Tumgik
#Protect Sensitive Data with Security
graysongarelick · 2 months
Text
Elevate Client Services with Excel: Expert Tips for Financial Consultants by Grayson Garelick
Tumblr media
Financial consultants operate in a dynamic environment where precision, efficiency, and client satisfaction are paramount. Excel, as a versatile tool, offers an array of features that can significantly enhance the services provided by financial consultants. Grayson Garelick, an accomplished financial analyst and consultant, shares invaluable Excel tips to help financial consultants elevate their client services and add tangible value.
The Role of Excel in Financial Consulting
Excel serves as the backbone of financial consulting, enabling consultants to analyze data, create models, and generate insights that drive informed decision-making. As the demands of clients become increasingly complex, mastering Excel becomes essential for financial consultants aiming to deliver exceptional services.
1. Customize Excel Templates
One of the most effective ways to streamline workflows and improve efficiency is by creating customized Excel templates tailored to specific client needs. Grayson suggests developing templates for budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting that can be easily adapted for different clients, saving time and ensuring consistency.
2. Utilize PivotTables for Data Analysis
PivotTables are powerful tools in Excel that allow financial consultants to analyze large datasets and extract meaningful insights quickly. Grayson emphasizes the importance of mastering PivotTables for segmenting data, identifying trends, and presenting information in a clear and concise manner to clients.
3. Implement Conditional Formatting
Conditional formatting is a valuable feature in Excel that allows consultants to highlight important information and identify outliers effortlessly. By setting up conditional formatting rules, consultants can draw attention to key metrics, discrepancies, or trends, facilitating easier interpretation of data by clients.
4. Leverage Excel Add-ins
Excel offers a variety of add-ins that extend its functionality and provide additional features tailored to financial analysis and reporting. Grayson recommends exploring add-ins such as Power Query, Power Pivot, and Solver to enhance data manipulation, modeling, and optimization capabilities.
5. Automate Repetitive Tasks with Macros
Macros enable financial consultants to automate repetitive tasks and streamline workflows, saving valuable time and reducing the risk of errors. Grayson advises recording and editing macros to automate tasks such as data entry, formatting, and report generation, allowing consultants to focus on value-added activities.
6. Master Advanced Formulas and Functions
Excel's extensive library of formulas and functions offers endless possibilities for financial analysis and modeling. Grayson suggests mastering advanced formulas such as VLOOKUP, INDEX-MATCH, and array formulas to perform complex calculations, manipulate data, and create sophisticated models tailored to client needs.
7. Visualize Data with Charts and Graphs
Visualizing data is essential for conveying complex information in an easily digestible format. Excel offers a variety of chart types and customization options that enable consultants to create compelling visuals that resonate with clients. Grayson recommends experimenting with different chart styles to find the most effective way to present data and insights.
8. Collaborate and Share Workbooks Online
Excel's collaboration features enable financial consultants to work seamlessly with clients, colleagues, and stakeholders in real-time. Grayson highlights the benefits of sharing workbooks via OneDrive or SharePoint, allowing multiple users to collaborate on the same document, track changes, and maintain version control.
9. Protect Sensitive Data with Security Features
Data security is a top priority for financial consultants handling sensitive client information. Excel's built-in security features, such as password protection and encryption, help safeguard confidential data and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Grayson advises implementing security protocols to protect client data and maintain trust.
10. Stay Updated with Excel Training and Certification
Excel is a constantly evolving tool, with new features and updates released regularly. Grayson stresses the importance of staying updated with the latest Excel training and certification programs to enhance skills, explore new capabilities, and maintain proficiency in Excel's ever-changing landscape.
Elevating Client Services with Excel Mastery
Excel serves as a catalyst for innovation and excellence in financial consulting, empowering consultants to deliver exceptional services that add tangible value to clients. By implementing Grayson Garelick Excel tips, financial consultants can streamline workflows, enhance data analysis capabilities, and foster collaboration, ultimately driving client satisfaction and success. As financial consulting continues to evolve, mastering Excel remains a cornerstone of excellence, enabling consultants to thrive in a competitive landscape and exceed client expectations.
2 notes · View notes
zapperrr · 2 months
Text
Securing Your Website: Best Practices for Web Developers
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, website security has become a paramount concern for businesses and individuals alike. With cyber threats becoming increasingly sophisticated, it is crucial for web developers to adopt robust security measures to safeguard their websites and the sensitive data they handle. In this article, we'll delve into the best practices that web developers can implement to enhance the security of their websites and protect against potential threats.
Introduction
In today's interconnected world, websites serve as the digital storefront for businesses, making them vulnerable targets for cyber attacks. From data breaches to malware infections, the consequences of a security breach can be severe, ranging from financial loss to damage to reputation. Therefore, prioritizing website security is essential for maintaining the trust and confidence of users.
Understanding Website Security
Before diving into best practices, it's crucial to understand the importance of website security and the common threats faced by websites. Website security encompasses measures taken to protect websites from cyber threats and unauthorized access. Common threats include malware infections, phishing attacks, SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and brute force attacks.
Best Practices for Web Developers
Keeping Software Updated
One of the most fundamental steps in website security is keeping all software, including the content management system (CMS), plugins, and server software, updated with the latest security patches and fixes. Outdated software is often targeted by attackers due to known vulnerabilities that can be exploited.
Implementing HTTPS
Implementing HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) encrypts the data transmitted between the website and its users, ensuring confidentiality and integrity. HTTPS not only protects sensitive information but also boosts trust among visitors, as indicated by the padlock icon in the browser's address bar.
Using Strong Authentication Methods
Implementing strong authentication methods, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and CAPTCHA, adds an extra layer of security to user accounts. MFA requires users to provide multiple forms of verification, such as a password and a one-time code sent to their mobile device, reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
Securing Against SQL Injection Attacks
SQL injection attacks occur when malicious actors exploit vulnerabilities in web applications to execute arbitrary SQL commands. Web developers can prevent SQL injection attacks by using parameterized queries and input validation to sanitize user inputs effectively.
