News of the Cyber World

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White House Doxxes Special Forces in Biden Photo-Op Blunder

The White House admitted to accidentally doxxing American Special Forces in Israel by posting a photo of their faces on Instagram this week, which put their safety at risk. The incident occurred after President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel, as the White House posted a photo of Biden meeting with special operators onto its Instagram account, which has 7.6 million followers.

The White House failed to blur or otherwise obscure the faces of the Special Forces — which could reveal their identities to adversaries and put their missions, their lives, and their families’ lives at risk. There were other markings visible that could also identify them, such as tattoos.

The caption of the photo read, “In Israel, President Biden met with first responders to thank them for their bravery and the work they’re doing in response to the Hamas terrorist attacks”:

After retired Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Samuel Shoemate brought the blunder to the public’s attention — and after hundreds of thousands had already seen the photo — the White House took it down and apologized.

 Does the Biden administration want to get its soldiers killed by terrorists and the rest of its enemies?

Elon Musk’s X/Twitter Unveils Subscription Tiers in a Bid to Boost Revenue

X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, has more changes in store for users around the world. Elon Musk has unveiled plans to roll out two distinct subscription tiers aimed at offering users a more tailored social media experience.

“One tier will be lower cost with all features, but no reduction in ads,” Musk stated. Conversely, the other tier is aimed to be a premium offering, “more expensive, but has no ads,” providing users with an uninterrupted, ad-free browsing experience.

The introduction of the new subscriptions is seen as a pivotal move to open new revenue avenues and steer the company towards financial stability. Musk revealed that the platform has been grappling with economic challenges, marked by a substantial drop in advertising revenue and a prevailing state of “heavy debt.”
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A new subscription model, intriguingly named “Not a Bot,” has been introduced and is currently undergoing testing phases in New Zealand and the Philippines.

This approach requires new users to pay a modest fee of $1 annually to unlock the platform’s core features such as tweeting, retweeting, bookmarking, and liking posts.

Millions of 23andMe User Records Exposed in Massive Data Leak

Millions of user records from DNA testing company 23andMe have been leaked online by a hacker, marking the second significant breach in recent weeks.

TechCrunch reports that a notorious hacker, identified by the pseudonym “Golem,” has struck again, unleashing a torrent of confidential user records from the popular DNA testing service, 23andMe. This alarming breach follows a previous attack by the same hacker, who has now exposed the personal data of an additional four million users on a well-known cybercrime forum, BreachForums.

Golem stated that the dataset contains information on individuals from Great Britain, claiming it includes data on the wealthiest individuals residing in the U.S. and Western Europe. The compromised data appears to be extensive, revealing sensitive information that could have severe privacy implications for the affected individuals.

23andMe has been thrust into a state of high alert following the discovery of this breach, with spokesperson Andy Kill stating that the company is “reviewing the data to determine if it is legitimate.” In an effort to safeguard user information, 23andMe has urged its users to modify their passwords and has urged users to activate multi-factor authentication.

The method employed by the hackers to infiltrate the system remains a subject of speculation. Initial reports suggested the use of credential stuffing — a technique where hackers utilize combinations of usernames or emails and passwords leaked in previous data breaches. However, the exact strategy and the full extent of the stolen data remain shrouded in mystery.

North Korea is Using AI to Commit Cyber Warfare, U.S. Official Confirms

According to deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technologies on the National Security Council Anne Neuberger, the U.S. government has set combatting North Korean AI hacking as a “priority,” the Korea Times reports.

“We have observed some North Korean and other nation-state criminal actors try to use AI models to help accelerate writing malicious software and finding systems to exploit,” Neuberger said to reporters during a briefing on international cooperation in order to counter cyber threats.

To fight back against malicious hacking and disinformation spread by enemy states, the U.S. is focusing on putting forth “defensive hackers” using AI, she said. According to the national security advisor, the goal is to make sure American AI “stays one step ahead” of combatant AI “on the offense.”

“There’s a lot of work to be done together,” she said of collaboration with allied nation’s cybersecurity teams.

According to Neuberger, North Korean hacking of cryptocurrency around the globe, including in the Singaporean, Vietnamese, and Hong Kongese markets is a “major source of revenue” for Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un’s regime to fund his missile program.

China Creates ‘Global A.I. Governance Initiative’ to Control World’s Tech

China on Wednesday launched its “Global Artificial Intelligence Governance Initiative” at the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) forum in Beijing.

Although Chinese state media touted the A.I. initiative as an “open, inclusive, and fair approach” to A.I. development, the presence of international villains such as Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the Taliban at the BRI forum hinted at the true and much darker purpose of the Chinese Communist Party’s plans.

China’s state-run Global Times on Wednesday promoted the Global A.I. Governance Initiative as a “stark contrast to the U.S.’ restrictions and blockade aimed at preserving its hegemony.”

This was a reference to the U.S. and allied countries locking down sales of advanced computer technology to China last year, in recognition of the enormous security risk posed by the Chinese Communist Party’s malign activities, and its penchant for intellectual property theft. Tighter U.S. regulations on A.I. chips went into effect on Tuesday, infuriating Beijing.

“Even as China stressed fairness and non-discrimination in AI development so as to benefit all countries and regions, the U.S. intensified unilateral restrictions over normal global cooperation in A.I. and other technologies. Western countries have also been seeking to set rules for A.I., which experts say is mostly aimed at protecting their own interests,” the Global Times fulminated.

Jailed for Memes: MAGA Influencer Douglas Mackey Gets Seven-Month Sentence

An Obama-appointed judge in New York City has sentenced Douglas Mackey, who operated the influential pro-MAGA Twitter account “Ricky Vaughn” in 2016, to seven months behind bars for “election interference.”

Mackey was arrested by the DOJ shortly after Joe Biden took office in 2021. The case brought against him alleged that he interfered in the 2016 election because of a joke tweet telling people to “text their vote” to Hillary Clinton’s campaign line.

Breitbart News’s Joel Pollak broke down the legal case against Mackey shortly after his arrest, noting that a leftist comedian posted exactly the same joke in reverse and faced no legal repercussions:

The criminal complaint alleges that “at least 4,900 unique telephone numbers” sent a message with the candidate’s name to the number given, “on or about and before Election Day.”

It does not say whether any of them refrained from casting a real vote.

Neither the complaint nor the FBI’s accompanying press release explains, however, how the government plans to survive a First Amendment challenge.