News of the Cyber World

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Florida Politician's Father VS AI-Powered Scammers

AI Voice-Cloning Scammers Target Florida Politician’s Father

A Florida attorney and Democrat political candidate claims he was the target of a sophisticated AI voice-cloning scam that almost fooled his father into handing over $35,000.

The New York Post reports that Jay Shooster, a 34-year-old attorney running for the Florida House of Representatives as a Democrat, recently found himself at the center of an elaborate AI voice-cloning scam that nearly cost his father $35,000. The scammers used AI to clone Jay’s voice, likely using a 15-second TV campaign ad as source material, and called his father claiming that Jay had been arrested after a serious car accident and needed bail money.

His father, a retired attorney visiting his daughter in New York at the time, was convinced that the hysterical voice on the phone was indeed his son. The impersonator, posing as Jay, pleaded with his father not to tell anyone about the situation. Soon after, a man identifying himself as an attorney called and demanded a $35,000 cash bond to avoid Jay being held in jail for several days.

The scam took an unconventional turn when the supposed attorney instructed Frank to pay the bond via a cryptocurrency machine, raising suspicions. It wasn’t until Jay’s sister and her friend discovered that AI voice-cloning scams were on the rise that he realized something was amiss and ultimately hung up the phone.

Jay speculated that the scammers might have cloned his voice from his recent campaign ad or other online video footage. The sophistication of the scam left him stunned, as he noted that “all it takes is a few seconds of someone’s voice” for the technology to create a convincing impersonation.

Russia on BRICS & International Payment System

Russia Says BRICS Building Alternative International Payment System

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Thursday that the BRICS economic bloc, led by China and Russia, is working to create its own international payment system because the existing Western system is too politicized, and too vulnerable to pressure from the United States.

Siluanov was referring to heavy sanctions leveled against Russia after its brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ever since those sanctions were imposed, Russia has been trying to create an alternative to SWIFT, the international financial tracking system established by Western nations.

“Our task is to create our own independent system, given the largely political decisions of the West,” Siluanov said on Thursday.

“BRICS is beyond politics, beyond any pressures and restrictions. Its aim is to stimulate economic growth and boost the income of our citizens,” he claimed.

BRICS was established by Brazil, Russia, India, and China as a counter to Western organizations like the Group of Seven (G7). The fifth member, South Africa (the “S” in BRICS), joined later.

BRICS added five new members in January 2024, including Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Ethiopia. Argentina was also scheduled to join at that time, but backed out of the largely left-wing and anti-American coalition after the election of libertarian President Javier Milei. Another 13 nations are closely collaborating with BRICS and could apply for membership in the future.

BRICS has long sought ways to facilitate trade between its members without using the Western-dominated global financial system, or the U.S. dollar. Despite Siluanov’s absurd contention that BRICS is “beyond politics,” the big reason for this scramble to devise an alternative to SWIFT is entirely political: many of the BRICS nations have poor-to-appalling human rights records and they resent the ability of the Western world to impose sanctions against them.

The BRICS nations have also collectively exempted themselves from making any major sacrifices for climate change, even though the five core nations of the bloc emit more “greenhouse gas” than the entire rest of the world combined.

North Koreans Using AI

Report: North Koreans Are Using AI and Fake IDs to Get Remote Work in West

North Korean engineers are using artificial intelligence and other technologies to fool foreign governments and corporations, landing overseas jobs and earning U.S. dollars to fund the regime of Kim Jong-un, the Asian Nikkei Review reported Thursday.

According to Nikkei, U.S. facilitators are aiding the Pyongyang regime in earning foreign currency to fund weapons programs. The newspaper referenced the case of Matthew Isaac Knoot, a 38-year-old man from Nashville, Tennessee, who ran a “laptop farm” with the intent to generate revenue for North Korea’s weapons program.

Knoot used the equipment and stolen identities to deceive American and British companies into hiring North Korean individuals pretending to be remote U.S. IT workers, laundering the proceeds from the remote IT jobs to accounts linked to both North Korean and Chinese actors. According to the Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, the “laptop farm” operation yielded revenues of over $250,000 between July 2022 and August 2023 per each false worker.

American authorities reportedly dismantled Knoot’s operation in August. He stands charged with aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to cause the unlawful employment of aliens, facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if found guilty.

