Apple Alerts Users In 92 Nations To Mercenary Spyware Attacks

Apple,

Apple sent threat notifications to iPhone users in 92 countries on Wednesday, warning them that they may have been targeted by mercenary spyware attacks,TechCrunch reported.

The company said it sent the alert levels to individuals in 92 nations at 12 p.m. Pacific Time Wednesday. The notification, which TechCrunch has seen, did not disclose the attackers’ identities or the countries where users received notifications.

“Apple detected that you are being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID – xxx-,” it wrote in the warning to affected customers.

“This attack is likely targeting you specifically because of who you are or what you do. Although it’s never possible to achieve absolute certainty when detecting such attacks, Apple has high confidence in this warning – please take it seriously,” Apple added in the text.

Apple Support posted “About Apple threat notifications and protecting against mercenary spyware” From the post:

Apple threat notifications are designed to inform and assist users who may have been individually targeted by mercenary spyware attacks, likely because of who they are or what they do. Such attacks are vastly more complex than regular cybercriminal activity and consumer malware, as mercenary spyware attackers apply exceptional resources to target a very small number of specific individuals and their devices. Mercenary spyware attacks cost millions of dollars and often have a short shelf life, making them much harder to detect and prevent. The vast majority of users will never be targeted by such attacks.

BleepingComputer reported Apple has been notifying iPhone users in 92 countries about a “mercenary spyware attack” attempting to remotely compromise their device.

In a sample notification the company shared with BleepingComputer, Apple says that it has high confidence in the warning and urgent the recipient to take seriously.

According to BleepingComputer, to protect against such attacks, Apple recommends a set of immediate actions that include enabling lockdown mode on the device, updating the iPhone and any other Apple products to the latest software version, and seeking expert assistance such as that from the Digital Security Helpline – a non-profit that provides technical support at no cost for journalists, activists, and human rights defenders.

When describing mercenary spyware attacks, the notification highlights NSO Group’s Pegasus kit and says that they are exceptionally well-funded, sophisticated, and target a small number of individuals. 

Apple also updated its support page on the spyware protection yesterday, replacing the term “state sponsored” with “mercenary spyware,” noting that these attacks are ongoing and global and sometimes involve private companies that develop spying tools for state actors.

In my opinion, Apple did the right thing by reporting about the mercenary spyware that might be targeting someone’s iPhone. 

Representative Adam Schiff Unveils AI Training Transparency Measure

AI

Billboard reported representative Adam Schiff introduced new legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, which, if passed, would require AI companies to disclose which copyrighted works were used to train their models, or face a financial penalty.

Called the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act, the new bill would apply to both new models and retroactively to previously released and used generative AI systems.

Generative AI models are trained on up to trillions of existing works. In some cases, data sets, which can include anything from film scripts to news articles to music, are licensed from copyright owners, but often these models will scrape the internet for large swaths of content, some of which is copyrighted, without the consent or knowledge of the author.

Many of the world’s largest AI companies have publicly defended this practice, calling it “fair use,” but many of those working in creative industries take the position that this is a widespread form of copyright infringement.

The Hill reported Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) unveiled legislation on Tuesday that would require companies using copyrighted material to train their generative artificial intelligence models to publicly disclose all of the work that they used it to do.

The bill, called the “Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act,” would require people creating training datasets — or making any significant changes to a dataset — to submit a notice to the Register of Copyrights with a “detailed summary of any copyrighted works used” and the URL for any publicly available material.

According to The Hill, the bill would require notice be filed no later than 30 days after the AI system is available to the public for use. It would also apply retroactively to AI systems already publicly available, and they would have 30 days to submit the notice once the bill goes into effect.

The Register of Copyrights would then publish an online database available to the public with all the notices.

The Guardian reported a new bill introduced in the US Congress on Tuesday intends to force artificial intelligence companies to reveal the copyrighted material they use to make their generative AI models. 

The legislation adds to a growing number of attempts from lawmakers, news outlets, and artists to establish how AI firms use creative works like songs, visual art, books and movies to train their software – and whether those companies are illegally building their tools off copyrighted content.

The bill would need companies to file such documents at least 30 days before publicly debuting their AI tools, or face a financial penalty. Such datasets encompass billions of lines of text and images or millions of hours of music and movies.

“AI has the disruptive potential of changing our economy, our political system, and our day-to-day lives. We must balance the immense potential of AI with the crucial need for ethical guidelines and protections,” Schiff said in a statement.

In my opinion, if this bill is passed, it could require those who feed copyrighted works into their generative AI models to endure some sort of financial penalty. I’m not a fan of those who secretly steal other creator’s works for their own benefit.

Automattic Announces The World’s Best Inbox Just Got Better

Automattic,

Messaging today is a mess, Automattic wrote. We have endless chat apps on our phones, each with different contacts and notification settings, making it all too easy to accidentally ghost family and friends.

That’s why we’re excited to announce today that Automatic has acquired Beeper, a universal messaging app that combines 14 different chat networks in one inbox. We began investing in messaging last year when we acquired Texts.com. Now, two of the most exciting teams in tech will work together to push the boundaries of messaging, giving us one app that will improve our focus and the way we communicate.

