The Week in Internet News: Startup Cash for Spy-o-T Thumbnail
Technology 23 July 2018

The Week in Internet News: Startup Cash for Spy-o-T

Grant Gross
By Grant GrossGuest AuthorTechnology Reporter

Investing in hacking IoT: A startup in Israel has raised $12.5 million in investments to help governments hack the Internet of Things and other technologies, Forbes reports. What could go wrong? Toka says it’ll provide spy tools for whatever device its clients require, with a special focus on the IoT.

Encryption wars, part 348: U.S. FBI Director Christopher Wray says legislation allowing law enforcement agencies access to encrypted devices may be necessary if the government and private vendors cannot come to a compromise, Cyberscoop reports. The FBI has, for several years, complained that its investigations are hampered by encrypted devices, although many security experts say encryption backdoors will make us all less safe.

AI for good: More than 2,000 Artificial Intelligence experts have signed a pledge saying they will not participate in the development of legal, autonomous weapons systems, Gizmodo reports. Autonomous weapons posed a “clear and present danger to the citizens of every country in the world,” the pledge says.

Clamping down: The government in Iraq shut down the Internet for two days in response to protests there, CircleID says. The government ordered the disconnection of the fiber backbone that carries traffic for most of the country between July 14 and 16. The shutdown may have cost the country up to US$40 million a day in lost business, Rudaw.net reports.

AI for good, part 2: A company called Constortium.AI wants to use Artificial Intelligence to cure rare diseases, Venturebeat says. The new company wants to use AI to research cutting-edge drugs for uncommon health problems.

AI for good, part 3: Belgium-based startup VeriFlix, with funding from Google, wants to use AI to fight fake news, Forbes reports. The company is focused on determining the credibility of news video through crowdsourcing and object detecting AI.

Watch out for the WiFi: If you’re planning on a vacation soon, you may want to stay away from the WiFi networks in a handful of U.S. airports, WFMZ.com suggests. Among the 10 most hackable airport WiFi networks are airports in Dallas, Phoenix, Houston, and Boston.

Read the Internet Society’s Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning policy paper and explore how it might impact the Internet’s future.

Disclaimer: Viewpoints expressed in this post are those of the author and may or may not reflect official Internet Society positions.

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