October 2019 - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

Hackerare il realismo capitalista: serendipità, innovazione sociale e politiche di emancipazione – Intervista a Sebastian Olma
by Giacomo Tesio Oct. 10, 2019

Oct. 10, 2019

http://www.technoculture.it/2019/10/10/hackerare-il-realismo-capitalista-se… (A proposito di serendipità... a volte penso che Dio se la rida sotto i baffi... :-D) Giacomo -- Inviato da un terminale mobile. Perdonate brevità ed orrori grammaticali.

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Re: [nexa] IMA - Internet, Mon Amour
by karlessi Oct. 10, 2019

Oct. 10, 2019

ciao Alberto, mi fa piacere, bella questione. spinosa è un eufemismo. informatica conviviale... sì, ci abbiamo pensato. qualcosina è finito, diluito, nei libri di ippolita. il resto rimane nelle pratiche, almeno per ora. scriviamo poco e lentamente, tempo tiranno. qualcuno di CIRCE spero prima o poi riuscirà a pubblicare un manuale di pedagogia hacker, il cui obiettivo è appunto proporre attività per sviluppare occasioni di informatica conviviale. magari l'autunno prossimo. la metodologia ce l'abbiamo, abbastanza testata, per quanto non con i crismi scientifici dei gruppi di controllo ecc. le attività anche. ma selezionare e plasmare il tutto per renderlo leggibile è faticoso. tracce di riflessione, proviamoci. Illich è un buon punto di partenza, ma sul digitale è di poco aiuto. nel poco tempo che ebbe a disposizione con computer et similia non dimostrò, a mia conoscenza, l'acume profuso altrove. la controproduttività di scala rimane un benchmark, ma con il digitale interconnesso va rimodulata, sennò finisci a fare solo microreti e diventa elitismo gruppettaro. rivendicativo e tristanzuolo. Come inquadramento teorico per noi sono utili in primo luogo i teorici e pratici del gioco, da Huizinga a Caillois, a Bateson, fino a più recenti giocologi (Sidoti, per esempio). Sono molto utili Lewis Mumford per la parte critica sulle Megamacchine come concatenazione tecno-burocratica di "piccoli Eichmann" (soprattutto "Il mito della macchina") e Donna Haraway (soprattutto i testi iniziali, e gli ultimi, "Staying with the trouble" in particolare, per quanto abbastanza insopportabile per il jargon durissimo). senz'altro "informatica conviviale" è un ossimoro, ancor di più considerando la genesi dal complesso militare-industriale dell'informatica in rete. d'altra parte, l'approccio "tecnologie appropriate" declina le idee di E.F. Schumacher (nella vulgata, "piccolo è bello") senza pretese di purezza. industriale, artigianale, globale, locale... non identificano puri "oggetti" o "soggetti", identità fisse, sostanze stabili. sono tendenze e processi, meticciati e imbastarditi (viva!), e in questo Haraway aiuta. se non fosse eccessivamente a-politica, tanto da andar bene per (quasi) tutte le stagioni, anche la ANT alla Latour sarebbe utile per delineare un possibile "convivio tecnologico". forse in questo senso meglio equipaggiato è Gilbert Simondon: spiega bene perché l'approccio antropocentrico alla tecnologia (il "dipende da come si usa" o peggio "dipende da chi lo usa, se il popolo è bene, se è i nemici del popolo è male", o viceversa la logica non cambia) è in qualche modo speculare a quello del Gestell heideggeriano (il fiume Reno come riserva d'acqua, ecc.), poi travasatosi nei ragionamenti foucaultiani-agambeniani del dispositivo. filosofie della tecnica a parole, di fatto tendono tutti a obliterare l'oggetto tecnico, in nome della primazia del