Microsoft’s 365 Defender Research Team has warned that a flaw in macOS coupled with Microsoft Word’s backward compatibility could allow the circumvention of App Sandbox rules. This could enable potentially malicious macros to run in Word, leading to users downloading malware, or ransomware. The advice is for macOS users to install the security updates released by Apple on May 16, 2022, as soon as possible.
All posts by Paul Stradling
Tech Tip – Instant Google Search From Highlighted Text
If you are reading a web page or blog in Google Chrome and come across a term you’d like to know about, Google has a built-in way to search for that term simply as a result of when you highlight the text with your mouse. Here’s how it works:
– In Google Chrome, find a term or word you’d like to know more about in the text of a web page or blog that.
– Highlight the text with your mouse.
– Right click and select Search Google For “you highlighted words here”.
– Google will then open a new window with the search results for word or term you highlighted.
Tech-Insight : How To Fake Someone’s Voice
Following recent security concerns about Amazon’s plans to enable Alexa to mimic voices, we look at how easy it is to do, what the benefits are, and what risks it poses.
Alexa The Mimic
Recently, Amazon announced that it was working on technology to enable its Alexa digital assistant to take on the voice of anyone, e.g. the voice of a user or any of their loved ones. It was reported that Rohit Prasad, an Amazon senior vice president, said at a Las Vegas conference that the reason was to help users to “make the memories last” following the loss of loved ones in the pandemic and that a video segment highlighted how Alexa could, in theory, read a story to a child in the voice of his/her grandmother!
Other Voice Mimicking Options
There are many different options available for creating a fake voice / digitally cloning a user’s own voice. Some examples include:
– Microsoft’s Custom Neural Voice is a text-to-speech feature that allows users to create a one-of-a-kind, customised, synthetic voice for their applications, and build a highly natural-sounding voice by providing their own audio samples as the training data. Microsoft says it can “represent brands, personify machines, and allow users to interact with applications conversationally”. It also has a use in restoring impaired people’s speech.
– Respeecher is a digital voice cloning tool which the company says is “indistinguishable from the original speaker” and has been designed for use by filmmakers, game developers, and other content creators.
– Resemble AI, which offers custom brand voices for assistants, e.g. a user’s own voice for their smart assistant, Alexa and Google Assistant and integrates with DialogFlow, IBM Watson, or any other NLU engine.
– Descript, which is a deepfake voice generator that can be used to create realistic voices based on transcripts or audio clips, and can create a text-to-speech model of your voice.
– Scotland-based ‘CereVoice Me,’ which is a voice cloning system that allows users to produce a text-to-speech (TTS) version of your own voice for Windows.
– iSpeech, a free voice cloning platform to create familiar voice interfaces for products, applications, and services.
– ReadSpeaker, is proprietary voice cloning software that produces text-to-speech (TTS) voices that are indistinguishable from the source and offers a range of TTS engines that allow a cloned voice to speak across all a user’s audio channels: smart speaker apps, interactive marketing campaigns, advertisements, and more.
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
The recent announcement of Amazon’s plans to allow Alexa to mimic voices triggered long-held concerns that the cloned voices could be used to launch deep fake audio attacks on some voice authentication security systems.
One real-life example from 2019 is when hackers were able to use AI software to mimic an energy company CEO’s voice in order to steal £201,000 from a UK-based energy company. The CEO of the company received a phone call from someone that he believed to be the German chief executive of the parent company. The person on the end of the phone ordered the CEO of the UK-based energy company to immediately transfer €220,000 (£201,000) into the bank account of a Hungarian supplier. The voice was reported to have been so accurate in its sound, that the CEO of the energy company even recognised what he thought was the subtleties of the German accent of his boss, and even “melody” of the accent. The call was so convincing that the energy company made the transfer of funds as requested.
Other concerns about the use of voice cloning include:
– Issues of consent and disclosure, i.e. of the person whose voice is used, and informing the listener that the voice is fake. For example, Microsoft has now stipulated that its Custom Neural Voice AI model cannot be used to mimic a voice without that person’s consent, and software will have to disclose that voices are fake.
– Concerns that AI (e.g. for faking voices) is advancing too far ahead of regulation, which has led Microsoft to say that existing customers must obtain permission to continue using the Custom Neural Voice tool from June 30, 2023, and new customers will have to apply to use it, with Microsoft deciding whether the intended usage is appropriate.
