The Cyber Why: What We Read This Week...
The Cyber Why: What We Read This Week...
... and why you should too! (06/06/23)
Welcome back! This week’s newsletter is an odd collection of ski goggles, poker millions, idiot lawyers, AI threat models, and financial bubble timelines. Much like its primary author, the content is an odd, mixed-up hodge podge of interests that will hopefully make you smile and learn a little something. If you like an article, please share the link with a friend. The chat feedback, shares, and subscriptions go a long way to keeping us motivated. Enjoy this week’s TCW!
UGLY & $$$ - Same Mistakes As Google Glass
Everything Apple Announced at WWDC 2023 (Wired)
Yesterday marked the highly anticipated World Wide Developer Conference for Apple fans. It's an occasion when the latest advancements in Apple's technology lineup are unveiled to the public. This year showcased notable technological progress, such as new Mac computers, iOS improvements, enhanced adaptive audio, and innovative developments in WatchOS 10. These offerings encompass everything you never knew you needed, now available at prices that may astound you. Among the announcements, the most intriguing is the introduction of Apple Vision Pro, a pair of augmented-reality ski goggles. We previously covered these goggles on TCW, and our opinion remains unchanged. They suffer from an unattractive design and are unlikely to be widely adopted until they can be worn without feeling self-conscious in public. Considering their unappealing appearance and the hefty price tag exceeding $3,000, this offering's success prospects appear grim. Personally, I would name these new goggles "iPass" because that's exactly what I am going to do!
Crypto-Millionaire vs. Poker GOAT for $3M
Tom Dwan Wins Record $3.1M Poker Hand (Hustler Casino Live)
Those who have known me long know I love playing poker. I’ve been a poker fan since I found the game in the late 1900s (yes, it’s a millennial joke) when I lived in the Northern California’s Bay Area. There’s a lot to learn about business from poker, but I won’t digress too far into that discussion. Instead, I want to point you at the most insane televised hand of poker I’ve ever seen. It’s the biggest cash hand in the history of televised poker. If you like poker, this is a must-see video - Watch a crypto millionaire go against one of the GOATs of cash game poker for an absurd amount of cash!
A Moment of Serious. Please Pay Attention!
Surgeon General Issues New Advisory About Effects Social Media Use Has on Youth Mental Health (Health and Human Services)
The Surgeon General has issued an advisory on the impact of social media on youth mental health, calling for urgent action to create safer online environments. While social media can offer benefits, there is growing evidence that it can harm children and adolescent's mental health and well-being. Social media use is nearly universal among young people, with up to 95% of those aged 13-17 reporting using a social media platform and over a third saying they use social media "almost constantly." There is merit in discussing the risks of social media usage and the growing evidence of children being harmed, which is a real problem. I don’t advocate a knee-jerk reaction to the situation, but we must be cognizant of the issue and ensure it doesn’t get out of hand.
When In Doubt, Make Shit Up! It’s The LAW!
Lawyer Cited 6 Fake Cases Made Up By ChatGPT (ARSTechnica)
From the crazy side of the Internet comes a “wtf” type of case in which a lawyer used ChatGPT to help generate a legal brief. He used the generative AI system to supplement his legal research, and apparently, the AI bot decided to hallucinate a handful of cases that didn’t exist. Our brilliant lawyer assumed the case law was accurate and used it to inform and back his client’s story. According to the judge in the case, six of the citations used in the legal brief were “bogus judicial decisions with bogus quotes and bogus internal citations.” The law firm and the lawyer must now report for a case on June 8th to determine if they should be sanctioned. Luckily Steven Schwartz, the lawyer who cited fake cases, has reportedly been offered a job at the Onion. (Editor Note: AI wrote that last joke, and I didn’t fact-check it!)
A Great Primer For AI Threat Models
The AI Attack Surface Map v1.0 (Daniel Miessler)
A great lightweight primer into novel attack scenarios and techniques against AI systems, this “Attack Surface Map” helped me get my head around the realities of AI security. Daniel breaks down the content into consumable chunks that can be used as a framework to describe threat models in the modern AI security era. Agents, tools, storage, and models can all be attacked, directly and indirectly, using prompt injection and training attacks. While Daniel doesn’t use this article to deep dive into the technical attack methods, he does a great job teeing up that research for himself or someone else to target later. I highly recommend chewing through this article and researching each of the individual tactics Daniel describes. It’s a great primer and jumpstart! Click here to subscribe to Daniel’s Unsupervised Learning Newsletter.
How Long Until We Turn This Around
Downturns Recover In Years. Popped Bubbles Take Decades (Crunchbase)
Are we in a bubble or a downturn? Bubble recoveries can span decades, while downturns endure for years. This article ponders the timeline for stock market recovery, drawing parallels to the dot com bubble burst and the 2008 economic downturn. However, it's not as straightforward as that. I believe we're witnessing a combination of both phenomena, and the duration of this situation remains uncertain. On a lighter note, I can't help but wonder if I should continue holding onto my Beanie Babies. Perhaps, someday, they'll regain value. Who knows, right?
If you’ve made it this far, you either found our musings at least semi-entertaining, OR you enjoyed the pain and kept going regardless. No matter how you made it to this point, you should know that we appreciate you. Please do us a solid and share The Cyber Why with your friends. We would love to reach a bigger audience, and referrals are how we do it. Help us out, and we’ll see you next week!