The best and only messaging app you’ll ever need

Beeper has been a leader in simplifying chat apps with a focus on streamlined user experiences. As the teams go through organizational changes,Texts and Beeper will merge under the Beeper brand. But the good stuff you already love isn’t changing! End-to-end encryption keeps your conversations secure, and you’ll have access to well over a dozen app integrations, with even more to come.

Eric Migicovsky, Beeper CEO -> Automattic Head of Messaging wrote:

I’m excited to announce that Beeper has been acquired by Automattic. This acquisition marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter as we continue our mission to create the best chat app on earth.

If you haven’t heard of Beeper before, welcome! We make a universal chat app — one app to send and receive messages on 14 different chat networks. You might have also heard about Beeper Mini, our briefly available iMessage-on-Android app.

In many ways, our journey has only just begun. Beeper has just over 115,000 users and was, until today, in beta. Given the state of the messaging landscape today, we believe there is a huge opportunity for us to push boundaries and create new experiences in chat. The majority of other chat apps have stagnated, entrenched in their positions with no significant new players emerging since Discord’s launch in 2015.

Given the state of the messaging world, we’ve long felt the need for a strong ally with the resources to support us on our quest. Automattic has a long history of putting user control and privacy first with open source, and great bilateral relationships with Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Matrix and others that we hope can usher in a new era of collaboration.

TechCrunch reported WordPress.com owner Automattic is acquiring Beeper, the company behind the iMessage-on-Android solution that was referenced by the Department of Justice in its antitrust lawsuit against Apple.

The deal, which was for $125 million, according to sources close to the matter, is Automattic’s second acquisition of a cross-platform messaging solution after buying texts.com last October.

In my opinion, there certainly seems to be a lot of people working for Automatic that appear to be very excited about the Beeper acquisition.

American Privacy Rights Act a Step in the Right Direction #1735

Podcast

In a significant bipartisan effort, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) have introduced the American Privacy Rights Act, aiming to break the deadlock in Congress over data privacy protections. This landmark proposal offers consumers new rights over personal information, including the ability to correct, delete, or export their data and opt out of targeted advertising and data transfers. Additionally, it introduces stringent security measures to protect consumer data and allows for federal and state enforcement and private lawsuits against violations.

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Spotify Launches Personalized AI Playlists That You Can Build Using Prompts

AI,

Spotify announced that Spotify Premium users can now turn any idea into a personalized playlist with AI Playlist in Beta. From their newsroom:

We know that discovery happens on Spotify, with nearly two billion discoveries happening on our platform every day. Features like our AI DJ and duelist power those discoveries and bring fans closer to the artists they love. Now we’re providing Spotify Premium subscribers with another tool to fuel discovery and music curation. With AI Playlist in beta, you can effortlessly turn your most creative ideas into playlists.

Starting with users on Android and iOS devices in the United Kingdom and Australia, creating a new playlist with AI Playlist is as simple as typing a unique prompt into the chat. Looking for “an indie folk playlist to give my brain a big warm hug,” “relaxing music to tide me over during allergy season,” or “a playlist that makes me feel like the main character”? AI Playlist has you covered. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert playlist creator, AI Playlist pairs our powerful personalization technology with AI to deliver that perfect musical mix, just for you.

TechCrunch reported Spotify already found success with its popular AI DJ feature, and now the streaming music service is bringing AI to playlist creation. The company Monday introduced into beta a new option called AI playlists, which allows users to generate a playlist based on written prompts.

The feature will initially become available on Android and iOS devices in the U.K. and Australia and will evolve over time.

In addition to more standard playlist creation requests, like those based on genre or time frame, Spotify’s use of AI means people could ask for a wide variety of custom playlists, like “songs to serenade my cat” or “beats to battle a zombie apocalypse,” Spotify suggests. Prompts can reference all sorts of things like places, animals, activities, movie characters, colors or emojis. The company notes that the best playlists are generated using prompts that contain a combination of genres, moods, artists and decades, however.

Spotify also leverages its understanding of users’ tastes to customize the playlists it makes with the feature.

Mashable reported artificial intelligence is ramping up on Spotify. First, the company launched its AI DJ. Now, select users can use AI to help create personalized playlists based on niche prompts — even simply using emoji.

Spotify Premium users can enter promote that will generate AI playlists, a feature now available for subscribers in the UK and Australia on Android and iOS devices. The AI Playlist is currently in beta, and will allow users to type in unique prompts to create said playlists.

In my opinion, Spotify is making it easier for people to create their own playlists on Spotify. Although the feature is currently limited to a few countries, it will likely result in interesting, personal, playlists that are created by AI.

Trudeau Announces $2.4 billion For AI-Related Investments

AI,

The Liberal government is setting aside $2.4 billion in its upcoming budget to build capacity in artificial intelligence, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Sunday, CBS reported.

The bulk of that — $2 billion — is going to a fund that aim to provide access to computing capabilities and technical infrastructure.

He said the federal government will begin consulting with industry soon on a new AI Compute Access Fund and an accompanying strategy to expand the sector in Canada.

