When your anti-virus software becomes the virus
This week: Anti-virus software becomes the virus, a parent's guide to Generative AI is a great guide for all of us, and what the arrival of ads on ChatGPT could mean for users.
3 - Anti-virus software becomes the virus.
“Malicious updates were distributed through eScan’s legitimate update infrastructure, resulting in the deployment of multi‑stage malware to enterprise and consumer endpoints globally.”
Source: Hacker News (via Graham Cluley)
What?
Attackers recently gained unauthorised access to the update servers of eScan (an anti-virus company). They used this access to distribute an infected update to eScan users.
eScan stated that they detected the breach within 2 hours, blocked the attackers, and quickly issued a fix to address the infection.
Unfortunately, infected devices were unable to automatically download the fix. Affected users had to contact eScan directly to receive tailored instructions on how to remove the infection manually.
So what?
While keeping security software up to date is a proven way to reduce the risk of a security breach, downloading an update as soon as it becomes available also introduces its own risks.
That’s why it’s called Risk Management rather than Risk Elimination.
2 - Need to understand AI? Start here.
“Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly changing the way [we] learn, create, and interact with technology, bringing both new opportunities and new challenges. [..] This booklet provides practical information and guidance to help [all of us] support safe and responsible use of GenAI tools.”
Source: webwise
What?
In support of ‘Safer Internet Day’ this week, webwise has released a new guide to Generative AI.
This guide is only the latest resource in a range of easy-to-understand guides that explain specific online services (e.g. What is Meta AI in WhatsApp, Deepseek, and Discord), along with plenty of useful suggestions on how to talk about all of this with the younger people in your life.
So what?
Webwise is an online safety initiative of Ireland’s Department of Education and co-funded by the EU*.
While webwise seeks to help parents understand what their children are using, these guides are excellent resources for anyone who needs to get to grips with AI tools, their benefits, and their risks.
(* Another answer to the question ‘What did the European Union ever do for us?’)
1 - Ads are coming to ChatGPT.
“Anthropic’s first Super Bowl campaign [..] uses advertising’s largest moment to ask a simple question: does advertising belong everywhere?”
Source: The Drum
What?
OpenAI recently announced that ads are coming to ChatGPT.
Coincidentally, Anthropic (one of OpenAI’s biggest AI competitors) launched its first Super Bowl ad campaign, using four darkly comic ads that show everyday AI queries being hijacked by fictional sponsored messages.
(You can watch the ads on YouTube and they are also embedded in the linked article above. They are hilarious!)
So what?
OpenAI insists that ads will not influence ChatGPT’s answers and they will be displayed in their own separate section.
I remember when Google said the same thing about Search Results.
And we know how that worked out.