ChatGPT and Google Bard have become new tools for cyber criminals

According to the latest research report released by cyber security firm Veriti, generative artificial intelligence platforms, including ChatGPT, despite having a number of positive applications, are also being used by cyber criminals.

The research team warned that such platforms are capable of creating new content such as images or texts. At the same time, it can also be used to create harmful files that trick users into downloading them. Those who are not familiar with it can become victims of these malicious files.

Once a file has been downloaded, the hackers can get their hands on sensitive data, including bank details, or disrupt infrastructures that are very important. Hackers can even take over social media accounts with a large number of followers and use them to get more downloads on other files, such as Google Bard and other AI-generated harmful files.

Based on the picture shared by the research team, it can be seen how different profiles posted content regarding ChatGPT and Google Bard, an AI programme of the search engine itself. At the end of the post, links are attached that may appear to offer a free trial, but in reality, it’s the opposite.

Veriti further explained that such posts seem authentic and may end up luring victims. As soon as the file extraction is initiated by the victim, the RedLine Stealer software gets activated as well and can take over credentials. The software can easily be acquired on the dark web. The information is sold to other cyber hackers, who can use it to carry out their malicious campaigns, such as online scams.

The firm further added that instant messaging platform, Telegram, known for its end-to-end encryption, can provide a safe platform for the attackers to share data or to buy the dangerous software. The encrypted service helps keep things anonymous.

So far, a number of Facebook profiles in the United States, India, and many other countries have already been taken over and are now being used by the hackers to lure more victims into downloading the harmful files. As a result, the number of victims keeps increasing as more and more users keep losing their data to such threat actors.

Read next: New Survey Proves The Average American Has Trouble Distinguishing AI Content From Human Writing
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

The US advertising industry has marked its biggest decline since January 2021 after losing 2100 jobs in March

Based on the data shared by the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics, the number of people working in advertising, public relations, and other such jobs has dropped by 2100 since March 2023. It is a big change as compared to the previous month, in which the number of people working in these jobs remained the same. It is also the biggest decrease in the number of jobs since January 2022.

The bureau revealed that there were almost 492,000 similar jobs available last month. The United States added somewhere near 236,000 jobs in March 2023, which is the lowest number of jobs since the end of 2020. Data shared by the bureau showed that almost 155.6 million people in the U.S. have jobs. By comparing the data of March 2023 with that of February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic took over the world, it can be seen that the U.S. was able to recover all the jobs that were lost at the time of the pandemic.

The number of people having jobs in advertising has been changing a lot, either going up or down. The number of jobs went down in September but went up in October; after that, the numbers kept falling in November and December and were up again in January 2023. The figure remained stable in February. The number of jobs kept increasing from 2021 until mid-2022, and by August 2022, the figure started to remain stable. The drop in the number of jobs observed in November 2022 was the largest drop recorded. By December 2022, the number of people working in the U.S. advertising industry had gone down by 3500.

Advertising agencies have a big impact on the overall advertising industry, public relations, and related services sector. Forty-six percent of all the jobs are held by this sector. In February, the number of jobs in advertising agencies went up to 226900, as compared to October, when there were 228700 jobs.

The agency is currently facing a number of issues, such as strict regulations or measuring the effectiveness of ads. Furthermore, companies that spend a lot on advertising have started to spend less. In addition to this, AI-generated ads have started to minimise human input, leading to a decrease in non-essential roles.

It is still uncertain whether the decrease in advertising employment is a long-term change or just a temporary one. All that’s left to see is whether the number of people working in the advertising sector goes up or down.

H/T: Insider Intelligence
Read next: New Survey Proves The Average American Has Trouble Distinguishing AI Content From Human Writing
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Opera Rolls Out Updated Version Of Its iOS App With Free VPN

The leading ad-blocking browser of today, Opera has some great news for its users.

It's rolling out a new and updated version of its iOS application that entails a free VPN.

The feature was previously seen on Linux, Android, Mac, and Windows. But this latest release for iOS means it’s going to be the world’s first browser to provide VPN services free of cost to all of the world’s leading computing platforms. The news was mentioned in the firm’s latest blog today.

The great news comes at a wonderful and timely moment. Remember, during the latter part of last year, it was one of Google’s biggest arch-rivals when the Android maker opted to expand its VPN tools for desktops across both PCs and Macs. This happened after it similarly added support for both iOS and Android devices.

But as far as Google is concerned, this VPN feature would only be applicable to those who were paying for their Google One Premium initiatives. Meanwhile, Apple is also setting out tools for encryption of the internet connection via iCloud Private Relay offerings. But if you actually come to think of it, it’s not truly a VPN.

