Security News Bites for January 24, 2025
Great AI Tool With a Large Dose of Chinese Propaganda and Censorship
If you want a very high performing and very low cost AI model, likely subsidized by the Chinese Communist Party, that meets or beats OpenAI and are willing to tolerate Chinese propaganda and censorship, have I got a piece of software for you. Oh, yeah, and you are willing to give your data to China. However, it is not clear whether the new administration might try to ban it, given it is a clear tool of the CCP. On the other hand, it has a number of open source versions which would be hard to effectively ban. Credit: cybernews
Chinese Behind Massive SMS Spam Scams
If you have gotten a text message says that you face a fine for delinquent E-ZPass toll charges, you are far from alone. Massachusetts is the latest state to warn residents about these scam spam text messages. As email providers become better at blocking spam, the Chinese have enhanced their spamming techniques for text messages which are virtually unfiltered and some people are falling for the scam, giving out their money and personal information. Don’t. It is a scam. Credit: Brian Krebs
President Pardons Ross Ulbricht, Founder of Silk Road
The president pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht after 11 years in prison. Ulbricht was the story that movies are made from (and were made). Think of Silk Road as Amazon, but for things like Drugs, murder, sex, kidnapping, hacking, money laundering, etc. Some law and order republicans are not happy about this, at least semi-privately. He was sentenced to life without parole. Credit: Dark Reading
Administration Tells Democrats on Intelligence Oversight Board to Resign
I am not sure that this will improve people’s trust in government, but the administration asked all Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to resign immediately. If they do, the board will no longer have a quorum and effectively, will cease to operate. Credit: The Record
The War Against Meta Continues in Europe
EU law says that consent must be freely given. In Meta’s case, the consent is about either being tracked OR paying a monthly fee to use their products. Some folks, like the European Consumer Organization, think the choice is not really much of a choice and has written to EU enforcement authorities asking them to investigate. Meta, of course, disagrees. The fundamental issue here, for Meta, is existential. Their entire business model rests on the premise of being able to steal and use your data at will. If they can’t, they do not have a viable business. Credit: The Register
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