AI Could Predict Heart Attack Risk Up To 10 Years in the Future, Finds Oxford Study

AI could be used to predict if a person is at risk of having a heart attack up to 10 years in the future, a study has found. From a report: The technology could save thousands of lives while improving treatment for almost half of patients, researchers at the University of Oxford said. The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), looked at how AI might improve the accuracy of cardiac CT scans, which are used to detect blockages or narrowing in the arteries.

Prof Charalambos Antoniades, chair of cardiovascular medicine at the BHF and director of the acute multidisciplinary imaging and interventional centre at Oxford, said: “Our study found that some patients presenting in hospital with chest pain — who are often reassured and sent back home — are at high risk of having a heart attack in the next decade, even in the absence of any sign of disease in their heart arteries. Here we demonstrated that providing an accurate picture of risk to clinicians can alter, and potentially improve, the course of treatment for many heart patients.”

About 350,000 people in the UK have a CT scan each year but, according to the BHF, many patients later die of heart attacks due to their failure in picking up small, undetectable narrowings. Researchers analysed the data of more than 40,000 patients undergoing routine cardiac CT scans at eight UK hospitals, with a median follow-up time of 2.7 years. The AI tool was tested on a further 3,393 patients over almost eight years and was able to accurately predict the risk of a heart attack. AI-generated risk scores were then presented to medics for 744 patients, with 45% having their treatment plans altered by medics as a result.

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Source: Slashdot – AI Could Predict Heart Attack Risk Up To 10 Years in the Future, Finds Oxford Study

Google Sues Men Who Weaponized DMCA Notices To Crush Competition

An anonymous reader writes: Two men who allegedly used 65 Google accounts to bombard Google with fraudulent DMCA takedown notices targeting up to 620,000 URLs, have been named in a Google lawsuit filed in California on Monday. Google says the men weaponized copyright law’s notice-and-takedown system to sabotage competitors’ trade, while damaging the search engine’s business and those of its customers.

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Source: Slashdot – Google Sues Men Who Weaponized DMCA Notices To Crush Competition

Person Linked To Scam Asks FBI for His Seized Cryptocurrency Back

A person linked to a scam that tricked an elderly victim into transferring more than $100,000 formally requested the FBI give back his seized cryptocurrency, claiming in a petition to the agency that he is a part-time crypto investor and not doing anything illegal, according to a recently filed court record. From a report: 404 Media also reached the person by email and they largely repeated the same story. The request is an unusual sight, and, to be frank, probably not going to work. In the court record, authorities allege that the frozen funds are linked to a scam of a victim in the U.S. The document says authorities seized just under 18,500 Tether, valued at around $18,500, in July with a federal search warrant.

“Hello Sir/Ma’am, My name is Vishal Gautam,” the request starts. “The funds which you have on hold that is a very big amount of money for me and my family, I request you to please release it from your custody. Thank You & Regards.” The message says that Gautam lives in India and as well as investing in cryptocurrency, he is a “full-time Health Insurance” worker. “In the month of July 2023 suddenly my crypto from Binance got disappeared, I don’t know how it happened but then I got to know that the FBI has put hold on my assets,” the message continues. “I am not into something illegal and never will be, I will not do any such thing that can harm your country or your people in any manner.” U.S. authorities, meanwhile, allege that the seized cash is connected to a fraud scheme that targeted a senior citizen in Knoxville, Iowa. In February, this victim opened an email on her iPad that claimed it had been compromised, and that she needed to contact the sender for assistance, according to the court record.

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Source: Slashdot – Person Linked To Scam Asks FBI for His Seized Cryptocurrency Back

US Inflation Falls To 3.2% in October

US inflation fell to 3.2 per cent in October, lower than economists had expected and the first decline for four months. From a report: Consumer prices rose 3.2 per cent year on year in October, down from an annual rate of 3.7 per cent in September. The annual rise was slightly less than economists had forecast, and prices were flat month on month. The central bank held its benchmark interest rate steady at a 22-year high earlier this month, and investors have become increasingly confident that rates have peaked. Futures markets on Monday afternoon were pricing in a 13 per cent chance of a further rate rise at the Fed’s next rate-setting meeting in mid-December.

