Embracing Digital This Week

New MacStealer macOS Malware Steals iCloud Keychain Data and Passwords. A new information-stealing malware has set its sights on Apple's macOS operating system to siphon sensitive information from compromised devices. MacStealer is the latest example of a threat that uses Telegram as a command-and-control (C2) platform to exfiltrate data.

Microsoft Issues Patch for aCropalypse Privacy Flaw in Windows Screenshot Tools. Microsoft released an out-of-band update to address a privacy-defeating flaw in its screenshot editing tool for Windows 10 and 11. The issue, dubbed aCropalypse, could enable malicious actors to recover edited portions of screenshots, potentially revealing sensitive information that may have been cropped out.

OpenAI Reveals Redis Bug Behind ChatGPT User Data Exposure Incident. OpenAI disclosed that a bug in the Redis open-source library was responsible for exposing other users' personal information and chat titles in the upstart's ChatGPT service earlier this week. The glitch, which came to light on March 20, 2023, enabled certain users to view brief descriptions of other users' conversations from the chat history sidebar, prompting the company.

This is BIG: Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and other tech leaders call for a pause in the ‘out of control’ AI race. 1,100+ notable signatories just signed an open letter asking “all AI labs to pause for at least 6 months immediately”. The letter, which was also signed by the CEO of OpenAI, said the pause should apply to AI systems “more powerful than GPT-4.” It also said independent experts should use the proposed pause to jointly develop and implement a set of shared protocols for AI tools that are safe “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Cerebras Systems Releases Seven New GPT Models Trained on CS-2 Wafer-Scale Systems. First time a company has used non-GPU-based AI systems to train LLMs up to 13 billion parameters and is sharing the models, weights, and training recipe via the industry standard Apache 2.0 license. A series of seven GPT models with 111M to 13B parameters. Typically a multi-month undertaking, this work was completed in a few weeks. All seven Cerebras-GPT models are immediately available on Hugging Face and Cerebras Model Zoo on GitHub.

Google Bard with Wordle – it could have gone better. After correcting the bot and reminding it only to guess five-letter words, it apologized and returned with SLANTS, then carried on with different variations of the word SLANT ☹

BT has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to test 5G edge computing in Manchester using AWS Wavelength. The trial will investigate how edge computing can enhance the performance of BT's 5G network in three key areas: augmented reality, immersive gaming and industrial automation. The aim is to improve customer experience by providing faster and more reliable services. The trial is part of a larger collaboration between the two companies to explore edge computing's potential in the UK.

Comcast has announced expanded partnerships aimed at improving connectivity in smart buildings and environments. The partnerships include agreements with advanced metering infrastructure provider Sensus and BuildingIQ, an artificial intelligence-based energy management solutions provider. The goal is to provide smarter energy management, better water management, and improved building automation. These partnerships are part of Comcast's efforts to improve connectivity for commercial customers through its network of Wi-Fi hotspots, sensors, and other IoT devices.