Similar to how Google functions, it’s only a part of the paid subscription called iCloud+.

The great thing about Opera is that it doesn’t really need a subscription. The tech giant says that people don’t even need to make an account or even log in to make use of the endeavor.

It similarly shed light on how it fails to collect personal data that are linked to how users browse the web or where their IP IDs come from. Furthermore, it does not need any form of an extension for use. All people need to do is activate it by simply entering the main menu on the platform so it can encrypt its VPN traffic further.

The firm is now trying hard to offer tools that are free of cost as it makes the most revenue via other channels such as search and money through ads as well as licensing fees in the tech domain. This projects a staggering $370 to $390 million revenue figure for this year.

But let’s not forget how many aren’t too comfortable with this news as the company from Norway was sold to China in 2016 and with a TikTok ban on the rise, uncertainty in people’s minds is running high.

Read next: Privacy Concerns In The Online World Continue To Instill A Trust Gap Among Brands And Consumers
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Elon Musk Showcases His Vulnerable Side In Latest BBC Interview As He Opens Up About Twitter’s Ownership Struggles

While most of us know Elon Musk as a bold and erratic CEO of many leading firms in the tech world, his latest interview with the BBC showed a different side.

The new Twitter chief was seen speaking about his struggles and challenges of the platform and how the entire journey has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions. He similarly did not shy away from how painful it has been for him while updating on a number of decisions regarding the app that many deem controversial.

Musk did admit that plenty of mistakes were made along the way but he is optimistic that it’s headed in the right direction.

The interview was held during the late hours of the night at Twitter’s own headquarters. This is also where Musk was grilled by the BBC for labeling it as a media outlet funded by the UK government. He agreed it was an error and would soon be amended with "Publicly funded media". And that’s right before NPR quit the platform for getting the same label that it felt undermined its services to the public, adding how there was zero truth.

The interview really had Musk tell it all and provide some updates on the website’s blue ticks and more, including how strongly he feels that he shouldn’t generate tweets later in the night as they might be causing issues.

He confirmed again that his controversial decision to eliminate Legacy Blue Ticks would be completed by this week’s end after he failed to meet the deadline outlined for April 1st. As far as why many accounts are not willing to pay for the Blue Subscription is concerned, Musk says he fails to understand why as the figure is small. He wishes to provide equal and fair treatment for all on the app and needs this done.

When questioned about his time on the platform, he smiled and said it’s not boring and it’s quite a journey. As far as regrets regarding the social media app are concerned, he claimed it was certainly painful and that it was not some sort of party.

He says it’s quite stressful and has had great difficulty handling it for months.

Today, Twitter stands with a workforce of just 1500, which is a drastic change from the 8000-member team that it once began with. Musk similarly admitted that he may have shot himself in the foot on several occasions, thanks to his abrupt decision-making ability.

Then he jumped to why he felt the need to post the Shiba Inu dog’s image as Twitter’s CEO and what the app is doing to better police content surrounding hate. He boldly denied accusations that Twitter is not a safe place and has really gone down from what it was in the past.

As far as the app’s goal right now, well, Musk hopes to make it into the most accurate app out there today. And despite the struggles of the past and those he’s currently facing right now, he sees a bright future and will continue to work on its transformation.

Read next: Twitter Ceases To Be An Independent Company As Elon Musk Merges The Firm With X Corp
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

TikTok Offers Advice on How to Boost Brand Recognition by Interacting with Communities

TikTok has released some fresh guidance on how businesses may make the most of their messaging by linking into relevant and unconnected communities.

With the social media landscape, businesses' methods to raise user recognition are constantly evolving. TikTok has guided how companies could interact with relevant and linked groups to increase brand exposure.

You may develop strong relationships with the members of each group by incorporating your marketing messaging into it. However, don't limit yourself to those who are most associated with your business. eBay has developed a relationship with sneakerheads via TikTok by creating content for this group.

These strategies enable businesses to reach a wider audience and expand their user base. Also, they can better comprehend how various demographics use their goods and services and how they view their brand. They also gain knowledge of the content genres that each community responds to most favorably.

Furthermore, TikTok advises companies to speak with influencers with a network of contacts within a particular market or group. By doing this, you can increase the volume of your message and broaden your audience. Finally, they advise experimenting with new formats like live streaming events or movies, which are more interactive and exciting than conventional types of advertising.

TikTok also gives companies a new and imaginative method to connect with their customers. Companies may grow their consumer base by clicking on various communities within the app and creating content that speaks to each of them individually. Companies are encouraged to find relevant subcultures in the app and learn how they interact; it will be very effective!