Core inflation — which strips out volatile food and energy prices — was also slightly weaker than economists had predicted, dipping from 4.1 per cent to 4.0 per cent on a year on year basis. Core inflation rose by 0.2 per cent month on month. Fed chair Jay Powell stressed last week that policymakers would not be “misled by a few good months of data,” and that the central bank could tighten monetary policy further if necessary, although officials have shown little intention of immediately raising rates beyond the current range of 5.25-5.5 per cent. Stronger-than-expected gross domestic product growth has fanned fears that the slowdown in inflation could stall, but Powell said last week that he and his colleagues expected the pace of economic expansion to slow. Instead of another rate rise, the Fed is increasingly expected to push back the timing of rate cuts deeper into 2024 if consumer prices remain stubbornly high.

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Source: Slashdot – US Inflation Falls To 3.2% in October

Joby, Volocopter Fly Electric Air Taxis Over New York City

An anonymous reader writes: Joby Aviation and Volocopter gave the public a vivid glimpse of what the future of aviation might look like this weekend, with both companies performing brief demonstration flights of their electric aircraft in New York City. The demonstration flights were conducted during a press conference on Sunday, during which New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city would electrify two of the three heliports located in Manhattan — Downtown Manhattan Heliport and East 34th Street. (The third heliport is privately owned.) Beta Technologies, which is also developing an electric aircraft, showed off its interoperable aircraft charging technology at the event. You can watch a demo of the Joby Aviation flight here. Additional assets are available via Joby’s press release.

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Source: Slashdot – Joby, Volocopter Fly Electric Air Taxis Over New York City

Student Uses AI To Decipher Ancient Greco-Roman Scroll, Wins $40K Prize

Press2ToContinue writes: “An undergraduate student used an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 and AI to decipher a word in one of the Herculaneum scrolls to win a $40,000 prize (via Nvidia),” reports Tom’s Hardware. “Herculaneum was covered in ash by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and the over 1,800 Herculaneum scrolls are one of the site’s most famous artifacts.”

The scrolls have been notoriously hard to decipher because they cannot be unwrapped because they’re basically like a stick of charcoal. Instead they must be virtually unwrapped, using a 3D scan dataset of it in its wrapped state. So, the task is to find the tiny bits of ink, assemble them into letters, and try to decipher what they say. Machine learning is now becoming the key that picks the lock. A student deciphered one of the words using a GTX 1070, which doesn’t even have any tensor cores. Imagine what he could do with a RTX 4090!

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Source: Slashdot – Student Uses AI To Decipher Ancient Greco-Roman Scroll, Wins K Prize

Japan To Create $6.6 Billion Fund To Develop Outer Space Industry

Japan plans to establish a new 1 trillion yen ($6.6 billion) fund to develop the country’s outer space industry. “We believe it is a necessary fund to speed up our country’s space development so we don’t lag behind the increasingly intensifying international competition,” Sanae Takaichi, minister in charge of space development, said in a news conference last week. The Japan Times reports: The fund will be allocated over a 10-year period for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), an Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry spokesperson said. Some 300 billion yen has been set aside for the fund in the latest supplementary budget approved by the Cabinet on Friday. The funding, which will support JAXA and the development of Japan’s space industry, was a response to increased public and private sector focus on space activities.

Back in June, Tokyo unveiled a Space Basic Plan, detailing budgetary support for innovation in the private sector as an area of business growth. At the same time, it also unveiled a Space Security Initiative, which labeled space “a major arena for geopolitical competition for national power over diplomacy, defense, economic, and intelligence, as well as the science and technology and innovation that support these national powers.”

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Source: Slashdot – Japan To Create .6 Billion Fund To Develop Outer Space Industry

The Lego-Like Way To Get CO2 Out of the Atmosphere

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Washington Post: For decades, scientists have tried to figure out ways to reverse climate change by pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing it underground. They’ve tried using trees, giant machines that suck CO2 out of the sky, complicated ocean methods that involve growing and burying huge quantities of kelp. Companies, researchers and the U.S. government have spent billions of dollars on the research and development of these approaches and yet they remain too expensive to make a substantial dent in carbon emissions. Now, a start-up says it has discovered a deceptively simple way to take CO2 from the atmosphere and store it for thousands of years. It involves making bricks out of smushed pieces of plants. And it could be a game changer for the growing industry working to pull carbon from the air.

