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<ul class="summary-list"><li>A tech recruiting firm left the personal information of roughly 216,000 people exposed, a researcher said.</li><li>The information included partial Social Security numbers, email addresses, and visa statuses.</li></ul>An IT researcher found that the unsecured files from a tech recruiter's database included personally identifying information of an estimated 216,000 job seekers — including data like names, phone numbers, passport numbers, visa information, and partial Social Security numbers. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cvs-database-of-1-billion-data-points-inadvertently-leaked-2021-6">Jeremiah Fowler</a>, the security researcher who co-founded the consulting firm Security Discovery, said he didn't know how long the data had been exposed but told Business Insider that the database was soon locked once he contacted the recruiter in September. He said New Jersey-based <keyword id="23993132" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Alltech-Consulting-Services" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Alltech Consulting Services" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Alltech Consulting Services">Alltech Consulting Services</keyword> never responded to his notices. Fowler on Monday published his <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.websiteplanet.com/news/alltechconsultinginc-breach-report/">security report</a> indicating that Alltech left its database of job candidate information unsecured without a password. That left the personal identifying information of about 216,000 tech job candidates exposed. Because the door was essentially left unlocked, someone trying to steal identities wouldn't have needed to hack into Alltech's database — or even search that hard — to find the information, Fowler said. Alltech says on its website that "more than 1,000 companies" rely on its services to connect them with tech professionals. Business Insider hasn't been able to verify this independently. BI also contacted the company by calling its main phone number, sending direct LinkedIn messages to its executives, and emailing its main email address. When contacted through its public email and phone number, Alltech didn't respond to requests for comment from BI. Two Alltech executives, listed as the company's owner and vice president on LinkedIn, told Business Insider in direct messages they weren't aware of anyunsecured data or a breach. Fowler said the data exposed included email addresses, passport numbers, the last four digits of SSNs, and information on work visas. "The records also contained internal notes about their experience, qualifications, and type of job they are looking for," Fowler said. Business Insider has reviewed the message Fowler sent to three Alltech email addresses on September 10 disclosing the unprotected data. Fowler has previously flagged <keyword id="19906883" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cybersecurity" source="keywords">cybersecurity</keyword> issues with a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51682280">Wi-Fi provider</a> at UK rail stations, a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wired.com/story/us-school-shooter-emergency-plans-leak/">software</a> company used by more than 5,000 US school districts, and a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wired.com/story/confidant-health-therapy-records-database-exposure/">virtual medical</a> provider, among others. Justin Miller, an ex-Secret Service agent and associate professor of practice of cyber studies at the University of Tulsa, told Business Insider that leaving a database unprotected by a password or any encryption means "anybody could potentially access the database." It's unclear, though, if any other unauthorized parties accessed the Alltech data. Miller and Fowler said that the type of information left exposed by the database, including the last four digits of a Social Security number, could allow a cybercriminal to impersonate a person. "You're looking toward identify theft," Miller said. "Details like names, work history, your visa status, passport numbers, even parts of your Social Security number, allow for bad actors to piece together enough information to steal identities and create fraudulent profiles." Fowler added that incidents like Alltech's — and others he investigates — highlight how important it is for companies to protect their data. "It also serves as a wake-up call to the industry to review their data security practices and identify vulnerabilities to protect their internal systems and the personal information of the individuals they serve," Fowler said. Alltech's website says it was founded in 1998. It's unclear why Alltech collected job seekers' Social Security or passport information. Fowler said job candidates should be "skeptical" of recruiters who ask for personal information as a condition of applying for a job. Have a tip? Contact the reporters at lloydlee@businessinsider.com and ktangalakislippert@businessinsider.com

Nearly 216,000 job seekers had their personal data left unsecured on a tech recruiter's database, a security researcher says

<keyword id="20812331" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="telecom-service-provider" source="keywords">Telecom service provider</keyword> <keyword id="19951944" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharti-Airtel" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Bharti Airtel" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Bharti Airtel">Bharti Airtel</keyword> on Friday denied reports of any breach of its <keyword id="19966946" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="customer-data" source="keywords">customer data</keyword> and said that such a claim was a desperate attempt to tarnish the brand's image. "There has been a report alleging that <keyword id="19896909" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Airtel" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> customer data has been compromised. This is nothing short of a desperate attempt to tarnish Airtel's reputation by vested interests. We have done a thorough investigation and can confirm that there has been no breach whatsoever from Airtel systems," the telco said in a statement. The statement comes after an account named 'xenZen' on the dark web claimed to have access to the latest database of over 375 million Airtel India customers, including phone number, email address, parents name, and government IDs including Aadhar, and put it up for sale. "The original threat actor that made the claim has been banned from the hacking forum for scamming people," sources from Airtel told PTI. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/upcoming-smartphones-launching-in-india-in-july-2024/slidelist/111304902.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/upcoming-smartphones-launching-in-india-in-july-2024/slidelist/111304902.cms" target="_blank">Upcoming smartphones launching in India in July 2024</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/hp-envy-x360-14-review/articleshow/111407165.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/hp-envy-x360-14-review/articleshow/111407165.cms" target="_blank">HP Envy x360 14 review – feature-packed laptop with a sleek design</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/motorola-razr-50-ultra-flip-phone-launched-in-india-for-99999/slidelist/111504950.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/motorola-razr-50-ultra-flip-phone-launched-in-india-for-99999/slidelist/111504950.cms" target="_blank">Motorola Razr 50 Ultra flip phone launched in India for ₹99,999</a>