soggetto umano, o dello "sfondo" (dispositivo, gestell, scaffalatura...) ce ne fosse uno che parla di protocolli, accordi, negoziazioni possibili, hack! peccato che pure Simondon sia così farraginoso a livello linguistico (oltre che poco tradotto in italiano). gli approcci antropocentrici possono in teoria esser conviviali, ma di fatto espungono l'altro macchinico e rimangono intraspecifici. quando non sommessamente -isti (razzisti, sessisti, classisti, colonialisti, specisti). la faccenda è complicata e ci mancano pure le parole giuste, non inquinate. la macchina è femmina, in italiano. si fanno "penetration test" di reti di macchine. "server" e "client", si sviluppa su "master branch" (le altre, non essendo padrone, di fatto saranno schiave, "slave". bisognerà fare corsi di BDSM per sistemisti e sviluppatori?!!) "data subject"... roba forte, a pensarci. quindi, siccome in quanto formatori abbiamo spesso a che fare con persone "normali" (genitori, insegnanti, adulti preoccupati dei "nativi digitali"; cittadini spaventati dallo strapotere corporativo e dello stato di sorveglianza; associazioni e imprenditori desiderosi di rendersi indipendenti e autonomi; studenti e giovani schiacciati dalle pretese della società della prestazione, ecc.), la teoria va un po' sullo sfondo, e le storie si prendono il palcoscenico. per buttarla sul conviviale, la letteratura è miglior consigliera: Rodari o ancor meglio Calvino, ci sono passaggi sparsi sulla biocenosi che comprende anche le macchine. il cyberpunk messicano anni Novanta mi ha insegnato molto. la musica: se devi spiegare il copyright e le licenze, con il remix di tracce audio la cosa è abbastanza lampante. come nella cosiddetta intelligenza artificiale, la questione non sono le macchine meccanico-informatico-elettrotecniche, nel senso dei computer, cavi, sensori, ma l'articolazione-concatenazione di meccanismi di comando-obbedienza (su questo anche Canetti, "Massa e Potere", è un buon riferimento) in parole povere, la tecnologia digitale di massa è da qualche decennio il luogo in cui sono più leggibili i meccanismi di dominio, ovvero le asimmetrie di potere. i media "mediano" le relazioni di potere, fra individui, istituzioni, ecc. e spesso fanno precipitare considerazioni banali, ma vere, tipo il re è nudo, il presidente è un buffone e mente allegramente. purtroppo gli approcci scandalistici non funzionano (vedi wikileaks), e rimane più facile, esempio a caso, parlare di "capitalismo di sorveglianza" piuttosto che di concatenazioni di comando-obbedienza. così si scambia il dito (la sorveglianza) con la luna (la dialettica sottintesa "obbedire oggi per comandare domani", le strutture di asservimento volontario neuro-chimico, ecc.) si ragiona di sorveglianza perché è l'aspetto mediatico più evidente. che, guarda caso, ai ragazzini interessa poco, mentre sono assai sensibili al tema della manipolazione (social engineering, ecc). la maggior parte di quelli che vengono presentati come problemi da risolvere con la giusta tecnologia, informatica di solito, non c'entrano nulla con la tecnologia e non sono manco problemi da risolvere, ma semmai processi da vivere. esempio: la democrazia non c'entra nulla con il diritto di voto (vedi socrate), tantomeno con la follia del voto diffuso digitale stile "pronti a cliccare, che dobbiamo decidere democraticamente": non c'è l'algoritmo della democrazia (per fortuna!). altro esempio banale: il benessere psico-socio-economico non c'entra nulla con l'adozione della giusta "tecnologia