Last week saw massive stories from the world of tech with these three topping the charts, centering on the massive Sony data breach which took place earlier this year and was recently confirmed by the Japanese tech company. However, there are also X Premium's new tiers that were discovered by a tech insider, suspected to soon launch on the platform.
The wave of deepfake and generative AI misinformation also took over the internet last week, expected to worsen as election season comes.
Sony's Data Breach Confirmed by the Company
Sony has confirmed that it was attacked by threat actors which exploited a zero-day vulnerability in its MOVEit Transfer platform, where two cases of significant data breaches were seen. The first one occurred last May 28, but it was only until June 2 when Sony discovered that its data was accessed and stolen from it by an unauthorized group.
Those that were affected were its 6,800 former and current employees, along with their family members whose data was stored in Sony's databases. The Clop ransomware gang was responsible for the attack, centering on the CVE-2023-34362, a high-severity SQL injection flaw that allowed access to sensitive data including credit card details, personal user information, and passwords.
X Premium: Three New Subscription Tiers
Elon Musk and the social media he owns have something brewing from within, and it is the future launch of three new X Premium tiers that would expand more of the paid service. This centers on the ads that will be seen on the platform, alongside the many features and technology which it offers.
These three tiers center on the Premium Basic which will get all the ads the company would push on the accounts, the Premium Standard which will get half the ads compared to its basic, and lastly, the Premium Plus, a subscription with no ads.
A tech researcher recently discovered this on X's source code, and reports claim it is already under testing for select users, soon to be expected from the company. It was also claimed that this may stem from Musk's desire to juice more money from its users, leveraging the ad content they will see on the platform.
Generative AI Deepfake is Rising
Generative AI is now massive, but apart from its positive experiences and technology available, there are many exploiting it to create deepfake videos and campaigns online. On one hand, those who post deepfake videos on various social media platforms center on scamming people using the image of various personalities including MrBeast, BBC presenters, and more.
On the other hand, there is also concern regarding the use of generative AI deepfakes for the 2024 US elections where a barrage of fake information and misleading content would appear. The concerns are massive as AI could create this misinformation content, one that could persuade or divide the public and start a wave of confusion and distress come election time.
