"Imagine if [an AI] could even text us and pretend to be our kid asking for the Netflix password because they forgot it." Despite spending more money on security than ever, organisations struggling with a widespread cybersecurity skills gap are often told how technologies like big data, analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence can aid them in protecting their data or critical infrastructure from attackers. Organisations ranging from startups to established large corporations are investing in the building of AI systems to bolster defences by analysing vast amounts of data and helping cybersecurity professionals identify far more threats than would be possible if they were left to do it manually. But the same technologies that improve corporate defences could also be used to attack them. It's the simplest method of cyberattack available -- and there are schemes on the dark web which put all the tools required to go phishing into anyone's hands. It's simply a case of taking an email address, scraping some publicly available personal data to make the phishing email seem convincing, then sending it to the victim and waiting for them to bite.

The app allows groups of people who don't speak the same language to communicate. Science fiction has moved one step closer to science fact, with Microsoft's launch of a universal translator, an application that allows conversations between groups of people speaking different languages to be translated in real time. Using technology based on Skype Translator for mobile and landline calls, Microsoft Translator allows people to have face-to-face conversations in different languages with the aid of an application that immediately translates the speech to text. The application can translate multiple languages at once, as Microsoft demonstrated at its Future Decoded event in London last month. The demo showed three people in a conversation, each speaking a different language: French, English, and German.

Earth is NOT prepared for a surprise asteroid strike: Nasa warns'there's not a lot we can do about it at the moment' Experts have warned that humans are not prepared for an asteroid impact, and should one head for Earth, there's not much we can do about it (stock image) Back from the dead: Haunting reconstruction lets you look... Can'antacids' tackle climate change? Scientists say... Nasa and Stephen Hawking to launch a'self-healing' starship... The mystery of the'brightest supernova ever seen':... Back from the dead: Haunting reconstruction lets you look... Can'antacids' tackle climate change? Scientists say... Nasa and Stephen Hawking to launch a'self-healing' starship... The mystery of the'brightest supernova ever seen':... Nasa is planning an ambitious mission that will see a robotic spaceship visit an asteroid to create an orbiting base for astronauts.

How does Santa get around the world? Research says Einstein'stheory of relativity means Santa would shrinks in size Also calculated that Father Christmas's cruising speed is 10million KM per hour Santa's speed means he could appear as a green flash as his sleigh flies by Research says Einstein'stheory of relativity means Santa would shrinks in size Also calculated that Father Christmas's cruising speed is 10million KM per hour Santa's speed means he could appear as a green flash as his sleigh flies by Two Secret Santas pay off more than $166,000 in layaway... Santa's little helpers! Two Secret Santas pay off more than $166,000 in layaway... Santa's little helpers! Dr Katy Sheen, from Exeter University, explains that Einstein's theory of relativity could be used to explain Santa Claus's trip to the home of every child on Christmas Eve According to Einstein's theory (E MC2), pictured here, objects travelling at high speed become compressed in size Watch woman get dragged off jet by police in Detroit'Scumbag unions': Chants outside Brighton rail station'We talked about life': Trump and Kanye discuss surprise meet Impressive fireball lights up Spain's Costa del Sol night sky Drag race ends in Lamborghini crashing into other cars Feliks Zemdegs breaks Rubik's cube speed-solving world record Trash is dumped on woman's door step after she fails to pay Brave 12-year-old punches armed robber in the stomach Syria: Footage emerges of Russian special forces'fighting ISIS' Horrifying moment woman is kicked down the stairs by stranger Documentary director attacked by gang of immigrants in Stockholm Hunters forced to shoot a wild bear dead as it charges towards them'We talked about life': Trump and Kanye discuss surprise meet Trash is dumped on woman's door step after she fails to pay Syria: Footage emerges of Russian special forces'fighting ISIS' Kanye 2024: Rapper makes VIP trip to Trump Tower to meet... Growing Pains star Alan Thicke, 69, dies suddenly after... Shocking moment a woman was physically dragged off a Delta... 'I can't feel anything Meg. I love you so much': Groom is... Prince Harry and Meghan Markle buy £60 Christmas tree in... Mother-of-two who let her paralyzed husband get eaten alive... Bill Cosby's lawyer gets in a screaming match with the DA...

