Superintelligence, Meet Toilet Paper | Cybersecurity & Artificial Intelligence
There are moments when modern technology becomes almost too advanced to understand.
This is not one of them.
According to a federal criminal complaint, an OpenAI engineer allegedly hid an audio recorder behind a television in an executive conference room. The device was plugged into a USB port and concealed in toilet paper.
Not a titanium case, but 2-Ply. Apparently, the concealment budget had limits.
Somewhere, a very expensive security system is staring straight ahead and trying not to make eye contact.
To be clear, this is an allegation. The defendant has been charged with "using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications", and he is presumed innocent.
The complaint also alleges that a chatbot account associated with the employee’s spouse received prompts about building, hiding, encrypting, and remotely accessing an audio recorder. OpenAI says its own models helped analyze the device and identify the employee it believed had planted it.
So, you are saying AI may have helped “unravel” the plan...
The AI angle is interesting. The security lesson is better.
A boardroom is basically a database with chairs. We just don’t secure it like one.
Banks and credit unions hold some of their most sensitive information in conversations: merger plans, cyber incidents, examinations, vendor negotiations, personnel decisions, and what the board really thinks about next year’s budget.
Our security systems have strong opinions about passwords. The conference-room television is often owned by nobody and operated with a small pile of remotes nobody is willing to throw away.
To be clear, nobody needs a counterintelligence team sweeping the room before the asset-liability committee meets.
We keep calling people the weakest link. In this case, people found the device.
Systems monitor systems. People notice why there’s toilet paper behind the television.
Yes, protect the servers. Protect the cloud. Protect the data.
We invest in cybersecurity.
We train artificial intelligence.
Don’t forget to invest & train your people. #Cybersecurity #ArtificialIntelligence
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