Reports of data breach desperate attempt to tarnish brand's image: Airtel

On Thursday evening, a significant <keyword id="22471557" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-cyber-outage" source="keywords">global cyber outage</keyword> began, causing a massive disruption to Microsoft Windows users around the world. This event impacted users in countries including India, Australia, Germany, the United States, and the UK, with affected systems displaying the dreaded <keyword id="22469490" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Blue-Screen-of-Death" source="keywords">Blue Screen of Death</keyword> (BSOD). This malfunction led to automatic system restarts or shutdowns, severely hampering productivity and operations across various sectors. The root cause, as identified by companies like Dell Technologies, was linked to a recent update from the <keyword id="19906883" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cybersecurity" source="keywords">cybersecurity</keyword> firm <keyword id="20424191" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="CrowdStrike" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="CrowdStrike" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="CrowdStrike">CrowdStrike</keyword>. The outage had far-reaching consequences, particularly for essential systems used by several airlines. In the US, carriers such as American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Allegiant, and Sun Country experienced operational disruptions. Similarly, in India, IndiGo and other airlines were affected. Beyond the aviation industry, the outage also disrupted banks, supermarkets, media outlets, and other businesses who are extensively reliant on Microsoft's cloud services. <h2>What is CrowdStrike?</h2>CrowdStrike is a leading cybersecurity company known for its advanced security solutions designed to protect against <keyword id="19973480" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-breaches" source="keywords">data breaches</keyword>, <keyword id="19955190" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ransomware" source="keywords">ransomware</keyword>, and <keyword id="19945689" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cyber-attacks" source="keywords">cyber attacks</keyword>. Founded in 2012 by former McAfee employee George Kurtz, CrowdStrike has become a critical player in the cybersecurity landscape, serving a diverse clientele that includes global investment banks, universities, and major corporations. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111858142" title="Global cyber outage: Microsoft users report &amp;#39;blue screen of death&amp;#39;; flights cancelled" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>At the heart of CrowdStrike's offerings is the <keyword id="21411329" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Falcon-platform" source="keywords">Falcon platform</keyword>. This comprehensive cybersecurity solution uses a single sensor and a unified threat interface to provide real-time indicators of attacks, hyper-accurate detection, and automated protection. The platform is designed to correlate attacks across endpoints, workloads, and identities, effectively stopping identity-driven breaches in real time. The recent issues stemmed from an update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon sensor. This update reportedly caused the sensor to malfunction, leading to conflicts with Windows systems and resulting in the widespread blue screen errors. CrowdStrike acknowledged the error and has since been actively working on a resolution. The company assured users that there was no need to open a support ticket and promised to provide updates as they become available. <h2>CrowdStrike, Sony, and <keyword id="19910206" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="North-Korea" source="keywords">North Korea</keyword></h2>CrowdStrike is no stranger to the spotlight, having been involved in several high-profile cyber investigations. One notable case is the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, where a group called the Guardians of Peace, believed to be affiliated with North Korea, hacked into Sony Pictures Entertainment. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111856595" title="Microsoft outage – London Stock Exchange, banks and airlines across the world affected" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>GoP stole vast amounts of information and threatened acts of terrorism against movie theatres unless Sony cancelled the release of "The Interview," a comedy about the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In this investigation, CrowdStrike discovered evidence that seemed to definitively connect North Korean players to the Sony hacking. <h2>The “Blue Screen of Death” explained</h2>The Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is a critical error screen displayed on Windows operating systems when a severe system issue occurs, preventing safe operation. This error forces the computer to restart unexpectedly, often resulting in data loss. In the recent incident, the BSOD error message indicated that the PC ran into a problem and needed to restart, leaving users frustrated and businesses scrambling for solutions. While Microsoft has confirmed that the Azure outage has been resolved, the incident has brought a spotlight to the potential risks associated with heavy reliance on cloud services. Meanwhile, CrowdStrike has offered solutions on its members-only platform and continues to address the fallout from the outage.

Global Cyber Outage: What is CrowdStrike? How is it linked to the global Microsoft outage?

