Security Briefing: OpenAI's big week, White House sees increase in cyber attacks
ChatGPT is spreading fast with a landmark deal, but a new face behind the scenes is raising questions about the future of AI. Let's explore in this week's briefing.
OpenAI lands new Apple integration, appoints former NSA director to board of directors
Apple announced Monday it would be integrating ChatGPT into its operating systems. Siri and Writing Tools will use ChatGPT to answer questions and help users generate content.
Additionally, Apple unveiled Private Cloud Compute (PCC), a cloud shaped for private AI processing. Apple said personal user data submitted to PCC is not accessible to anyone but the user, even Apple.
"Independent experts can inspect the code that runs on Apple silicon servers to verify privacy, and Private Cloud Compute cryptographically ensures that iPhone, iPad, and Mac do not talk to a server unless its software has been publicly logged for inspection," the company said in a statement.
Up to now, private computation with AI models have long been sought in tech circles. Once data goes to a server, it's hard for a user to verify where it all goes. But it's resource-intensive to train and run AI models. Apple's new rollout will allow iOS, iPad, and Mac users to take part in the benefits of AI while offloading that heavy computation.
In other news, OpenAI raised eyebrows Thursday by naming former head of the National Security Agency (NSA) Paul M. Nakasone to its board of directors. Nakasone ran the agency from 2018 until February 2024.
The NSA is a U.S. intelligence agency whose mass data collection practices have proven controversial in the last several decades. The OpenAI move raised the ire of NSA whistleblower and privacy advocate Edward Snowden.
"They've gone full mask-off: do not ever trust @OpenAI or its products (ChatGPT etc)," Snowden posted on X. "There is only one reason for appointing an @NSAGov Director to your board. This is a willful, calculated betrayal of the rights of every person on Earth. You have been warned."
🔑 Key Insight: By and large, the AI ecosystem runs on trust. In security, the goal is to trust third parties as little as possible. But there are some AI tools worth experimenting with that promise at least a modicum of privacy, such as Unleashed.chat and Venice.ai. Pay close attention to AI providers.
Report: U.S. federal agencies experienced 32,000 cybersecurity incidents in 2023
A White House report noted an sizable uptick in data breaches, compromises, and other attacks in fiscal year 2023.
The Office of Management and Budget published a report in which it tallied 32,211 incidents across federal agencies, approximately a 10% increase from the year prior.
The report examined the data of reported agency incidents by individual attack vectors and observed that the number of "email/phishing" attacks had more than doubled in that span. There was also about a 17% increase in attacks stemming from "improper usage."
🔑 Key Insight: Phishing attacks have grown more sophisticated in recent years, so it's reasonable to expect that trend reflected in government incidents. As we enter an age of AI-infused content, it's critical that you keep a close eye on unsolicited email correspondence.
The three superpowers of private keys
We talk a lot about private keys at Casa. Our multi-key vaults give you robust protection for your assets, but what makes them so powerful?
Well, it's not entirely magic. Private keys have three fundamental traits that make them an excellent choice for securing precious data including bitcoin. Here's a quick explainer.
Nick Neuman
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