2018 April 07 | AIVAnet

7

Apr

Skype’s call recording feature is made for podcasters

Here’s a little trade secret: podcasters and radio show hosts use Skype a lot. It’s helpful for adding remote guests with minimal fuss. You usually need to synchronize with a third-party app or device to record the call at the quality you’d like, though, and that can be a pain to set up. Mercifully, Microsoft is aiming to fix that. It’s readying a Skype for Content Creators mode that records calls directly through NDI-capable software like Wirecast, Xsplit and Vmix. The feature provides “clean” copies of all call participants that you can easily drop into audio and video production apps, so you can focus more on posting your show and less on double-checking everyone’s recordings.

The Content Creators feature is available in preview form now, and should be widely available in the summer for both Mac and Windows 10 users. This might not matter too much if you’re just recording basic one-on-one audio, but it could prove to be a lifesaver if you regularly produce podcasts, video blogs or permanent livestream recordings — you shouldn’t experience the horror of a missing recording or a mangled audio track.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Skype Blog

7

Apr

The mind-reading AlterEgo headset (almost) promises telepathy with Alexa

Speaking to voice assistants, no matter how helpful they can be, is still not something the majority of us do on a daily basis. Especially in public. But what if you could “speak” to a voice assistant only by thinking about the words you want to say? Considerably less embarrassing. right? That’s the basic concept behind the AlterEgo, a prototype mind-reading wearable designed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

How it works is extremely clever. OK, it doesn’t quite read your mind, but instead it reads something called subvocalization. This is the name given to tiny, almost imperceptible neurological and muscular movements made when we say words to ourselves, inside our head. Sixteen electrodes on the prototype AlterEgo headset sense these changes, and match the signals to data inside a special neural network, and eventually activate whatever task was requested.

The headset also has bone-conducting speakers — which use your skull to transmit sound into your inner ear, rather than actually putting an earbud in the canal — so you remain aware of the outside world while wearing it. At the moment the headset has 16 electrodes, and wraps around the side of the face, with a connection on the jaw and the back of the neck. However, the team has seen similar results from a model with only four electrodes, meaning it could easily become much smaller.

What’s in your head?

What has the AlterEgo been used for so far? The team has conducted various experiments, including playing a game of chess while “telling” the opponent’s moves to the wearable computer, and getting potential return moves spoken back. Cheating, yes; but a clear demonstration of what it can do. Additionally, the device can do simple math. Take a look at the concept video to see other applications.

Lead developer on the project, Arnav Kapur, said the idea behind AlterEgo was to build an internal computing platform that “feels like an internal extension of our own cognition.” Thesis adviser Pattie Maes added the headset could help us all benefit from smartphones and the internet, without being closed off from the world by looking down at a screen, or wearing earbuds. Thad Starner, a Georgia Tech professor, pointed out how helpful “silent speech” would be in situations where voices can’t be heard — people who work in noisy environments for example — and for those, possibly including military personnel, who rely on hand gestures to communicate when sound would give away their position, or even for people who don’t have the ability to speak at all.

For us, internally talking to Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa, and getting the same results as we would with a vocalized sound could change the way people think about these tools. Yes, the AlterEgo would have to shrink in size to become less intrusive — which do you prefer, speaking out loud to your phone, or wearing the AlterEgo — but the potential is exciting.

Currently the AlterEgo is a prototype used for research, and not available to buy; but it’s possible we could see the technology being investigated here in next-generation devices we use as regularly as we do smartphones today.

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7

Apr

Meet the HoneyBot, a decoy robot designed to trick hackers

Bosses don’t usually approve of their employees roaming around, pretending to work. But that’s exactly what a new robot named the HoneyBot is designed to do.

Developed by engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the HoneyBot is a four-wheeled decoy robot designed to bait hackers, and then fool them into thinking they’ve successfully exploited a functional factory machine.

“The HoneyBot is the first software hybrid interaction honeypot specifically designed for networked robotic systems,” Celine Irvene, a Georgia Tech graduate student who worked on the HoneyBot project, told Digital Trends. “It demonstrates that traditional computer security concepts, with slight modifications, can successfully be applied to other domains, such as robotics. This is exciting because in fields with critical systems subject to compromise, where security is not typically the main concern, it demonstrates a possible mechanism for defending and protecting them.”