The “laptop farm” in Tennessee is the latest in a growing list of similar cases of North Korean actors apparently infiltrating U.S. tech companies using forged or stolen identities in an effort to fund the North Korean regime or for potential cyberattacks or intrusions.

Google’s security subsidiary Mandiant published a report in September detailing the schemes of a North Korean hacker group known as “UNC5267” that dedicates itself to infiltrate U.S. tech companies. According to the report, the group, which does not operate as a “traditional, centralized threat group,” has been operating since at least 2018. Its members have been sent by Pyongyang to live in China, Russia and, in a smaller proportion, to nations in Africa and Southeast Asia.

The group uses stolen identities to apply for various remote job positions or are brought to the companies through a contractor. Some of the individuals work multiple jobs at once, resulting in multi-million-dollar revenues for the North Korean regime.

“We’ve weeded out over 50 candidates that were North Korean spies,” she said, “to the point where I had to put certain controls in place in my hiring process,” Lili Infante, founder and CEO of CAT Labs, a Miami-based cybersecurity startup, told the Wall Street Journal in June.

Similarly, the cybersecurity firm KnowBe4 revealed in July that it had detected a North Korean spy posing as a remote software engineer in their own internal team. KnowBe4 explained on its website that it received the North Korean spy’s resume, conducted interviews, and performed various background checks, which the spy appears to have passed.

Upon being sent a workstation device, the North Korean spy immediately began to load malware to the firm’s network. The spy was able to deceive the firm through the use of a stolen U.S.-based identity and by using artificial intelligence to digitally alter a stock photograph.

Since May, the U.S. has offered a $5 million bounty for any information that can lead to the disruption of North Korean financing networks and information on North Korean IT workers that have generated at least $6.8 million in revenue for North Korea through illicitly obtained remote jobs with U.S. companies using more than 60 stolen U.S. identities.

Brazilian Federal Court Sentenced Streamer to Prison

Brazil Sentences Streamer to Year in Prison for ‘Fatty’ Rant Against Judge

A Brazilian Federal court sentenced Bruno Aiub, a political podcaster locally known as “Monark,” to one year and two months in prison for “slandering” Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) Minister Flavio Dino by calling him a “fatty,” Brazilian outlets reported Tuesday.

Dino, prior to his appointment as a member of the top Brazilian court in February 22, served as far-left President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s justice minister between January 2023 and February 2.

During his tenure as justice minister, Dino made several calls for the regulation of social media and claimed that platforms such as Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and others were responsible for a series of deadly school attacks that took place across several Brazilian cities during early 2023.

The STF minister sued Aiub last year for slander and defamation over two videos reportedly published by the podcaster between May and June 2023 in which Aiub insulted the then-justice minister. According to the Brazilian outlet G1, the videos were published on the video platform Rumble.

In the videos, Aiub reportedly reacted to statements issued by Dino at a meeting with representatives from different social media platforms in April 2023 where he criticized the use of social media to promote “hate speech.” According to G1, Dino made his assertions within the context of an attack on a kindergarten that took place in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, in April 2023, in which a 25-year-old man killed four children with an ax and injured five more.

During the response, G1 stated, Monark called Dino “perverse” and criticized his remarks over freedom of speech, claiming that the minister wanted to “enslave” people.

Musk Supports Trump so CA Coastal Commission Cannot Trust SpaceX

California Insanity: Commission Rejects Space Force Plan for SpaceX Launches Because Elon Musk Supports Trump

The California Coastal Commission has denied Space Force plans for Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch crucial satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base because the governmental body doesn’t like Musk’s politics. One commissioner claimed SpaceX should not be allowed to support the American military’s work in space because Musk has “aggressively injected himself into the presidential race.”

Politico reports that in a 6-4 vote on Thursday, the California Coastal Commission rejected the Air Force’s plan to allow SpaceX to launch up to 50 rockets per year from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County. The decision came as a blow to the aerospace company’s ambitions, with commissioners citing concerns over Elon Musk’s political rhetoric and the classification of SpaceX as a military contractor.

During the meeting in San Diego, Commissioner Gretchen Newsom criticized Musk’s behavior, stating, “Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA while claiming his desire to help the hurricane victims with free Starlink access to the internet.” The commission, known for its strict defense of public access to California’s coastline, had been in ongoing discussions with the Air Force’s Space Force branch since May 2023 regarding the proposed increase in SpaceX’s satellite launches from Vandenberg.

