“Alexa, Stop Spying on Me”: Hackers Reveal How Smart Speakers Can Become Spying Devices

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As a team of researchers recently demonstrated, the biggest threat to your privacy could be lurking in your home or office. Smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home have certainly made life more convenient—but have they also increased the risk that we could be spied on by our own devices? It’s certainly possible, as two researchers from Tencent Blade Team (a Chinese company that investigates tech security concerns) revealed at the latest Defcon hacking conference. The researchers demonstrated that hackers can turn popular smart speakers into spy bugs, listening in on their unsuspecting owners. But before you take a…

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3 Ways Artificial Intelligence (AI) Could Revolutionize Government Tech

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At a White House event last year, a senior advisor commented that the U.S. Department of Defense still utilizes floppy disks (remember those?) in some of its systems. While governments serve their citizens in a myriad of forward-thinking ways, one area where they consistently fall behind is in the adoption of new technologies. A 2015 Washington Post report indicated that only 15% of senior civil servants feel the Federal Government is keeping pace with the private sector in adopting new technologies. And this slow uptake trickles down to state and local levels, too As technology advances at break-neck speed, it’s…

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Microsoft, Machine Learning, and the Future of Al

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Whether it’s a phone that suggests driving directions based on the user’s current location or a cylinder on a coffee table that can book a dinner reservation, technology once relegated to the pages of a science fiction book is now commonplace. eMazzanti delves into today’s artificial intelligence capabilities, discusses tomorrow’s machine learning-enabled potential, and describes a Microsoft platform that’s bridging the gap between the two. Going from Google’s Alexa to Westworld’s Robots Artificial intelligence, or AI, refers to machines and systems that mimic human processes like learning, reasoning and self-correction. Though AI has been in the lexicon since the 1950s…

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Three AI Trends for a More Secure Future

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This year, the smartwatch became a wardrobe staple and Google’s Alexa replaced Pam, from The Office, as everyone’s favorite assistant. We may only be about halfway through, but we think it safe to declare 2017 the year when artificial intelligence (AI) shed its image as a science fiction fixture and secured its spot in our everyday lives. That’s not all AI is securing! With AI technology evolving at a rapid pace, tomorrow promises to be very different from today, particularly in the security department. Look-out for the following AI trends that promise to protect us in the streets, at the…

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