x.0" che promette di risolvere magicamente i problemi della società; c'entra invece con la ripartizione (s)corretta del potere e gli squilibri che ne derivano. isonomia, diceva erodoto, dove nomos ha prima a che fare con "nemein", ripartizione, che con il ben più tardivo significato di "regola-norma" quindi, per sviluppare informatica conviviale bisognerebbe ripartire meglio. l'accesso, direbbero i filosofi antichi; ovvero innanzitutto ripartire meglio il potere, visto che la tecnica consente il poter-fare qualcosa. intanto, considerare le macchine digitali-meccaniche non serve di bisogni umani, ma alleate, quando possibile. le macchine corporative sono strutturalmente non-conviviali, necessariamente gerarchiche e autoritarie. punto. mancano delle affordances necessarie a dinamiche conviviali. quindi la scala è importante, il che non vuol dire essere chiusi nel guscio del micro esperimento, né che l'artigianale è per forza conviviale: potrebbe mirare all'egemonia, o a industrializzarsi, e così saremmo punto e a capo. e comunque sono inestricabilmente connessi, almeno in questa fase. in ogni caso, in linea teorica una tecnologia conviviale può avere diffusione globale, basta che non punti alla scalabilità gerarchica e tenda invece alla federazione fra pari, alla replicazione co-evolutiva. poi, di certo umani e non umani coinvolti non devono presentare segni di sofferenza e/o abuso strutturale. se gli umani hosts di AirBnB tendono a stressarsi e a dipendere da quella tecnologia che riorganizza i rapporti sociali (non ho più una stanza per gli amici che passano; ho invece un bene da far fruttare, e la piattaforma mi spinge a renderlo sempre più redditizio), quella non è e non potrà mai essere una via conviviale. questione di limiti, e di dove porli, e soprattutto di come, in che maniera deciderli. un nostro amico e collega ha scritto qualcosa di interessante in merito, parlando di organic internet. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-66592-4_13 ne stiamo facendo una riscrittura completa in italiano, che integri aspetti teorici. dovrebbe uscire qualcosa su Mondo Digitale, se passa la peer review. insomma c'è da lavorarci parecchio. vabbè ci sarebbe da articolare con altro spazio ma mi sa che mi son perso il filo del discorso... e poi sento un paio di colleghi non umani che chiamano, si perdono pacchetti e htop segnala affaticamento, c'è qualcosa da arrangiare ;) ars longa, vita brevis ciao k. > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2019 09:35:08 +0200 > From: Alberto Cammozzo <ac+nexa(a)zeromx.net> > To: nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > Subject: Re: [nexa] IMA - Internet, Mon Amour > Message-ID: <635c2658-7c37-c46d-a0c6-f6e40d98c0c2(a)zeromx.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > Caro karlessi, > grazie. Sono uno di quelli a cui interessa quello che fate e non vi > conoscevo. > Mi piace il background teorico, Illic specialmente. > E' qualche anno che mi interrogo su se e come l'informatica possa essere > conviviale. > Vi è un intreccio inestricabile di industriale e artigianale che rende > la questione spinosa. > Mi piacerebbe sapere se avete riflettuto in merito e se vi sono tracce > di questa riflessione. > > Ciao, > > Alberto > -- "Internet, Mon Amour - https://ima.circex.org" "C.I.R.C.E. - https://circex.org" "tecnologie appropriate - https://alekos.net" GPG keys available via keyservers https://pgp.mit.edu/ Key fingerprint = BDFB 786F 6B35 7EB0 CE48 530C FCF9 E111 3537 3013

