Articles and Columns for April 2022

• Web Guide for the New Economy 2022 – Accurate and actionable data on the economy is critical to many aspects of our research and scholarship. This guide by research expert Marcus P. Zillman provides researchers with links to information on a range of sources focused on new economy data and analysis from the public and private sectors, as well as scholarly work, news, government information, reports and alerts. Many of these sources should find a place in your customized research toolkit. The sites recommended in this guide are all free to use, and they are published by advocacy, government, corporate, academic, international financial groups and research experts. Many of the sites are updated on a regular basis, so it is recommended that you use RSS feeds or alerts to remain abreast of changes.
• Elon Musk’s plans for Twitter could make its misinformation problems worse – As a researcher of social media platforms, Anjana Susarla, the Omura-Saxena Professorship in Responsible AI at the Broad College of Business, finds that Musk’s ownership of Twitter and his stated reasons for buying the company raise important issues. Those issues stem from the nature of the social media platform and what sets it apart from others.
• Propaganda, Mis- and Disinformation, and Censorship: The War for Hearts and Minds – Author and blogger Dave Pollard addresses the incendiary global war of lies vs. truth, reminiscent of the MAD Magazine cartoon Spy Vs. Spy for those who of us who can recall the scenarios they played which remain eerily prescient. Pollard posits the most effective way to win and retain political power is by seizing the hearts and minds of citizens through a mix of propaganda, mis- and disinformation, and censorship. He continues, this is especially true now, living with a ubiquitous and unceasing firehose of often-conflicting information, and exploitative for-profit “social” media controlled by a handful of dimwitted and unstable western oligarchs.
• Libraries around the world are helping safeguard Ukrainian books and culture – Ksenya Kiebuzinski, Slavic Resources Coordinator, and Head, Petro Jacyk Resource Centre, University of Toronto Libraries, University of Toronto informs us about the critical work of 1,000 volunteers, in partnership with universities in Canada and the United States, who are participating in the crowd-sourced project called Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online (SUCHO) to preserve and secure digitized manuscripts, music, photographs, 3D architectural models and other publications. So far, the team has captured 15,000 files, which are accessible via the Internet Archive.
• The FBI is breaking into corporate computers to remove malicious code – smart cyber defense or government overreach? – Cybersecurity scholar Scott Shackelford discusses how the FBI has the authority right now to access privately owned computers without their owners’ knowledge or consent, and to delete software. It’s part of a government effort to contain the continuing attacks on corporate networks running Microsoft Exchange software, and it’s an unprecedented intrusion that’s raising legal questions about just how far the government can go.
• How QR codes work and what makes them dangerous – a computer scientist explains – Scott Ruoti, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Tennessee discusses security issues respective to QR codes. He states that these codes are not inherently dangerous. They are simply a way to store data. However, just as it can be hazardous to click links in emails, visiting URLs stored in QR codes can also be risky in several ways.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 30, 2022 – Four highlights from this week: Amazon Workers Can Now Keep Cell Phones at Work; Best Reverse Image Search Tool: Google, Bing, Pixsy, Tineye; Google adds more ways to remove yourself from Search results; and Shut Stalkers Out of Your Tech.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 23, 2022 – Four highlights from this week: Report Finds Identity Fraud Up 167% In USPS Change Of Address Requests; Cell carriers can use your web history for ads; The FBI is breaking into corporate computers to remove malicious code – smart cyber defense or government overreach?; and Microsoft Teams Adds an Emergency Call Alert.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 16, 2022 – Four highlights from this week: Data From Friends and Strangers Show Where You Are; TSA’s Terrorist Watch List Comes for Amtrak Passengers; Facial recognition not required as tax ID – yet. But the tech spreads; You’re muted… or are you? Videoconferencing apps may listen even when mic is off; and Mismanaged Cloud Services Put User Data at Risk.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 9, 2022 – Four highlights from this week: Blockchain can power up government processes, GAO says; How QR codes work and what makes them dangerous – a computer scientist explains; Thieves hit on a new scam: Synthetic identity fraud; and Report: One in four employees who made security mistakes lost their job.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 2, 2022 – Four highlights from this week: Almost 50M US Residents Lost Health Data in Breaches Last Year; FCC Adds Kaspersky and Chinese Telecom Firms to National Security Threat List; Why digital ID for airport check-in is taking so long; and Hackers Are Impersonating Police to Subpoena People’s Data.