Graphyte, a new company incubated by Bill Gates’s investment group Breakthrough Energy Ventures, announced Monday that it has created a method for turning bits of wood chips and rice hulls into low-cost, dehydrated chunks of plant matter. Those blocks of carbon-laden plant matter — which look a bit like shoe-box sized Lego blocks — can then be buried deep underground for hundreds of years. The approach, the company claims, could store a ton of CO2 for around $100 a ton, a number long considered a milestone for affordably removing carbon dioxide from the air. […] Graphyte’s approach uses the power of plants and trees to photosynthesize and pull carbon dioxide from the air. While trees and plants are excellent at carbon capture, they don’t store that carbon for very long — when a plant burns or decays, its stored carbon comes spilling back out into the air and soil.

Graphyte plans to avoid that decomposition by taking plant waste from timber harvesters and farmers and drying it thoroughly, removing all the microbes that could cause it to decompose and release greenhouse gases. Then, in a process that they call “carbon casting,” it will compress the waste and wrap it into Lego-like bricks, for easier storage about 10 feet underground. The company says that with the right monitoring systems, the blocks can stay there for a thousand years. […] Graphyte is planning to build its first project in Pine Bluff, Ark., and the company hopes to sequester its first carbon for a customer in 2024. It remains to be seen whether Graphyte will be able to scale up its operation to removing millions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. The company will need to secure many sources of plant waste and build many small processing centers around the country to be successful. “The simplicity of the Graphyte approach is so exciting,” said Daniel Sanchez, who runs the Carbon Removal Lab at the University of California at Berkeley, and serves as a science adviser for Graphyte. “You don’t need very expensive equipment or processes. And it locks up a lot of the carbon in the wood — nearly all of it.”

“People that are academics probably thought about this before and were like, ‘That’s way too simple,'” Sanchez said, laughing. “‘No one’s ever going to do that.'”

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Source: Slashdot – The Lego-Like Way To Get CO2 Out of the Atmosphere

Open-Source 4K Dungeon Keeper Remake Spent 15 Years In the Making

Rick Lane reports via PC Gamer: KeeperFX has been in the process of rescuing Dungeon Keeper for a decade and a half. The project originally started in 2008, and experienced something of a bumpy road up until 2016. Since then, though, it has gradually added support for Windows 7, 10, and 11, support for hi-res and 4k screens, modernized controls, and even additional campaigns. With this latest version, KeeperFX’s developers say “all original Dungeon Keeper code has been rewritten, establishing KeeperFX as a true open-source standalone game.” 1.0 also introduces some new features, such as higher framerates, AI that is better at digging and less likely to “instantly” throw its entire army at you, and “higher quality landview speeches” for the additional campaigns. That refers to the introductions and epilogues to missions which, in the game’s original campaign, were voiced by Richard Ridings, aka Daddy Pig.

Perhaps most intriguing of all, KeeperFX’s 1.0 adds a couple of new units to play with. First up is the Druid, a sort-of color-flipped version of the Warlock who uses ice spells rather than fire. The other unit is the excitingly named Time Mage, a recolor of the Wizard who can cast teleport and speed spells, and also turn enemy units into chickens (presumably through rapid devolution). You won’t find these units in the original campaign, but you will encounter them in the custom campaigns bundled with the 1.0 version. You can download KeeperFX here, although it still requires you to own Dungeon Keeper “for copyright reasons.”

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Source: Slashdot – Open-Source 4K Dungeon Keeper Remake Spent 15 Years In the Making

iPad Pro OLED Panels Rumored To Start Production In 2024

According to the Korea Herald, Apple is expected to begin production of OLED displays for its next-gen iPad Pro in February 2024. MacRumors reports: Sources familiar with the matter speaking to the Korea Herald claim that LG Display is set to initiate OLED production for the new iPad Pro as early as February next year at their facility in Paju, Gyeonggi Province — a time frame around three months sooner than previously expected. The displays are expected to be three times the price of those used in iPhones, which could translate to higher prices for customers. […] Apple is reportedly seeking around 10 million OLED panels for the iPad in 2024. LG is expected to supply around 60% of the OLED panels, with the remaining portion supplied by Samsung, which is expected to focus on the 11-inch model only. Production of the panels for the next-generation iPad Pro is expected to help LG Displays’ financial recovery next year. LG and Samsung are said to be currently finalizing price negotiations with Apple.

