News of the Cyber World

[kyonides]

Voice cloning is the new weapon in
scammers' arsenal for family emergency schemes

Voice cloning is becoming increasingly common and with remarkable accuracy through the use of AI technology. However, as with any technological advancement, there will always be those who seek to use it for malicious motives.

In this case, scammers are now using voice cloning to trick you into believing that you are receiving calls from your loved ones or friends when in reality, you are being targeted by a fraudulent scheme.
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Voice cloning is the creation of an artificial simulation of a person’s voice using artificial intelligence technology. Since a scammer only needs a short amount of recorded speech to clone your voice, they can easily steal your voice and use it for whatever means they wish.

Cybercriminals can do this is by calling you. If you answer a robocall and speak to a scammer, they can take that recording of your voice and use it as a way to mimic you. They can also get your voice through your social media, as many of you take videos of yourselves and post them to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the world to see.

Once they have a voice, they can contact a family member or friend of the person's voice they stole and pretend to be that person. That way, the person on the other line thinks it's someone they know and will more readily agree to give money or other personal information over the phone.

One way to do this is to never answer the phone number of someone you do not know. Spam calls are the perfect way for hackers to get a hold of your voice, and they only need to keep you on the phone for a few minutes.

Be careful what you post online. I know we all love sharing videos of good times with loved ones on our social accounts, however, you should consider making your account or those specific posts private so that only people you're friends with can see them.

Also, consider removing your personalized voicemail from your cell phone and go with a system greeting or default greeting message so that scammers can't steal your voice from your voicemail message and use it for a voice-cloning scam.

AI image generator Midjourney bans deepfakes
of China's Xi Jinping 'to minimize drama'

Midjourney, an AI image generator that creates realistic deepfakes, has been scrutinized recently for having a policy showing deference to China's communist government.

The company enforces a rule that users can generate fake images of world leaders from President Biden to Vladimir Putin, but not Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In a year-old message on the chat service Discord, the CEO of Midjourney, Inc. explained why the company has that rule.

"I think we want to minimize drama," Midjourney CEO David Holz wrote last summer. He explained that the company did not immediately ban images of Xi, but it was triggered by abuse from users.

"Political satire in China is pretty not-okay and at some point would endanger people in China from using the service," he added.

"I think people in China using this tech moves a needle in the world in general (in a positive direction)," Holz argued. "i think random people on here doing Chinese political satire does very little to add to anything."

The rule against creating deepfakes of Xi applies to all global users, not just those in China.

Darn policies! Now I can't use that tool to mock him by making him look like Winnie the Pooh.

Bill to ban TikTok slammed as 'Patriot Act for the digital age'

Activists and organizations are sounding the alarm that the RESTRICT Act, touted to stop foreign spying via apps like TikTok, will instead endanger basic American freedoms.

A bipartisan group of senators led by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and John Thune, R-S.D., unveiled the RESTRICT Act on March 7. The legislation is meant to crack down on communications technology developed by foreign adversaries, like China and Russia, because of national security risks.

The RESTRICT Act gives the executive branch the power to "[enforce] any mitigation measure to address any risk" regarding a "current, past, or potential future transaction" with what is deemed to be a foreign adversary. It would also apply to taking action "to address any risk arising from any covered transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States," including "interfering in, or altering the result or reported result of a Federal election." The penalty for running afoul of this law could be up to "20 years" spent in prison.

Many of the bill's detractors suggest that while it may be touted as a ban on TikTok, it would have far larger implications for civil liberties in the United States.

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, wants to ban TikTok but shopped short of supporting the RESTRICT Act, citing comparisons to the Patriot Act.

"I think we should ban TikTok. I'm a little bit more concerned with the RESTRICT Act," he said, according to Business Insider, noting that some people are "very worried that you're creating, effectively, a PATRIOT Act for the digital age."
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Others online warned about "domestic spying" and the government accessing personal devices.

State Freedom Caucus Network communications director Greg Price condemned the legislation as "absolutely terrifying" in a Twitter thread, warning, "It gives the government the ability to go after anyone they deem as a national security risk at which point they can access everything from their computer to video games to their ring light. This is a Patriot Act for the internet."

Elon Musk pulls New York Times' Twitter verified check mark,
calling publication 'propaganda'

The New York Times lost its verified check mark on Sunday after Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced efforts to crack down on users avoiding payments for "Twitter Blue."

Musk along with the official Twitter Verified account announced on Mar. 23 that the social media company would set a deadline of Apr. 1 for verified users to apply and keep their status. Those who refused to pay the $8 per month subscription for individuals or $1,000 per month for organizations would begin to lose both their blue check mark and verified status.

In a tweet reply, Musk revealed that this could include the New York Times should it refuse to pay for a subscription. Shortly afterward, the publication’s main Twitter account lost its verified status.

"The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting," Musk tweeted.

He added, "Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea. It’s unreadable. They would have far more real followers if they only posted their top articles. Same applies to all publications."

Though he did not elaborate on the New York Times losing its verified status, he later called the media outlet "hypocritical" for insisting on people to pay for their subscription while refusing to do the same for Twitter.
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A New York Times tech article reiterated on Friday that the publication would not pay for its verified badge nor reimburse their journalists for the status.