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A two-minute read alerting you to the latest trends from around the world advancing technology and innovation and building the workforce of the future, curated by the NMTC's Technology Education Committee. (TEC)

 NMTC members suggest technology and organization survival alerts to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.:

3D and 4D Printing
Artificial Intelligence
Autonomous Vehicles
Battery Technology
Cloud Technology

Cybersecurity
Hyperautomation
Machine Learning
New Materials
Predictive Analytics 

Robotics
Synthetic Chemistry
TeleHealth
Voice Search Technology
Workforce Impact, New Tech

WHAT IS IT

Combining generative AI and hyper-automation will offer numerous possibilities for businesses, enabling them to automate complex tasks and processes.

WHY IMPORTANT

AI-powered automation is taking the technology to a new level: “First, there’s the scope of what the technology can do. Automation typically refers to using technology to perform manual or repetitive tasks. In contrast, AI-powered enterprise automation is an end-to-end solution that combines various advanced technologies – including AI and ML – to automate complex business processes.

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Understanding the key machine learning terms for AI

WHAT IS IT?

Machine learning is the foundational aspect of AI, focusing on the study of algorithms. It allows computers to build flexible models from data and relationships, enabling the system to perform specific tasks and make predictions.

WHY IMPORTANT

With reports about the latest artificial intelligence development seemingly popping up daily, there are many terms related to AI, and not all of them are easy to understand. When it comes to machine learning, computer science jargon is especially complex. This article will cover the most used terms about machine learning that working professionals should have a basic understanding of.

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WHAT IS IT?

The idea of AI in the workplace may be unnerving – yet far more workers are excited about the technology than it may seem.

WHY IMPORTANT

While the growing capabilities of AI are certainly making many workers anxious, others are embracing the technology. They are already using the tools to improve on-the-job productivity and efficiency. And emerging data shows that there may be more AI optimism in the workplace than headlines – and our own biases – lead us to believe.

Microsoft’s annual Work Trend Index, released in May 2023, shows while 49% of people are worried AI will replace their jobs, far more – 70% – would delegate as much work as possible to AI to lessen their workloads.

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WHAT IS IT?

Hyperforce is a powerful and revolutionary cloud computing that allows users to securely run applications on computers located anywhere in the world plus reducing time spent managing infrastructure.

WHY IMPORTANT

Hyperforce is a revolutionary technology that has the potential to transform the future of cloud computing. By providing businesses with an optimized platform for running their applications while still maintaining control over security, performance, and compliance requirements, Hyperforce could revolutionize how we manage data and access services in the cloud.

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Move over .com and .org. Google just introduced eight new top-level domains that can be used for websites or email addresses.

The new top-level domains: .dad, .esq, .prof, .phd, .nexus, .foo, .zip and .mov

Cybersecurity researchers are worried about two in particular

Those are .zip and .mov. Why? Because ZIP and MOV are file types, too.

And using these file types as top-level domains could be risky since websites and social media will convert anything ending in .zip or .mov to a link.

Say, for example, there are instructions on a website that reference a file called “instructionmanual.zip.” The website will now convert this file name to a link automatically.

That means anyone could buy that same name as a URL — and park whatever they want there. Think malware. Hit that link, and you have a keylogger or worse. Yikes.

There are nearly 1,600 top-level domains

You know the ones like .com, .org, .us and .edu. Here are some you probably didn’t know: .actor, .auction, .bible, .buzz, .cheap, .eat, .fish, .guitars, .horse, .kim (really!), .lol, .monster, .pizza, .radio, .skin and .wtf.

Maybe this list will come in handy at your next trivia night.

WHAT IS IT?

OpenAI published a new research paper detailing a technique that uses its GPT-4 language model to write explanations for the behavior of neurons in its older GPT-2 model, albeit imperfectly. It's a step forward for "interpretability," which is a field of AI that seeks to explain why neural networks create the outputs they do.

WHY IMPORTANT

While large language models (LLMs) are conquering the tech world, AI researchers still don't know a lot about their functionality and capabilities under the hood. In the first sentence of OpenAI's paper, the authors write, "Language models have become more capable and more widely deployed, but we do not understand how they work."

 

Hackers are jumping on the artificial intelligence (AI) bandwagon and upping their game. Get this: AI service PassGAN cracked 51% of common passwords in less than a minute. ➡️ Bottom line: What can you do about it?