The primary point of contention was the Air Force’s request to shield SpaceX from having to acquire its own permits, even for launches not carrying military payloads. Commissioner Dayna Bochco expressed doubts, saying, “I do believe that the Space Force has failed to establish that SpaceX is a part of the federal government, part of our defense.”

In August, the commission had approved a plan for SpaceX to increase its launches from six to 36 times per year, conditional upon the Space Force agreeing to seven measures aimed at improving environmental protection and coastal access. However, military officials did not commit to these conditions during the hearing, drawing sharp criticism from the commissioners.

Despite a seemingly positive turn in September, when the Air Force agreed to meet the commission’s seven conditions, the goodwill dissipated during Thursday’s meeting. Commissioners raised concerns about Musk’s political rhetoric, the company’s labor record, and the classification of SpaceX as a military contractor.

Commission Chair Caryl Hart acknowledged the work of the Space Force but expressed unease about Musk’s involvement in the presidential race and his management of the company. “I really appreciate the work of the Space Force,” Hart said. “But here we’re dealing with a company, the head of which has aggressively injected himself into the presidential race and he’s managed a company in a way that was just described by Commissioner Newsom that I find to be very disturbing.”

Wait for a few more years to get Tesla Robotaxis

Elon Musk Promises Tesla Robotaxis in a Few Years – Stock Drops 7%

Elon Musk unveiled Tesla’s latest autonomous vehicle concept, the “Cybercab” robotaxi, with his signature flair and ambitious timelines that have become all too familiar to investors. Promising driverless transportation in a few years with scant details, Musk’s presentation has fallen flat as Tesla shares are down seven percent in morning trading.

Gizmodo reports that at a glitzy event held at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California, on Thursday night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took the stage to reveal the company’s latest foray into autonomous transportation — the Tesla Cybercab. Billed as “individualized mass transit,” the futuristic two-seater vehicles lack steering wheels and pedals, relying entirely on self-driving capabilities powered by cameras and AI.

In typical Musk fashion, the billionaire entrepreneur made bold claims about the Cybercab’s pricing and timeline. He stated that Tesla expects the cost to be below $30,000 and that the vehicles would enter production sometime in 2026, before hedging with “well, I tend to be a little optimistic with time frames, but in 2026… Before 2027, let me put it that way.” Musk also asserted that the Cybercab would be “the lowest cost by far of any transportation in history,” even suggesting a per-mile price of as low as 50 cents.

However, Musk’s track record when it comes to delivering on ambitious promises has left many skeptical. The CEO has been touting the imminent arrival of fully autonomous Tesla cars for the better part of a decade, with the goalpost seemingly always just a couple years away. In 2019, Musk infamously claimed that Tesla would have a million robotaxis on the road by 2020, a prediction that failed to materialize. More recently, in 2022 Musk stated that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology would be able to drive without human intervention from home to work, most likely by the end of the year, another unfulfilled promise. A website tracks Musk’s history of broken promises.

The Cybercab event also featured a demonstration of the Optimus robot, with an early prototype performing basic tasks like lifting boxes and watering plants. Musk claimed that the humanoid robot will revolutionize physical labor and cost between $20,000 to $30,000 in the long term. However, details were scant and experts remain doubtful that such a price point is achievable in the near future given the current state of robotics technology. Additionally, Tesla unveiled the “Robovan” capable of carrying a larger number of passengers.

While the Cybercab’s sleek design and promised capabilities seem impressive, Tesla faces stiff competition from established players in the autonomous vehicle space. Companies like Google’s Waymo and GM’s Cruise are already operating driverless taxi services in several U.S. cities, albeit with the crucial addition of Lidar technology that Tesla has thus far eschewed. These companies have logged millions of autonomous miles and have more experience navigating the complex regulatory landscape surrounding self-driving vehicles.

Following the event, Tesla’s stock took a significant hit on Friday morning, with shares falling seven percent in morning trading. Analysts from various firms expressed their disappointment with the event’s revelations. Barclays noted that the presentation emphasized Tesla’s vision for a fully autonomous driving future but failed to highlight any near-term opportunities or provide updates on the company’s low-cost model planned for production in the first half of 2025. Piper Sandler analysts suggested that most trading-oriented firms would be underwhelmed by the robotaxi unveiling and wouldn’t be surprised if the stock sells off in the coming weeks as pre-event momentum fizzles.