Snippings

One of the world’s leading computer security experts Bruce Schneier identifies a number of ways that the automation of co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour will be immediately deployed to the detriment of the body politic. He notes that it could automatically compose comments submitted in regulatory processes, write letters to the editor for publication in local newspapers and comment on social media posts millions of times every day. In effect it could do the work of the Russian Internet Research Agency, but without the agency’s budget and employees.

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A woman who faked a medical degree certificate to work as a psychiatrist for more than two decades committed a “wicked deception”, a judge has said.
Zholia Alemi worked across the UK after claiming to have qualified at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, Manchester Crown Court was told.

From Burnley fake psychiatrist committed wicked deception, judge says – BBC News:

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Not only did FIS fail to successfully integrate the business, it could not offer its core clients any better digital payment solutions than other fintechs. Small and medium-sized businesses, which equal about half of Worldpay’s revenues according to Mizuho, defected to rival payment providers such as Square, Toast, Clover and Shopify

From FIS/Worldpay: finserv group should not rush for a divorce | Financial Times:

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Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) has unveiled plans to spin-off Worldpay, the merchant payments business it acquired for $43bn just four years ago. Today, FIS is worth just $38bn after shedding more than 42 per cent of its value in a year.

From FIS/Worldpay: finserv group should not rush for a divorce | Financial Times:

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Albanian police dismantled more than 500 illegal surveillance cameras allegedly set up by gangs to monitor citizens and law enforcement, in a scandal that highlights the power of criminal networks in the small Balkan nation.

From Albanian gangs set up hundreds of spy cameras to keep ahead of police | Financial Times:

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In less than three years, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms developed under DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program have progressed from controlling simulated F-16s flying aerial dogfights on computer screens to controlling an actual F-16 in flight.

In early December 2022, ACE algorithm developers uploaded their AI software into a specially modified F-16 test aircraft known as the X-62A or VISTA (Variable In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft), at the Air Force Test Pilot School (TPS) at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and flew multiple flights over several days. The flights demonstrated that AI agents can control a full-scale fighter jet and provided invaluable live-flight data.

From ACE Program’s AI Agents Transition from Simulation to Live Flight:

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Allen & Overy is introducing an artificial intelligence chatbot to help its lawyers draft contracts, as the magic circle legal firm seeks to adopt the much-hyped technology to find efficiencies for its lawyers and clients.

The London-based group told the Financial Times it had rolled out a chatbot named Harvey after testing it since November for use in tasks such as drafting merger & acquisition documents or memos to clients.

From Allen & Overy introduces AI chatbot to lawyers in search of efficiencies | Financial Times:

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On February 3rd, the Australian Treasury published a long-awaited token mapping exercised designed to form the basis of future regulatory efforts on cryptoassets. The Australian government states that the exercise is designed to enable “a fact-based, consumer-conscious and innovation-friendly approach to policy development”.

The mapping creates two major categories of tokens: intermediated token systems, and public token systems. Intermediated token systems refer to categories of cryptoassets and related activities typically described as centralized finance (CeFi), and where many aspects of traditional financial services regulation can be applied.

For example, cryptoasset service providers – such as most exchanges – and certain innovations – like fiat-backed stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets – are likely to fall within the scope of existing financial services regulation aimed at protecting consumers and the redemption rights of holders because they generally mimic other types of financial activity that are already regulated.

Public token systems, however, are those typically found in the ecosystem of decentralized finance (DeFi), where traditional intermediaries may not be present and where activity is executed using public smart contracts.

While smart contract-based systems are designed to remove counterparty risks, other threats may be present, such as those related to bugs in their code or flaws in their economic mechanism that can allow them to be exploited to the detriment of other market participants. In the paper, the Treasury acknowledges that these DeFi innovations may pose challenges to pre-existing regulatory frameworks designed for intermediated environments and may require new approaches.

From Crypto Regulatory Affairs: Australia Releases Token Mapping Framework | Elliptic | Elliptic Connect:

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What these arguments miss, however, is that DeFi is rife with its own unique set of risks.

On Sunday, January 15, an unknown actor executed a flash-loan attack on the DeFi lending protocol Midas Capital. In a matter of seconds, $660,000 worth of cryptocurrency was gone. There have been four such exploits so far this year, according to data from DefiLlama, including a $120 million exploit of BonqDAO.

From Opinion: DeFi can’t match its promise until it confronts its problems – DL News:

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DeFi does not rely on intermediaries and centralized institutions. Instead, it is based on open protocols and decentralized applications (DApps). Agreements are enforced by code, transactions are executed in a secure and verifiable way, and legitimate state changes persist on a public blockchain. Thus, this architecture can create an immutable and highly interoperable financial system with unprecedented transparency, equal access rights, and little need for custodians, central clearing houses, or escrow services, as most of these roles can be assumed by “smart contracts.”

From Decentralized Finance: On Blockchain- and Smart Contract-Based Financial Markets | St. Louis Fed.

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