Author | Lightnews

Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · 3d

Russia is recruiting saboteurs across Europe through Telegram by monitoring pro-Kremlin channels to identify potential "low-level agents" and offering small payments for tasks like photographing military sites or starting fires, Germany's intelligence chief warned

How Russia recruits its agents in Germany, one click at a time

Russian intelligence services are using Telegram, among other social media platforms, to recruit so-called "low-level agents" in Germany for small acts of sabotage, surveillance or provocation. Even a...

www.euronews.com

Reposted by Stéphane Koch

Niels Weber @nielsweber.bsky.social · Aug 24

Ben non. Parce que c'est pas comme ça que ça fonctionne, en fait. 🤦🏻

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Reposted by Stéphane Koch

info-activism.bsky.social @info-activism.bsky.social · Aug 21

The Illusion of AI isn’t just about algorithms and futuristic robots. It’s about the millions of invisible workers who make it all function. This piece empowers you to ask critical questions about the labor behind AI, and why it should be made visible.
📖 Read it now: tacticaltech.org/news/insight...

Text: The Illusion of AI. Spotlighting ‘invisible’ tech laborers in factories, warehouses, and gig and click work

Text: There is no single report documenting workers in all areas of technology, from mining and extraction of minerals, to production and assembly of hardware to development of software, infrastructures needed to make the internet function, distribution and delivery, and e-waste management.

The sheer mass of people needed to create and maintain the internet and internet-connected technologies cannot be overstated, and the conditions of those laborers is important to look into. There is very little documented about working conditions, proportionate to the numbers of laborers, but what is known does more than simply raise eyebrows.

Text: From virtual information ‘factories’ to physical concrete-building factories, productivity is maximized, and not uncommonly to the detriment of the workers. Kate Crawford, AI researcher warned: “There’s the concern that robots are replacing us, but actually what’s happening is that we’re being treated more and more like robots.”

Extensive commuting, pressure to reach daily targets, psychological stress, dangerous work-spaces, low salaries, short contracts, and monitoring and surveillance, are just a few of the inhumane conditions facing factory workers.

Text: Around the world are hopeful stories of laborers fighting for their rights. Mercy Mutemi is a litigation lawyer in Kenya who is at the forefront of worker protection suits against Big Tech companies and their third-party subcontractor companies. Mutemi sets the issue at hand in clear terms: “I think when you give people work for a period of time and those people can’t work again because their mental health is destroyed, that doesn’t look like lifting people out of poverty to me. That looks like entrenching the problem further”.

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Reposted by Stéphane Koch

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Aug 19

Trump claims to have ended six wars – is that true?

Trump and his administration claim to have helped settle conflicts from the Middle East to Asia, yet the reality is more complex

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Stéphane Koch

Nicolas Berrod @nicolasberrod.bsky.social · Aug 19

Un médecin spécialiste des maladies infectieuses s'est penché sur les "preuves" avancées par RFK Jr pour stopper le financement des vaccins à ARNm.

Sa conclusion est sans appel: "Elles ne justifient pas l'arrêt, elles plaident plutôt pour continuer."

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Kennedy's case against mRNA vaccines collapses under his own evidence

“This isn't scientific disagreement. It's either staggering incompetence or willful misrepresentation,” writes infectious disease physician Jake Scott.

www.statnews.com

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Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · Aug 18

"(...) If legitimate, this dataset can be used in large-scale credential-stuffing attacks, targeted phishing and fraud campaigns. PayPal has not confirmed any data breach. Credential abuse of this scale more commonly stems from malware on users’ devices, not the company’s systems."

Hacker Offers to Sell 15.8 Million Plain-Text PayPal Credentials On Dark Web Forum

A hacker using the handle Chucky_BF is offering a batch of 15.

www.bitdefender.com

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Reposted by Stéphane Koch

jeannegivens.bsky.social @jeannegivens.bsky.social · Jul 31

ETH Zürich's commitment to training data transparency is impressive. Given the prevalence of black-box models in mainstream AI, could this redefine the open source standard in AI? We look forward to the subsequent release of source code and weights to verify its reproducibility and practical value.

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Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · Jul 11

"(...) the models will be fully open. Instead of releasing simply the models and weights for the public to scrutinize and tweak, as we've seen with models from Microsoft, Google, Meta, and others, researchers at ETH Zürich also claim that the "training data will be transparent and reproducible.""

Swiss boffins tease 'fully open' LLM trained on Alps super

: Source code and weights coming later this summer with an Apache 2.0 bow on top

www.theregister.com

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Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · Jul 11

Sophia est chatbot IA qui aide les personnes victimes de violences domestiques à « reconnaître les signes de violence, comprendre leurs droits, rassembler des preuves éventuelles et demander de l'aide »

www.sophia.chat

Sophia.chat

sophia.chat

www.sophia.chat

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Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · Jul 10

"(...) To combat this type of vulnerability, AI systems must have stronger contextual awareness and multi-layered validation systems, according to Figueroa."

How to trick ChatGPT into revealing Windows keys? I give up

: No, really, those are the magic words

www.theregister.com

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Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · May 17

2/2 "(...) Un casque de réalité virtuel a également été saisi, "avec un programme permettant de générer des modèles d’enfants en 3D" précisent nos confrères, permettant de leur faire subir les sévices que l’on souhaite."

Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · May 17

1/2 "(...) L’homme a filmé ou pris en photo 69 autres enfants.Des photos qu’il retouchait ensuite grâce à l’intelligence artificielle pour dénuder les enfants et les représenter dans des situations pornographiques."

Condamné pour avoir agressé sexuellement 22 petites filles, ce père de famille utilisait l’IA pour dénuder les enfants qu’il prenait en photo en cachette

Il sévissait dans les cabines d’essayage de l’Aquaboulevard et des magasins, mais aussi dans les transports en commun.

www.lindependant.fr

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Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · May 7

"Corporate AI models are already skewed to serve their makers' interests, and unless governments and academia step up to build transparent alternatives, the tech risks becoming just another tool for commercial manipulation. "

Schneier warns that AI loses integrity due to corporate bias

RSAC: Can we turn to govt, academic models instead?

www.theregister.com

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Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · May 2

"(...) The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined TikTok €530 million (over $601 million) for illegally transferring the personal data of users in the European Economic Area (EEA) to China, violating the European Union's GDPR data protection regulations "

TikTok fined €530 million for sending European user data to China

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined TikTok €530 million (over $601 million) for illegally transferring the personal data of users in the European Economic Area (EEA) to China, violati...

www.bleepingcomputer.com

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Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · May 2

"(...) Global Entry is a program that allows low-risk and pre-approved travelers to enter the US while skipping the usual processing lines at border control, saving airport travel time."

Chris Krebs loses Global Entry membership amid Trump feud

: President's campaign continues against man he claims covered up evidence of electoral fraud in 2020

www.theregister.com

Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · Apr 30

"(...) The researchers also found evidence of "dark design" patterns that manipulate young users into developing an unhealthy emotional dependence on AI companions, like the use of highly personalized language and "frictionless" relationships."

AI companions unsafe for teens under 18, researchers say

mashable.com

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Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · Apr 30

"(...)Either way, if you were wondering whether X is actually gaining traction, and whether Musk’s reformation of the app is actually catching on, these numbers suggest that it remains in steady decline.

ℹ️ From X’s EU disclosure: X has added 211 content moderation staff since last report."

X Continues To Lose EU Users According To Latest DSA Report

European users are turning away from Elon's social media experiment.

www.socialmediatoday.com

Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · Apr 20

"An investigation by The Markup uncovered that systems used by Match Group, owner of popular dating apps Tinder and Hinge, to keep sexual predators off its platforms are ineffective."

AIAAIC - Investigation finds dating app AI tools fail to detect rapists

Investigation finds Match Group dating app AI tools fail to ban rapists

www.aiaaic.org

Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · Apr 17

Last night, CISA executed the option period on the contract to ensure there will be no lapse in critical CVE services. (...) CVE board members today announced the formation of a nonprofit foundation.
www.theregister.com/2025/04/16/c...

CVE program gets a last-minute save, maybe a new home

: Uncertainty is the new certainty

www.theregister.com

Reposted by Stéphane Koch

Reuters @reuters.com · Apr 17

As his enemies closed in on Damascus, Bashar al-Assad, who ruled over Syria with an iron fist for 24 years, used a private jet to spirit away cash, valuables and confidential documents mapping the corporate web behind his wealth reut.rs/42vaPzh

Operation Assad: the air mission to smuggle the Syrian despot's valuables

As his enemies closed in on Damascus, Bashar al-Assad, who ruled over Syria with an iron fist for 24 years, used a private jet to spirit away cash, valuables and confidential documents mapping the corporate web behind his wealth.

reut.rs

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Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · Apr 16

"The use of clean and locked-down hardware is common practice for anyone visiting China, Russia, and other states where aggressive electronic surveillance is expected. Apparently the European Union has added the United States to that list."

Report: EC issues burner phones for visits to US

: That would put America on the same level as China for espionage

www.theregister.com

Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · Apr 16

"US government funding for the world's CVE program – the centralized Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures database of product security flaws – ends Wednesday.

The 25-year-old CVE program plays a huge role in vulnerability management."

Homeland Security funding for CVE program expires

: Because vulnerability management has nothing to do with national security, right?

www.theregister.com

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Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · Apr 10

"The lawsuit targets University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), rather than the named pharmacist, and claims the organization was negligent for failing to detect or stop Bathula's use of keylogging software on hospital systems. (...)"

Pharmacist accused of spying on women using work, home cams

: Lawsuit claims sick cyber-voyeurism went undetected for years, using hundreds of PCs, due to lax infosec

www.theregister.com

Reposted by Stéphane Koch

Le Monde @lemonde.fr · Apr 10

La désinformation climatique prospère dans une partie des médias audiovisuels français

Après avoir passé au crible les programmes d’information des dix-huit principales chaînes de télévision et de radio au premier trimestre, des associations ont recensé 128 cas de désinformation sur le climat.

www.lemonde.fr

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Stéphane Koch @stephanekoch.bsky.social · Apr 7

"(...) Even so, contact update suggestions are mere suggestions. It's always up to users to check that the information is correct, as well as whether to apply the changes or not. In this case, it appears that Waltz simply accepted his iPhone's suggestion without checking the number."

Apple's iPhone may be the new Signalgate scapegoat

This is why you shouldn't just mindlessly tap "accept".

mashable.com

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