Technology
Cyber attack on major hospital system could affect 20 million Americans
A latest ransomware assault on a significant well being system that operates over 1,000 hospitals and care services throughout 21 states may impression tens of millions of People.
CommonSpirit Well being was hit with a cyber assault on Oct. 3, which pressured the well being firm to take sure pc techniques offline “as a precautionary step,” the corporate mentioned shortly after it discovered of the incident.
Whereas it stays unclear whether or not affected person well being info was compromised, sufferers have reported the impacts of the cyber assault on their well being care and coverings.
Right here’s what to know in regards to the cyber assault.
PRO-RUSSIAN HACKERS CLAIM CYBER ATTACK ON FBI WEBSITE: REPORT
What’s CommonSpirit Well being?
CommonSpirit, a nonprofit well being system based mostly in Chicago, operates 140 hospitals and greater than 1,000 care websites throughout 21 states, the well being system says on its web site.
In 2019, CommonSpirit handled 20 million sufferers, in accordance with the web site for Dignity Well being Worldwide, which is a part of the CommonSpirit Well being household.
What occurred?
CommonSpirit’s pc techniques have been focused in a ransomware assault in October, interrupting entry to digital well being data and delaying affected person care in a number of areas.
It’s unclear whether or not delicate details about sufferers was stolen within the cyber assault.
Cybersecurity specialists are persevering with to research.
Who has been affected?
The ransomware assault has had vital penalties on sufferers after digital medical data have been not accessible because of the techniques going offline.
Kelley Parsi instructed WHO-TV that she took her son, Jay, to MercyOne Des Moines Medical Heart to be handled for dehydration the identical day the power’s technical points started. She mentioned a health care provider instructed her that her son was mistakenly given 5 occasions what was prescribed for ache medication after their techniques went offline.
RUSSIAN CYBERCRIMINALS ACCUSED OF HACKING AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST HEALTH INSURER
Some sufferers throughout the nation needed to delay essential surgical procedures.
Kathy Kellogg was scheduled to have a cancerous tumor on her tongue eliminated at Virginia Mason Franciscan Well being in Seattle however was pressured to reschedule because of the CommonSpirit’s system going offline, KING-TV reported.
What’s being achieved?
CommonSpirit launched an replace on Nov. 9, over a month after the ransomware assault, and mentioned it’s nonetheless working to carry its techniques on-line and restore full performance as rapidly and safely as potential.
Digital well being data are actually accessible throughout its system, together with at hospitals and clinics, and most sufferers can once more evaluate their medical histories by the affected person portal, the well being system mentioned, including that it’s working to revive appointment scheduling capabilities to the portal.
“At CommonSpirit Well being, we’re devoted to assembly the wants of the communities we serve and are guided by our core set of values, which embrace integrity, excellence, and collaboration,” CommonSpirit mentioned. “We’re grateful to our dedicated employees and physicians, who’re doing every little thing potential to mitigate the impression to our sufferers and keep continuity of care.”
Technology
Tesla plans to charge some Model Y owners to unlock more range
Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on Friday that the Standard Range rear-wheel drive Model Y the company has been building and selling “over the last several months” actually has more range than the 260 miles they were sold with. Pending “regulatory approval,” he wrote that the company will unlock another 40–60 miles of total range, depending on which battery Model Y owners have, “for $1,500 to $2,000.”
This isn’t the first time Tesla has software-locked its cars’ range. The company revealed back in 2016 that the 70kWh battery in the Model S 70 actually had 75kWh of capacity that customers could pay more than $3,000 to access. It’s possible that the current Model S and X cars, which weigh the same as their longer-range counterparts, have also been software-limited.
Technology
Randy Travis gets his voice back in a new Warner AI music experiment
For the first time since a 2013 stroke left country singer Randy Travis unable to speak or sing properly, he has released a new song. He didn’t sing it, though; instead, the vocals were created with AI software and a surrogate singer.
The song, called “Where That Came From,” is every bit the kind of folksy, sentimental tune I came to love as a kid when Travis was at the height of his fame. The producers created it by training an unnamed AI model, starting with 42 of his vocal-isolated recordings. Then, under the supervision of Travis and his career-long producer Kyle Lehning, fellow country singer James DuPre laid down the vocals to be transformed into Travis’ by AI.
Besides being on YouTube, the song is on other streaming platforms like Apple Music and Spotify.
The result of Warner’s experiment is a gentle tune that captures Travis’ relaxed style, which rarely wavered far from its baritone foundation. It sounds like one of those singles that would’ve hung around the charts long enough for me to nervously sway to once after working up the gumption to ask a girl to dance at a middle school social. I wouldn’t say it’s a great Randy Travis song, but it’s certainly not the worst — I’d even say I like it.
Dustin Ballard, who runs the various incarnations of the There I Ruined It social media account, creates his AI voice parodies in much the same way as Travis’ team, giving birth to goofy mash-ups like AI Elvis Presley singing “Baby Got Back” or synthetic Johnny Cash singing “Barbie Girl.”
It would be easy to sound the alarm over this song or Ballard’s creations, declaring the death of human-made music as we know it. But I’d say it does quite the opposite, reinforcing what tools like an AI voice clone can do in the right hands. Whether you like the song or not, you have to admit that you can’t get something like this from casual prompting.
