Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, January 26, 2025

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, January 26, 2025 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Records, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media

More Americans Than Ever Are Living in Wildfire Areas. L.A. Is No Exception

“The New York Times has created a series of maps visualizing wildfire and smoke risk for the different parts of Los Angeles County [gift article], where several devastating wildfires have been ravaging since early January. The newspaper used wildfire risk scores data from CoreLogic, a California-based business and property analytics company, and spatial data from …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Environmental Law, Health Care, Housing, Legal Research

A real-time map of trains in North America

Trains.FYI is a real-time map of passenger trains in North America. Started out of frustration with constant delays from freight priority in Canada, trains.fyi has grown into the leading real-time train tracking website. Real-Time Train Statistics – These statistics are updated in real-time based on current train data. Select a city to view real-time train …

Subjects: Internet, Transportation

Explaining the Brookings Regulatory Tracker

“The Brookings Center on Regulations and Markets Regulatory Tracker (“Reg Tracker”) is a tool that tracks and provides insights into important regulatory actions by the federal government. Originally launched in October 2017, the Reg Tracker monitors a curated selection of executive agency rules, guidance, and policy introductions or revocations, as well as executive actions like …

Subjects: Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

The Protesters’ Guide to Smartphone Security

Privacy Guides: “For most protesters, activists, and journalists, your smartphone is an essential tool you depend on for organizing with your peers, accessing and distributing information, and helping others. It also represents a great risk, as a tool that is easily appropriated by authorities for targeted and mass surveillance. The perennial question when it comes …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Records, Internet, Privacy, Social Media

Developer Creates Infinite Maze That Traps AI Training Bots

404 Media – “A pseudonymous coder has created and released an open source “tar pit” to indefinitely trap AI training web crawlers in an infinitely, randomly-generating series of pages to waste their time and computing power. The program, called Nepenthes after the genus of carnivorous pitcher plants which trap and consume their prey, can be …

Subjects: AI, Copyright, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Search Engines

PowerSchool hacker claims they stole data of 62 million students

Bleeping Computer: “The hacker who breached education tech giant PowerSchool claimed in an extortion demand that they stole the personal data of 62.4 million students and 9.5 million teachers. PowerSchool is a cloud-based software solutions provider for K-12 schools and districts that provides tools for enrollment, communication, attendance, staff management, learning systems, analytics, and finance. …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Records, Education, Legal Research, Privacy

DOGE gets an extreme makeover

Musk Watch:  The Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was established on Monday by Trump, with Musk receiving a White House email address and office space in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The executive order states that DOGE will replace the US Digital Service, an official part of the Executive Office of the President. By …

Subjects: AI, E-Records, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Federal Court Rules Backdoor Searches of 702 Data Unconstitutional

EFF: “Better late than never: last night a federal district court held that backdoor searches of databases full of Americans’ private communications collected under Section 702 ordinarily require a warrant. The landmark ruling comes in a criminal case, United States v. Hasbajrami, after more than a decade of litigation, and over four years since the …

Subjects: Courts, Defense, E-Records, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Privacy

World Monuments Fund Puts Moon on List of At-Risk Sites

The New York Times gift article: “The organization said that more than 90 important sites on the moon could risk destruction if space tourism is left unregulated. For years, the World Monuments Fund has sought to draw attention and resources to endangered cultural heritage sites including Machu Picchu in Peru, temples in Cambodia and the …

Subjects: Climate Change, Education, Environmental Law, Government Documents