Unleash live, an Australia-based creator of video data analytics platforms, has teamed up with Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink to connect with and navigate drones in real-time via a satellite hookup.
By accessing Starlink’s network of low-earth-orbiting communications satellites, an Unleash live team in the company’s headquarters in Sydney recently was able to control the operation of a drone flying at a remote site on Australia’s east coast about 200 km (124 miles) away. Using the low-latency connection and Unleash live’s Autofly software, the team successfully tested the drone’s ability to implement two real-time artificial intelligence apps: people counting and tracking, and power line fault detection.
Following three months of tests Unleash live released a beta version of the software package to its clients.
The partnership with Musk’s Starlink will greatly expand the ability of drone operators to conduct inspections of energy infrastructure assets, such as electric transmission lines, oil and gas pipelines and windfarms, in remote locations, where 4G and 5G connectivity is unavailable, Unleash live CEO and Co-founder Hanno Blankenstein said in an interview.
“There are two things that this enables: One is to get the data off the drone in high quality and at high speed to an office location or remote expert,” he said.
“The second element that we offer is the ability to interact with the drone in the field,” Hanno said. “We can navigate the drone to better inspect and provide better operational clarity while the drone is in the air.”
With launches conducted by its sister company, SpaceX, Starlink is building a constellation of satellites orbiting above the earth to provide Internet connectivity around the globe. As of August, the company had placed about 1,600 satellites into orbit, with plans to operate a total of 42,000.
“There’s a live map on the Internet where you can see satellite coverage across the world.  Roughly 30% to 40% of the world is covered with high-bandwidth, low-latency broadband,” Blankenstein said. Musk’s company plans to extend that coverage to between 99% and 100% of the globe within the next year.
Continue reading: https://dronelife.com/2021/12/08/unleash-live-and-elon-musks-starlink-enabling-remote-drone-flights/

1. What is preventing the widespread adoption of blockchain by financial institutions?
More institutions than ever before have become curious about blockchain. In fact, according to Deloitte's 2021 Global Blockchain Survey, almost 80% of the respondents shared that digital assets would become very important to their respective industries over the next 12 months.
Even though digital assets are being used more broadly, there are still obstacles that must be overcome prior to mainstream adoption by financial institutions. 
Among these challenges is identity, which is often an after-thought that runs in opposition to the pseudonymity and decentralized nature of Ethereum (ETH), creating compliance challenges for issuers and investors alike. 
Furthermore, governance has also proven to be an obstacle and risk due to the number of hard forks that typically occur during Ethereum upgrades. Finally, compliance is often hindered by transaction limitations within the technology architecture.
Continue reading: https://cointelegraph.com/explained/why-a-securities-specific-blockchain-is-needed-explained

The GPS Security Company infiniDome has teamed with Honeywell Aerospace and Easy Aerial in demonstrating the first UAV-tailored , Robust Navigation System. With the integration of GPS anti-jamming technology, Radar Velocity System and Inertial Navigation System, the system enables UAVs to operate safely and effectively, even in GPS challenged or fully denied environments.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly being used in place of manned vehicles.  However, UAVs are almost entirely reliant on GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) for the most basic of functionality required for navigation, especially for BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line Of Sight) and autonomous operations.
The weak and vulnerable nature of the GNSS signal renders it heavily vulnerable against jamming attacks, which can be carried out from large distances using a simple jammer purchased online.
Developers currently try to address this problem either by creating “safe landing protocols” in GNSS-challenged environments or by adding various types of sensors to their flight controllers which, in some scenarios, provide a reasonable source of positioning data. However, they fail to work in many situations such as when flying at certain altitudes or high speeds, in fog or darkness, above sea and other such scenarios. The Robust Navigation System, jointly developed by Honeywell and infiniDome, aims to solve this problem.
By pairing the GNSS-based UAV-tailored Honeywell’s Compact Inertial Navigation System (HCINS) with infiniDome’s GNSS anti-jamming technology (GPSdome), integrated with Honeywell’s Radar-based Velocity System (HRVS), the Robust Navigation System is a comprehensive solution that can be installed on nearly any UAV, granting it continuous, accurate navigation data in GNSS-challenged or fully GNSS-denied environments.
Continue reading: https://dronelife.com/2021/12/08/infinidome-demonstrates-robust-navigation-system-tailored-for-drones/