Protecting Sensitive Data
It's essential to employ encryption techniques to protect sensitive data, such as passwords, credit card information, and personal details, stored on the website's servers. Encrypting data at rest and in transit mitigates the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access.
Regular Security Audits
Conducting regular security audits helps identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the website's infrastructure and codebase. Penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, and code reviews enable web developers to proactively address security issues before they are exploited by attackers.
Choosing a Secure Hosting Provider
Selecting a reputable and secure hosting provider is critical for ensuring the overall security of your website. When evaluating hosting providers, consider factors such as security features, reliability, scalability, and customer support.
Evaluating Security Features
Choose a hosting provider that offers robust security features, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), malware scanning, and DDoS protection. These features help protect your website from various cyber threats and ensure continuous uptime.
Ensuring Regular Backups
Regularly backing up your website's data is essential for mitigating the impact of security incidents, such as data breaches or website compromises. Choose a hosting provider that offers automated backup solutions and store backups securely offsite.
Customer Support and Response to Security Incidents
Opt for a hosting provider that provides responsive customer support and has established protocols for handling security incidents. In the event of a security breach or downtime, prompt assistance from the hosting provider can minimize the impact on your website and business operations.
Implementing Firewall Protection
Firewalls act as a barrier between your website and external threats, filtering incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predefined security rules. There are several types of firewalls, including network firewalls, web application firewalls (WAF), and host-based firewalls.
Configuring and Maintaining Firewalls
Properly configuring and maintaining firewalls is crucial for effective security. Define firewall rules based on the principle of least privilege, regularly update firewall configurations to reflect changes in the website's infrastructure, and monitor firewall logs for suspicious activity.
Educating Users about Security
In addition to implementing technical measures, educating users about security best practices is essential for enhancing overall website security. Provide users with resources, such as security guidelines, tips for creating strong passwords, and information about common phishing scams.
Importance of User Awareness
Users play a significant role in maintaining website security, as they are often the targets of social engineering attacks. By raising awareness about potential threats and providing guidance on how to recognize and respond to them, web developers can empower users to stay vigilant online.
Providing Training and Resources
Offer training sessions and educational materials to help users understand the importance of security and how to protect themselves while using the website. Regularly communicate updates and reminders about security practices to reinforce good habits.
Monitoring and Responding to Security Incidents
Despite taking preventive measures, security incidents may still occur. Establishing robust monitoring systems and incident response protocols enables web developers to detect and respond to security threats in a timely manner.
Setting Up Monitoring Tools
Utilize monitoring tools, such as intrusion detection systems (IDS), security information and event management (SIEM) systems, and website monitoring services, to detect abnormal behavior and potential security breaches. Configure alerts to notify you of suspicious activity promptly.
Establishing Incident Response Protocols
Develop comprehensive incident response plans that outline roles, responsibilities, and procedures for responding to security incidents. Establish clear communication channels and escalation paths to coordinate responses effectively and minimize the impact of security breaches.
Securing your website requires a proactive approach that involves implementing a combination of technical measures, choosing a secure hosting provider, educating users about security best practices, and establishing robust monitoring and incident response protocols. By following these best practices, web developers can mitigate the risk of security breaches and safeguard their websites and the sensitive data they handle.
#website security has become a paramount concern for businesses and individuals alike. With cyber threats becoming increasingly sophisticated#it is crucial for web developers to adopt robust security measures to safeguard their websites and the sensitive data they handle. In this#we'll delve into the best practices that web developers can implement to enhance the security of their websites and protect against potenti#Introduction#In today's interconnected world#websites serve as the digital storefront for businesses#making them vulnerable targets for cyber attacks. From data breaches to malware infections#the consequences of a security breach can be severe#ranging from financial loss to damage to reputation. Therefore#prioritizing website security is essential for maintaining the trust and confidence of users.#Understanding Website Security#Before diving into best practices#it's crucial to understand the importance of website security and the common threats faced by websites. Website security encompasses measur#phishing attacks#SQL injection#cross-site scripting (XSS)#and brute force attacks.#Best Practices for Web Developers#Keeping Software Updated#One of the most fundamental steps in website security is keeping all software#including the content management system (CMS)#plugins#and server software#updated with the latest security patches and fixes. Outdated software is often targeted by attackers due to known vulnerabilities that can#Implementing HTTPS#Implementing HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) encrypts the data transmitted between the website and its users#ensuring confidentiality and integrity. HTTPS not only protects sensitive information but also boosts trust among visitors#as indicated by the padlock icon in the browser's address bar.#Using Strong Authentication Methods#Implementing strong authentication methods
0 notes
technologywalabandha · 4 months
Text
Unlock Fort Knox for Your Laptop: The Definitive Guide to Bulletproof Security
Tumblr media
What steps can I take to enhance my laptop's security?
Dive into my latest Blog post and discover the ultimate secrets to fortifying your laptop's defenses! Transform your device into a digital fortress and safeguard your data like never before.
From foolproof password strategies to state-of-the-art encryption techniques, explore a treasure trove of tips and tricks to keep hackers at bay. Say goodbye to cyber worries and hello to peace of mind!
Ready to take control of your laptop's security? Arm yourself with knowledge now!
Read the full post and become the guardian of your digital domain. #LaptopFortress #SecureYourData #ReadMore
1 note · View note
rajaniesh · 4 months
Text
Unlock Data Governance: Revolutionary Table-Level Access in Modern Platforms
Dive into our latest blog on mastering data governance with Microsoft Fabric & Databricks. Discover key strategies for robust table-level access control and secure your enterprise's data. A must-read for IT pros! #DataGovernance #Security
Tumblr media
View On WordPress
0 notes
mywealthlocker · 1 year
Text
Unclaimed assets often happen when families are unaware of a deceased person's investments or assets due to a lack of communication or a missing will/estate plan. It's vital to keep financial information up-to-date and communicate with family members to prevent assets from going unclaimed.
1 note · View note
Text
This is not a drill
Tumblr media
This is IMPORTANT especially if you live in the USA or use the internet REGULATED by the USA!!!!
Do not scroll. Signal boost. Reblog.
Reblog WITHOUT reading if you really can't right now, I promise all the links and proof are here. People NEED to know this.