Data Breaches and Cybersecurity

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A new study suggests layoffs can lead to cyberattacks from disgruntled employees.</li><li>Thi Tran, an IT expert and professor, describes how companies can protect themselves from breaches.</li><li>This story is part of "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/security-playbook">Security Playbook</a>," a series detailing cybersecurity advice and strategies.</li></ul><ul class="summary-list"><li>A new study suggests layoffs can lead to cyberattacks from disgruntled employees.</li><li>Thi Tran, an IT expert and professor, describes how companies can protect themselves from breaches.</li><li>This story is part of "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/security-playbook">Security Playbook</a>," a series detailing cybersecurity advice and strategies.</li></ul><ul class="summary-list"><li>A new study suggests layoffs can lead to cyberattacks from disgruntled employees.</li><li>Thi Tran, an IT expert and professor, describes how companies can protect themselves from breaches.</li><li>This story is part of "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/security-playbook">Security Playbook</a>," a series detailing cybersecurity advice and strategies.</li></ul><ul class="summary-list"><li>A new study suggests layoffs can lead to cyberattacks from disgruntled employees.</li><li>Thi Tran, an IT expert and professor, describes how companies can protect themselves from breaches.</li><li>This story is part of "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/security-playbook">Security Playbook</a>," a series detailing cybersecurity advice and strategies.</li></ul><ul class="summary-list"><li>A new study suggests layoffs can lead to cyberattacks from disgruntled employees.</li><li>Thi Tran, an IT expert and professor, describes how companies can protect themselves from breaches.</li><li>This story is part of "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/security-playbook">Security Playbook</a>," a series detailing cybersecurity advice and strategies.</li></ul><ul class="summary-list"><li>A new study suggests layoffs can lead to cyberattacks from disgruntled employees.</li><li>Thi Tran, an IT expert and professor, describes how companies can protect themselves from breaches.</li><li>This story is part of "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/security-playbook">Security Playbook</a>," a series detailing cybersecurity advice and strategies.</li></ul><ul class="summary-list"><li>A new study suggests layoffs can lead to cyberattacks from disgruntled employees.</li><li>Thi Tran, an IT expert and professor, describes how companies can protect themselves from breaches.</li></ul>Layoffs can make employees angry, stressed, and worried about their finances. A new study suggests they may also fuel a desire for revenge, which could put companies at risk of a cyberattack.The study, titled "The Impacts of Layoffs Announcement on Cybersecurity Breaches," explores the behaviors of people affected by job cuts, including whether they seek to "punish" what they consider a "bad business" by hacking, said Thi Tran, an assistant professor of management information systems at Binghamton University who led the study.<div type="image" title="Thi Tran sitting in a chair and holding a phone." height="1600" width="2400" msid="113038354" hostid="261" sizebytes="109072"></div>Tran, who presented the study at the Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems in Vietnam in July, said the research was inspired by news of companies across industries <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/layoffs-sweeping-us-these-are-companies-making-cuts-2024">cutting jobs</a>."I know how terrible it is, that layoffs can cause anger and potentially ruin people's lives," he said. "I also know how dangerous it is when people get pissed off — they can do a lot of bad things."Tran discussed what companies should know about the connection between layoffs and cybersecurity breaches and how organizations can minimize their risk.This interview has been edited for length and clarity.Why do layoffs put companies at risk of cyberattacks?We might think that hackers are empowered when they have technical abilities, but in most cases it's that they get triggered and have some motivation. Getting laid off can trigger that revenge, and they're more likely to perform an attack.Our research suggests that the consequence of a layoff announcement is the likelihood of getting attacked and that the severity will be higher because hackers try to create harm.Insider threats, such as ex-employees, are the biggest threat because they know about all the systems, layers of protection, and policies. So they can do a lot of harmful things to the company when motivated by layoffs. Imagine that the laid-off employee worked for the IT department or the security department: They know about every single corner and how to bypass all the protection layers.How can companies protect themselves when announcing layoffs?You have to terminate laid-off employees' access to systems shortly after notifying them; announcing layoffs too far in advance and then terminating access later can open the door to cybersecurity risks.However, companies need to send a message to employees to minimize the impact of the layoff and explain why access has been terminated. Something like: "This is an unfortunate situation. We know this is very hard for you, but this is what we have to do for the entire company." Remind people of their connection to the company and the importance of data protection.Prepare for the worst-case scenario. Think about the potential losses and costs of a breach and how you can strengthen security layers, such as with antivirus software, intrusion-detection systems, firewalls, and warnings about suspicious behavior.Then you would know beforehand that there's something wrong with the system, and the sooner you know, the more you can minimize harm. But you can't eliminate 100% of possible risks.What role does corporate social responsibility play?Layoff announcements can bring negative publicity. They could send a message that your company is doing something harmful to the public or experiencing financial problems or poor leadership. This could make someone want to hack your company.To help minimize attacks, improve and emphasize your corporate social responsibility, which is the company's reputation and image, and demonstrate the company's commitment to social and environmental responsibilities.Being proactive and emphasizing ethical conduct and data security during layoffs could reduce the risk of data breaches in those situations. It will enhance trust with stakeholders.What aspect of layoffs and data breaches do you plan to study next?We want to collect publicly available records showing the dates of a layoff announcement and the dates that a breach happened. We'll try to see if there is any association.I want to survey people about their ability and technical skills to formulate an attack on a company and how corporate social responsibility influences that decision. We want to capture online and social-media conversations to tabulate positive and negative emotions about a company after announcing layoffs.There are lots of things we want to explore that we hope can help guide policies for how companies can prepare for the worst-case scenario and minimize the risk of a data breach after layoffs are announced.

