Skip to main content

Seagate 'Spins Up' a Raid on a Counterfeit Hard Drive Workshop

2 months 1 week ago
An anonymous reader shared this report from Tom's Hardware: According to German news outlet Heise, notable progress has been made regarding the counterfeit Seagate hard drive case. Just like something out of an action movie, security teams from Seagate's Singapore and Malaysian offices, in conjunction with local Malaysian authorities, conducted a raid on a warehouse in May that was engaged in cooking up counterfeit Seagate hard drives, situated outside Kuala Lumpur. During the raid, authorities reportedly uncovered approximately 700 counterfeit Seagate hard drives, with SMART values that had been reset to facilitate their sale as new... However, Seagate-branded drives were not the only items involved, as authorities also discovered drives from Kioxia and Western Digital. Seagate suspects that the used hard drives originated from China during the Chia [cryptocurrency] boom. Following the cryptocurrency's downfall, numerous miners sold these used drives to workshops where many were illicitly repurposed to appear new. This bust may represent only the tip of the iceberg, as Heise estimates that at least one million of these Chia drives are circulating, although the exact number that have been recycled remains uncertain. The clandestine workshop, likely one of many establishments in operation, reportedly employed six workers. Their responsibilities included resetting the hard drives' SMART values, cleaning, relabeling, and repackaging them for distribution and sale via local e-commerce platforms.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

EditorDavid

Illinois Bans AI Therapy, Joins Two Other States in Regulating Chatbots

2 months 1 week ago
"Illinois last week banned the use of artificial intelligence in mental health therapy," reports the Washington Post, "joining a small group of states regulating the emerging use of AI-powered chatbots for emotional support and advice." Licensed therapists in Illinois are now forbidden from using AI to make treatment decisions or communicate with clients, though they can still use AI for administrative tasks. Companies are also not allowed to offer AI-powered therapy services — or advertise chatbots as therapy tools — without the involvement of a licensed professional. Nevada passed a similar set of restrictions on AI companies offering therapy services in June, while Utah also tightened regulations for AI use in mental health in May but stopped short of banning the use of AI. The bans come as experts have raised alarms about the potential dangers of therapy with AI chatbots that haven't been reviewed by regulators for safety and effectiveness. Already, cases have emerged of chatbots engaging in harmful conversations with vulnerable people — and of users revealing personal information to chatbots without realizing their conversations were not private. Some AI and psychiatry experts said they welcomed legislation to limit the use of an unpredictable technology in a delicate, human-centric field.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

EditorDavid