( I tried to make this accessible but you can't cater to EVERYONE so please just try your best to get through this or do your own research 🙏)
TLDR: Homeland Security has been tying our social media to our IPs, licenses, posts, emails, selfies, cloud, apps, location, etc through our phones without a warrant using Babel X and will hold that information gathered for 75 years. Certain aspects of it were hushed because law enforcement will/does/has used it and it would give away confidential information about ongoing operations.
This gets renewed in September.
Between this, Agincourt (a VR simulator for cops Directly related to this project), cop city, and widespread demonization of abortions, sex workers, & queer people mixed with qanon/Trumpism, and fascism in Florida, and the return of child labor, & removed abortion rights fresh on our tails it's time for alarms to be raised and it's time for everyone to stop calling us paranoid and start showing up to protest and mutual aid groups.
🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
These are the same feds who want to build cop city and recreate civilian houses en masse and use facial recognition. The same feds that want cop city to also be a training ground for police across the country. Cop city where they will build civilian neighborhoods to train in.
Widespread mass surveillance against us.
Now let's cut to some parts of the article. May 17th from Vice:
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is using an invasive, AI-powered monitoring tool to screen travelers, including U.S. citizens, refugees, and people seeking asylum, which can in some cases link their social media posts to their Social Security number and location data, according to an internal CBP document obtained by Motherboard.
Called Babel X, the system lets a user input a piece of information about a target—their name, email address, or telephone number—and receive a bevy of data in return, according to the document. Results can include their social media posts, linked IP address, employment history, and unique advertising identifiers associated with their mobile phone. The monitoring can apply to U.S. persons, including citizens and permanent residents, as well as refugees and asylum seekers, according to the document.
“Babel data will be used/captured/stored in support of CBP targeting, vetting, operations and analysis,” the document reads. Babel X will be used to “identify potential derogatory and confirmatory information” associated with travelers, persons of interest, and “persons seeking benefits.” The document then says results from Babel X will be stored in other CBP operated systems for 75 years.
"The U.S. government’s ever-expanding social media dragnet is certain to chill people from engaging in protected speech and association online. And CBP’s use of this social media surveillance technology is especially concerning in connection with existing rules requiring millions of visa applicants each year to register their social media handles with the government. As we’ve argued in a related lawsuit, the government simply has no legitimate interest in collecting and retaining such sensitive information on this immense scale,” Carrie DeCell, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute, told Motherboard in an email.
The full list of information that Babel X may provide to CBP analysts is a target’s name, date of birth, address, usernames, email address, phone number, social media content, images, IP address, Social Security number, driver’s license number, employment history, and location data based on geolocation tags in public posts.
Bennett Cyphers, a special advisor to activist
organization the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Motherboard in an online chat “the data isn’t limited to public posts made under someone’s real name on Facebook or Twitter.”
The document says CBP also has access to AdID information through an add-on called Locate X, which includes smartphone location data. AdID information is data such as a device’s unique advertising ID, which can act as an useful identifier for tracking a phone and, by extension, a person’s movements. Babel Street obtains location information from a long supply chain of data. Ordinary apps installed on peoples’ smartphones provide data to a company called Gravy Analytics, which repackages that location data and sells it to law enforcement agencies via its related company Venntel. But Babel Street also repackages Venntel’s data for its own Locate X product."
The PTA obtained by Motherboard says that Locate X is covered by a separate “commercial telemetry” PTA. CBP denied Motherboard’s FOIA request for a copy of this document, claiming it “would disclose techniques and/or procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions”.
A former Babel Street employee previously told Motherboard how users of Locate X can draw a shape on a map known as a geofence, see all devices Babel Street has data on for that location, and then follow a specific device to see where else it has been.
Cyphers from the EFF added “most of the people whose location data is collected in this way likely have no idea it’s happening.”
CBP has been purchasing access to location data without a warrant, a practice that critics say violates the Fourth Amendment. Under a ruling from the Supreme Court, law enforcement agencies need court approval before accessing location data generated by a cell phone tower; those critics believe this applies to location data generated by smartphone apps too.
“Homeland Security needs to come clean to the American people about how it believes it can legally purchase and use U.S. location data without any kind of court order. Americans' privacy shouldn't depend on whether the government uses a court order or credit card,” Senator Ron Wyden told Motherboard in a statement. “DHS should stop violating Americans' rights, and Congress should pass my bipartisan legislation to prohibit the government's purchase of Americans' data." CBP has refused to tell Congress what legal authority it is following when using commercially bought smartphone location data to track Americans without a warrant.
Neither CBP or Babel Street responded to a request for comment. Motherboard visited the Babel X section of Babel Street’s website on Tuesday. On Wednesday before publication, that product page was replaced with a message that said “page not found.”
Do you know anything else about how Babel X is being used by government or private clients? Do you work for Babel Street? We'd love to hear from you. Using a non-work phone or computer, you can contact Joseph Cox securely on Signal on +44 20 8133 5190, Wickr on josephcox, or email [email protected].
Wow that sounds bad right.
Be a shame if it got worse.
.
.
It does.
The software (previously Agincourt Solutions) is sold by AI data company Babel Street, was led by Jeffrey Chapman, a former Treasury Department official,, Navy retiree & Earlier in his career a White House aide and intelligence officer at the Department of Defense, according to LinkedIn.
🙃
So what's Agincourt Solutions then right now?
SO FUCKING SUS IN RELATION TO THIS, THATS WHAT
Tumblr media Tumblr media
In essence, synthetic BATTLEVR training is a mixture of all three realities – virtual, augmented and physical. It is flexible enough to allow for mission rehearsals of most types and be intuitive enough to make training effective.
Anyway the new CEO of Babel Street (Babel X) as of April is a guy named Michael Southworth and I couldn't find much more on him than that tbh, it's all very vague and missing. That's the most detail I've seen on him.
And the detail says he has a history of tech startups that scanned paperwork and sent it elsewhere, good with numbers, and has a lot of knowledge about cell networks probably.
Every inch more of this I learn as I continue to Google the names and companies popping up... It gets worse.