A recent study suggests companies are vulnerable to cyberattacks after layoffs. Here's how they can avoid costly data breaches.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>23andMe's business is floundering after a data hack, lawsuit, and tumbling stock prices.</li><li>The company's problems have led to concerns about how it handles consumer genealogy data.</li></ul>Things have gone downhill for <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dna-testing-ancestry-23andme-share-data-companies-2018-8">23andMe</a>.After the direct-to-consumer genetic testing company launched in 2006, it appeared to be on a steady incline and a notable standout among Silicon Valley ventures. As of 2021, according to Crunchbase, it had raised over $1 billion from investors.However, a 2023 <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/23andme-data-stolen-hacked-sold-dark-web-2023-10">data hack</a> kicked off a series of problematic hurdles that 23andMe just can't seem to clear.News that hackers were selling user data — which included birth details and names — on the <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/23andme-data-stolen-hacked-sold-dark-web-2023-10">dark web</a> broke that October. The company confirmed in December that <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/23and-me-hack-data-breach-personal-data-2023-12">hackers had accessed ancestry data</a> for just under 7 million users. A data breach notification filing in January said it took 23andMe <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/23andme-hackers-breached-customer-accounts-took-five-months-to-detect-2024-1">five months</a> to realize hackers had stolen the data.The incident led to a class action lawsuit, which 23andMe settled this September for $30 million, according to Reuters.Less than a week later, the independent directors of 23andMe's board resigned in a letter addressed to CEO and cofounder <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/23andme-ceo-anne-wojcicki-life-career-family-photos-2021-3">Anne Wojcicki</a>.The letter said the directors "wholeheartedly support" 23andMe's mission, but "it is also clear that we differ on the strategic direction for the Company going forward."<div type="image" title="23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki" height="1991" width="2982" msid="113994219" hostid="261" sizebytes="309018"></div>The Wall Street Journal reported that despite earning $299 million in revenue in 2023 and $219 million in 2024, the company never made a profit. Its stock price peaked in February 2021 but has steadily declined since, reaching an all-time low of 29 cents.23andMe's reputation took a further hit with consumers in September when Wojcicki said in an SEC filing she was "considering third party takeover proposals." She walked back that statement later that month in a separate filing, but the damage was done.Outlets like The Atlantic reported that Wojcicki's potential sale of 23andMe could also mean the sale of user data. The director of cybersecurity at Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit focused on digital privacy, urged their 186,000 X followers to delete their data from 23andMe. That post garnered more than 531,000 views in three days.The X post touched on concerns plaguing the DNA test kit industry: Your private DNA data may not stay private."Data is data — once it's out there, it's very hard to control," <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/privacy-security-risks-genetic-testing-23andme-ancestry-dna-2019-2">James Hazel</a>, a biomedical researcher, told Business Insider in 2019.23andMe says the personal data it collects includes registration information like birth date, genetic information like a user's genotype, sample information like saliva, and self-reported information."Beyond our contracted laboratory, with which we work to process a customer's sample and deliver their results, customer information will not be shared with any other entity unless they provide us with consent to do so," a 23andMe spokesperson told Business Insider.The spokesperson said the company doesn't share data with "employers, insurance companies, law enforcement agencies or any public databases."<h2 id="412bbc19-4bef-4532-9c97-39228ce572c0">Here's how to ask 23andMe to delete your data</h2>Users who want their personal information removed from 23andMe can opt-out in the "23andMe Data" section in Account Settings. But 23andMe says it is legally required to retain some information."While we will delete the majority of your Personal Information, we are required to retain some information to comply with our legal obligation," the company's website says."23andMe and/or our contracted genotyping laboratory will retain your Genetic Information, date of birth, and sex as required for compliance with applicable legal obligations... even if you chose to delete your account," the company's privacy statement says.The privacy statement says 23andMe will also retain some information associated with user accounts, like email addresses.For users who participated in 23andMe Research, their genetic data and self-reported information won't be used in future research projects."Customers always have the option to delete their account at any time, and once the request is confirmed, we will immediately and automatically begin the deletion process," the spokesperson said. "Deleting an account and associated data will permanently delete the data associated with all profiles within the account. If a customer asks us to store their genetic samples, they will be discarded."