When looking for technologies that are secure and remove a middleman/broker from the execution of your business plan, thus reducing the cost to your customers or decrease in your margin, distributed ledger technology (DLT) could be an option.
Blockchain is just one in an array of tools in the technical class of DLT. DLT is the roll-up technology class; it's on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network using a consensus protocol among all the peers partaking in the DLT, eliminating the need for a clearinghouse involvement. Each peer or endpoint is called a node on a public database called the chain. The chain itself is validated by the P2P network nodes, but the detailed data is securely stored in the block. First, there is a block of origin, and then each block is recorded as a transaction level, and the computers on the peer-to-peer network work as one. The blocks are validated by a wider community rather than a central authority. This makes it more secure and less costly in the long term.
Many have no idea when to apply DLT technologies — and to be fair, there are still very few market applications that exist outside of the crypto exchange use cases. That said, DLTs can become game-changers, as they provide a transaction-based, validated, decentralized, single-distributed ledger as well as smart contracts and crypto-assets, including currencies in certain competitive niches once they have been identified like NFTs. They could also create a transformative effect that enables new ways of doing business that have not emerged to date. Do not underestimate the cost savings of eliminating or preventing the need for a middleman in many business models. It could help to make sense of ways of doing business that never made sense in the past.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/12/08/beyond-the-blockchain-hype-two-ways-the-game-changing-technology-is-being-applied-now/?sh=63a95513669f

The Defense Research Intelligence Agency, the gonzo R&D arm of the Pentagon, has had a hand in inventing everything from GPS and speech translation to the early precursors of the internet. (The agency also tried to develop a mechanical elephant to traverse South Vietnam, but who’s keeping count). Now the agency is working with a startup to explore ways to wirelessly charge drones mid-flight.
The company, Seattle-based Electric Sky, was awarded $225,000 as part of DARPA’s Small Business Innovation Research Program to create what they’re calling the world’s first “Whisper Beam” transmitter according to a press release. While previous wireless charging for drones has relied on microwaves and lasers that get weaker as they travel over a distance, the Whisper Beam aims to do the opposite and would get stronger as it approaches a receiver, the company’s CEO Robert Millman said. Electric Sky reportedly uses a transmitter that sends out radio waves that then focus on the receiver, in this case, the drone.
“Whisper Beam technology is the electromagnetic equivalent of a whispering gallery,” Millman said. “In a whispering gallery a single listener across the room can hear the speaker but no one else can, not even people standing directly between the speaker and listener. The sound is too weak for them to hear.”
DARPA has a long history of interest in drone projects. For years, the agency has envisioned a program called OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) that would see drone swarms of up to 250 unmanned aircraft enter battle alongside small teams of soldiers. The agency believes these small drone armies could soon help soldiers in clear buildings in urban areas and conduct reconnaissance.
Continue reading: https://gizmodo.com/darpa-is-exploring-ways-to-wirelessly-charge-drone-swar-1848181989

In the sky above one of the largest Christmas tree farms in North America, visitors are more likely to hear the whirring blades of a drone helicopter than the jingle of Santa’s sleigh.
“We fly over a field and, using drones, we collect imagery and create 3-D models that help us determine how tall the trees are and help determine a count of those trees,” said Kate Dodde, a drone pilot for the Dutchman Tree Farms in Manton in Northwest Michigan, south of Traverse City. 
Other farmers across the state say that the use of drones could revolutionize farming, but researchers working with drones say federal laws fail to meet their needs.
“You have to be in sight of the aircraft with unaided vision and you can’t use binoculars.” said Robert Goodwin, the project manager for Michigan State University’s RS&GIS, which stands for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System. “You can use extra people in the field with radio contact to keep an eye on it. But, if you’re using drones you’re trying to limit labor, not bring more people into the field.” 
Farm advocates say that regulations confuse farmers who would otherwise adopt the technology.
“I think a lot of farmers are still trying to figure out what they all need to do for regulations,” said Theresa Sisung, the industry relations specialist for the Michigan Farm Bureau. “It depends on what they want to do with their drone.”  
The Federal Aviation Administration determines which regulations and permits apply to drones based on how high they fly, how much they can lift and whether they are for commercial or private use, Sisung said.   
Continue reading: https://www.lenconnect.com/story/business/agricultural/2021/12/09/federal-regulations-hinder-farming-drones/6433005001/