Monitor phone use. Quit photobombing and filming strangers and for the love of fucking God quit sending apps photos of your actual legal ID to prove your age. Just don't use that site, you'll be fine I swear. And quit posting your private info online. For activists/leftists NO personally identifiable info at least AND DEFINITELY leave your phone at home to Work™!!!
7K notes · View notes
myprogrammingschool · 2 years
Text
Module: Application Security Engineer Responsibilities -Trailhead Answers
Module: Application Security Engineer Responsibilities -Trailhead Answers
In this tutorial, we will solve the question of a module called Application Security Engineer Responsibilities. Learn how an application security engineer protects applications. #1.Use a Secure Development Lifecycle Solve Quiz & get +100 points Q1)Which of the following is a risk associated with an insecure SDLC? #I)Lack of sanitization and insecure code #II)Confidentiality, integrity, and…
Tumblr media
View On WordPress
0 notes
Text
https://clocr.com/blogs/digital-assets/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-secure-digital-vault/
A good digital vault service provider will always lay emphasis on security, making it a top priority. The best part about any digital vault is that vaults are available online, making them accessible anywhere(as long as a network range is available with internet connectivity).
0 notes
phantoids · 2 years
Text
Okay fuck it I'm making this post.
So, we all know the dsmp fandom, especially on twitter, has a bit of a problem with leaktwt and often lots of controversy springing from stuff obtained by kiwifarms. I'd like to talk about this, because it's been pissing me off for months and it's getting ridiculous.
Please stop trusting information like this, or at the very least be cautious with how you interact with it, take it with a large grain of salt or maybe even a handful, don't take it at fucking face value and consider to yourself: why did they obtain this information and how did they obtain it.
Especially the how, because I've noticed the amount of illegally obtained data, from information unobtainable without some form of hacking to a lot of cases of spear phishing. Spear phishing, for those who don't know, is a targeted form of phishing against a specific person; phishing is often described as trying to obtain personal or sensitive information, and here the definition is applicable as digging through years worth of information otherwise inaccessible to the average user without purposefully searching everywhere for it, specifically information from or about a specific person.
This happens a lot, we see many cases, from the people who keep doxxing ccs, to the more recent things with certain information from Steam about Wilbur being made public despite the fact it's inaccessible without some sort of digging or manipulation, and now with (I believe, idk i've not really been looking at it for obvious reasons) the whole Tubbo thing and I believe that was leaked private messages of a friend, I could be wrong there. Either way, there's been so many cases of doxxing, leaked private messages, information inaccessible on the front end of things and it's getting to a genuinely worrying point.
And this isn't because I care about content creators, but I do care about upholding data privacy. Yes, even if they've said shit in the past, please don't go digging and digging because that does fall into spear phishing, and at the end of the day it is very dubiously legal at best. This is something we're taught about in fucking cyber security courses, for even further perspective on how bad it is. Not to mention, often this information is dug up by infamous leaktwt or kiwifarms, which are pretty known for bad faith digging up of shit.
These people dig it up for clout, they dig it up for attention, they do not care who gets fucking hurt and often bringing up old shit is going to harm more people than it fucking helps. It's even worse when you try to hold someone accountable for something someone else did, especially years in the past like it's their fault.
Just, please, stop supporting this, stop circulating this shit like morning gossip, because you're not only hurting people for no good reason, it's also often spreading illegally obtained information from people who commit cybercrimes on the regular. It breaks data protection laws, it breaks someone's fucking privacy.
Content creators are people. Respect their privacy, for fuck's sake, and stop egging on leaktwt/kiwifarms, because at the end of the day you're just telling them it's perfectly fine.
And their campaign of digging things up and harming people in bad faith doesn't end at your favourite cis white boy. They will harm minorities, and they already do, just for clout and fun. Stop it while you can before it gets out of hand, and make it clear they aren't welcome, because the fandom doesn't make it clear enough.
This isn't, of course, to say you cannot be critical of information found about ccs, but please don't allow a side effect to be encouraging or inadvertently making leaktwt/kiwifarms believe it's safe for them here, and that they are supported. Be critical when your fav is found to have said awful shit in the past, give them time to clarify, but also just... be a little critical about how accurate that info is, and who is supplying it. If you find yourself thinking 'now is this really legitimately obtained?' then maybe don't spread it, because it could be fake but a lot of the time it's already been addressed and is simply spread in bad faith.
And sure, they're exposing shitty stuff right now, but what happens when they doxx someone's address for fun?
Data privacy is important, it affects everyone, and even the worst people deserve to keep it. Sure, law enforcement and courts might be able to obtain this stuff, but you're not law enforcement nor a court and you're not entitled to personal data whenever.
1K notes · View notes
pizzaronipasta · 9 months
Text
READ THIS BEFORE INTERACTING
Alright, I know I said I wasn't going to touch this topic again, but my inbox is filling up with asks from people who clearly didn't read everything I said, so I'm making a pinned post to explain my stance on AI in full, but especially in the context of disability. Read this post in its entirety before interacting with me on this topic, lest you make a fool of yourself.
AI Doesn't Steal
Before I address people's misinterpretations of what I've said, there is something I need to preface with. The overwhelming majority of AI discourse on social media is argued based on a faulty premise: that generative AI models "steal" from artists. There are several problems with this premise. The first and most important one is that this simply isn't how AI works. Contrary to popular misinformation, generative AI does not simply take pieces of existing works and paste them together to produce its output. Not a single byte of pre-existing material is stored anywhere in an AI's system. What's really going on is honestly a lot more sinister.