– Criticism (by Rights activists) that internal company ethics committees deciding what is appropriate in the use of a voice mimicking software can’t be truly independent and their public transparency is limited by competitive pressures, and that external oversight may be necessary.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
Although there are good arguments for value of software that can clone a voice, e.g. interfaces for products, applications, and services, and for use by filmmakers, game developers, and other content creators, there are concerns that they could also be used to make deepfakes for sinister purposes. For examples, this could be to get past voice authentication security systems, or to impersonate people to obtain money. There are also ethical concerns about how producers of these tools decide upon appropriate usage and matters of consent. Clearly, a balance needs to be struck and many people feel that more regulations and external oversight are needed to limit risk and potential harm.
Tech News : Why AI Systems Can’t Patent Inventions …Yet
Following a recent Intellectual Property Office (IPO) consultation, it has been decided that AI will not be allowed to patent inventions.
What’s The Issue?
As highlighted by a legal battle dating back to 2018, some people believe that if AI systems invent something, they should be granted the status of being listed as the inventor in the patent for the invention. For example, Stephen Thaler, creator of an AI system called Dabus (which invented a type of food container with enhanced insulation & stacking properties and also an attention-grabbing flashing light for emergencies) listed Dabus as the creator of the inventions when patents were filed for them back in 2018. This led to a court case (and an appeal) where a UK panel ruled by a two-to-one that majority that an inventor must be a real human person under UK law, not an AI system.
IPO Consultation Agrees With Court of Appeal’s Verdict
The recent IPO Consultation document (online) agrees that for AI-devised inventions “we plan no change to UK patent law now. Most respondents felt that AI is not yet advanced enough to invent without human intervention.” Also, the IPO Consultation notes that, of the world’s countries, the “overwhelming majority, including the UK, restrict patent inventorship to natural persons” and that “UK patent applicants must name a human inventor or inventors. This was confirmed by the Court of Appeal.”
However, Under Review
Although it has been decided that at the current time, in the UK, AI systems can’t be named in patents as the inventor, this view may change. For example, the IPO’s consultation document says that “we will keep this area of law under review to ensure that the UK patent system supports AI innovation and the use of AI in the UK” and that “we will seek to advance AI inventorship discussions internationally to support UK economic interests”.
No Copyright Law Change For Computer-Generated Works (CGWs)
Computer-generated works (CGWs) are copyright works without a human author and are currently protected in UK copyright law. The IPO’s consultation document states that there is no evidence at present that protection for CGWs is harmful and that it plans no changes to the law for CGWs, although this law will be kept under review.
Text And Data Mining (TDM) – Law To Change
TDM refers to using computational techniques to analyse large amounts of information to identify patterns, trends and other useful information. TDM is used for training AI systems and in journalism, marketing, business analytics and by cultural heritage organisations. One of the main copyright issues with TDM is that, although factual data, trends, and concepts are not protected by copyright, they are often embedded in copyright works. Also, some rights holders license their works to allow TDM, but others do not, and this can mean financial costs for people using data mining software.
The UK government is keen to make it easier for people to data mine copyright materials in order to support AI and wider innovation in the UK. Also, the IPO’s consultation revealed that, costs of licensing is high and there are difficulties in obtaining licences (especially when many rights holders are involved). Therefore, the IPO has confirmed that it will be introducing a new copyright and database exception which allows TDM for any purpose.
Actors Seek To Protect Livelihoods From AI
It is interesting to also note that, back in April 2021, the performing arts workers union ‘Equity’ launched a “Stop AI Stealing the Show” campaign, which called for changes in the copyright law to stop AI from using samples of an actors’ voices or faces to generate content such a deep fakes. Equity was (and still is) worried that current copyright laws make it too easy for AI systems to replace skilled professional performers in many different areas, including automated audiobooks and digital avatars.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
The fact that there is the need for an IPO Consultation of this kind about AI shows that it is making incursions into many areas and as it develops and improves, this will continue, hence the need to keep some of the copyright laws under review. Many skilled people in business will be aware of AI tools that can now be used to perform tasks that were part of their jobs before, and it is not surprising, therefore, that Equity has been seeking more copyright protection against AI. The government clearly want to be seen as “the most pro-tech Government ever” and, as such, appears to be looking to change things in favour AI where possible. However, there is an argument that AI and its applications are advancing too far ahead of regulation. For the moment, most countries, including the UK, still think that an AI system cannot in reality be the sole inventor of something as named on patents because human involvement is needed, but the rate at which AI is advancing, and the fact that this law remains under review (in the UK) suggests that this view could change in the near future.
