Chinese researchers hack “Unhackable” quantum encryption, reveal method
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Quantum communications systems, and quantum encryption, are supposed to be unhackable, but they aren’t. According to experts, and the pioneering companies looking to commercialise the technology, the greatest promise of quantum communications, such as the world’s first quantum video call that took place recently,...
SK Telecom launches Quantum Encryption Gateway “to make self-driving cars unhackable”
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Autonomous cars and vehicles present a clear opportunity for cyber criminals to wreak chaos on our roads, but first they’d have to break the vehicles’ unbreakable quantum encryption. If you, like many people, have ever wondered how we’ll be able to stop cyber criminals...
US Military puts the call out for autonomous AI’s that can defend its networks
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF After the US Pentagon announced it can no longer keep up with the variety or voracity of cyber attacks the US DOD wants to develop autonomous AI’s that can. After a damning admission from the Pentagon that warned that the US military can no...
The US Pentagon releases it’s plan to become a world leader in AI
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Artificial Intelligence has great promise in the civilian and military realms, and as countries weaponise it the US doesn’t want to be left behind. The Pentagon, which last year embedded the world’s best robo-hacker into its critical systems to protect them from cyber attacks,...
New AI Fake News generator is too dangerous to release, say its creators
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF It will not be long before we cannot differentiate the difference between real content and fake content, and that has a myriad of very serious implications, none of which we are prepared for. There are several very scary AI’s in existence today, take for...
World first as scientists get the “Extinction Gene” to work in mammals
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Gene drives over rule the laws of genetic inheritance, which means you can cure inherited genetic diseases forever, wipe out the entire human population, and everything in between. The phrase Gene Drive often sends a shudder down a scientist’s spine, one of awe and...
US Pentagon surrenders and admits it can no longer keep pace with cyber attacks
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the volume and variety of global cyber attacks increase exponentially this is a wake up call that we need a new way to defend ourselves. The US military’s cybersecurity capabilities aren’t advancing fast enough to stay ahead of the “onslaught of multipronged” attacks...
Futurist Keynote, London: Investing in the Exponential Future, SRP European Conference
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Incredibly powerful, and increasingly democratised, emerging technologies are transforming every sector faster than ever, and this can have dire consequences for investors if the mechanisms behind the change are not understood. Firstly, thank you to Amelie for inviting me to be the keynote for...
The Pentagon hires the world’s best poker playing AI to play War Games
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Poker is a game of bluff, and acting without perfect information, and so too is war. Over the past year the US Pentagon has installed an autonomous Artificial Intelligence (AI) Robo-hacker called Mayhem to monitor and protect its most critical systems from cyber attacks,...
Scientists find a way to turn the internet into the world’s largest earthquake detection system
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There are hundreds of thousands of earthquakes a year, and a new detection system could help save lives. The internet isn’t your phone. It’s not Instagram, YouTube, or Netflix. Behind those screens the internet is actually a sprawling network of hundreds of undersea fiber optic...
Researchers successfully weaponise AI to create a “Biometric master key”
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As criminals continue to weaponise artificial intelligence they are inevitably going to find new ways to exploit weaknesses in existing security systems. Just like any lock can be picked if you have the right key any biometric scanner can be fooled. For years now...
Google creates a neural network that picks out individual voices in video
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Not only does this technology have benefits for video search, but it also has surveillance and privacy implications. Recently I talked about a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) advancement from Hitachi that let’s its AI’s pick out and follow individuals in a crowd – something that...
DARPA propose creating an AI that can monitor the whole world for threats
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF An AI capable of monitoring the whole world for threats, of any kind, is a huge undertaking and could become the world’s first “global” intelligence platform. DARPA already has a reputation as the mad scientist lab of the US military, thanks to a range of...
Breakthrough AI hacking tool cracks millions of user passwords in minutes
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Artificial Intelligence is a cyber security game changer, for better and worse, and we need to be better prepared for what’s coming. Last year the credit reporting agency Equifax announced that malicious hackers had leaked the personal information of over 143 million people after their system...
Joint China-Russia atmospheric experiment spikes temperatures over Europe by 100 Celcius
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There are many ways we can modify our atmosphere but microwave manipulation produces some of the most extreme results. China and Russia have jointly announced that they modified an important layer of the atmosphere above Europe in order to test a controversial new military...
UK and Singapore set 2021 deadline to launch world’s first quantum communications cubesat
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Unlike traditional communications technologies quantum communications are unhackable, so countries are racing to deploy them. Highly secure global communication based on Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), a secure communications cryptographic protocol that’s based on the eerie phenomenon of quantum mechanics, could eventually be made possible...
US military genetics program to turn marine life into giant living sensor networks
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As we learn more about the genetic code and how to modify it organisations around the world are starting to look into new ways of turning nature to their advantage. A few months ago I wrote about how DARPA, the bleeding edge research arm...
US military identifies virtual nations as a potential security threat to US sovereignty
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The internet means citizens can now become part of large, virtual collectives, or nations, and there are fears these nations, with their own rules, welfare and support systems, could threaten the power and influence of sovereign nations. When is a nation not a nation?...
Inside Google’s plan to make sure AI is safe
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As AI becomes more deeply embedded into our every day lives it is imperative that there are safeguards in place to make sure it’s safe. Making sure Artificial Intelligence (AI) does what we want and behaves in predictable ways will be crucial as the...
Snowdens smartphone app turns security on its head to protect “people at risk”
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF When it comes to security and surveillance governments hold all the cards, Edward Snowden wants to change that. In today’s world digital security is just as important as physical security to those who find themselves constantly online in hostile countries or environments, and while...
