of modern technology, leading to power imbalances and issues like slow regulation. Schneier expresses a desire to find new solutions and a greater role for regulatory bodies in counterbalancing corporate power. He also discusses the challenges of securing democracy in the digital age, particularly in relation to social media and fake news. Topics addressed include market dynamics, network effects, and the need for new ways to regulate companies and protect consumer rights in the face of rapidly evolving technologies, such as DRM and facial recognition. Concerns over privacy and data sharing with law enforcement are also highlighted…
Video: 23andMe DNA Data Hack
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Watch cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier and genetics expert John Greally, M.D. discuss the 23andMe DNA data hack consequences, how and why it happened, who did it, and how to protect yourself.
The Best Information Security Books of 2023
Excerpt
It’s been a year since I wrote The 5 Best Information Security Books of 2022, two years since The 5 Best Information Security Books of 2021, which was preceded by The Best Information Security Books of 2020 and The Best Information Security Books of 2019. With that, as the year is coming to a close, here’s my list of the Best Information Security Books of 2023.
Information security book of the year
When it comes to information security rock stars, Bruce Schneier is on everyone’s list. He’s written numerous books over the decades, the most important of which may be his classic …
Due to AI, “We Are About to Enter the Era of Mass Spying,” Says Bruce Schneier
Schneier: AI will enable a shift from observing actions to interpreting intentions, en masse.
In an editorial for Slate published Monday, renowned security researcher Bruce Schneier warned that AI models may enable a new era of mass spying, allowing companies and governments to automate the process of analyzing and summarizing large volumes of conversation data, fundamentally lowering barriers to spying activities that currently require human labor.
In the piece, Schneier notes that the existing landscape of electronic surveillance has already transformed the modern era, becoming the business model of the Internet, where our digital footprints are constantly tracked and analyzed for commercial reasons. Spying, by contrast, can take that kind of economically inspired monitoring to a completely new level:…
Leading Public-Interest Technologist Sees National Research Resource as a Potential Foundation for an “AI Public Option”
As a chorus of transatlantic public interest groups calls for governments to build their own bedrock artificial intelligence systems, the Harvard Kennedy School’s Bruce Schneier says the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource backed by key U.S. policymakers could lay the necessary groundwork.
"It’s a start, and [could] serve as a foundation for an AI Public Option," Schneier told Inside AI Policy referring to the NAIRR, a pilot for which is included in the Oct. 30 executive order on artificial intelligence.
The NAIRR has also been highlighted in a series of closed-door AI "insight forums" hosted by Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) who has said there was agreement with top Republicans to spend …
Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.