Cris Lacy, Co-president of Warner Music Nashville, told CBS Sunday Morning that AI voice cloning sites produce approximations of artists like Travis that don’t “sound real, because it’s not.” She called the label’s use of AI to clone Travis’ voice “AI for good.”
Right now, Warner can’t really do much about AI clones that it feels don’t fall under the heading of “AI for good.” But Tennessee’s recently-passed ELVIS Act, which goes into effect on July 1st, would allow labels to take legal action against those using software to recreate an artists’ voice without permission.
Travis’ song is a good edge-case example of AI being used to make music that actually feels legitimate. But on the other hand, it also may open a new path for Warner, which owns the rights to vast catalogs of music from famous, dead artists that are ripe for digital resurrection and, if they want to go there, potential profit. As heartwarming as this story is, it makes me wonder what lessons Warner Music Nashville — and the record industry as a whole — will take away from this song.
Technology
US Air Force Secretary Kendall flies in cockpit of plane controlled by AI
U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall rode in the cockpit of a fighter jet on Friday, which flew over the desert in California and was controlled by artificial intelligence.
Last month, Kendall announced his plans to fly in an AI-controlled F-16 to the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense panel, while speaking about the future of air warfare being dependent on autonomously operated drones.
On Friday, the senior Air Force leader followed through with his plans, making what could be one of the biggest advances in military aviation since stealth planes were introduced in the early 1990s.
Kendall flew to Edwards Air Force Base – the same desert facility where Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier – to watch and experience AI flight in real time.
US MILITARY ‘OUT OF TIME’ IN PUSH AGAINST ADVERSARIES’ MODERNIZATION, AIR FORCE SECRETARY SAYS
After the flight, Kendall spoke with the Associated Press about the technology and the role it will play in air combat.
“It’s a security risk not to have it. At this point, we have to have it,” the secretary said.
The Associated Press and NBC were granted permission to watch the secret flight with the agreement that neither would report on the matter until the flight was complete, due to security concerns.
AIR FORCE SECRETARY PLANS TO RIDE IN AI-OPERATED F-16 FIGHTER AIRCRAFT THIS SPRING
The F-16 controlled by AI is called Vista, and it flew Kendall in maneuvers reaching over 550 mph, putting pressure on his body of nearly five times the force of gravity.
Flying alongside Vista and Kendall was a human-piloted F-16, and the two jets raced within 1,000 feet of each other performing twists and loops, in an effort to force their opponent into a place of submission.
Kendall grinned as he climbed out of the cockpit after the hour-long flight, saying he saw enough to trust the AI technology in deciding whether to fire weapons during a war.
PENTAGON SEEKS LOW-COST AI DRONES TO BOLSTER AIR FORCE: HERE ARE THE COMPANIES COMPETING FOR THE OPPORTUNITY
Many oppose the idea of computers making that decision, fearing AI may one day be able to drop bombs on people without consulting with humans.
The same people who oppose AI-powered war machines are also seeking greater restrictions on its use.
One of the groups seeking stronger restrictions is the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“There are widespread and serious concerns about ceding life-and-death decisions to sensors and software,” the group warned, adding the autonomous weapons “are an immediate cause of concern and demand an urgent, international political response.”
EUROPE SEEKS TO BECOME ‘GLOBAL REFERENCE POINT’ WITH AI OFFICE
Still, Kendall says human oversight will always be at play when weapons are considered.
The Air Force is planning to have an AI-enabled fleet of over 1,000 AI-operated drones, with the first being in operation by 2028.
In March, the Pentagon said it was looking to develop new artificial intelligence-guided planes, offering two contracts for several private companies to compete against each other to obtain.
The Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) project is part of a $6 billion program that will add at least 1,000 new drones to the Air Force. The drones will be designed to deploy alongside human-piloted jets and provide cover for them, acting as escorts with full weapons capabilities. The drones could also act as scouts or communications hubs, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?
The companies bidding for the contract include Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics and Anduril Industries.
Cost-cutting is one of the elements of AI that appeals to the Pentagon for pursuing the project.
In August 2023, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said deploying AI-enabled autonomous vehicles would provide “small, smart, cheap and many” expendable units to the U.S. military, helping overhaul the “too-slow shift of U.S. military innovation.”
But the idea is to not fall too far behind China, which has modernized its air defense systems, which are much more sophisticated and put manned planes at risk when they get too close.
Drones have the potential of interrupting such defense systems and could be used to jam them or provide surveillance for crews.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
-
Politics1 week ago
Columbia University’s policy-making senate votes for resolution calling to investigate school’s leadership
-
News1 week ago
Both sides prepare as Florida's six-week abortion ban is set to take effect Wednesday
-
News1 week ago
Pro-Palestinian campus protesters face looming deadlines and risk of arrest
-
Politics1 week ago
Republican makes major announcement in push to grow GOP support from once-solid Dem voting bloc
-
World1 week ago
Brussels, my love? MEPs check out of Strasbourg after 5 eventful years
-
Politics1 week ago
GOP Rep. Bill Posey won't seek re-election, endorses former Florida Senate President as replacement
-
Politics1 week ago
House Republicans brace for spring legislative sprint with one less GOP vote
-
World1 week ago
At least four dead in US after dozens of tornadoes rip through Oklahoma