How It Actually Works
In reality, AI models are made by initializing and then training something called a neural network. Initializing the network simply consists of setting up a multitude of nodes arranged in "layers," with each node in each layer being connected to every node in the next layer. When prompted with input, a neural network will propagate the input data through itself, layer by layer, transforming it along the way until the final layer yields the network's output. This is directly based on the way organic nervous systems work, hence the name "neural network." The process of training a network consists of giving it an example prompt, comparing the resulting output with an expected correct answer, and tweaking the strengths of the network's connections so that its output is closer to what is expected. This is repeated until the network can adequately provide output for all prompts. This is exactly how your brain learns; upon detecting stimuli, neurons will propagate signals from one to the next in order to enact a response, and the connections between those neurons will be adjusted based on how close the outcome was to whatever was anticipated. In the case of both organic and artificial neural networks, you'll notice that no part of the process involves directly storing anything that was shown to it. It is possible, especially in the case of organic brains, for a neural network to be configured such that it can produce a decently close approximation of something it was trained on; however, it is crucial to note that this behavior is extremely undesirable in generative AI, since that would just be using a wasteful amount of computational resources for a very simple task. It's called "overfitting" in this context, and it's avoided like the plague.
The sinister part lies in where the training data comes from. Companies which make generative AI models are held to a very low standard of accountability when it comes to sourcing and handling training data, and it shows. These companies usually just scrape data from the internet indiscriminately, which inevitably results in the collection of people's personal information. This sensitive data is not kept very secure once it's been scraped and placed in easy-to-parse centralized databases. Fortunately, these issues could be solved with the most basic of regulations. The only reason we haven't already solved them is because people are demonizing the products rather than the companies behind them. Getting up in arms over a type of computer program does nothing, and this diversion is being taken advantage of by bad actors, who could be rendered impotent with basic accountability. Other issues surrounding AI are exactly the same way. For example, attempts to replace artists in their jobs are the result of under-regulated businesses and weak worker's rights protections, and we're already seeing very promising efforts to combat this just by holding the bad actors accountable. Generative AI is a tool, not an agent, and the sooner people realize this, the sooner and more effectively they can combat its abuse.
Y'all Are Being Snobs
Now I've debunked the idea that generative AI just pastes together pieces of existing works. But what if that were how it worked? Putting together pieces of existing works... hmm, why does that sound familiar? Ah, yes, because it is, verbatim, the definition of collage. For over a century, collage has been recognized as a perfectly valid art form, and not plagiarism. Furthermore, in collage, crediting sources is not viewed as a requirement, only a courtesy. Therefore, if generative AI worked how most people think it works, it would simply be a form of collage. Not theft.
Some might not be satisfied with that reasoning. Some may claim that AI cannot be artistic because the AI has no intent, no creative vision, and nothing to express. There is a metaphysical argument to be made against this, but I won't bother making it. I don't need to, because the AI is not the artist. Maybe someday an artificial general intelligence could have the autonomy and ostensible sentience to make art on its own, but such things are mere science fiction in the present day. Currently, generative AI completely lacks autonomy—it is only capable of making whatever it is told to, as accurate to the prompt as it can manage. Generative AI is a tool. A sculpture made by 3D printing a digital model is no less a sculpture just because an automatic machine gave it physical form. An artist designed the sculpture, and used a tool to make it real. Likewise, a digital artist is completely valid in having an AI realize the image they designed.
Some may claim that AI isn't artistic because it doesn't require effort. By that logic, photography isn't art, since all you do is point a camera at something that already looks nice, fiddle with some dials, and press a button. This argument has never been anything more than snobbish gatekeeping, and I won't entertain it any further. All art is art. Besides, getting an AI to make something that looks how you want can be quite the ordeal, involving a great amount of trial and error. I don't speak from experience on that, but you've probably seen what AI image generators' first drafts tend to look like.
AI art is art.
Disability and Accessibility
Now that that's out of the way, I can finally move on to clarifying what people keep misinterpreting.
I Never Said That
First of all, despite what people keep claiming, I have never said that disabled people need AI in order to make art. In fact, I specifically said the opposite several times. What I have said is that AI can better enable some people to make the art they want to in the way they want to. Second of all, also despite what people keep claiming, I never said that AI is anyone's only option. Again, I specifically said the opposite multiple times. I am well aware that there are myriad tools available to aid the physically disabled in all manner of artistic pursuits. What I have argued is that AI is just as valid a tool as those other, longer-established ones.
In case anyone doubts me, here are all the posts I made in the discussion in question: Reblog chain 1 Reblog chain 2 Reblog chain 3 Reblog chain 4 Potentially relevant ask
I acknowledge that some of my earlier responses in that conversation were poorly worded and could potentially lead to a little confusion. However, I ended up clarifying everything so many times that the only good faith explanation I can think of for these wild misinterpretations is that people were seeing my arguments largely out of context. Now, though, I don't want to see any more straw men around here. You have no excuse, there's a convenient list of links to everything I said. As of posting this, I will ridicule anyone who ignores it and sends more hate mail. You have no one to blame but yourself for your poor reading comprehension.
What Prompted Me to Start Arguing in the First Place
There is one more thing that people kept misinterpreting, and it saddens me far more than anything else in this situation. It was sort of a culmination of both the things I already mentioned. Several people, notably including the one I was arguing with, have insisted that I'm trying to talk over physically disabled people.
Read the posts again. Notice how the original post was speaking for "everyone" in saying that AI isn't helpful. It doesn't take clairvoyance to realize that someone will find it helpful. That someone was being spoken over, before I ever said a word.
So I stepped in, and tried to oppose the OP on their universal claim. Lo and behold, they ended up saying that I'm the one talking over people.
Along the way, people started posting straight-up inspiration porn.
I hope you can understand where my uncharacteristic hostility came from in that argument.
159 notes · View notes
eightyonekilograms · 6 months
Text
Very interesting iPhone vulnerability just dropped. Like most big current 0-days, this one requires chaining together many different vulnerabilities in order to be successful, but what makes this one different is that part of the exploit involves an undocumented hardware feature. Long story short: after boot is complete, all the code (as opposed to data) portions of kernel memory are made unwriteable even by the kernel itself, and this is enforced not in software but in hardware by the memory controller, so in theory it's immune to compromises of the OS. But if you write to a magic region of I/O-mapped memory together with a specific key, it bypasses this protection.
Now, what's very interesting is that this feature is not publicly documented anywhere. The researches say it might have been intended for debugging firmware, but that's only a guess. The fact that it needs a key seems to indicate that Apple probably knows about it internally and put in weak anti-exploit countermeasures, but again, we cannot be sure. So there are several different possibilities here:
Whoever made this exploit found it with brute-force exploration. That's not impossible, but the fact that you need to know the exact IOMM address and a key makes it unlikely.