23andMe is floundering. Here is how to delete your data.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>As the chief AI and innovation officer of <keyword id="20663742" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anaconda" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Anaconda" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Anaconda">Anaconda</keyword>, Peter Wang helps the programming-language distributor improve <keyword id="20110666" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AI-solutions" source="keywords">AI solutions</keyword>.</li><li>This includes supporting on-prem IT and running AI models locally to boost security and efficiency.</li></ul>Peter Wang is the chief AI and innovation officer of <a href="https://www.anaconda.com/about-us" target="_blank">Anaconda</a>, a company he cofounded in 2012 with the goal of democratizing business-data analytics by making <keyword id="23150763" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Python-tools" source="keywords">Python tools</keyword> easier to use. With Python established as a leading language for <keyword id="21065919" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AI-workloads" source="keywords">AI workloads</keyword>, Anaconda is broadening its focus to <keyword id="19897745" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-science" source="keywords">data science</keyword> and artificial intelligence, with the goal of becoming a common software layer for high-performance AI. Anaconda has introduced tools to help companies and people get started with AI <keyword id="19897804" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="large-language-models" source="keywords">large language models</keyword>. One such tool is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.anaconda.com/products/ai-navigator">AI Navigator</a>, a desktop app that can run AI models locally on Windows and Mac, with Linux support coming soon. The company has 300 full-time employees and 40 million users worldwide. Business Insider spoke with Wang to learn more about how AI workloads are prompting companies to think about bringing more of their <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/artificial-intelligence-data-privacy-on-premises-information-technology-solutions-2024-8">IT infrastructure on-premises</a> — and the hardware and software challenges that come with making such a move. The following has been edited for clarity and length. Can you talk about on-premises infrastructure and what that term means to you in 2024? On-premises initially meant servers within the company's physical location. Now it's more about the governance of infrastructure, including data, networking, and servers. Who manages it? Who gets to say, "No, absolutely, you can't do that," or, "Yes, you can do that?" At Anaconda, we see customers across the spectrum. Some have what we call air-gapped systems, not connected to the internet at all. These might be a box in a building somewhere, oftentimes guarded by people with machine guns, where you go in with a flash drive. That's the hardcore level of secure on-prem. On the other end, we see businesses that use a lot of cloud resources. But even they need stricter boundaries. They work with cloud providers to set up virtual private clouds or to provision resources with specific governance rules and policies. Why are companies interested in on-premises solutions for AI and large language models? We see a lot of interest from companies wanting control over their own destiny. They want to fine-tune models on their own data, connect them to internal databases for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/retrieval-augmented-generation-making-ai-language-models-better-2024-5">retrieval-augmented generation</a>, and use agent-based models. If a company can only consume AI as a cloud end point, you have to tie all your internal systems to that cloud AI service, which is difficult. And many of these cloud AI companies, while they are well capitalized, are still relatively new as enterprise-software players. There are a lot of concerns about data leakage and compliance. Running locally gives more control and reduces the risk of accidental data exposure. You don't have to worry about a junior IT person at a cloud startup accidentally misconfiguring something and causing a data breach. The risks of a data breach are clear, but many companies seem concerned about any external use of their data for AI. Why is that? People have said that data is oil. If your data is oil, LLMs are like the internal-combustion engine, meaning they provide a much more interesting way to use that oil. Companies want to use their sensitive "crown jewel" data with LLMs to gain insights and improve predictive analytics. These use cases are central to their business, so they're protective of this data. They don't trust putting it on external systems where it could leak valuable information like customer insights or product preferences. When people think of "on-prem," they tend to focus on hardware. But much of what you are describing seems like software. Can you explain that in more detail? The hardware for AI work is often similar across setups. It's typically high-end <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-gpu-chips-ai-branding-popularity-2024-6">Nvidia GPUs</a>, though not always the latest or most expensive versions. On top of that hardware stack, the software needed to run an LLM isn't exotic if you know what you're doing. But there's a big asterisk here. The challenges often come from internal IT policies, organizational competencies, and the dynamic nature of AI workloads. For example, if your organization is familiar with Docker or Kubernetes, great. But if you're a Java shop used to deploying with Maven, or a Ruby shop unfamiliar with Python, that creates hurdles. When these companies want to start an internal LLM, that's where they can use help. AI workloads require varying amounts of computing power at different times. When you're training, you might need a lot of GPUs, fewer, or different kinds — or <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/what-is-a-cpu">even just CPUs</a>. This dynamic set of hardware requirements, sometimes very bursty in terms of when and how long you need it, creates an orchestration challenge. That becomes a software challenge, and then an organizational one. Are you saying the challenge is optimizing software for efficient and dynamic use of hardware? I actually think it's more of a broad competency challenge for a company. In traditional software development, the IT group talks to the software-development group. The developers specify their needs for memory, bandwidth, storage, and IT provisions for them. But data scientists and machine-learning teams have dynamic needs. They require newer, more advanced hardware, and the software they run is Python with many dependencies, like specific GPU-driver versions. The challenges organizations face in on-premises AI relate to the dynamic nature of server and machine orchestration and the open-source-software ecosystem they're tapping into. This is especially true for compliance and security requirements. Speaking of open source, what are your thoughts on open versus closed LLMs? I've tried to stay out of the fray on social media, but my take is that current LLMs, especially the frontier models, have a lot of overlap in capabilities. Some are better than others in certain aspects, but at their core, once you throw enough data at them, these models start to become similar to each other. Making open models like Meta's Llama freely available is a game changer. The original Llama release was significant, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-meta-llama-ai-model-praise-open-source-musk-2024-7">the latest Llama 3.1 model</a>, with 400 billion parameters, is a massive step forward. It will increase interest in running models on-premises, especially for fine-tuning on sensitive data. But while these models are often called open, they're not open in the traditional open-source sense. You can use them freely, but you can't rebuild them from scratch or modify them at will. The training data, scripts, and hyperparameters are often not disclosed. It's a complex issue that involves considerations of safety and licensing. The data used for training is a particularly big issue that no one really talks about. How should a company looking to implement on-premises AI get started? Anaconda has an <keyword id="23150764" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AI-Navigator" source="keywords">AI Navigator</keyword> tool that is a great way to get started. It's a simple graphical interface where you can download appropriate models for your computer. We're currently running this in beta, and we're eager to get feedback from users. Our tool connects to our curated model repository. We've quantized models to make them smaller and more efficient for different machines, which is important because downloading models from public repositories can pose security risks. For example, we've seen attacks where someone uploads a fine-tuned code-generation model that hallucinates nonexistent Python packages. It generates code that tries to import or install these fake packages, and then the attacker creates malicious versions of these packages in the real world. When users try to run the generated code, they install these malicious packages. Our tool helps users get past many initial hurdles in setting up and running AI models locally. It accelerates the process of getting the software running correctly for a given machine, making it easier and safer for businesses to start exploring on-premises AI solutions. Correction: August 28, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated Peter Wang's title. He's the chief AI and innovation officer of Anaconda, not the CEO. He was the CEO from October 2019 to January 2024.