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Source: Slashdot – iPad Pro OLED Panels Rumored To Start Production In 2024

Zelle Begins Refunds For Imposter Scams After Government Pressure

According to Reuters, banks on the payment app Zelle have begun refunding victims of imposter scams to address consumer protection concerns raised by U.S. lawmakers and the federal consumer watchdog. From the report: The 2,100 financial firms on Zelle, a peer-to-peer network owned by seven banks including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, began reversing transfers as of June 30 for customers duped into sending money to scammers claiming to be from a government agency, bank or existing service provider, said Early Warning Services (EWS), the banks’ company that owns Zelle. That’s “well above existing legal and regulatory requirements,” Ben Chance, chief fraud risk officer at EWS, told Reuters.

Federal rules require banks to reimburse customers for payments made without their authorization, such as by hackers, but not when customers themselves make the transfer. While Zelle disclosed Aug. 30 that it had introduced a new reimbursement benefit for “specific scam types,” it has not previously provided details on its new imposter scam refund policy due to worries doing so might encourage criminals to make false scam claims, a spokesperson said. The new policy marks a major shift from last year when bankers, including JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, told lawmakers worried about rising scams that it was unreasonable to require banks to refund transfers that customers were tricked into approving.

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Source: Slashdot – Zelle Begins Refunds For Imposter Scams After Government Pressure

Healthcare Giant McLaren Reveals Data On 2.2 Million Patients Stolen During Ransomware Attack

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Michigan-based McLaren Health Care has confirmed that the sensitive personal and health information of 2.2 million patients was compromised during a cyberattack earlier this year. A ransomware gang later took credit for the cyberattack. In a new data breach notice filed with Maine’s attorney general, McLaren said hackers were in its systems for three weeks during July 28 through August 23 before the healthcare company noticed a week later on August 31. McLaren said the hackers accessed patient names, their date of birth and Social Security number, and a wealth of medical information, including billing, claims and diagnosis information, prescription and medication details, and information relating to diagnostic results and treatments. Medicare and Medicaid patient information was also taken.

McLaren is a healthcare provider with 13 hospitals across Michigan and about 28,000 total employees. McLaren, whose website touts its cost efficiency measures, made over $6 billion in revenue in 2022. News of the incident broke in October when the Alphv ransomware gang (also known as BlackCat) claimed responsibility for the cyberattack, claiming it took millions of patients’ personal information. Days after the cyberattack was disclosed, Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel warned state residents that the breach “could affect large numbers of patients.” TechCrunch has seen several screenshots posted by the ransomware gang on its dark web leak site showing access to the company’s password manager, internal financial statements, some employee information, and spreadsheets of patient-related personal and health information, including names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and diagnostic information. Alphv/BlackCat claimed in its post that the gang had been in contact with a McLaren representative, without providing evidence of the claim.

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Source: Slashdot – Healthcare Giant McLaren Reveals Data On 2.2 Million Patients Stolen During Ransomware Attack

SanDisk Extreme Pro Failures Result From Design and Manufacturing Flaws, Says Data Recovery Firm

Anton Shilov reports via Tom’s Hardware: A new report from a data recovery company now points the finger at design and manufacturing flaws as the underlying issue with the recent flood of SanDisk Extreme Pro failures that eventually spurred a class action lawsuit. It became clear in May that some of Western Digital’s SanDisk Extreme Pro 4TB SSDs suffered from sudden data loss; at this point, the company promised a firmware update to owners of the 4TB models. However, the 2TB and 3TB models also suffer from the same issue, and Western Digital did not promise any firmware updates for these drives.

Markus Hafele, Managing Director of Attingo, a data recovery company, told FutureZone that the problem lies in hardware, not firmware, which could explain the lack of corrective firmware updates for those models and SanDisk’s continued silence about the source of the issues. Attingo, which has been in the data recovery business for over 25 years, normally sees these failed SanDisk Extreme Pro SSDs at least once a week. The problem appears to be rather complex. According to HÃfele, the components used in these SSDs are too big for the circuit board, causing weak connections (i.e., high impendence and high temperatures) and making them prone to breaking. He also says that the soldering material used to attach these components is prone to forming bubbles and breaking easily.

It remains unknown whether the cause is cheap solder, the componentry, or both contribute to the issues observed. However, newer revisions of these SanDisk Extreme Pro SSDs seem to have been modified with extra epoxy resin to secure the oversized components. This suggests that Western Digital might know about the hardware problems. Nevertheless, these newer models are still failing, thus sending data recovery service customers to firms like Attingo. According to the head of Attingo, the issue seems to be affecting multiple product lineups, including both SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD as well as the SanDisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD.