The feature is known to Apple, which leads to three sub-possibilities: i) they were hacked and the exploit technique was exfiltrated, ii) somebody has a man on the inside who leaked it or iii) they were ordered to put this backdoor there by the Powers That Be.
The feature is not known to Apple and was put there by their chip vendors, and they were the ones who were either hacked, infiltrated, or coerced.
Final note: the entry point of the exploit was, once again, iMessage attachments, so if you have an iDevice and you're worried about stuff like this, AIUI Lockdown Mode would make you immune.
86 notes · View notes
mariacallous · 2 months
Text
You’ve been asked to serve on the jury in the first-ever criminal prosecution of a United States president. What could possibly go wrong? The answer, of course, is everything.
A juror in former president Donald Trump’s ongoing criminal trial in New York was excused on Thursday after voicing fears that she could be identified based on biographical details that she had given in court. The dismissal of Juror 2 highlights the potential dangers of participating in one of the most politicized trials in US history, especially in an age of social media frenzies, a highly partisan electorate, and a glut of readily available personal information online.
Unlike jurors in federal cases, whose identities can be kept completely anonymous, New York law allows—and can require—the personal information of jurors and potential jurors to be divulged in court. Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing Trump’s prosecution in Manhattan, last month ordered that jurors’ names and addresses would be withheld. But he could not prevent potential jurors from providing biographical details about themselves during the jury selection process, and many did. Those details were then widely reported in the press, potentially subjecting jurors and potential jurors to harassment, intimidation, and threats—possibly by Trump himself. Merchan has since blocked reporters from publishing potential jurors’ employment details.
The doxing dangers that potential jurors face became apparent on Monday, day one of the proceedings. An update in a Washington Post liveblog about Trump’s trial revealed the Manhattan neighborhood where one potential juror lived, how long he’d lived there, how many children he has, and the name of his employer. Screenshots of the liveblog update quickly circulated on social media, as people warned that the man could be doxed, or have his identity revealed publicly against his will with the intent to cause harm, based solely on that information.
“It's quite alarming how much information someone skilled in OSINT could potentially gather based on just a few publicly available details about jurors or potential jurors,” says Bob Diachenko, cyber intelligence director at data-breach research organization Security Discovery and an expert in open source intelligence research.
Armed with basic personal details about jurors and certain tools and databases, “an OSINT researcher could potentially uncover a significant amount of personal information by cross-referencing all this together,” Diachenko says. “That's why it's crucial to consider the implications of publicly revealing jurors' personal information and take steps to protect their privacy during criminal trials.”
Even without special OSINT training, it can be trivial to uncover details about a juror’s life. To test the sensitivity of the information the Post published, WIRED used a common reporting tool to look up the man’s employer. From there, we were able to identify his name, home address, phone number, email address, his children’s and spouse’s identities, voter registration information, and more. The entire process took roughly two minutes. The Post added a clarification to its liveblog explaining that it now excludes the man’s personal details.
The ready availability of those details illustrates the challenges in informing the public about a highly newsworthy criminal case without interfering in the justice process, says Kathleen Bartzen Culver, the James E. Burgess Chair in Journalism Ethics and director of the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Simply because a notable figure is on trial does not mean that a juror automatically surrenders any claim to privacy,” Bartzen Culver says. “People who have been drawn into a case that is exceptionally newsworthy are not aware that a simple statement that they make about where they work might identify them and open them up to scrutiny and possibly risk.”
The dangers to jurors or potential jurors has only increased since the first day of jury selection, which remains ongoing, in part due to the challenges of prosecuting a former US president and the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 US presidential election. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records, a class E felony in New York state, for payments made ahead of the 2016 presidential election related to alleged affairs with two women, adult performer Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has claimed his prosecution is a “communist show trial” and a “witch hunt” and has pleaded not guilty.
On Fox News, coverage of Trump’s trial has repeatedly focused on the potential political motivations of the jurors, bolstering the former president’s claims. Trump, in turn, has repeated the claims by the conservative news network’s hosts. In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump quoted Fox News commentator Jesse Watters claiming on air that potential jurors in Trump’s trial are “undercover liberal activists lying to the judge in order to get on the Trump jury.” This, despite a gag order that forbids Trump from “making or directing others to make public statements about any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding.”
Broader media coverage of the Trump trial jurors appears to often be the work of political reporters who are unfamiliar with the journalism ethics specific to covering a criminal trial, says UW-Madison’s Bartzen Culver. “It's like when political reporters covered Covid and science journalists lost their minds.” She adds that it’s important for any journalist covering a criminal case—Trump’s or otherwise—to “consider our role within the justice system.”
“Unethical behavior by journalists can delay trials. It can result in overturned convictions and the people having to go back and do a retrial,” Bartzen Culver says. “That all works against our system of justice.”
The New York case is one of four ongoing criminal proceedings against Trump. In Georgia, where he faces multiple felony charges for alleged attempts to interfere with the state’s electoral process in 2020, Trump supporters leaked the addresses of members of the grand jury, after their names were listed in the 98-page indictment against the former president, as required by state law. Georgia’s Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said last August that it was investigating threats against the jury members. The incident highlights the persistent dangers people can face from Trump’s supporters, both in the near term and for the rest of their lives, if they’re viewed as having acted against him.
The leaks were discovered by Advance Democracy Inc. (ADI), a nonpartisan, nonprofit research and investigations organization founded by Daniel J. Jones, a former investigator for the FBI and the US Senate Intelligence Committee. So far, Jones tells WIRED, ADI has not uncovered attempts to dox jurors in Trump’s New York trial. But it’s still early days.
“We have not yet found identifying information on the extremist forums we monitor,” Jones says. “Having said that, I share your concern that it is only a matter of time before this happens.”
41 notes · View notes
rhube · 21 days
Text
If you have a Facebook account, you need to go here, now, and object to Facebook adding your data to AI training models.