Anaconda's chief AI and innovation officer says Python can make on-premises IT solutions 'easier and safer' as companies seek stronger data protection

<keyword id="2721952" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="crypto" source="Orion">Crypto</keyword> analytics platform <keyword id="5632388" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="nansen" source="Orion">Nansen</keyword> has issued a <keyword id="608402" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-breach" source="Orion">data breach</keyword> alert, revealing that a hacker gained access to its admin system and used it to provision customer accounts. The company also sent emails to affected users asking them to reset their passwords. "On September 20, Nansen was notified by one of our third-party vendors that their systems had been compromised. A breach on the vendor's side gave an attacker access to admin rights to an account used to provision customer access to our platform," Nansen said in a notice shared on X. However, the company managed to stop the unauthorised access shortly after learning about it and launched an immediate investigation. According to Nansen, the vendor is a well-established entity trusted by Fortune 500 companies as well as other companies in the same industry to manage customer data. Moreover, the company's preliminary investigations over the 48 hours revealed that about 6.8 per cent of our users were impacted. "These users had their email addresses exposed, a smaller portion also had password hashes exposed, and a last, smallest group also had their blockchain addresses exposed. We have informed our users via email if and how they've been affected," Nansen stated. On September 21, Nansen swiftly reached out to its affected users via email asking them to reset their passwords. Last week, global cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx, which recently suffered a data breach, asked hackers to negotiate with the company while also promising a generous bounty reward if they return the stolen assets. Hackers behind the CoinEx attack were identified as the North Korean-sponsored <keyword id="4538320" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="lazarus-group" source="Orion">Lazarus Group</keyword>. On September 15, CoinEx stated in an open letter, which it posted on X that the hack incident served as a lesson for the company and made it more aware of its responsibility to ensure robust asset security.

Crypto firm Nansen issues data breach alert, asks users to reset password

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/23andme-cofounder-anne-wojcicki-interview-explains-decision-spac-ipo-2021-2">23andMe's future</a> is uncertain amid potential acquisition talks.</li><li>The company has faced a data breach and board resignations.</li></ul>The future of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/23andme-users-allege-company-auto-renewals-2024-3">23andMe</a> is uncertain, and so is the fate of the data it has collected from millions of users.The direct-to-consumer genetic testing company has had a rough 12 months. In 2023, it suffered a massive data hack that led to a $30 million class action lawsuit. Then, its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/23andme-cofounder-responds-memo-entire-board-quits-2024-9">entire board resigned</a> this September after <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/23andme-ceo-anne-wojcicki-life-career-family-photos-2021-3">founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki</a> said that she was "considering third party takeover proposals" and announced her own interest in acquiring 23andMe. The board cited a "distracting difference of view" among the reasons its directors decided to quit.Although she later walked back her words about third-party proposals (she said she's still interested in taking the company private), the upheaval has left users concerned about what would happen to their data if 23andMe was bought.Business Insider asked the company itself, and a 23andMe spokesperson directed us to its privacy statement. It says, "your Personal Information may be accessed, sold or transferred" in the event that 23andMe is involved in a bankruptcy, merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets.Still, "our company privacy policies will remain in effect for the foreseeable future, as Anne indicated in her filing, including following the intended completion of the acquisition she is pursuing," the spokesperson said.The spokesperson added that 23andMe's privacy statement would apply "unless and until customers are presented with a new privacy statement by a new entity."As 23andMe weighs its options, people have taken to social media to express concern. The company is known for its genetic tests that allow people to learn more about their heritage."what's the worst 23andme/any entity could do with my dna data? maybe being targeted by malicious govt? what else?" one user <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/kelin_online/status/1842022881682768299">wrote</a> on X.Another <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/kaseyklimes/status/1842047337058677075">responded,</a> saying, "my biggest fear has always been that they sell to health insurance companies." Meantime, others urged users to take action. "Just a reminder that if you've ever taken a 23andMe test, you should really take a few minutes and go delete your account data right now," one user <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/BlairReeves/status/1842709591525667234">said on X</a>.In <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/evacide/status/1841916600196464667?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1841916600196464667%7Ctwgr%5E60015fc8ff9846e0e298e19a00b637cbc2672f79%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmuse.insider.com%2Fstory%2F6706a9c20c43543ec7b17988">a different post</a>, Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at Electronic Frontier Foundation, recommended 23andMe users request that their data be deleted.If you're concerned, there is an option to have some personal information removed via <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-delete-your-23andme-data-2024-10">Account Settings on 23andMe</a>, but the company said it's legally required to keep some information."Because we take the privacy and trust of our customers very seriously, we would fight for the commitments in our Privacy Policy as part of any data transfer," the 23andMe spokesperson said.

