Welcome back. It’s been a while since I’d written this series and oh how I longed to get back to it. Without further ado here are the 4 biggest future-oriented stories of the week.
🖥️The SolarWinds Hackers Used Tactics Other Groups Will Copy: One of the most enduring stories of the last year was the SolarWind attack orchestrated by the Russians on a vast array of critical US business and government IT infrastructure. What made it so unique, was the fact that it made use of a “supply-chain attack” to gain a “foothold” into those systems.
To explain how elegant of a technique this is, imagine a bunch of developers creating software that you would love to use someday. What these attackers managed to do was sneak in pieces of their malicious code into software that would be widely distributed.
After distribution, the malicious code runs, and through updates manipulates security authentication mechanisms meant to ensure that only certain users have access to the system.
While a lot of cybersecurity professionals were securing their systems during the latter part of December, they are now coming to terms with the vast implications of the attacks. If techniques like this work, they are bound to be replicated, by many including far smaller threat actors. The SolarWinds breaches are evidence of the ever-increasing role cybersecurity will play in our future. (1,164 words)
🤖️Humans Won't Be Able to Control Artificial Intelligence, Scientists Warn: In a recent report, published in the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research or JAIR for short, the authors assert that if we do create superintelligence it will not be contained. There could be a possibility of creating a theoretical containment algorithm, but if the AI is indeed superintelligent there is a high chance that it is itself capable of bypassing said containment. Overall, the report is an acknowledgment of the high uncertainty that exists if we do create in a very literal sense a god. (419 words)
👩🔬️Scientists are a step closer to developing 'smart' stem cells – and they're made from human fat: Stem cells have been integral to modern medical advances. A new form of stem cell could provide even greater leaps. The new induced multipotent stem cells or IMS, aim to provide a wide range of adaptive benefits with fewer drawbacks. Induced Multipotent Stem cells are made from the patient’s own cells and hence reduce the possibility of rejection. (991 words)
🧓Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president, as the Trump era ends amid a national rift: The biggest possible future-oriented story of the week happens to be a political one as most important issues tend to be. President Joe Biden assumed his role as the 46th president of the United States amidst internal turmoil and broken international alliances. There is little to no doubt in the minds of many watching this pandemic play out that his predecessor has been woefully incompetent.
President Biden has a lot on his hands. An insurgent economic force in China, a terribly managed pandemic, and the deaths that spawn thereof, as well as the new technological realities being accelerated by this pandemic. Will he be up to the task? Will he be able to stop the implosion of the American empire? Only time will tell. (859 words)
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