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[call for papers] Paris, avril 2020 - « L'État digital: numérisation de l’Administration publique et Administration publique du numérique »
by Giorgio Mancosu Oct. 10, 2019

Oct. 10, 2019

Gentilissimi, considerato che molti tra Voi sono specializzati in materia di pubblica amministrazione e digitale, mi permetto di portare alla Vostra attenzione la call for papers del prossimo convegno internazionale organizzato dal Centre de droit public comparé dell'università Panthéon-Assas (Paris 2). Vi sarei grato se diffondeste l'invito anche attraverso i Vostri canali. Per qualsiasi ulteriore informazione, compresi gli aspetti logistici, resto a Vostra disposizione. Un saluto cordiale Giorgio Mancosu Giorgio Mancosu, PhD <http://people.unica.it/giorgiomancosu/> Università di Cagliari Université Paris 2 Universität des Saarlandes *VERSION FRANÇAISE * https://internet-governance.fgv.br/sites/internet-governance.fgv.br/files/p… Appel à contributions pour le Colloque international de 2020 consacré à *« L'État digital:* * numérisation de l’Administration publique et Administration publique du numérique »* Date limite de participation: 1er décembre 2019 1. *Présentation de l’appel à contributions* Outils essentiels de la vie sociale, économique et démocratique du XXIe siècle, les technologies numériques ne sont désormais guère réservées aux spécialistes et deviennent un sujet incontournable pour les juristes de tous les pays du monde. Les administrations publiques – qu’elles soient étatiques, subétatiques ou supranationales – se trouvent bouleversées face à un processus de numérisation, souvent imposé, à un moment où le numérique arrête d’être une option et devient un choix nécessaire afin d’atteindre les impératifs d’efficacité et d’efficience. Dans ce cadre, l’époque de la restructuration par le biais de la création de nouvelles agences et autorités indépendantes est désormais remplacée par une nouvelle période réorganisatrice visant à stimuler une transition vers *« l'État digital* ». Cette nouvele conception de l’État se fonde sur la numérisation des services publics, l’utilisation de données publiques et privées, l’introduction d’outils algorithmiques, l’encouragement à développer des applications d’intelligence artificielle et le mouvement vers la « plateformisation de l’Etat ». Cet appel à contributions vise – mais ne se limite pas à – l’analyse de trois dimensions fondamentales du débat concernant *« l'État digital, *la numérisation de l’Administration publique et l’Administration publique du numérique, notamment : a) un travail de cartographie, d’analyse de la structure organisationnelle et des compétences des* Administrations publiques existantes**, ayant une fonction régulatoire* en ce qui concerne des sujets catégorisés ou catégorisables comme "numériques" ou ayant un fort lien avec le "numérique", tels que les autorités de protection des données, de régulation des réseaux électroniques, des contenus, des jeux en ligne, etc. b) l’analyse d’exemples spécifiques *d’outils que les administrations développent et utilisent *actuellement afin de numériser leurs propres services, par exemple en créant des services publics numériques par le biais de plateformes telles que la britannique *Nesta* ou le dispositif français *FranceConnect*. c) l’analyse et la comparaison *des stratégies normatives et institutionnelles* actuellement développées ou mises en œuvre afin de « numériser » l'administration publique. Cet axe se concentrera aussi bien sur l’analyse de stratégies de numérisation globales et intégrées, comme par exemple la stratégie brésilienne « *e-Digital* » ; sur le développement de missions publiques permettant de « traduire en données » l’administration publique afin de bâtir des services publics numériques, comme par exemple la mission française « *Etalab* » ; et sur des stratégies permettant le développement de compétences numériques des fonctionnaires publics. Tout participant à cet appel est encouragé à réfléchir sur les impacts que la numérisation de l’Administration publique et l’Administration publique du numérique déploient sur le cadre régissant les droits et libertés fondamentaux, dans les contextes nationaux, subnationaux ou régionaux analysés faisant l'objet de la comparaison. Il est envisageable d’analyser plus d’un axe de recherche, par exemple en fournissant une introduction à la stratégie nationale à la numérisation de l’administration publique et, ensuite, en explorant un programme ou un outil de numérisation spécifique. Les contributions comparatives, analysant les différences entre plusieurs approches nationales sont privilégiées, aussi bien que les contributions multidisciplinaires, utilisant par exemple la science des données afin de supporter la contribution avec une analyse empirique ; ou l’analyse économique afin d’explorer les coûts et bénéfices de l’approche en question. Le colloque international du CDPC aura lieu *les 23 et 24 avril 2020, à l’Université Panthéon-Assas, Paris 2* et les travaux présentés lors du colloque seront publiés en novembre 2020. Les contributions seront de préférence en langue française, mais elle pourront être acceptées en langue anglaise. 