I've adapted my statement from what Stavvers suggested on Masto:
I object to my data being used in training an AI. My photos are personal and contain images of my face associated with my name. This data could be used to generate deepfakes using my likeness if it is included in an AI data set. I further object to my captions being used within this data set as these contain personal information which would not be appropriate to include. I also object to you using my Facbook statuses, which are my copyright and reflect my style and can be used to duplicate my style without my consent. It's also been shown that LLMs can repeat sensitive data verbatim when given the right prompts. I do not consent to my data security being put at such a risk. Any text or images I enter into Facebook are my words and images and I do not consent to you using them to train AI. To do so without my consent is illegal in my country.
I'm told Instagram is doing the same thing but haven't investigated the settings yet.
[Edit:] I've double-checked and it's the same link for Instagram, just FYI.
27 notes · View notes
k-rising · 1 year
Text
Karina's birth chart analysis
DISCLAIMER: This is just a part of the analysis of the idol’s natal chart, which wants to show a deeper perspective on the idols life. This analysis is carried out thanks to the data that appears in the birth chart. These are my interpretations of the signs and how they work based on my experiences with them. Everyone has different opinions and all interpretation and experiences within is valid. The point of this post is to entertain. [This idol hasn’t confirmed her birth time, so I used the standard 12pm time to calculate her natal chart].
Tumblr media
this woman has both her sun and venus in aries, which means that she's straightforward, charismatic, daring and impulsive. karina's a born leader who wants to achieve big things in life and loves experiencing new adventures in order to live life to the fullest; jimin learns better through experiences. this girl is competitive and can be quite aggressive, but she forgives and forgets quickly.
when it comes to romantic relationship, again... she's straightforward, charismatic, daring and impulsive. jimin LOVES to flirt and enjoys receiving attention. she likes being the dominant one in her relationships. however, she gets bored easily if the other person doesn't show interest in her.
having venus trine pluto makes her a passionate lover who seeks for long-term relationships. karina likes creating deep bonds with people and having superficial relationships are not her thing. plus, with her venus sextile neptune I can also interpret that she's a hopeless romantic! she believes in true love and has an idealistic view of it.
jimin's an empathetic and sentimental person with her moon in cancer. she seeks for familiarity and security in her connections, and doesn't like confrontations. even though this girl is very sociable, sometimes she can be shy with strangers, but once she gets comfortable with someone, she then shows her extroverted side. karina can be quite moody and when she's not in a good mood, she will leave clues of her unhappiness in an indirect way. this placement also indicates that there's a tendency here to protect her loved ones and to hold grudges.
with her pisces mercury I can interpret that she's very intuitive and can be quite unpredictable when talking. karina is naive and it can be difficult for her to difference reality from fiction. she's the type of person that sweeten people's ears with her words.
jimin is hella creative with her sun sextile uranus! having this aspect can also make her question rules and traditions that doesn’t make sense to her.
there's a lot of aspects that may indicate that she could be a good songwriter!
her whole chart screams business woman to me, specially with her mars in taurus. karina's patient, mature, loyal and practical. she likes having responsibilities, but doesn't want to be rushed. even though she can be easy going, sometimes working with her can be quite difficult because of her stubbornness lol.
jimin doesn't get angry easily, instead she gets annoyed. she possesses a lot of self-control, but when she can't take it anymore... run. she can be very cold when she's annoyed.
now let's talk about her mars square neptune... this aspect can indicate many things like lack of self-confidence, going to extremes and being sensitive to criticism. jimin's so sweet with the people she loves that she tends to do things for others... however, sometimes she may question the type of connection she has with those people, cause she always feels that she's the only one that's doing the most in her relationships. this aspect can also indicate that she could project her fantasies onto her partners and it can be hard for her to be able to see who they actually are.
‧͙⁺˚・༓☾ 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔!  ☽༓・˚⁺‧͙
106 notes · View notes
Text
Matt Shuham at HuffPost:
Last summer, a candidate for the New Mexico state House showed up on Nathan Jaramillo’s doorstep. Jaramillo, the Bureau of Elections administrator in Bernalillo County, said Peña had previously sent threatening emails to both himself and to others in the county. Jaramillo brushed it off, annoyed at the personal intrusion but unconcerned. Five months later, Peña, a Trump supporter who lost his election and rejected the results, was arrested and charged with organizing a string of brazen drive-by shootings targeting public officials. Jaramillo thought back to five months earlier, when the man had shown up at his doorstep. The severity of the situation “really hit me,” Jaramillo told HuffPost. “In hindsight, it was a lot more scary.” Now, Jaramillo’s office assigns ticket numbers to emails they receive, organizing them by sender and keeping tabs on the office’s responses, in the hopes of anticipating anyone who could escalate their complaints into something more serious.
But the incident with Peña — who has pleaded not guilty, and whose attorney did not respond to a request for comment — is just one scene representative of an increasingly tense era of American politics. Fueled by Trump’s lies about election theft, supporters of his have spent years threatening election workers and the democratic process — and acting upon those threats. Now, as the 2024 presidential campaign charges toward November, election offices are taking steps they’d never dreamed could be necessary. Several election officials HuffPost spoke to laid out laundry lists of upgrades — everything from ballistic windows, doors and walls to new security cameras, electronic access badges and location trackers on ballot boxes. And as the Republican Party continues to push lies about election integrity — a scripted Republican Party call last month falsely claimed there was “massive fraud” in 2020 — election officials are gearing up to protect what promises to be an even more tense presidential contest this year.
[...] Around the country, election officials are working on evacuation and “quick containment” drills for future potential envelope attacks — even just using a bucket to contain a suspicious envelope — and stocking up on masks, gloves and naloxone, just in case, said Jennifer Morrell, a former elections official in Utah and Colorado and co-founder of an election consulting group during a recent call hosted by the National Task Force on Election Crises.
[...] “Prior to 2016, it was a pretty sleepy industry. People trusted their election officials and the process,” she said. Then, Hall said, “everything changed: When you have rhetoric coming from the top, it empowers and activates people all the way down the food chain.”
