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Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea have sharply increased their use of artificial intelligence to deceive people online and mount cyberattacks against the United States, according to new research from Microsoft. This July, the company identified more than 200 instances of foreign adversaries using AI to create fake content online, more than double the number from July 2024 and more than ten times the number seen in 2023. The findings, published Thursday in Microsoft’s annual digital threats report, show how foreign adversaries are adopting new and innovative tactics in their efforts to weaponize the internet as a tool for espionage and deception. AI’s potential said to be exploited by US foes America’s adversaries, as well as criminal gangs and hacking companies, have exploited AI’s potential, using it to automate and improve cyberattacks, to spread inflammatory disinformation and to penetrate sensitive systems. AI can translate poorly worded phishing emails into fluent English, for example, as well as generate digital clones of senior government officials. Government cyber operations often aim to obtain classified information, undermine supply chains, disrupt critical public services, or spread disinformation. Cyber criminals on the other hand work for profit by stealing corporate secrets or using ransomware to extort payments from their victims. These gangs are responsible for the wide majority of cyberattacks in the world and in some cases have built partnerships with countries like Russia. Increasingly, these attackers are using AI to target governments, businesses, and critical systems like hospitals and transportation networks, according to Amy Hogan-Burney, Microsoft’s vice president for customer security and trust, who oversaw the report. Many U.S. companies and organizations, meanwhile, are getting by with outdated cyber defenses, even as Americans expand their networks with new digital connections. Companies, governments, organizations and individuals must take the threat seriously if they are to protect themselves amid escalating digital threats, she said. We see this as a pivotal moment where innovation is going so fast,” Hogan-Burney said. “This is the year when you absolutely must invest in your cybersecurity basics, US is a popular target The U.S. is the top target for cyberattacks, with criminals and foreign adversaries targeting companies, governments and organizations in the U.S. more than any other country. Israel and Ukraine were the second and third most popular targets, showing how military conflicts involving those two nations have spilled over into the digital realm. Russia, China, and Iran have denied that they use cyber operations for espionage, disruption, and disinformation. China, for instance, says the U.S. is trying to smear Beijing while conducting its own cyberattacks. North Korea has pioneered a scheme in which it uses AI personas to create American identities, allowing them to apply for remote tech jobs. North Korea’s authoritarian government pockets the salaries, while the hackers use their access to steal secrets or install malware. It’s the kind of digital threat that will face more American organizations in the years to come as sophisticated AI programs make it easier for bad actors to deceive, according to Nicole Jiang, CEO of Fable, a San Francisco-based security company that uses AI to sniff out fake employees. AI is not only a tool for hackers, but also a critical defense against digital attackers, Jiang said. Cyber is a cat-and-mouse game, she said. Access, data, information, money: That’s what they’re after. David Klepper, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
U.S. stock indexes are ticking higher on Thursday following an encouraging signal for the artificial-intelligence boom. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, though trading has been erratic this week, and stocks have repeatedly swung between gains and losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 85 points, or 0.2%, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.7% higher. Technology stocks helped lead the way after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported a bigger jump in profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang also said TSMC expects continued strong demand for our leading-edge process technologies going into the end of the year. Thats important for the U.S. stock market because TSMC is a critical player at the center of the AI frenzy, making chips for such companies as Nvidia. TSMCs stock that trades in Taiwan climbed 1.4%, though its stock that trades in the United States slipped 0.5%. Nvidia rose 1.4% and was the strongest single force lifting the S&P 500 because its Wall Streets most valuable stock. AI stocks have been at the center of Wall Streets surge to record after record this year, even though inflation is still high and the job market is slowing. AI stocks have shot so high that critics worry about another possible bubble, like the one that enveloped dot-com stocks and eventually imploded in 2000. U.S. companies broadly are under pressure to deliver stronger profits after the S&P 500 surged 35% from a low in April. To justify those gains, which critics say made their stock prices too expensive, companies will need to show theyre making much more in profit and will continue to do so. Salesforce climbed 4.5% and was one of the strongest forces pushing upward on the Dow after the company, which helps businesses manage their customers, unveiled a plan to deliver more than 10% in compounded annual revenue growth in coming years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services trucked 18.8% higher after the freight company breezed past Wall Streets profit targets in the third quarter. They helped offset a 2.7% drop for Travelers, even though the insurer reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of forecasts. Hewlett Packard Enterprise sank 8.5% after giving long-term financial targets that some analysts found underwhelming. In stock markets abroad, indexes climbed across much of Asia and Europe. South Koreas Kospi soared 2.5% on hopes that a trade deal may be coming between Seoul and Washington. Samsung Electronics and automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp. were among the big gainers. In China, where trade tensions have been rising with the United States, indexes added 0.1% in Shanghai and slipped 0.1% in Hong Kong. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.03% from 4.05% late Wednesday. A report in the morning said manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic region is unexpectedly shrinking. Its one of the few windows into the economy that the Federal Reserve has been getting recently as it tries to figure out whether high inflation or the weak job market should be the bigger concern for the economy. The U.S. governments latest shutdown is delaying important updates on the economy, such as a weekly update on unemployment claims that typically helps guides trading on Wall Street each Thursday. A day earlier, an important report on inflation was also delayed. Fed officials have hinted that the job market may be the more important factor now in their thinking, which would clear the way for more cuts to interest rates. Expectations for such cuts have been a major driver for the U.S. stock market recently, but a jump in inflation could force the Fed to stop. Stan Choe, AP business writer AP Writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed.