23andMe users are worried about what might happen to their data. Here's what the company says.

<ul><li>69% blamed <keyword id="6368751" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="banks" source="Orion">banks</keyword> and financial service providers, and 56% identified central government offices, databases, and staff for breach of personal data. </li><li>The largest group, constituting 72% of those surveyed, had their mobile numbers leaked, followed by email addresses (63%). </li><li>72% of respondents acknowledged that their personal details were leaked or are in the public domain. </li></ul><keyword id="608402" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-breach" source="Orion">Data breach</keyword> stories are increasing by the day and this impacts one’s privacy directly. Who is to blame for the leaks? Well, a survey by community social media platform LocalCircles has found that 81% of Indians attribute the data leaks to state/local government offices, databases, and staff (such as RTO, municipality, hospitals, public distribution system, property registration office, etc.). 56% identified central government offices, databases, and staff (like EPF, Passport, CoWIN, Aarogya Setu, Aadhaar, Income Tax, Vehicle Ownership, Voter ID, etc.) as the culprits. The latest <keyword id="608402" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-breach" source="Orion">data breach</keyword> involves COVID vaccination data of the Indian government. The Ministry of Health downplayed the breach but ordered CERT-In to probe how CoWIN portal data ended up on Telegram. The surveyed feel that penalties and disincentives as the personal data protection bill awaits parliament presentation, highlighting wider data security concerns. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Blame on telecom and financial services providers" comment="subhead" text="Blame on telecom and financial services providers">Blame on telecom and financial services providers</cmsannotation> Every three in four who were surveyed, i.e. 75% of respondents, pointed fingers at telecom service providers, 69% blamed <keyword id="6368751" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="banks" source="Orion">banks</keyword> and financial service providers. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="eCommerce and payment apps/websites also the culprit?" comment="subhead" text="eCommerce and payment apps/websites also the culprit?">eCommerce and payment apps/websites also the culprit?</cmsannotation> Furthermore, 44% of the participants held eCommerce apps/sites responsible, while 31% pointed to payment apps/sites. Additionally, 25% of the respondents attributed the leaks to education institutes/apps and another 25% to various other businesses/entities. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Majority feel their personal data has been compromised" comment="subhead" text="Majority feel their personal data has been compromised">Majority feel their personal data has been compromised</cmsannotation> The survey also focused on determining whether respondents' <keyword id="74417" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="personal-information" source="Orion">personal information</keyword> was present in the public domain and if any data had been compromised. The question asked was, "What personal details of yours are currently in the public domain or in databases from where they have been leaked?" A mere 9% of participants stated that "no personal details have been leaked or are in the public domain." However, a significant 72% of respondents acknowledged that their "personal details were leaked or are in the public domain." On the other hand, 19% of those surveyed refrained from providing a definitive response, opting for "can't say." As a result, it was observed that seven out of ten citizens surveyed believe that one or more of their personal data elements have already been exposed to the public or compromised in databases. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Most leaked personal information" comment="subhead" text="Most leaked personal information">Most leaked <keyword id="74417" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="personal-information" source="Orion">personal information</keyword></cmsannotation> The survey also sought to find out what information of citizens is easily available in the public domain. Among the respondents who reported that their personal information had been leaked, the survey identified the most common data elements that were compromised. The largest group, constituting 72% of those surveyed, had their mobile numbers leaked. Additionally, 63% of respondents had their email addresses exposed, while 53% reported that their Aadhaar numbers were compromised. Furthermore, 50% stated that their PAN card numbers had been leaked, and 25% had their Voter ID numbers exposed. For a smaller percentage of respondents, multiple pieces of personal information were compromised, as revealed by the following results: 22% had their credit/debit card numbers leaked, 9% disclosed their annual income/salary, and 19% reported other details that were not specifically mentioned in the survey. It is evident from the survey results that some individuals experienced the unfortunate situation of having multiple aspects of their personal information exposed.