At the height of the dot-com bubble in 2000, I read a humor article about Cisco. The piece discussed how investors in the tech giant were shocked to learn Cisco made actual products and did not just sell stock. The Bitcoin and crypto craze (I refer to it as a “craze” and not a “bubble”) that we are currently experiencing has a parallel to that story.
As cryptocurrency prices go through the stratosphere, most people focus on crypto purely as an investment and ignore its use cases. If you came to this page expecting to learn something from yet another expert about how you can buy Dogecoin and get a 5,738% ROI, this article is not for you. Here, we are talking exclusively about the practical uses of the blockchain and cryptocurrency and how it can genuinely, radically revolutionize business processes.
For starters, cryptocurrencies are built on blockchains, a fancy term for a network of computers that store data collaboratively. This data is public and unalterable. Cryptocurrencies collect and hold data pertaining to the ownership and transaction details for each coin. For example, imagine a public database that uses the serial number assigned to each dollar bill to track who possesses each banknote. The database would also update its records every time the bill changes hands.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/12/08/so-what-can-we-do-with-the-blockchain-anyway/?sh=5f59a85b3aac

Engineers from the University of Southampton, and conservationists at Marwell Wildlife have successfully trialed the use of drone technology, as a new approach to assisting conservation efforts, writes the University of Southampton in a press release.
The collaboration between the IRIS Centre of Excellence, SotonUAV, Marwell Wildlife and the School of Biological Sciences involved several flight trials at the zoo to test how effective drones carrying specialist cameras and noise sensors could be in identifying and monitoring animals from the air.
The teams conducted the flights in October and November, performing several flights above the zoo’s Wild Explorer’s paddock, which holds herds of critically endangered Grevy’s zebras, scimitar-horned oryx and white rhinos.
The goal is to employ these technologies in remote areas where threatened animal populations are more difficult to monitor.
Dr Mark Pickering, Impact Acceleration Manager at the IRIS Centre of Excellence, said: “These trials here at Marwell allowed us to gather a great deal of data which we can now work with to look into things like image processing algorithms and machine learning.”
Continue reading: https://innovationorigins.com/en/selected/drones-to-support-wildlife-conservation/

Planning your next holiday? Our guide to the best cities for flying a drone could help you pick your next destination, as all of these locations combine plenty of drone-friendly areas with photographic views. They're ideal spots if you've got one of the best drones packed in your holiday bag and want to make good use of it. 
All locations discussed in this article are in unrestricted Class G airspace unless otherwise noted. This means drone enthusiasts can operate their drones without obtaining special permission — but do be aware that you'll still have to abide by normal drone regulations.
Looking for more drone guides? We also have articles on drone photography tips and tricks, along with an article on drone racing: everything you need to know. But if it's drone-friendly cities you're interested in, then read on.
Continue reading: https://www.space.com/best-cities-for-flying-a-drone

If you thought judgment, ethics, and even creativity were the unique purview of humans, think again. The latest industry analyst predictions about artificial intelligence (AI) are out, and they’re certain to oust a ton of assumptions we’ve made to date. Read on to find out just how smart, creative, and sincere AI will become during the next few years.
Organizations are just starting to tap the incredible computational powers of AI for creativity, human productivity, and business results. 
Creative machines are the future
Noting that South Africa granted the first patent to a creative AI system in 2021, Forrester researchers predicted creative AI systems will win dozens of patents in 2022. They were quick to point out that “AI will not own the products in the traditional sense — the developers of the AI systems…will still enjoy commercial benefits. But companies will experiment with creative AI, knowing that these innovations may be legally protected.”
Forrester analyst Diego Lo Giudice looked ahead to “AI 2.0”, which he saw fueling the development of new creative business applications, exceeding basic expectations of AI to free up workers for greater creativity. He predicted that AI would connect business processes across silos to boost business creativity, and wrote that “AI’s new business models can optimize the convergence of the digital world with the physical world and drive the ‘anything as a digital service’ trend. The impact on customer experience could be huge.”
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2021/12/08/ai-trends-2022-spare-us-the-hype-we-want-business-results/?sh=256bdcf5601a

Picking the right AI project for your company often comes down to having the right ingredients and knowing how to combine them. That, at least, is how Salesforce’s Marco Casalaina tends to think about it. The veteran artificial intelligence and data scientist expert oversees Einstein, Salesforce’s AI technology, and has made a career out of making emerging technologies more intuitive and accessible for all. With Einstein, he’s working to help Salesforce customers — from small businesses to nonprofits to Fortune 50 companies — realize the full benefits of AI. HBR spoke with Casalaina about what goes into a successful AI project, how to communicate as a data scientist, and the one question you really need to ask before launching an AI pilot.
You’ve been working in AI for a long time now. You worked for Salesforce years ago, then at other companies, and now you’ve come back to lead. How would you describe what it is you do in this work? 
I bring machine learning into the things that people use every day — and I do it in a way that aligns with their intuition. The problem with machine learning and AI — which are two sides of the same coin — is that most people don’t know what either really mean. They often have an outsized idea of what AI can do, for example. And of course, AI is always changing, and it is a powerful thing, but its powers are limited. It’s not omniscient.
Continue reading: https://hbr.org/2021/12/how-to-set-your-ai-project-up-for-success