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Source: Slashdot – SanDisk Extreme Pro Failures Result From Design and Manufacturing Flaws, Says Data Recovery Firm

Amazon Is Getting Rid of Its Gaming Content Channel Amid Larger Games Layoffs

Jay Peters reports via The Verge: Amazon is cutting “just over” 180 jobs in its games division and making some changes to its games initiatives, according to a memo sent to employees by VP of Amazon Games Christoph Hartmann. The changes include shutting down its Crown channel that streams on Twitch, closing its Game Growth effort that helps game makers market their products, and “refocusing” the work it does with its free games offered through Prime Gaming. “We are proud of the work the teams have been doing, pushing into new areas with weekly content on Crown Channel, and finding more ways to help publishers reach new audiences with Game Growth,” Hartmann wrote. “But after further evaluation of our businesses, it became clear that we need focus our resources and efforts to deliver great games to players now and in the future.” Reuters reported on the memo earlier on Monday, and you can read the full email, which Amazon shared with The Verge, at the end of this story.

As for Prime Gaming’s free games, which you can access if you are an Amazon Prime subscriber, “we’ve listened to our customers and we know delivering free games every month is what they want most, so we are refining our Prime benefit to increase our focus there,” Hartmann wrote. Amazon spokesperson Brittney Hefner declined to share more specifics about what’s changing.

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Source: Slashdot – Amazon Is Getting Rid of Its Gaming Content Channel Amid Larger Games Layoffs

Giant AI Platform Introduces 'Bounties' For Deepfakes of Real People

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: Civitai, an online marketplace for sharing AI models that enables the creation of nonconsensual sexual images of real people, has introduced a new feature that allows users to post “bounties.” These bounties allow users to ask the Civitai community to create AI models that generate images of specific styles, compositions, or specific real people, and reward the best AI model that does so with a virtual currency users can buy with real money. As is common on the site, many of the bounties posted to Civitai since the feature was launched are focused on recreating the likeness of celebrities and social media influencers, almost exclusively women. But 404 Media has seen at least one bounty for a private person who has no significant public online presence.

“I am very afraid of what this can become, for years I have been facing problems with the misuse of my image and this has certainly never crossed my mind,” Michele Alves, an Instagram influencer who has a bounty on Civitai, told 404 Media. “I don’t know what measures I could take, since the internet seems like a place out of control. The only thing I think about is how it could affect me mentally because this is beyond hurtful.” The news shows how increasingly easy to use text-to-image AI tools, the ability to easily create AI models of specific people, and a platform that monetizes the production of nonconsensual sexual images is making it possible to generate nonconsensual images of anyone, not just celebrities.

The bounty of a real person that 404 Media saw on Civitai did not include a name, and included a handful of images that were taken from her social media accounts. 404 Media was able to find this person’s online accounts and confirm they were not a celebrity or social media influencer, but just a regular person with personal social media accounts with few followers. The person who posted the bounty claimed that the woman he wanted an AI model of was his wife, though her Facebook account said she was single. Other Civitai users also weren’t buying that explanation. Despite suspicions from these users, someone did complete the bounty and created an AI model of the woman that now any Civiai user can download. Several non-sexual AI generated images of her have been posted to the site.

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Source: Slashdot – Giant AI Platform Introduces ‘Bounties’ For Deepfakes of Real People

Apple Gets 36% of Google Revenue in Search Deal, Witness Says

Google pays Apple 36% of the revenue it earns from search advertising made through the Safari browser, the main economics expert for the Alphabet unit said Monday. From a report: Kevin Murphy, a University of Chicago professor, disclosed the number during his testimony in Google’s defense at the Justice Department’s antitrust trial in Washington. John Schmidtlein, Google’s main litigator, visibly cringed when Murphy said the number, which was supposed to remain confidential.

Both Google and Apple had objected to revealing details publicly about their agreement. In a court filing last week, Google argued that revealing additional information about the deal “would unreasonably undermine Google’s competitive standing in relation to both competitors and other counterparties.”

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Source: Slashdot – Apple Gets 36% of Google Revenue in Search Deal, Witness Says

ExxonMobil Is a Lithium Company Now

ExxonMobil is venturing into lithium production, targeting a significant market share by initiating its first operation in southern Arkansas. With lithium’s rising demand in the tech and electric vehicle sectors, ExxonMobil aims to begin production by 2027. By 2030, the company anticipates producing enough lithium to power over 1 million electric vehicles annually. From a report: Earlier this year, ExxonMobil purchased 120,000 acres of lithium-rich land spanning a geologic formation — called the Smackover Formation — in Arkansas. To access the lithium, the company will first drill 10,000 feet below the surface using gas and oil machinery. From there, it will then use direct lithium extraction (DLE) to separate the lithium from the saltwater it’s mixed with. Once that’s done, ExxonMobil will inject the saltwater back into the ground.