[...] But election workers’ preparations for 2024 are complicated by the sheer range of security issues that could come up: Since 2020, for example, Trump supporters across the country have tried — sometimes successfully — to copy data from sensitive equipment like voting machines and ballot tabulators. In Michigan, for example, several prominent Republicans, including a former GOP nominee for state attorney general, have been charged with felonies for their roles in an alleged conspiracy to improperly gain access to ballot tabulators. In Colorado, a former county clerk faces felony charges for allegedly allowing a computer technician to get into election machines under false pretenses; information from the machines was subsequently shared at an election fraud conspiracy theory summit. The answer to these growing threats, according to election officials, is a mix of background checks, digital protections like phishing training for staff and multi-factor authentication for accessing databases, in addition to physical measures like electronic badges that allow different levels of access to observers, volunteers, election workers and government employees.
[...]
Brain Drain
For veteran election administrators, the Trump era has brought with it a troubling wave of resignations. Workers at all levels have decided they’d rather not participate in a process that, in recent years, has led some of their neighbors to think they’re part of an anti-democratic cabal. What used to be considered sleepy “clerk work” is now heavily scrutinized — and, as the Republican attacks against Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss showed, may make people vulnerable to nationwide defamation campaigns. In North Carolina, there’s been a “huge increase” in directors of elections retiring, Bowens said. And Jaramillo described “individuals that were with our office for 20-plus years [who] made the determination that they weren’t in it for the 2024 ride.” Mast said he’d seen an “incredible” number of election workers retiring or changing fields. Among elected clerks, Mast said the position has gone from one filled largely by career administrators who served lengthy tenures to one with roughly 30% turnover every four years. After the “environmental changes” of 2020, experienced clerks have begun leaving the field more often, he said. “It’s incredible to see.”
Election administration was once a sleepy nonpartisan industry, but with rampant election denialism instigated by Donald Trump and fellow right-wing bad actors, election administrators are looking to make safety upgrades before this fall's election.
12 notes · View notes
acceptccnow · 7 months
Text
Secure Credit Card Payment Systems for Global E-Commerce Expansion
Article by Jonathan Bomser | CEO | Accept-Credit-Cards-Now.com
Tumblr media
In today's swiftly evolving digital realm, the e-commerce industry is experiencing unprecedented growth. As businesses venture into the global market, the importance of secure credit card payment systems becomes increasingly evident. This comprehensive guide delves into the realm of payment processing for high-risk industries, emphasizing the secure acceptance of credit cards, particularly in sectors like credit repair, CBD sales, and e-commerce. The goal is to provide valuable insights and strategies to ensure transaction safety and foster business growth.
DOWNLOAD THE SECURE CREDIT CARD INFOGRAPHIC HERE
Understanding High-Risk Merchant Processing To truly comprehend the significance of secure credit card payment systems, it's essential to grasp the concept of high-risk merchant processing. Businesses labeled as high-risk often encounter obstacles in traditional payment processing due to factors like high chargeback rates, regulatory challenges, or operating in industries prone to fraud. High-risk merchant processing, a specialized service, addresses these challenges using advanced technologies and risk mitigation strategies. Whether in credit repair, CBD, or e-commerce, finding a reliable high-risk payment gateway is crucial.
The Role of Credit Card Payment Solutions In the e-commerce realm, trust is a valuable currency. Customers navigating online stores seek assurance that their credit and debit card information is secure. This is where credit card payment solutions play a pivotal role. Reputable credit card payment processors offer robust encryption and fraud detection tools, ensuring the protection of sensitive data. Access to a vast network of financial institutions facilitates international transactions, while user-friendly interfaces enable seamless integration with online payment gateways. Partnering with the right credit card payment service provides businesses with a competitive edge and enhances the overall shopping experience.
Tailoring Payment Processing for Your Industry Certain industries demand secure credit card payment systems. Credit repair businesses, often met with skepticism, can instill confidence in customers through a reliable Credit Repair Payment Gateway. The CBD industry, grappling with regulatory complexities, can navigate challenges seamlessly with a specialized CBD Merchant Account. E-commerce businesses, irrespective of their niche, heavily rely on secure payment systems. Fast and secure e-commerce payment processing is vital for both customer trust and operational efficiency.
Benefits of Accepting Credit Cards for Your Business Exploring the significance of secure credit card payment systems reveals numerous advantages. Credit cards, a preferred payment mode for many customers, contribute to higher conversion rates. Accepting credit cards facilitates entry into international markets, expanding business reach. Businesses that accept credit cards are often perceived as more established and trustworthy by customers.
Online Payment Gateway - The Backbone of E-Commerce At the core of secure credit card payment systems lies the online payment gateway. This virtual bridge connects customers to businesses, enabling seamless and secure transactions. Online payment gateways serve as intermediaries between e-commerce stores and financial institutions responsible for authorizing credit card transactions. They play a crucial role in ensuring swift and secure payments, benefiting both businesses and customers.
Modern payment gateways utilize state-of-the-art encryption techniques to protect sensitive customer data during transmission. Designed for easy integration into e-commerce websites, they facilitate a smooth checkout process. Payment gateways offer diverse payment options, including credit and debit cards, digital wallets, catering to a broader customer base. Advanced fraud detection tools identify and prevent fraudulent transactions, safeguarding businesses and customers.
youtube
Benefits of Using Online Payment Gateways By accepting various payment methods, online payment gateways empower e-commerce stores to cater to a global customer base. A secure and hassle-free payment experience builds trust, encouraging repeat business. Automated payment processing reduces manual work, streamlining operations and minimizing the risk of errors. Integrating a reliable online payment gateway is a critical step for providing a secure and efficient credit card payment system in e-commerce setups.
Embracing secure credit card payment systems is not just a choice; it's a necessity. Whether operating in high-risk industries like credit repair or CBD sales or managing a thriving e-commerce store, the right payment processing solution can fuel growth. Explore the significance of high-risk merchant processing, the role of credit card payment services, and tailored solutions for various industries. By accepting credit cards, businesses ensure transaction security and pave the way for long-term success. Trust and security are the pillars on which businesses thrive. Embrace the power of secure credit card payment systems and unlock the potential for global e-commerce expansion.
21 notes · View notes