Humans are working artificial intelligence programs (AI) into business, government and daily life. Like with any new tool or technology, we start to see the initial technology flaws the more we are exposed to it. So we are now in the midst of a moment where AI is under the microscope, with policy makers picking apart AI contributions and demanding that AI meet high standards of performance and social consequence.
This is a healthy process. Society should always examine impactful tools and push for the tools to work better. However, I fear in the drive to make AI better, the perfect may become the enemy of the good.  Important AI solutions may be shunted aside because they do not meet all the social requirements placed on them, and our society will suffer without important, if imperfect, AI tools.
As frequently noted here and elsewhere, humans have not produced – and seem far from producing – general AI that can handle many and varied tasks.  Instead, we are beginning to develop some excellent specific AIs – computer instructions that are 1000 times better than trained medical specialists at spotting lung cancer on x-rays or incalculably better than any human at predicting weather patterns 7-10 days out.
Continue reading: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/how-perfect-will-ai-need-to-be

If you are looking for a job, then you should have no problem finding one. According to data from Indeed, there are about 11.2 million job openings in the U.S. This is actually more than the number of unemployed, which is at roughly 7.4 million.
For employers, the job shortage poses major problems. With the holiday season, companies are looking to ramp up their employment to meet the rising demand. For example, Walmart and Amazon are planning on hiring 150,000 employees.
To deal with this, employers are hiking wages and benefits as well as offering more flexibility with the work arrangements, such as with providing options for remote work.
However, even these strategies may not be enough. As a result, employers are investing more in automation technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). They can streamline processes, improve outcomes, and allow for lower costs. But of course, there are inherent risks as well, including issues of privacy. 
So, let’s take a look.
Continue reading: https://www.itbusinessedge.com/business-intelligence/labor-shortage-is-ai-the-silver-bullet/

There’s no question the COVID-19 pandemic has brought many challenges to everyday life. But it has also spurred rapid growth in technologies that aim to make everyday life simpler, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Many industries have been fueling this growth, automating processes through AI (the use of computers and machines to mimic human problem-solving and decision-making abilities).
K–12 education is no exception. As schools rushed to accommodate remote learning with little notice — and maintain a secure online network for students and staff — many incorporated elements of AI and ML. Between digital assistants, endpoint security, chatbots and more, AI is gaining a foothold in U.S. classrooms.
Here are three trends to look for in 2022:
Continue reading: https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2021/12/3-ai-trends-watch-k-12-educational-technology-2022

Businesses and organisations across Ireland looking to strengthen their recovery in 2022 are turning to digital transformation in their quest to innovate and accelerate the transformation to a carbon-neutral future.
This was one of the key talking points at the recent Dell Technologies Forum where business leaders and technology experts from across Ireland and beyond came together to discuss how organisations can thrive in a data-driven era through technology.
Without a doubt, one of the technologies that will play a critical role as businesses embark on this pathway is edge technology. Edge is revolutionising how we collect, store and process data, all central facets on our global digital transformation journey.
Edge computing is achieved by extending traditional Datacentre to the ‘edge’ of a network, creating “Centres of Data” through the aggregation of “distributed compute” resources that live close to the location of Data creation that produce high yield, low power consumption and much reduced latency. Instead of transiting through a dozen centralised data centers, data generated from cameras, sensors, and other Internet of Things (IoT) tools powered by artificial intelligence and functions of AI such as machine learning can be processed directly at or near the source.
At Dell Technologies we believe edge computing will support post-crisis recovery efforts, creating new opportunities for businesses, while helping them operate in more efficient and adaptable ways.
By providing instant processing and analysis, with greater analytical speed, edge computing allows organisations to enhance connectivity and observability of “things” as well as critical tasks and events, automate operations, improve experiences, reduce energy usage as well as waste, and enhance safety measures.
While useful in and of itself, it is only when Edge computing is blended with other essential Technologies that its true power and potential is unleashed. Combined with IoT and 5G, Edge Computing will vastly improve how we live and work, as well as multiple industry and social domains, such as improving the experience of remote work and enhancing manufacturing and industrial applications for instance.
Continue reading: https://irishtechnews.ie/beyond-recovery-building-back-better-with-edge/