Tech News : Dramatic Decrease in Crypto Consumption of Power
Rising electricity prices, energy-hungry crypto mining operations and falling cryptocurrency prices are thought to be behind a significant decrease in the amount of electricity being used for crypto mining.
What Is Crypto Mining?
Crypto mining, such as Bitcoin mining, uses specialised computers that are constantly powered-on and connected to the cryptocurrency network to verify transactions (sending and receiving of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency). This verification is achieved by the computers solving puzzles to prevent fraud and to win small amounts of Bitcoin. The whole process is extremely energy hungry.
Power Consumption Massive – But Down
In June last year, for example, researchers from Cambridge highlighted how Bitcoin mining was consuming a staggering 21.36 terawatt-hours (TWh) a year! This means that if Bitcoin were a country, its energy (electricity) consumption would be ranked above Argentina and the energy could power all the kettles in the UK for 27 years.
However, it has recently been reported that electricity consumption of the Bitcoin network has fallen by a third from its high of 11 June this year, although a single conventional Bitcoin transaction still uses the same amount of electricity that a typical US household would use over 50 days!
Also, the electricity used for Ethereum, which has been boosting crypto projects of late, has also decreased from a peak of 94TWh a year to 46TWh a year.
Fall In Value
Cryptocurrency commentators have also noted that the fall in energy consumption has been accompanied by a fall in cryptocurrency value. For example, Bitcoin’s value has fallen by two-thirds from its all-time high of $69,000 in November 2021. Also, CoinMarketCap figures show significant falls in the value of Ether, Solana, and Dogecoin and, indeed, the market capitalisation of the whole crypto economy has fallen to $945 billion from $3 trillion in less than eight months.
Why?
The fall in energy consumption by the big cryptocurrencies is believed to have been the result of a combination of several key factors which are:
– Rising energy prices causing higher costs for what is an extremely power-hungry business.
– The falling price of cryptocurrencies means reduced values of crypto mining rewards to miners. Those using suboptimal equipment or mining in suboptimal circumstances (e.g. inefficient cooling) have, therefore, seen a significant reduction in profits, with many of them going out of business.
– The inflexibility of Bitcoin mining equipment; i.e. it cannot be repurposed.
– The huge price collapse having negatively affected the wider cryptocurrency sector, e.g. failure of the ersatz crypto bank Celsius.
The Start Of A Crypto-Winter?
The fall of energy consumption, the fall in crypto values, plus the ripples across the whole cryptocurrency sector have prompted some cryptocurrency commentators to suggest that this is the beginning of a “crypto-winter” (a period of lower cryptocurrency prices), such as those seen in late 2017 to December 2020, and that it looks unlikely that there will be much growth in the cryptocurrency market this year as a result. Some commentators have even suggested a collapse of the cryptocurrency market rather than just a period of lower prices.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
Many businesses now accept cryptocurrency as payment for goods and services and there is an estimated 30+ million crypto traders around the world, so a further decline and even collapse of the market could cause some significant repercussions. Those who have studied and invested in cryptocurrency for some time, however, recognise that the big cryptocurrencies tend to have a cyclical nature, and just as there have been ‘winters’ in recent years, this too may simply be the early stages of such a price winter. Some investors are even suggesting that it presents an opportunity to buy while prices are low with a view to making big profits when the market recovers. The failure of the ersatz crypto bank Celsius does appear to have affected the whole market, and the high energy prices are liklely to thin the market out so that only those crypto-miners with the best equipment and in the best circumstances stand the best chance of continuing. There has, up to this point, been no guarantees with cryptocurrency anyway and many see this as being simply another period of volatility that has characterised the early growth of cryptocurrencies so far.
Featured-Article : Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365
In this article, we take a brief look at the relative merits of Office 365 compared to Google Workspace and how Google’s recent introduction of features and greater integration have been aimed at challenging Microsoft 365’s dominant position.
Google Workspace
Many of us are likely to have started with a Gmail account and witnessed how, what was G Suite, has expanded over the years into offering a range of cloud-based software services from a single sign-in, e.g. Gmail, Photos, Drive, Meet, Calendar, Sheets, and more. G Suite was rebranded to Workspace in October 2020, back when collaborative home working became a necessity for many. The name reflected the business focus and the idea that the apps are connected and more integrated with each other. Google, therefore, introduced new business-focused subscription options, i.e. ‘Business family,’ to tempt smaller businesses into trying its collaborative Google Workspace, and ‘Enterprise family’ for larger businesses. Although, at the time, Google’s communications focused asking existing G Suite legacy users to make the “transition,” it was also clearly setting up a service that would appeal to 365 users.