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E-Commerce
Its been two years since Howard Schultz retired from the board of directors of Starbucks, a company he founded and led for decades, but he still enjoys chatting with customersas he did on Tuesday before sitting down for a wide-ranging interview with Dan Roth, editor-in-chief of LinkedIn. Schultz was curious to know what a customer thought of the coffee chains protein lattes that debuted last month and he says theres no better place to source this information than one of the 40,000-plus Starbucks locations around the world. A sense of curiosity is important for a business leader, as well as a willingness to be in the mud and learn directly from customers, Schultz said during an interview broadcast to LinkedIn Premium members. We have thousands of stores, so Im in the stores, thats where the action is, says Schultz, who now serves as chairman emeritus for Starbucks. I want to observe the experience. Schultz didnt discuss Brian Niccols turnaround strategy for Starbucks, other than crediting the CEO with making a big bet on the human experience, nor did he address the recent news that the company plans to close North American store locations and eliminate 900 jobs. But Schultz did talk about why a so-called third place, where people can convene, is so important today, especially as artificial intelligence and other technology disrupt how many people do their work. We have made the strong decision that we are a people company and we want people to serve our customers, Schultz says. Youre not going to see a robot at Starbucks. ‘Worry with a big W’ But that doesnt mean Schultz is anti-AI. In fact, he calls himself a supporter of the technology because he sees the potential for it to benefit both companies and consumersand Starbucks has invested in AI to help with back-of-house operations. But Shultz does worry about the arms race thats underway both between companies and countries and that regulators may enact guardrails only when its too lateas was true with the evolution of social media. He hopes that lessons learned from the lack of governance in the early days of social media will encourage more responsible oversight of AI. The ramifications could be so severe that I just wish there was an opportunity to understand the responsibility that comes with the technology that is going a million miles an hour, Schultz says. I worry with a big W about the impact this could have that could be adverse. Building a ‘currency of trust’ While running the Seattle-based coffee giant for decades, Schultz grappled with all sorts of challengesincluding in 2008 when he recalled Starbucks was in deep trouble and he had to decide what type of speech to give to 10,000 store managers. Though he was advised not to tell these managers how bad things really were, Schultz felt it was more important to trust the managers with this information so everyone could align on how to recalibrate. Though employees do want a visionary leader, they also want authenticity and the truth, Schultz says, and thats especially true in an era when people dont trust much of anything. Being humanincluding being vulnerable and even crying in front of employees, as Schultz hasis the only way to build a currency of trust, he adds. What a values-driven company looks like As a publicly traded company for most of its existence, Starbucks has a fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders, though Schultz says that most of the companys decisions come from a place of humility and understanding whats best for customers and employees. Thats why he started a practice several years ago to leave two chairs empty during board meetings to represent baristas and customers. After returning to Starbucks as interim CEO in 2022, Schultz announced the company would end its stock buyback program and instead invest that money into its workforcea decision that only worsened a stock selloff during that time. As a leader, he says its important to play a long game with such decisions, lead with your heart, and establish empathy and compassion. If you take care of your shareholders, in a way, as the primary focus, youre going to lose your people and your customers, Schultz says. Starbucks is living proof after 50-plus years that you can make significant investments in your people that are not [an] expense but an investment that is going to return to the shareholder. Why love is so important Even if its a fragile time were living in right now, Schultz says he finds reason to be optimistic and hopeful about peopleand he says the human experience will remain front and center at Starbucks. Schultz was famously inspired by Italian cafe culture when he founded Il Giornale, which later served as a model for Starbucks. Reflecting back to the 1980s, when he was building Starbucks at the same time he was starting a family, he says the values, characteristics, and guiding principles of both endeavors are very similar. And so is a sense of love, which is a word he says you wont find in any textbook or class at the likes of Harvard Business School. You have to instill love inside your company and people need to feel loved and it has to be joyous, it has to be fun, Schultz says.
Category:
E-Commerce
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