1. *Chronogramme* - Date limite pour l’envoi d’un résumé de 2000 mots : 1er décembre 2019 - Communication des résumés sélectionnés : 15 janvier 2020 - Date limite pour l’envoi d’une contribution de 5000 à 7000 mots : 30 mars 2020 - Date du colloque : 23-24 avril 2020 - Date limite pour l’envoi d’une contribution définitive, de 6000 à 8000 mots : 15 juillet 2020 - Publication : Novembre 2020 *Les résumés doivent être envoyés à **cdpc(a)u-paris2.fr <cdpc(a)u-paris2.fr>* * et **luca.belli(a)fgv.br <luca.belli(a)fgv.br>** en utilisant l’objet « Etat Digital – Digital State ».* Les auteurs des résumés sélectionnés recevront les lignes directrices pour élaborer et formater leurs contributions. *ENGLISH VERSION * https://internet-governance.fgv.br/sites/internet-governance.fgv.br/files/p… Call for Papers for the 2020 International Symposium on *“The Digital State: Digitalisation of Public Administration and Public Administration of Digital Technologies”* Deadline for participation: 1st December 2019 1. *Presentation of the Call for Papers* Digital technologies play a pivotal role in virtually all our social, economic and democratic interactions and have become essential tools for all Public Administrations – be they at the state, sub-state or supranational level. In such context, Public Administrations find themselves frequently unprepared to meet the challenges of digitalisation, at a time when digital technologies are not an option anymore and become necessary to meet the imperatives of efficiency, cost reduction and effectiveness. The era of governmental reform through the creation of new independent authorities and agencies is now replaced by a new period of governmental restructuration, aimed at stimulating a transition to the “*Digital State*.” This new conception of the state is characterised by the digitalisation of public services, the extensive use of public and personal data, the introduction of algorithmic tools to automate decision-making, the encouragement to develop Artificial Intelligence applications to automate public sector functions and activities and the move towards the “platformisation” of the state. This call for papers aims to – but is not limited to – analyse three fundamental dimensions of the debate concerning “Digital State: Digitalisation of Public Administration and Public Administration of Digital Technologies”, fostering: a) The mapping and analysis of *the organisational structures and attributions of existing Public Administrations* that regulate issues which are categorised or can be categorised as “digital technologies”, or are essential for the functioning or have a strong link with “digital technologies”, such as electronic networks regulators, data protection authorities, online gaming or gambling regulators, etc.; b) The analysis of specific examples of *tools that Public Administrations are currently developing and using to digitalise their services*, for example by providing digital public services through platforms such as Nesta, in the UK, FranceConnect, in France. c) The analysis and/or comparison of *national strategies currently developed or implemented to “digitalise” Public Administration*. This research avenue can focus both on the analysis of overarching strategies for digitalisation, such as the Brazilian “Estratégia Digital”; on the development of public-purpose programmes aimed at “translating into data” all public administration and building digital public services, such as the French Etalab; and on capacity building strategies for the development of digital skills of public servants. All participants to this call are encouraged to reflect on the impacts that the Digitalisation of Public Administration and Public Administration of Digital Technologies deploy on the possibility to exercise fundamental rights and freedoms. Such analyses may consider and/or compare national, sub-state or regional frameworks. It is possible to analyse more than one of the abovementioned research avenues, for example by introducing the national digitalisation strategy of a specific country and, subsequently, exploring a specific programme or tool. Comparative studies, analysing the differences between several national approaches are encouraged, as well as multidisciplinary analyses, for example using data science to support the findings with empirical evidence; or economic analysis to explore the costs and benefits of a specific approach. The international symposium of the CDPC will take place on *the 23rd and 24th of April 2020, at Université Panthéon-Assas, Paris 2, in Paris, France* and the works presented at the colloquium will be published by November 2020. Contributions should be preferably be in French, but English studies will be accepted. 1. *Timeline* - Deadline for submitting a 2000 words abstract: 1st of December 2019 - Communication of selected abstracts: 15th of January 2020 - Deadline for sending a contribution of 5000 to 7000 words: 30th of March 2020 - Date of the symposium: 23rd and 24th of April - Deadline for sending a final contribution, between 6,000 and 8,000 words: 15th of July 2020 - Publication: November 2020 *Abstracts must be sent to **cdpc(a)u-paris2.fr <cdpc(a)u-paris2.fr>** and luca.belli(a)fgv.br <luca.belli(a)fgv.br> *using the subject line* “Etat Digital – Digital State”.* The authors of the selected abstracts will receive guidelines to elaborate and format their contributions