New Feature
Google’s recent announcement of a new feature, allowing Workspace users to edit Microsoft Office files offline from within Google Workspace’s productivity suite /G Suite indicates a clear competitive move to try and lure Microsoft 365 users over to Workspace. Although Google announced in 2019 that Workspace users could edit Microsoft Office files in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, and edit Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides in offline mode, the new feature rounds this off by enabling workspace users to work offline with Microsoft Office files on the desktop.
Google states that the features “brings the collaboration benefits of Google Workspace to Microsoft Office files”, and highlights how users can edit, comment, and collaborate on Office files using Docs, Sheets, and Slides offline, with any changes made to files while offline syncing to Drive once a connection is restored.
Some tech commentators see this latest feature as lowering the barriers to switching by potentially easing the transition between Microsoft and Google services. The feature may also directly appeal to business customers looking for an easier way to use key Microsoft 365 apps – e.g. Word, Excel and PowerPoint when working with clients and partners.
Gmail Change Too
Google has also recently changed Gmail to work better with its Workplace plans and allows for the kind of faster, more integrated experience that may be expected for a platform that aims to challenge 365. The change to the left-hand side panel allows users to quickly navigate between Gmail, Chat, Spaces and Meet.
Is Workspace Really A Serious Threat To Microsoft 365?
Microsoft still dominates the office software market, and a US-based OnePulse / TechRadar Pro survey from May showed that 58.2 per cent of businesses use Microsoft 365’s productivity suite, compared to only 15 per cent choosing Google Workspace. Also, Google’s figures in Q1 2022 showed revenue of $5 billion for its cloud services compared to Microsoft’s $15 billion for its productivity segment.
Why Does Microsoft Office 365 Still Appear To Be More Appealing?
There may be several reasons why, despite a raft of new features and improvements to Workspace, Microsoft 365 is still such a popular choice for businesses. These could include:
– The risk, perceived complications, and costs of switching from the market leading, fully integrated platform that businesses may have used for many years.
– Although Workspace may have been seen as a potentially cheaper option, prices for Microsoft for many people may be cheaper, e.g. Microsoft 365 Essentials compared to Google Workspace Basic and the perceived value of Microsoft’s bigger businesses packages may be higher despite slightly higher prices.
– The flexibility that a mixing of licences with Microsoft may provide.
– The familiarity and experience with Microsoft apps in the marketplace – e.g. Word, Excel, and Outlook, which can help with recruitment and productivity. Companies may be more likely to find employees with a good working knowledge of Microsoft 365 compared to Google Workspace products.
– The rise of remote and now hybrid working drove the growth of Teams and, therefore, a continued loyalty to Microsoft, whereas Google Hangouts has not proven to be as popular, with many opting for Zoom instead.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
Google has really increased investment in Workspace and introduced a large number of work-focused features and integration of its many products, especially since 2020, as a way to present Workspace as a serious alternative to Microsoft 365. However, Microsoft has built up huge numbers of loyal users and remained the clear market leader in office computing over the years. With its cloud-based 365 and the growth of important collaborative elements such as Teams, it has continued its growth through the remote-working pandemic years and user figures show that it is still very much on top. Although there are plenty of comparable features between Workspace and 365, and integration within Workspace and its breadth of services have increased, the costs and risks of switching from 365 to Workspace may appear too much for many businesses. For newer businesses, the re-assurance of choosing the most popular platform with its widely used apps like Word, Outlook, and Excel may also seem like the safest option, and Google still has a very long way to go to challenge Microsoft’s dominant market position.
Sustainability-In-Tech : UK’s Largest Carbon Capture Facility Opens In Cheshire
Tata Chemicals Europe has opened the UK’s largest industrial-scale carbon capture facility at its chemical plant in Cheshire to convert carbon dioxide into food and pharmaceutical-grade sodium bicarbonate.
Capturing 10% Of The Carbon Dioxide Produced
The £20 million Tata Chemicals Europe carbon capture unit at its chemical plant unit in Northwich will capture more than 10% of the carbon dioxide produced at the site’s combined heat and power plant (CHP). The anticipated capturing of 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year at the new unit will be the equivalent of taking over 20,000 cars off the roads!
Converted To Sodium Carbonate
The carbon capture unit can claim a world-first as its unique, innovative, and patented process can convert the carbon dioxide captured from energy generation emissions into a purified food and pharmaceutical grade form of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda / bicarbonate of soda) to be known as Ecokarb®.