There’s still a lot of ‘runway’ in gas monitoring to be realised and the deployment of NB-IoT (Narrow-Band Internet of Things) represents a big opportunity in the US gases industry.
That’s the view of Nick Marco, Sr. Business Development Manager of Industrial Gas at Otodata Technologies, speaking during gasworld’s Lands of Opportunity webinar on Friday (3rd December).
Sponsored by DOD Technologies, the webinar explored the US industrial gases market as both the original land of opportunity and a market reloaded with market drivers and opportunities.
Marco joined Wise Telemetry, a leading provider of remote monitoring devices and services for the industrial gas industry, in 2018. The Pittsburgh-based company was acquired in April (2021) by Otodata Technologies, itself a designer, developer, and manufacturer of market-leading remote level monitoring products and technologies for a variety of industries.
In recent months, Wise Telemetry had also announced a partnership with Ratermann Manufacturing that will see the latter’s cryogenic tanks equipped with the former’s solutions. Marco affirmed he sees such partnerships as the way forward as the digitisation of the industry continues to accelerate, and noted the trend for monitoring more assets ‘beyond just bulk tanks’.
Read more: https://www.gasworld.com/digitisation-what-does-nb-iot-mean-for-the-industry/2022311.article

I’m always on the lookout for technologies that helps reduce the use of batteries for the IoT. With that in mind, I’m bullish on energy-harvesting sensors and radios, and excited to see more investment in wireless power at a distance. So this week, I dug into a paper from researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Uppsala University in Sweden, and Spain’s IMDEA research nonprofit that discusses a way to use light and radio frequency backscatter to eliminate batteries in the IoT.
The paper outlines a concept the researchers call Passive LiFi, which uses light and radio frequency (RF) backscatter as energy sources and light as a means to most efficiently transmit data. It builds on LiFi, a technology that uses light to transmit and receive information. LiFi, which is short for “light fidelity,” has been around for a while, with big companies such as Disney and Signify investing in it, but it hasn’t yet hit the mainstream.
 
LiFi was introduced about a decade ago as a means of using light to transmit data. Currently, most of our wireless data transmissions, such as Wi-Fi and cellular, occur through the use of radio frequencies. But with LEDs, engineers can modulate the frequency of light in ways that transmit information. And of course you can also transmit data by flicking a light on and off.
LiFi is still fairly niche technology, in part because it requires a line of sight between the light and the device receiving the data. That means if you want to transmit information to, say, a phone, it needs to be out of someone’s pocket or purse and underneath the light source. And LiFi isn’t inherently energy efficient, largely because light sources generating the signal tend to be plugged into their own source of power.
But with PassiveLiFi, researchers are more interested in using LiFi to communicate small amounts of data over long ranges while simultaneously harvesting energy from the light source. In their paper, the PassiveLiFi researchers showed off a system with a light source and an IoT tag that was able to communicate at a distance of 305 meters (1,000 feet) with the tag consuming just 3.8 microwatts.
Researchers tweaked the traditional LiFi system in a few different ways. But the two most important things to know about Passive LiFi as compared to other wireless transmission schemes is that, one, it uses light to transmit data instead of RF; and two, that it uses both light and RF to generate energy.
Continue reading: https://staceyoniot.com/can-passivelifi-make-batteries-for-iot-obsolete/