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Don’t Believe Your Eyes (or Ears): The Weaponization of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Deepfakes - War on the Rocks
by Alberto Cammozzo Oct. 9, 2019

Oct. 9, 2019

<https://warontherocks.com/2019/10/dont-believe-your-eyes-or-ears-the-weapon…> For thousands of years, humanity has relied on five senses to determine threats to their wellbeing. Our ancestors used their keen senses of sight and hearing to assess risk or identify a suitable meal. With the advent of new technologies, however, this reliability may be slipping away. Many algorithms are already in the wild, available freely on open source repositories like Github or Bitbucket. Programs, such as FaceSwap, are ready to be weaponized against individual citizens, corporations, and nations. While much of the dialogue focuses on the political impact and fallout, there is a very real threat to national security and human life in the application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deepfakes. As such, nations should rethink how they counter new vulnerabilities with special capabilities that are spread throughout defense, intelligence, academia, and industry. Deepfakes and Neural Networks One technique that has gained attention is “deepfakes,” a mix of the words “deep learning” and “fake media.” Deepfakes came to prominence when a Reddit user utilized a Generative Adversarial Network (GANs) to create pornography that swapped the actress’ face with a well-known female celebrity. News outlets picked up on the story. Meanwhile, the House Intelligence Committee held its first hearing on the matter in June 2019, inviting experts from law, security, academia, and industry. The re-emergence of neural networks as a popular approach within computer and data science are improving machine-learning capabilities. Neural networks are computer algorithms that are meant to mimic the processes of the human brain. Interconnected layers of nodes, which represent neurons, conduct mathematical computations on inputs that pass their result on to the next layer. Each node in the next layer receives results for each node in the previous layer until a prediction is made. The decision is then compared with the actual outcome, and each connection between the nodes is adjusted to carry more or less weight. The process is repeated until the difference between predictions and outcomes is minimized. These implementations allow experts, and in some cases mere enthusiasts, to manipulate images, video, audio, and text in such a way that even the keenest observers can be deceived. This capability could be used to interfere in an election, sow political chaos, or frustrate military operations, making this a national security issue. GANs feature two competing neural networks. One network, called a “generator,” makes a product based on a real version. It then shows that product to the other network, called a “discriminator,” that determines if this image is real or fake. As the images are created, then judged, the facsimile’s realism improves proportionate to the discriminator’s decreasing ability to determine what is real or not. The process is similar to that of an art forger and art appraiser striving to pass off a forged work as an original, to gain the monetary benefit. Computer vision techniques, like focal point identification, can be coupled with GANs to track a specific object in an image or video. Using this followed by facial landmark tracking, or identifying specific features of a face, allows the program to accurately swap the target face. Similar technologies exist in the realm of augmented reality, or virtual items being displayed in the real world in real time, on sites like Instagram, and on SnapChat, in the form of face swapping and filters. Face swapping is not new, but new technology makes it much cheaper. Implanting a young Carrie Fisher into the Disney film Rogue One, for example, cost millions of dollars. However, a close replication was created in a few hours at no cost using off the shelf, deepfake technologies. Machine learning and deepfake capabilities in the hands of other great powers and terrorist groups could threaten U.S. national interests. Experts have already written extensively about these threats in professional journals, while traditional news media coverage has been non-existent. Foreign intelligence services have long used blackmail and extortion to gain access to secure facilities by recruiting human sources. As described in the short story that opened this article, deepfakes could make it that much easier. Weaponizing Algorithms In May 2019, Samsung’s Moscow Artificial Intelligence Laboratory released a GAN that required just one image to create a moving image of an individual based off of the movements of a source video. Previous methods required hundreds of thousands of images, usually from individual frames of video, to train a model. This model requires no more than 16 images — with more angles, the more seamlessly the model can replace the target. This algorithm uses facial landmark features, identifying eye, nose, mouth, and jawline, for a meta-training phase of the model. Once these movements are understood by the network, it can overlay new images in a realistic manner. The algorithm only requires images of a face from a few angles to add to the realism, something easily acquired through social media or surveillance of the targeted individual. Then the victim is at the mercy of the fake’s creator. They can use the technology to fabricate an affair or acts of homosexuality in a country where this could lead to imprisonment or death. Dubious claims could be made by governments as pretenses for arrest with deepfakes as evidence. Non-state actors could use