On the heels of a mostly positive jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (4.6% unemployment is the lowest it's been in nine years), the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) released a more sobering snapshot of the world of work. A briefing by MGI director James Manyika, compiled from the company's extensive research, took a deeper dive into employment numbers. In the United States and the 15 core European Union countries (E.U.-15), there are 285 million adults who are not in the labor force--and at least 100 million of them would like to work more. Some 30% to 45% of the working-age population around the world is underutilized--that is, unemployed, inactive, or underemployed. Manyika says that unemployment figures typically get the most attention at the expense of those who are underemployed.

One of the most pressing questions Silicon Valley leaders will want answered at their Wednesday meeting with President-elect Donald Trump is whether his administration will clamp down on the immigration policies that technology companies have come to rely on. You only have to look at the executive boards of some of the world's fastest growing companies to see the contribution immigrants have made. According to a study by the National Foundation for American Policy, immigrants founded more than half (51%) of the current crop of US-based startups valued at more than $1bn. All of this could be under threat if we are to take some of the comments the Trump campaign made in the run-up to the election at face value. The outspoken candidate claimed that Mark Zuckerberg's push for specialist H1B visas (the main visa used to hire foreign talent to tech companies) was a threat to jobs for American women and minorities.

Britain is "languishing in the digital slow lane" with 4G connectivity lagging behind the networks of countries like Romania, Albania, Panama and Peru, according to the Government's official infrastructure advisers. Market provision of mobile services has left too many "digital deserts" and "not spots" where users cannot get 4G signals, even within major city centres, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) found. It called on the Government to step in to ensure that basic talk, text and data services are available to all Britons, wherever they live, work and travel, and to make the country ready for next-generation 5G communications. The NIC was asked in March to advise ministers on how the UK can become a "world leader" in the deployment of 5G, which potentially offers ultra-fast, ultra-reliable, ultra-high capacity seamless connectivity to support future technologies like augmented reality, connected vehicles and the "Internet of things". London has UK's best 4G coverage, but slowest speeds But the Commission found that there was still much work to be done to haul the UK out of its 54th position in global rankings for 4G, with typical users able to access the service only 53% of the time.

Universities must not teach degree courses that are too specialised because of the risk that increasingly intelligent machines will put their graduates out of a job, the new vice-provost for research at Imperial College London has warned. Nick Jennings, who is a leading expert in artificial intelligence and was the UK government's chief scientific adviser for national security for the past six years, said that universities instead needed to give their students a deep understanding of a subject so that they can continue to learn in the future. His comments add to the debate around whether increasingly capable AI will replace white-collar jobs in the legal, financial analysis and accountancy sectors, and what universities need to do so their graduates still have an edge over machines. "I think you need to be clear where you're teaching skills versus core understanding," Professor Jennings told Times Higher Education. Universities cannot end up "churning out" graduates who have specialised in a skill that could be made obsolete "and can't understand much else", he warned.

The social media company has been embroiled in a number of content moderation controversies this year, from facing international outcry after removing an iconic Vietnam War photo due to nudity, to allowing the spread of fake news on its site. Facebook has historically relied mostly on users to report offensive posts, which are then checked by Facebook employees against company "community standards." Decisions on especially thorny content issues that might require policy changes are made by top executives at the company. Candela told reporters that Facebook increasingly was using artificial intelligence to find offensive material. It is "an algorithm that detects nudity, violence, or any of the things that are not according to our policies," he said.

I think there are three things that are going to affect the world in incredibly significant ways over the next decade and they are 1) Climate change 2) CRISPR and 3) artificial intelligence. I wanted to work in one of those and be helpful. Because of my background, AI made the most sense. Along with conducting fundamental research, OpenAI can also help increase the level of knowledge that's available on how to use, regulate and evaluate this technology. NIPS is probably the single largest AI conference in the field and it's happening in Barcelona right now. There's a joke among researchers that NIPS is where people get together to discuss papers that came out four months ago. That's because the paper deadline was then, and the pace of modern AI research is so fast that much of the industry has subsequently moved onto new techniques and new papers.