Data privacy: Three in four Indians hold public sector offices responsible for breach

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Companies can face data-security challenges with cloud storage and access management.</li><li>Data-security posture management can help identify risks and protect data.</li></ul>Companies handle troves of data, including financial information, customer details, and proprietary content. While much of that data is stored in the cloud, company leaders might not always know exactly where it is, who all has access to it, or how secure it truly is.Dan Benjamin, the senior director of product management at Prisma Cloud, a cloud-security platform made by Palo Alto Networks, said that incorporating data-security posture management into cybersecurity strategies could help solve many of these problems.He described DSPM as a set of cybersecurity technologies that can help companies "discover, understand, and protect their data." This is crucial, as an IBM report published in 2023 estimated that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ibm.com/topics/data-security-posture-management">82% of data breaches</a> involved data stored in the cloud.Clouds and the data they contain are vulnerable for several reasons. For one thing, Benjamin said, "the sheer amount of data in the cloud is larger than the amount of data that's on-premises," or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/artificial-intelligence-data-privacy-on-premises-information-technology-solutions-2024-8">stored on a company's own hardware</a>. Organizations also often use several cloud systems and sometimes lack a solid <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-wang-talks-artificial-intelligence-and-on-premises-infrastructure-2024-8">security strategy for maintaining, updating, and securing data</a>.Liat Hayun, the vice president of product management and research of cloud security at the cybersecurity company Tenable, said cloud environments' flexibility makes them attractive to companies. Clouds make it easy for companies to store and move data around, but they're also difficult to monitor.While DSPM can help, Hayun said, many organizations haven't embraced the technology.<h2 id="500962ef-2e5d-401c-aa84-3745209e9825">How DSPM safeguards data</h2>Benjamin said DSPM helps organizations answer three key questions: "What data do I have? How is it being used? And how is it being protected?"Hayun said the software continuously identifies where a company's data resides and classifies it based on its sensitivity level, such as personally identifiable information or intellectual property. It then analyzes the controls around the data, including <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-respond-to-ransomware-attack">who has access to it and how secure it is</a>; identifies vulnerabilities; and recommends ways to address a problem.Julie Madhusoodanan, the head of cybersecurity at LinkedIn, described DSPM as a combination of risk identification, reporting, and mitigation."Think of it as having a security guard who regularly checks where your data is stored, who has access to it, and how it's being used," she said.If something looks off — for example, sensitive information is being stored in the wrong place, or someone has access to data they shouldn't have — DSPM software can alert a company's security or information-technology teams to resolve the issue "before something bad happens," Madhusoodanan said.Other cybersecurity solutions focus on securing devices or systems that house or process data and often identify vulnerabilities and risks after they happen. Madhusoodanan said DSPM is designed to protect the data itself and "can proactively block risks from being inserted into the system in the first place."<h2 id="38f8e7b1-fe20-45f3-ac0f-8e4e65aafba3">Why DSPM is a beneficial security measure</h2>Any organization that collects, maintains, and processes data — no matter its size or industry — is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-to-know-about-sec-cybersecurity-rules-and-guidance">at risk of a breach</a>, Madhusoodanan said. Investing in DSPM, she added, can help "give organizations a clearer picture of the risk their business is carrying," manage that risk, and heighten security.For example, LinkedIn uses DSPM to assess threats and plan mitigation strategies. Madhusoodanan said the technology had improved the company's response time and accuracy in addressing vulnerabilities.Benjamin gave an example of a financial company he worked with: It used DSPM and discovered that some financial reports were being copied to a cloud that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-companies-can-respond-to-cybersecurity-risks-after-layoffs-2024-9">belonged to a former employee</a>. The tool identified the issue so the company could secure the data.Benjamin said DSPM could also reduce the likelihood and impact of a data breach. Breaches can cost a company millions of dollars, damage its reputation, interfere with operations, and cause compliance problems if sensitive data is compromised.Hayun said DSPM could ensure that companies don't take unnecessary risks with data and make them feel more secure in scaling up their data programs, enabling them to grow their business.Benjamin said that while DSPM could benefit most companies, the technology is especially advantageous for those in regulated industries, such as finance or health, or with a lot of customer data.<h2 id="087ddab0-b09f-4ff6-b341-21bcf3c50adf">Some companies face challenges implementing DSPM</h2>Companies implementing DSPM tech can struggle with hiring the appropriate staff, lacking internal resources, selecting a DSPM vendor or tool, and getting executive buy-in, according to a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://normalyze.ai/company/from-reactive-to-proactive-dspms-transformative-role-in-data-security/">report from Normalyze</a>, a DSPM provider.Madhusoodanan said that DSPM strategies can't be implemented in silos and that stakeholder buy-in is critical. "This is where leaders face the biggest friction and why fostering a security-centric culture is key to getting leaders on board," she said.She added that it's essential to ensure everyone across an organization understands and is focused on the company's data-protection strategies so that the organization can make accurate risk-mitigation decisions.Hayun said DSPM enabled organizations to use data effectively and securely — and in compliance with regulatory bodies."They can build guardrails around how the data is used and allow their teams to run within those guardrails without concern," she said.

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