“We want to help companies adopt AI in a way that will have positive impacts for everyone,” Trudeau said, adding that $200 million will go towards boosting the adoption of AI sectors like agriculture, health care, and clean technology.”

The government plans to launch a $50-million AI institute to protect against what it calls “advanced or nefarious AI systems,” and another $5.1 million will go toward an office of AI and Data Commissioner to enforce the proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act.

Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau posted “Securing Canada’s AI advantage” Here are some key points from it:

Investing $2 billion to build and provide access to computing capabilities and technological infrastructure for Canada’s world-leading AI researchers, start-ups, and scale-ups: As part of this investment, we will soon be consulting with AI stakeholders to inform the launch of a new AI Compute Access Fund to provide near-term support to researchers and industry. We will also develop a new Canadian AI Sovereign Compute Strategy to catalyze the development of Canadian-owned and located AI infrastructure. Ensuring access to cutting-edge computing infrastructure will attract more global AI investment to Canada, develop and recruit the best talent, and help Canadian businesses compete and succeed on the world stage.

Boosting AI start-ups to bring new technologies to market, and accelerating AI adoption in critical sectors, such as agriculture, clean technology, health care, and manufacturing, with $200 million in support through Canada’s Regional Development Agencies.

Investing $100 million in the NCP IRAP AI Assist Program to help small and medium-sized businesses scale up and increase productivity by building and deploying new AI solutions. This will help companies incorporate AI into their businesses and take on research, product development, testing, and validation work for new AI-based solutions.

Supporting workers who may be impacted by AI, such as creative industries, with $50 million for the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program, which will provide new skills training for workers in potentially disrupted sectors and communities.

Creating new Canadian AI Safety Institute, with $50 million to further the safe development and deployment of AI. The Institute, which will leverage input from stakeholders and work in coordination with international partners, will help Canada better understand and protect against the risks of advanced or nefarious AI systems, including to specific communities.

Strengthening enforcement of the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act, with $5.1 million for the Office of the AI and Data Commissioner. The proposed Act aims to guide AI innovation in a positive direction to help ensure Canadians are protected from potential risks ensuring the responsible adoption of AI by Canadian businesses.

In my opinion, it sounds like the Canadian Government has put a lot of thought about what they want to have in their AI programs. Prime Minister Trudeau appears to have a high opinion of what AI can do for Canada.

 

Fake Facebook MidJourney AI Page Promoted Malware To 1.2 Million People

Facebook, ,

Hackers are using Facebook advertisements and hijacked pages to promote fake Artificial Intelligence services, such as MidJourney, OpenAI’s SORA and ChatGPT-5, and DALL-E, to infect unsuspecting users with password-stealing malware, Bleeping Computer reported.

The malvertising campaigns are created by hijacked Facebook profiles that impersonate popular AI services, pretending to offer a sneak peak of new features.

Users tricked by the ads become members of fraudulent Facebook communities, where the threat actors post news, AI-generated images, and other related info to make pages look legitimate.

However, the community posts often promote limited-time access to upcoming and eagerly anticipated AI-services, tricking the users into the download malicious executables that infect Windows computers with information-stealing malware like Rilide, Vidar, IceRAT, and Nova.

Information-stealing malware focuses on stealing data form a victim’s browser, including stored credentials, cookies, cryptocurrency wallet information, autocomplete data, and credit card information.

The Record reported cybercriminals are taking over Facebook pages and using them to advertise fake generative artificial intelligence software loaded with malware.

According to researchers at the cybersecurity company Bitdefender, the cybercrooks are taking advantage of the popularity of new generative AI tools and using “malvertising” to impersonate legitimate products like Midjourney, Sora AI, ChatGPT-5, and others.

The campaigns follow a certain blueprint. Cybercriminals take over a Facebook account and begin to make changes to the page’s descriptions, cover and profile photo. According to Bitdefender, they make “the page seem as if it is run by well-known AI-based image and video generators.”

They then populate the pages with purported product news and advertisements for software, which are themselves generated with AI software.

The downloads contain various types of info steeling malware – like Riide, Vidar, IceRAT, and Nova Stealers — which are available for purchase on the dark web, allowing unsophisticated cybercriminals to launch attacks.

According to The Record, the most notable Facebook page hijack involved the application Midjourney, a popular tool for creating AI-generated images. Its hijacked page had 1.2 million followers and was active for nearly a year before it was shut down earlier this month.

Tom’s Guide reported once an account is compromised, the hackers then give it an AI-themed makeover with a new cover and profile photos as well as descriptions to make it appear as if it is run by one of the well-known AI-generated photos and advertisements to further impersonate whichever AI image generator of video generate service they want to leverage in their attacks.

During their investigation, Bitedefender’s security researchers found that the hackers responsible used a much different approach with MidJourney. For other AI tools, they urged visitors to download the latest versions from Dropbox or Google Drive, but with Midjourney, they created more than a dozen malicious sites that impersonated the tool’s actual landing page. These sites then tried to trick visitors into downloading the latest version of the took via a GoFile link.

In my opinion, the cybercriminals are obviously terrible people who want to take advantage of others. I’m hoping that Facebook has taken swift action against the crooks who likely caused harm to several Facebook users.