Easy things to do:

             Longer is better. An eight-character password comprising only uppercase and lowercase letters takes 22 minutes to crack. A 12-character password that includes symbols, too? 34,000 years.

             Use fake words, extra characters and oddball phrases.

             Never reuse a password, even if it’s been out of circulation for a while.

             Triple check you’re on the real site before you enter your password.

             If a site lets you get away with “password” or “123456,” step away. All my passwords are protected by amnesia.

And these six rules:

Here are six rules to follow:

There’s rule No. 1 for you: Don’t just update a letter, character or number at the end of your current password and call it good.

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There are databases with millions of stolen passwords, and yours might be there. Adding an exclamation point or question mark at the end of your current password doesn’t do much to stop threat actors from figuring it out.

Site problems - Your favorite websites have flaws that threat actors can exploit.

Researchers at Princeton University put together the following criteria for best password requirements regarding security and usability. It considers a website secure only if it satisfies the following criteria:

Security:

Allowed five or fewer of the 40 most common leaked passwords and easiest-to-guess passwords (such as “12345678”, “rockyou”) researchers tried.

Required passwords be no shorter than eight characters or employed a password strength meter to gauge a password’s resilience against threat actors who attempt to guess it.

Usability:

Did not impose any character-class requirements such as “at least one digit and one special character.”

That brings us to rule No. 2: You know password1 is a stupid password, but avoid these lesser-known but very commonly used passwords: qwerty123, myspace, badboy, playboy, hellokitty, police, money, loverboy, boomer, sexy.

RELATED: 3 tricks to see if your passwords are being sold on the Dark Web

And here’s rule No. 3: Skip the random number or punctuation mark at the end of your password, and instead work it into the password itself. You can replace an O (the letter) with a zero, for example, like this: k0mand0_scholar. Or sub in a character for a letter it resembles, like this: f@nt@syFormer.

Get this: The researchers examined the password policies of 120 of the most popular English-language websites in the world and found that only 15 websites followed the above practices. In addition:

75% of the examined websites did not stop users from using the most common passwords like “abc123456” and “P@$$w0rd.

45% require specific characters, which potentially frustrate users and are not worth the small benefit in security.

19% of the websites used in the study had password strength meters, a valuable security tool for users. And even among those, the meters pushed users to use certain characters rather than focusing on overall stronger passwords.

Sites like Amazon, TikTok, Netflix, Etsy and the Wall Street Journal failed to block leaked and/or easily guessed passwords. Amazon actually allowed the most commonly used password on the web, “123456,” to be used.

Rule No. 4: One simple switch, like adding a character, will not save a weak password. Yes, P@$$w0rd is easy to guess. Instead of one or two words, try a longer “passphrase” that you can remember and then add your finishing touches. Perhaps you choose “my two cats are smart,” which becomes “my2c@tsrSmart.

RELATED: Best free Windows and Mac security downloads for your computer

What you can do about it

By now you realize you can’t rely on sites to protect you. Even Amazon will allow shockingly bad passwords. That means it’s up to you.

Rule No. 5: Don’t rely on a website’s strength meter to keep you safe. As researchers proved, even the big ones have lax or lacking rules that hackers know about.

The truth is, remembering complicated passwords for each and every account is virtually impossible. Luckily, there are tools to help you stay safe.

Password managers are good for almost anyone out there. You need to remember just one super strong password — called the master password — to unlock your vault of logins.

Two-factor authentication is a must for every account you can. Even if you did get lazy with your password, this additional security measure makes it nearly impossible for hackers to break into accounts without the security code sent to your phone or an authentication app. Here’s more information on 2FA.

Rule No. 6: This rule isn’t new but it’s worth saying one more time: Never use the same password for multiple accounts, Through a technique known as credential stuffing, hackers use stolen passwords on different services, hoping to find duplicates.

WHAT IS IT?

Your phone can do more than you realize, but no one points out the countless hidden settings and features when you buy it. Sometimes, you realize you don’t know how to do something simple until you need it.

WHY IMPORTANT

Add signatures to PDFs or other documents, insert text, draw on images, check if a surface is level, undo typing with a shake, send your precise location, and more

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Northeastern Maryland Technology Council
2021 Pulaski Hwy, Suite D, Havre de Grace, MD 21078
410-638-4466

John W. Casner, Executive Director
john.casner@nmtc.org

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