Everything seems to be connected nowadays. And whether it’s a smart refrigerator, a networked MRI machine, or an internet-enabled factory robot, all connected devices run the risk of being hacked.

As its name suggests, the HoneyBot is based on the concept of honeypots, decoy computers that IT security firms use to lure, detect, and thwart hackers.

By using false sensor data, the HoneyBot pretends to be a functional factory robot, tricking hackers into setting it as a target. Once hacked, the robot can digitally simulate unsafe actions while physically performing safe ones. To remote users, the system response will look like the robot is following their unsafe exploits. In reality, the HoneyBot continues on its safe path. As hackers mess around with the false system, they leave behind valuable data that firms can use to better secure the network.

But if honeypots already abound, what’s the need for a robot?

“The importance of a physical hardware system over a purely software system can be summed in one word,” Irvene said, “believability.”

“The ingenuity behind the HoneyBot is that it is a physical system that will operate completely normal under ‘safe’ conditions,” she continued. “But once its triggered by an ‘unsafe’ action it switches into simulation mode, where it transmits responses back to the end user that come from device models, which have been previously built and utilize device physics to be as realistic as possible. The ability to accurately model device physics is lost on software systems and this greatly reduces the chances of fooling an intelligent attacker.”

There’s no set date for when the HoneyBot will be available. Irvene admits there’s more work needed to make the HoneyBot more believable to hackers, such as making the system more robust. But in blind trials the HoneyBot successfully tricked participants into thinking it was following their commands.

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7

Apr

Infected online chat service stole payment info at Best Buy, Delta, Sears, more

Online chat service provider [24]7.ai, used by Delta, Best Buy, and numerous other companies faced a “cyber incident” from September 26 to October 12, 2017. The company didn’t notify its list of clients until last month, stating that hackers may have accessed “certain customer payment information.” SkyMiles, personal data, passport details, and other similar information was not compromised.

In response, Delta said it took immediate action to assess the possible damage.

“Delta immediately began working with [24]7.ai to understand any potential impact the incident had on Delta customers, delta.com, or any Delta computer system,” Delta stated. “We also engaged federal law enforcement and forensic teams and have confirmed that the incident was resolved by [24]7.ai last October.”

[24]7.ai discovered malware collecting payment information in its software on October 12, 2017. The chat service provider implemented a fix immediately, and then conducted an internal investigation with forensics and law enforcement between November 2017 and March 2018. Delta didn’t know about the incident until March 28 and removed the chat tool from its website the next day. Both [24]7.ai and Delta informed the public on April 4.

The hack possibly affects only a “small subset” of Delta’s customers, but the company can’t confirm if customer data was actually accessed by hackers and compromised. The investigation is ongoing, thus Delta launched a dedicated website to provide the latest developments in the [24]7.ai attack.

Delta’s site specifically states that malware present in software used by [24]7.ai potentially exposed payment information of several hundred thousand customers using Delta’s PC-accessed website. Even more, customers didn’t have to interact with the chat tool to be hit by the hack. The attack did not affect the Fly Delta app, the mobile website, or Delta’s computers.

So what did the hackers obtain? Customer names, addresses, payment card numbers, CVV numbers, and expiration dates. Customers who used the Delta Wallet service weren’t affected, as the malware could only grab information entered on the screen. Delta Wallet “masks” this sensitive information.

“Delta will be working diligently to directly contact customers, including by first-class postal mail, who may have been impacted by the [24]7.ai cyber incident,” Delta states. “Delta will also launch a dedicated phone line and website for the small subset of customers who were impacted so we can address their concerns.”

Other companies affected by the [24]7.ai cyber incident include Best Buy, Boeing Co., Hudson Bay Co., Sears Holdings Corp., Under Armour Inc., and more. Sears said it wasn’t notified of the breach until mid-March and believes that the hack affected less than 100,000 customers. Upon notification, Sears informed credit card companies to prevent possible fraud.

“Customers using a Sears-branded credit card were not impacted,” the company states in a blog. “In addition, there is no evidence that our stores were compromised or that any internal Sears systems were accessed by those responsible. [24]7.ai has assured us that their systems are now secure.”

Best Buy says only a small fraction of its online customer population “could have been caught up in this [24]7.ai incident, whether or not they used the chat function.”

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