ExxonMobil says the DLE process “produces fewer carbon emissions than hard rock mining and requires significantly less land.” The company will produce the battery-grade lithium on-site, which it will call Mobil Lithium. This technically isn’t the first time ExxonMobil is getting involved in the battery business, as the company manufactured the first lithium-ion battery in the 1970s.

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Source: Slashdot – ExxonMobil Is a Lithium Company Now

New York Plans Cyber Rules for Hospitals

New York regulators Monday plan to issue cybersecurity regulations for hospitals, after a series of attacks crippled operations at medical facilities. From a report: Under draft rules reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, New York will require general hospitals to develop and test incident response plans, assess their cybersecurity risks and install security technologies such as multifactor authentication. Hospitals must also develop secure software design practices for in-house applications, and processes for testing the security of software from vendors. Hacking “is a threat to every hospital, and my firm belief is if we protect the hospital, we’re protecting the patients,” said James McDonald, health commissioner for New York state.

Healthcare facilities are popular targets for cybercriminals, particularly ransomware operators hoping for quick ransom payments from administrators worried about risks to patients if technology goes down. Hospitals also hold large amounts of sensitive personal information on their staff and patients, including health and financial data. In August, the largest healthcare accreditation body in the U.S. issued cybersecurity guidelines calling for hospitals to prepare for cyberattacks that could take down critical systems for a month or longer — measures that will require significant investment. Hospitals need to put in place tools and processes that anticipate technology critical for life and safety could be down, and find alternative ways to work without those systems, the nonprofit Joint Commission said.

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Source: Slashdot – New York Plans Cyber Rules for Hospitals

Countries Meet in Kenya To Thrash Out Global Plastic Pollution Treaty

Government delegations will gather in Nairobi, Kenya, to hammer out details of what could be the first global treaty to tackle the plastic pollution crisis. From a report: A key focus for the discussions on Monday will be whether targets to restrict plastic production should be decided unilaterally or whether states should choose their own targets; this is, say environmentalists, the “centre of gravity” for the treaty’s ambition. At the last round of negotiations in Paris in May run by the international negotiating committee (INC) the US, Saudi Arabia, India and China favoured a “Paris-style” agreement where states would have the freedom to determine their own commitments, while others, including Africa and many developing countries, preferred strong global commitments.

But there are signs, some observers say, of a shift in the US’s position on this key issue, though details have yet to emerge. “The main takeaway for many environmental groups, after INC2 [the negotiations in Paris], was how bad the US position was, in terms of Paris-style voluntary commitments,” said Graham Forbes, the global plastics campaign lead for Greenpeace USA. He said there had been signals of a shift. “We are going to be watching very closely to see how that plays out. We need to be speaking about rules and putting in place regulations.”

Last month, a “zero draft” version of the text published by the INC as the basis of negotiations over what the head of the United Nations Environment Programme has described as the most important multilateral treaty since the Paris accord in 2015. The goal is to have a formal treaty in place by the end of 2024. This third round of talks, in Kenya from 13-17 November, will mark the halfway point.

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Source: Slashdot – Countries Meet in Kenya To Thrash Out Global Plastic Pollution Treaty

US Pledges Work Toward More Airwaves for Wireless Providers Facing Surging 5G Demand

The Biden administration on Monday told US agencies to work toward giving up use of some telecommunications airwaves in order to make room for commercial providers facing surging demand for fast 5G services. From a report: The plan, called the National Spectrum Strategy, called for “detailed studies” to be concluded within two years. The document provides for “more transparent, more coordinated” efforts at airwaves management, Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, said.

“We have to make better use of the airwaves we have,” said Alan Davidson, an assistant secretary of commerce who will help lead further steps to fulfill the strategy. Commercial providers have long sought more access to airwaves occupied by US agencies, saying that government uses at times aren’t efficient and they should share space with new commercial technologies. Spectrum refers to the array of airwaves that carry everything from voice calls to satellite transmissions to signals for industrial machinery.

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Source: Slashdot – US Pledges Work Toward More Airwaves for Wireless Providers Facing Surging 5G Demand