Headquartered in the USA, PTC provides software that helps manufacturers accelerate product and service innovation, improve operational efficiency and increase workforce productivity. The firm is building on the industrial internet of things (IIoT) to help its customers derive value from the convergence of the digital and physical worlds. PTC’s general manager of IoT Joe Biron shares how the technology is liberating the data in control systems, coupled with advanced analytics and the latest techniques in edge computing to meet today’s smart manufacturing needs.
How is the IIoT transforming manufacturing? There’s an abundance of valuable data sitting in shop floor control systems. However, that data has historically been used to satisfy fairly narrow needs to control and operate the specific machinery it relates to. The IIoT is changing this dynamic by giving that data a new mission: to be used to advance a smart manufacturing agenda. Using the IIoT, different kinds of data – such as machine, environmental sensor and operational data from related business and manufacturing systems – can be aggregated, analysed across cloud and edge computing, and transformed into insights that answer critical questions for a manufacturing process. This allows plant managers to proactively address needs like preventative maintenance and process bottlenecks. This previously static, siloed data is also enabling frontline experts and managers to make better real-time decisions, culminating in a substantial reduction in unplanned downtime, scrap and inefficiency.
How are real-world manufacturers realising the benefits of the IIoT? Manufacturers are using the IIoT to address data management and labour optimisation challenges with edge-based machine vision systems. For example, one of our customers, China International Marine Containers (CIMC), is a world-leading supplier of logistics and energy equipment. CIMC was no stranger to productivity issues such as unplanned machine downtime, lack of operational visibility, wasted energy consumption and quality metrics. CIMC leveraged Microsoft Azure IoT and the ThingWorx Industrial IoT Solutions Platform to integrate the IIoT with their Manufacturing Execution System and break down data siloes. CIMC is now monitoring production performance in real time. This has unlocked predictive maintenance, and improved energy consumption and trace quality. Equipped with these insights and a deeper understanding of machine behaviour, CIMC is optimising production far beyond previous benchmarks and has reduced unplanned downtime and manufacturing cycle time. By deploying ThingWorx to 35 plants, CIMC reduced unplanned downtime by 30 per cent and energy consumption by 13.2 per cent.
Continue reading: https://www.technologyrecord.com/Article/redefining-success-using-industrial-internet-of-things-127427

For a while now, the IoT category has been touted as a potentially lucrative business area for IT service providers.
Indeed, partners can engage in IoT opportunities in a few ways, one of which is monitoring and managing IoT devices, a task that includes providing updates and security. MSPs, however, may need to invest in a broader set of services to provide such an offering. They should also prepare themselves to deal with a dramatically expanded device population.

IoT opportunities for partners
MSPs already manage and monitor other devices for clients and IoT sensors are just another endpoint, said Carolyn April, senior director of industry analysis at CompTIA. More than half of MSPs currently see significant revenue opportunities in managed IoT, according to CompTIA.
"What's a little different about IoT is it's collecting quite a bit of data from those sensors and that's where the real lucrative opportunity lies -- in what do to with data that's collected and applying some analytics to it," April said. That gives MSPs more of a consultative role by helping customers determine how to use the findings to improve their business or achieve some goal they've outlined, she said.
However, that requires having more people with analytics skills. "So that will require some investment and frankly, most rank-and-file MSPs don't have that skill set today," April said.
CompTIA job reports have shown there is a lot of need among companies to find people with analytics skills who can apply them to the reams of data IoT devices collect. "There's an overwhelming amount of stuff and if you don't do something with it, that's all it is, April said. "But if you can turn it into something actionable that's gold, and you will be paid a lot more for that."
The pandemic accelerated the need to manage and monitor IoT devices during the swift move to remote work.
"With that work-from-home transition came threats of ... unmanaged internet of things devices that permeate our homes on routers, modems [and] personal devices," as well as every imaginable home appliance, said Charles Weaver, CEO of the MSPAlliance. "Until last year, corporate IT didn't factor in home threats from appliances with internet connections," because it wasn't something major organizations considered a potential threat, he said.
Continue reading: https://searchitchannel.techtarget.com/feature/IoT-opportunities-for-MSPs-in-monitoring-management

1. Cryptography Key Management for IoT
Overview Cryptography Key Management for IoT
A good cryptographic Key Management System (KMS) should be able to handle all security-related IT operations from a central location. It is a process that should be established with data protection in mind, especially with sensitive data. The use of a cryptographic Key Management System must be superior to conventional password managers.
We divided protocols into three categories: distributed, decentralized, and centralized.

• Distributed: Members of the group work together to create a shared session key.
• Decentralized: To eliminate a single point of failure, the decentralized protocols employ a hierarchy of key controllers to distribute the encryption group key to all group members.
• Centralized: To control the group and assign a group encryption key to each group member, a single entity known as the Key Distribution Center (KDC) is used.

 
Cryptographic models and security systems now in use are based on commonly used encryption algorithms and privacy standards.

• Asymmetric cryptography: Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) and Diffie-Hellman (DH).