Exported, And Will Help Kidney Disease Sufferers
The Ecokarb® produced at the new unit will be exported to over 60 countries, which is expected to generate tens of £millions in export revenue every year. In addition to the revenue generated, one extra special benefit of the project is that much of the sodium bicarbonate exported will be used in haemodialysis to treat people suffering from kidney disease.
Backed By Government Grant
The UK government has backed the project with £4.2m grant through the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy’s (“BEIS”) Energy Innovation Programme. The demonstration facility marks a major step towards sustainable manufacturing and will help work towards the UK’s net zero strategy and its aims to capture up to 30 million tonnes of CO2 each year by the early 2030s (and 50 million tonnes by the middle of the next decade).
What Does This Mean For Your Organisation?
This new carbon capture and conversion facility demonstrates how technology can play an important part in not just developing global-scale sustainable manufacturing techniques, but also helping to hit CO2 emissions targets, creating new revenue streams, and helping sufferers of a disease at the same time. The government, which backed the project has also highlighted how it could attract new private capital into the UK and is boost innovation in green technologies. That said, some experts have been less enthusiastic, suggesting that since the CO2 won’t be stored at the Northwich site and will, eventually, be released into the atmosphere, this is more of an emissions decrease project rather than a permanent carbon removal scheme.
Security Stop-Press : Child-Monitoring Android App Eavesdropping Risk
Cybernews researchers have warned that many popular child-monitoring Android mobile apps may also be leaking the parents’ data to potentially malicious third parties via the third-party trackers in the apps. The researchers have also warned that the insecurely implemented Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate handling and open-source code in some of these apps could leave them vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks. The advice is for parents to either research these apps fully online before choosing one, or consider the merits of focusing more on teaching children how to recognise online threats e.g., grooming, and how to spot and avoid dangerous websites.
Tech Tip – Avoid Speeding Tickets With Google Maps Feature
If you’re off on your holidays and days out to enjoy the warm weather, there’s an audible speed trap feature in Google Maps can help you monitor your speed and avoid a getting a ticket. Here’s how to use it:
– In Google Maps, tap on your profile photo (top right).
– Tap on ‘Settings’.
– Tap Navigation / ‘Navigation Settings’.
– Make sure that the toggle for ‘Speed Limits’ is on.
Tech News : New Windows Feature Displays Which Apps Have Been Listening-In
The new Privacy Auditing feature in Windows 11 allows users to see a list of which apps have accessed their microphone or camera recently, plus details of any other suspicious activity.
See Which Apps Have Accessed Your Microphone and Camera
David Weston, Microsoft’s VP for Enterprise and OS Security, highlighted the new privacy feature in a recent tweet, saying: “New Windows 11 Privacy Auditing features allow you to see history of sensitive device access like the Microphone.”
The feature has also been introduced in the Dev Channel of the Windows Insider programme.
– The Privacy Auditing feature, which can be accessed via Settings – Privacy & security > App permissions, shows users:
– Which apps have accessed the microphone in the last week, giving dates and times.
– Which apps have accessed contacts, or phone call, message, location, and screenshot data.
Phones Already Have A Similar Feature
Phone operating systems, for example, already have a similar feature. For example, last June, it was announced that Google’s Android 12 (which was in beta) would have a camera and microphone access indicator which shows users if an app tries to access the device’s camera or microphone. Android 12 was released last October, and the access indicator gives users and indicator in the top-right corner of the status bar when the camera or microphone is in use. Clicking on the microphone or camera indicators shows the users which apps have accessed their data.
iOS 14 also has a similar feature. An orange dot, an orange square, or a green dot in the status bar at the top of the screen indicate when the microphone or camera is being used by an app.
Microsoft’s Privacy Record
Microsoft has been criticised over some aspects of its privacy record in recent years, e.g. with Windows 10 being criticised in 2015 over its default settings and personalised embedded adverts. Adding more privacy controls or features, such as the new Privacy Auditing feature is, therefore, likely to get a positive reception from users.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
Users are now more aware than ever of data protection and privacy matters and value any ways that their privacy can be protected. For businesses, these are particularly important issues both for compliance, and to avoid potentially costly breaches or providing any social engineering vectors for hackers and other bad actors. This new feature adds a useful transparency element to Windows 11 which could enable users to make better choices about apps in terms of security and privacy and reduce risk to themselves and their businesses.