artificial intelligence as a pretense to turn people against the United States or its allies. Some have speculated about the use of a deepfake to create an international crisis between nuclear-armed states. However, it’s more likely that deepfakes could be used in a scenario like 2012 Benghazi consulate attack in which citizens protested a video satirizing the Prophet Mohammad, overwhelming a small U.S. consulate. The protest served as a pretense to a terrorist attack that left four Americans, include the U.S. ambassador, dead. Local citizens could be mobilized or recruited by extremist groups through the circulation of a fabricated video for a comparable attack. A variation of this scenario could be utilized through new forms of propaganda videos designed to convince western audiences of the threat posed by a terrorist organization or separatist group. Along with the political implications, most news articles focus solely on video deepfakes. GANs have been used for other forms of media in convincing ways. Still images are the next most prominent, with NVIDIA Corporation releasing two algorithms, ProgressiveGAN and StyleGAN, in the last year. ProgressiveGAN utilizes a methodology that looks at images through resized revisioning, starting at 4×4 pixel images incrementing to the end resolution, in order to learn how the image is structured at each level to identify key features and attributes for replication. Intrepid malign actors could utilize such technology to create forgeries of administrative documents such as visas and passports in mere minutes with relative novice forgers. Europe has already experienced what such forged documents can do. Both the Charlie Hebdo attack and the Bataclan theatre attack had the perpetrators gain supplies and entry into the country using forged documents. Lowering the bar to anyone with a laptop would widen the ability of these groups to move from country to country, allowing for greater success of their attacks through decentralization. In the case of generating synthetic portraits, StyleGAN allows for a greater amount of control. Utilizing a computer vision technique known as style transfer, StyleGAN can transfer characteristics of one individual to another, to make a completely unique, synthetic image. As built, it can change high level attributes (pose or identity of a person) to low level ones (hair length and color, freckles, etc.) in its generation process. Knowing how the Internet Research Agency interfered with the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom through the use of social media manipulation, weaponizing machine learning is the next logical step. StyleGAN would be highly useful in creating more authentic online personas. Online social media campaigns rely on specifically programmed “bots” to push narratives into the forefront to be picked up by individuals or legitimate media. These are typically barebones in their profile content, using one or two images, or default profiles. Through StyleGAN, robust profiles can be created using synthetically generated images, which are tweaked to fit the pose or characteristics of a real person. This may already be happening. These images adds to the believability there is a genuine person behind a comment on Twitter, Reddit, or Facebook, allowing the message to propagate. In the same vein of social media influence, GANs have been applied to text generation. Russia deployed thousands of Twitter bots since 2014 to conduct influence campaigns. Researchers at Taiwan National University modified CycleGAN to create more reliable sentiment compared to typical Seq2Seq method currently employed in chat bots. This improvement, when coupled with the coherence and semantics of Seq2Seq, can create realistic chat bots, giving responses in real time that mimic those of a person. This allows for greater coverage of social media spaces and spreading of messages. Improvements to audio synthesis, particularly of human voices, are also a cause for concern. Adobe Voco and Google Deepmind’s WaveGAN can copy an individual’s voice with a little as 40 minutes of audio, matching vocalizations of words not even spoken. In May of 2019, Dessa, a machine learning start-up, created a realistic version of comedian Joe Rogan’s voice. Russian backed separatists in Donbas, Ukraine already employ similar methods, jamming out friendly signals and overwriting them with their own. Although deepfakes haven’t been shown to have been utilized, the risk exists. Many actors, not just nation states, could have access to these technologies. While education to inoculate societies to deepfakes is necessary, as well as having trusted sources to vet audio, video, and imagery, many scenarios stated fall outside of these protections. Nations should develop means to identify, counter, and prevent events from happening. A cat and mouse game of development, similar to anti-virus technologies in network security, can serve as a guide to the union of critically-thinking individuals and protective technologies to best serve against the threat. As it stands, most countries are not equipped to fight weaponized deepfakes. The capabilities to combat them in the United States are spread throughout multiple agencies. The National Security Agency houses the technical knowledge to research and test models, but lacks the training for countering influence campaigns. The Department of Defense houses counter-influence and information operations capabilities, each with different authorities and tools. Technical knowhow is focused on information assurance and cyber security. The Department of Homeland Security has vast resources for counterintelligence, but does not have the same reach outside the boarders or has similar constraints regarding technical means. [...]