Continue reading: https://securityboulevard.com/2021/12/cryptography-key-management-authentication-and-authorization-for-iot/

Welcome to the second post in our series on the challenges associated with the Internet of Things (IoT).  In Part 1, An Ethical Hackers Guide to IoT Security Risks and Challenges, we took an in-depth look at the security risks and threats to IoT devices and systems, and we covered these IoT hacking methods and steps: 
 

• Stage 0: Pre-Engagement
• Stage 1: Passive Recon
• Stage 2: The Hardware – Opening the Devices and Discover What is Inside
• Stage 3: The Firmware Boot

 In this post, I’ll focus on the final stages: 

• Stage 4: Analyze the Firmware and Reverse Engineering
• Stage 5: Flashing Firmware
• Stage 6: The Network and Radio Frequencies

 
STAGE 4: Analyze the Firmware and Reverse Engineering 
*Note: this example is taken from a book recommended in the resources section.
A great technique for compromising an IoT device involves downloading the firmware from the vendor’s download site(s). By getting access to the firmware binary, you can analyze it and extract it.
In this example, we look at a Netgear D6000 router firmware.
Download the firmware and extract the zip. You can then run a check on the file details:
 
Continue reading: https://securityboulevard.com/2021/12/an-ethical-hackers-guide-to-iot-security-risks-and-challenges-part-2/

This article was contributed by Frederik Bussler, consultant, and analyst.
AI fuels modern life — from the way we commute to how we order online, and how we find a date or a job. Billions of people use AI-powered applications every day, looking at just Facebook and Google users alone. This represents the tip of the iceberg when it comes to AI’s potential.
OpenAI, which recently made headlines again for offering general availability to its models, uses labeled data to “improve language model behavior,” or to make its AI fairer and less biased. This is an important example, as OpenAI’s models were long reprimanded for being toxic and racist.
Many of the AI applications we use day-to-day require a particular dataset to function well. To create these datasets, we need to label data for AI.
Why does AI need data labeling?
The term artificial intelligence is somewhat of a misnomer. AI is not actually intelligent. It takes in data and uses algorithms to make predictions based on that data. This process requires a large amount of labeled data.
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This is particularly the case when it comes to challenging domains like healthcare, content moderation, or autonomous vehicles. In many instances, human judgment is still required to ensure the models are accurate.
Consider the example of sarcasm in social media content moderation. A Facebook post might read, “Gosh, you’re so smart!” However, that could be sarcastic in a way that a robot would miss. More perniciously, a language model trained on biased data can be sexist, racist, or otherwise toxic. For instance, the GPT-3 model once associated Muslims and Islam with terrorism. This was until labeled data was used to improve the model’s behavior.
As long as the human bias is handled as well, “supervised models allow for more control over bias in data selection,” a 2018 TechCrunch article stated. OpenAI’s newer models are a perfect example of using labeled data to control bias. Controlling bias with data labeling is of vital importance, as low-quality AI models have even landed companies in court, as was the case with a firm that attempted to use AI as a screen reader, only to have to later agree to a settlement when the model didn’t work as advertised.
The importance of high-quality AI models is making its way into regulatory frameworks as well. For example, the European Commission’s regulatory framework proposal on artificial intelligence would subject some AI systems to “high quality of the datasets feeding the system to minimize risks and discriminatory outcomes.”
Continue reading: https://venturebeat.com/2021/12/07/data-labeling-will-fuel-the-ai-revolution/

To diversify ranks, young women need to see themselves in lifelong tech careers. If the technology sector is to ever add more women, then the time has come for fresh thinking and new approaches.
Since I began working in the industry — during the dot-com period — interested groups have demanded that more be done about the relatively small number of women working in the sector. Now seems to be the perfect time to recruit more. The pandemic and remote work opportunities have led untold numbers of workers to find new jobs and even careers.
I wish I could say I’m optimistic that we’ll soon see an influx of female software engineers and machine learning scientists. I believe most companies realize they benefit when their workforces are made up of diverse backgrounds, experiences and ideas. However, numerous attempts to create credible, lasting diversity in the workplace have been stymied in even some of the largest, most forward-thinking tech companies.
I’m not an expert on the reasons, although if you ask anyone in Silicon Valley who has done any recruiting, they’re likely to explain that the pool of female candidates simply isn’t very large.
Today, more women than ever are earning bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering subjects. However, according to data from the National Science Foundation, when breaking down individual fields of study, women earned 19% of bachelor’s degrees in computer science in 2016 compared with 27% in 1997. That tells me plenty of women have an interest in STEM, but a diminishing number consider tech an attractive option.
If we’re to add more women workers, I believe we need to change how society perceives our industry and prove technology is not strictly the province of men. We must show women they can find fulfilling and rewarding careers here.
The good news is, we already have models for achieving this.
Apple And Mini MBA Programs
In the 1980s, Apple Computer donated thousands of Apple IIe personal computers to California elementary and high schools as part of the company’s Kids Can’t Wait initiative. The move helped spark the computer craze by not only introducing computers to kids but also changing the perception of computer nerds. Suddenly, geeks were cool — or at least less uncool.
To grow interest in a field, you need to plant a seed early. Some people have already begun introducing teenage girls to technology and entrepreneurialism.
A remarkable organization called Girls With Impact has created what I can only describe as a mini-MBA program for young women. My 15-year-old daughter recently completed the program. The instructors teach girls ages 12 to 18 all the semantics of the modern business world. This includes how to lead with creativity, find a real world challenge they are passionate about, create a minimum viable product (MVP), build a business case for the product and how to market and raise funds for the product. The instruction starts at ideation and goes all the way to roughing out a profit and loss statement.
Programs like this also could become boot camps for women startup founders and CEOs. If tech were to become known for encouraging women to become bosses, that would certainly help recruiting. To make this ideal a reality, parents need to buy into the possibility that their daughters can become the next great technologist or startup founder.
Tech companies need to support such programs with their time and money.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/12/08/for-tech-to-hire-more-women-perception-of-the-industry-must-change/?sh=1aebaf1a686b

