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TRUTH DECAYGrok’s ‘White Genocide’ Responses Show How Generative AI Can Be Weaponized
The AI chatbot Grok spent one day in May 2025 spreading debunked conspiracy theories about “white genocide” in South Africa, echoing views publicly voiced by Elon Musk. There has been substantial research on methods for keeping AI from causing harm by avoiding such damaging statements – called AI alignment – but this incident is particularly alarming because it shows how those same techniques can be deliberately abused to produce misleading or ideologically motivated content.
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QUANTUM REALITIESOur Online World Relies on Encryption. What Happens If It Fails?
Quantum computers will make traditional data encryption techniques obsolete; BU researchers have turned to physics to come up with better defenses.
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HARDWARE SECURITYCircuit Boards Must Be Trusted. So We’d Better Make Them in Australia
While national security debates have focused on chips and microelectronics, the role of printed circuit board (PCBs) in underpinning system trust has gone largely unexamined. In today’s contested environment, that carries strategic consequences.
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DEMOCRACY WATCHRegulating X Isn’t Censorship. It’s Self-Defense
The European Union’s landmark new content law, the Digital Services Act (DSA) reflects hard-earned European wisdom. It comes from historical memory of democracies undone by propaganda, foreign interference, and the normalization of lies. Vice President J. D. Vance and X owner Elon Musk harshly criticize DSA, framing their agenda as “free speech,” but in Europe, it increasingly looks like a coordinated push to weaken democratic institutions and empower their far-right allies.
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CHINA WATCHIt’s Not Just Software. Physical Critical Equipment Can’t Be Trusted, Either
Just auditing the software in critical equipment isn’t enough. We must assume that adversaries, especially China, will also exploit the hardware if they can.
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RANSOMWRERansomware Drives U.S. Health Data Breaches
Ransomware attacks — which involve a hacker putting encryption controls into a file and then demanding a ransom to unlock the files—have become the primary driver of health care data breaches in the United States, compromising 285 million patient records over 15 years.
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SURVEILLANCEGovernments Continue Losing Efforts to Gain Backdoor Access to Secure Communications
The spotlight on encrypted apps such as Signal is a reminder of the complex debate pitting government interests against individual liberties.
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DATA PROTECTIONHow We Think About Protecting Data
A new study shows public views on data privacy vary according to how the data are used, who benefits, and other conditions.
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COMMON-SENSE NOTES // By Idris B. OdunewuThe Future of Open Data in the Age of AI: Safeguarding Public Assets Amid Growing Private Sector Demands
AI offers immense potential, but that potential must be realized within a framework that protects the public’s right to its own information. The open data movement must evolve to meet this new challenge—not retreat from it.
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TECHNOLOGY & CONFLICTWhat if Bin Laden Was Killed in the Era of Generative AI?
By leveraging machine learning to produce AI-generated content, adversaries can weaponize synthetic media, making fact and fiction nearly indistinguishable. The death—or not—of combatant leaders is prime example of the magnitude of the challenge this emerging reality poses.
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TECHNOLOGY & CONFLICTMemes and Conflict: Study Shows Surge of Imagery and Fakes Can Precede International and Political Violence
The widespread use of social media during times of political trouble and violence has made it harder to prevent conflict and build peace.
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WATER SECURITYProtecting Florida’s Water Infrastructure from Cyber Threats
INL and the state of Florida are collaborating on an innovative cybersecurity initiative aimed at protecting Florida’s water infrastructure from cyber threats.
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QUANTUM COMPUTING & ENCRYPTIONDecrypting Tomorrow’s Threats: Critical Infrastructure Needs Post-Quantum Protection Today
Some argue we still have time, since quantum computing capable of breaking today’s encryption is a decade or more away. But breakthrough capabilities, especially in domains tied to strategic advantage, rarely follow predictable timelines. The time to act on the quantum computing threat was yesterday. The next best time is now.
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QUANTUM COMPUTING & ENCRYPTIONQuantum Computing - How it Changes Encryption as We Know It
All of the current encryption standards were created without the consideration of quantum computing and its capabilities. Classical computing would take thousands of years, or more, to crack encryption standards such as RSA or ECC. Quantum computing has the potential to break RSA and ECC encryption within hours or even minutes. AES encryption remains the most secure standard currently in use, but quantum computers will crack it in a fraction of the time that classical computers can.
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CYBERSECURITYNeed for National Information Clearinghouse for Cybercrime Data, Categorization of Cybercrimes: Report
There is an acute need for the U.S. to address its lack of overall governance and coordination of cybercrime statistics. A new report recommends that relevant federal agencies create or designate a national information clearinghouse to draw information from multiple sources of cybercrime data and establish connections to assist in criminal investigations.
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The long view
ENCRYPTIONEncryption Breakthrough Lays Groundwork for Privacy-Preserving AI Models
In an era where data privacy concerns loom large, a new approach in artificial intelligence (AI) could reshape how sensitive information is processed. New AI framework enables secure neural network computation without sacrificing accuracy.
CYBERSECURITYNeed for National Information Clearinghouse for Cybercrime Data, Categorization of Cybercrimes: Report
There is an acute need for the U.S. to address its lack of overall governance and coordination of cybercrime statistics. A new report recommends that relevant federal agencies create or designate a national information clearinghouse to draw information from multiple sources of cybercrime data and establish connections to assist in criminal investigations.