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New Tech Aims to Tell Pilots When Their Plane Has Been Hacked - Defense One
by Alberto Cammozzo Oct. 9, 2019

Oct. 9, 2019

<https://www.defenseone.com/business/2019/10/new-app-tells-pilots-when-their…> Raytheon is pitching a product to detect cyber intrusions into aircraft, drones, and even missiles. As the military helicopter lifts off the ground and heads skyward, the numbers on the altimeter suddenly stop ticking upward. The rumble of the helicopter’s engines fade and the chopper starts losing altitude. A second later, a dire warning flashes in red on a cockpit screen: “Cyber Anomaly.” The helicopter is under attack, but not from missiles or guns. Seconds later, it smashes into the ground. Luckily for the pilot, he’s not in a real helicopter — just a small simulator set up in a conference room of a high-rise office building in Arlington, Virginia. Greg Fry, the engineer at the controls of the choreographed crash, is part of a Raytheon team that is building a new warning system that tells pilots when their planes are being hacked, something the U.S. military expects to happen in the battles of the future. “Basically, we’re trying to give the pilot the information about what’s happening internally on his aircraft in real time,” said Amanda Buchanan, the project’s engineering lead. “We’re telling him what’s going on and allowing him to make decisions about what he needs to do to correct the problems.” Inside most aircraft, important electronics are plugged into a serial data bus. The bus used in many U.S. military planes was developed in the 1970s and “still have not been updated for security,” according to Fry, a cyber-resiliency product manager at Raytheon. “You GPS talks on it, your fuel valve switches are on it, your autopilot is on it and other avionics systems all communicate over this bus,” Fry said. “What we found is as technology has increased and more and more [commercial] products are put in aircraft, there’s more of an attack surface for cyber threats to go onto the platform.” Raytheon began developing this Cyber Anomaly Detection System three years ago after receiving “customer feedback” about “vulnerabilities in aviation platforms,” Buchanan said. She declined to identify the customer. Raytheon self-funded the project, Fry said. Company officials won’t say if the systems is deployed on U.S. military aircraft. Pentagon officials have increasingly been talking about weapon cyber vulnerabilities and the need for companies “harden” their products. In August, the Washington Post reported that Air Force-sponsored hackers had found cyber vulnerabilities in the F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet. [...]

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Bando TD Gdpr per informatici | 14 ottobre 2019
by Francesco Ruggiero Oct. 9, 2019

Oct. 9, 2019

Gentilissimi, vi segnaliamo un’offerta di lavoro per la durata di un anno dedicata a profili tecnici in materia di GDPR presso l’ateneo di Torino. In allegato il documento di presentazione del bando presso l’Università degli Studi di Torino (scadenza il *14 ottobre*) e il relativo link alla pagina del sito: https://www.unito.it/po/selezionaricercawebtipo.php?tipo=4&p=y Cordiali saluti -- Francesco Ruggiero Communication Manager Nexa Center for Internet & Society Politecnico di Torino - DAUIN Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24 - 10129 Torino web: http://nexa.polito.it mail: francesco.ruggiero(a)polito.it tel: 011 090 7219

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California makes ‘deepfake’ videos illegal, but law may be hard to enforce
by Luigi Scorca Oct. 8, 2019

Oct. 8, 2019

https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-n…

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NYT: U.S. Using Trade Deals to Shield Tech Giants From Foreign Regulators
by Luigi Scorca Oct. 8, 2019

Oct. 8, 2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/business/tech-shield-trade-deals.html?ac… -- Luigi Scorca Mob: +39 347 85 22 221 Mail: luigi.scorca(a)gmail.com

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The gig economy's deepest problem isn't about tech at all
by J.C. DE MARTIN Oct. 7, 2019

Oct. 7, 2019

https://www.fastcompany.com/90413617/the-gig-economys-deepest-problem-isnt-… (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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London Review of Books: recensione di due libri
by J.C. DE MARTIN Oct. 7, 2019

Oct. 7, 2019

Document Number Nine John Lanchester The Great Firewall of China: How to Build and Control an Alternative Version of the Internet by James Griffiths We Have Been Harmonised: Life in China’s Surveillance State by Kai Strittmatter The People’s Republic of China had its seventieth birthday on 1 October. ‘Sheng ri kuai le’ to the world’s biggest and most populous example of … of … well, actually, that sentence is hard to finish. There’s no off-the-shelf description for China’s political and economic system. ‘Socialism with Chinese characteristics’ is the Chinese Communist Party’s preferred term, but the s-word makes an odd fit with a country that is the world’s most important market for luxury goods, has the second largest number of billionaires, stages the world’s biggest one-day shopping event, ‘Singles’ Day’, and is home to the world’s biggest, fastest-expanding, spendiest, most materially aspirational middle class. Look at the UN’s Human Development Index: after seventy years of communist rule, China’s inequality figures are dramatically worse than those of the UK and even the US. Can we call that ‘socialism’? https://www.lrb.co.uk/v41/n19/john-lanchester/document-number-nine (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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