In the great debate over cryptocurrencies — what they should be used for, whether they have a place in everyday commerce — there seems to be at least some consensus forming:
Namely, that blockchains, the public digital ledgers underpinning it all, have usefulness well beyond making crypto transactions (between buyers and sellers) possible.
In one example, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, Pyth is a new blockchain-based  service, developed by Jump Trading Group.
Generally speaking, as noted by the Journal, Jump is in the midst of providing free data in real time (after all, the speed of data delivery is critical) that is in turn fueling a number of crypto projects.
Pyth is backed by the Pyth Data Association, in turn backed by a number of financial firms trading huge volumes (measured in the billions of dollars) of assets. The data from some of their trading activities is being streamed onto Pyth’s network. That data, in turn, can be used by developers in the bid to forge applications that give rise to decentralized finance.
The idea (and practice) of using the ledgers to use, store and transmit data as the asset transmitted opens up a whole world beyond bitcoin, with which it has been long associated. In short, blockchain, at its arguable best, is a transparent way to improve record keeping.
At a high level, a blockchain allows for an exchange of agreed-upon value between several parties, with no intermediary in place — i.e., no broker, bank, platform or agent.
In recent years, we’ve seen the ways in which a real-time, transparent ledger can make all manner of interactions streamlined and speedier.
Examples abound, of course, particularly where smart contracts, which are electronic and self-execute, can help transform, say, the insurance industry, or health care or finance. Immutable data records are free from the threat of manipulation and thus do not need independent, third party verification.
India’s Blockchain Embrace 
To get a sense of the bifurcation between cryptos and blockchain, at least in some quarters, consider that, as noted in this space in recent weeks, India’s government will present a bill in the upcoming winter session of parliament that, among other things prohibit cryptos — with a notable exception of cryptos that help promote blockchain.
Continue reading: https://www.pymnts.com/blockchain/2021/blockchain-finds-new-use-cases-beyond-crypto/

Artificial intelligence and machine learning have the potential to contribute to the resolution of some of the most intractable problems of our time. Examples include climate change and pandemics. But they have the capacity to cause harm too. And they can, if not used properly, perpetuate historical injustices and structural inequalities.
To mitigate against their potential harms, the world needs frameworks for the governance of data that are economically enabling and that preserve rights.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning operate on the basis of massive datasets from which algorithms are programmed to discern patterns. These patterns can be used to infer new insights and also predict behaviour and outcomes. Increasingly, artificial intelligence and machine learning are being used to substitute human decisions with automated decision making on behalf of humans. This is often in areas which can have a significant impact on peoples’ lives. Take access to loans or even access into a country.
Yet it all happens in a black box that even the designer the algorithm may not have access to, so deciding what goes into the box is important. 
The biggest datasets and algorithmic activity are generated by the global social networks that surveil our every action online. These datasets can be used to anticipate and mould our needs and desires.
Big technology firms, multilateral agencies and development banks have made much of the potential of artificial intelligence to advance economic growth and national development. And they’re increasingly being used in social and economic applications as well as public decision-making, planning and resource allocation. These include guiding court judgments, selecting job applicants and assigning scholars to schooling systems.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also highlighted the enormous value of public data and the potential value of combining public and private data to deal with public health and disaster crises.
Yet, there is growing concern about the uneven distribution of both the opportunities and harms associated with artificial intelligence.
Continue reading: https://theconversation.com/artificial-intelligence-carries-a-huge-upside-but-potential-harms-need-to-be-managed-173073