Brands can use the Keyword Insights Tool on TikTok to find crossover communities relevant to their market. By examining the instances and potential links, they may find interesting subjects in previously unconsidered areas, providing them with more insight into outreach techniques. A chance for growth through exploration, the "Stay and Play" concept enables brands to maintain relationships with their core markets while exploring new ones.

If you represent a premium retail brand and want to expand your TikTok audience, try experimenting with presentation styles while maintaining the integrity of your brand. By interacting with secondary communities and finding out what interests them, you can produce content that is relevant to their interests.

Social media strategists advise that to make creative and engaging content on TikTok, use real people instead of glossy stock photos or high-res footage. Play around with entertaining sound effects and transition animations unique to the app when creating your stories - just be sure you're meeting industry standards for each business vertical!

Read next: Stanford Just Released a Report on the State of AI, Here’s What You Need to Know
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

These Websites Were Using Fake Chrome Updates to Spread Malware

An analysis from NTT Security has revealed that many websites that were hacked are trying to get users to install fake updates for Google Chrome. Downloading these updates could be highly dangerous because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up infecting your device with malware. The analyst behind this discovery has also stated that the malware campaign has extended to Japanese and several other languages besides English.

Users that visit these sites will see a page that claims that a Chrome update failed to download. This will appear as an error notification that is quite similar to what Chrome generally tends to show. With all of that having been said and now out of the way it is important to note that clicking on any link will led to the dissemination of the aforementioned malware.

Blocklisting these sites might not be all that effective, since they use the Pinata IPFS service to circumvent all blocks with all things having been considered and taken into account. In spite of the fact that this is the case, users can still identify compromised sites due to the slight differences in the error page

Even if a user does not click on anything, an download will be automatically requested. The contents are placed in a ZIP file labelled release.zip, which include a mining software for the crypto token known as Monero.

Once the device has been infected, CPU performance will plummet due to the vast resources that crypto mining tends to use. The miner is also rather sophisticated, since it is able to add itself to the Windows Defender exemption list. Furthermore, it is capable of altering the registry which can further obscure it and make it impossible to locate on a system.

All in all, this malware campaign is wreaking havoc with countless users. Consumers must be educated about the dangers of downloading files from websites without first having a full understanding of the source of the files. Third party sites rarely offer legitimate downloads, and steering clear of them can help users to protect themselves from malware campaigns such as these.

Read next: This Report Highlights the State of Sensitive Data
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

New Survey Proves The Average American Has Trouble Distinguishing AI Content From Human Writing

With AI technology breaking barriers at a speed that most of us are still fascinated by, a new survey is highlighting how brilliant the technology is at confusing people.

ToolTester’s new report speaks about how writers should be on alert because tools like ChatGPT and others in the field of AI are producing content as well as normal humans. And it’s being done at a level where the average American adult has trouble distinguishing AI content from others.

We’re sure that’s not the type of feedback any professional writer would want to hear, considering the great amount of effort they put forward in perfecting their craft.

ToolTester recently carried out two different surveys that took into consideration text generated by humans and those produced by AI tools and edited by humans. And not to many people’s surprise, it was the ChatGPT technology’s 3.5 that was used to get the task done.

After that, another survey was done by taking the latest generation of ChatGPT into consideration. Again, a similar comparison was made, making use of similar prompts. And that’s when we saw more than 50% of the respondents thinking ChatGPT’s 3.5 copy had been generated by the likes of a human. This number was 63.5% and it made use of GPT-4. These results proved how GPT-4 technology at much more likely to convince or trick people than 3.5.

The study also proved how copies generated from the likes of AI technology are so much more difficult to detect, depending on the format of writing involved. A lot of the content related to health did the best to trick people across the board and it appeared as if humans had written them.

This just goes to show how so many people believed that text from AI was actually written by humans, even though that was not the case. Meanwhile, those people who are more familiar with the use of AI tools are definitely less likely to turn into a fool. They end up being misled on most occasions. And those that never use such generative AI tools found it even harder to see the difference between AI content and that produced by humans.

With age, you attain wisdom and that again is worth a notice. People who were above the age of 65 are the ones most likely to identify AI content from human writing. Meanwhile, those between 18 and 24 are likely to feel AI writing is produced by humans.

It does come down to trusting more content publishers against others too. Today, a lot of people have faith that leading media content outlets are going to have articles produced by humans and so many aren’t keen on abusing that. So yes, trust does go a long way here as well.

Read next: Stanford Just Released a Report on the State of AI, Here’s What You Need to Know
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World