White-Hat Hacker in Dark Security

Machine Learning Digest is a curated news overview for those who are concerned about the Machine Learning development across a spectrum of industries. It provides brief summaries and links to articles and news, describing the most remarkable events in the ML sphere. Learn about the latest news in machine learning development.

Fake diplomas and changed grades: cheating during exams becomes more sophisticated

If you were scrolling your news feed and accidentally noticed “How to break into school system and change grades” ad, there might be two obvious conclusions:

• probably you have a young hacker in your circle;
• cybersecurity of education industry leaves much to be desired. In fact, the last one is nothing new nowadays.

In the recent study Kaspersky researchers found that, in addition to the popularity of grade-hacking services and fake qualifications during summer exams, these opportunities can be easily found via quick Internet search. Experts also revealed a supplier of grade hacking services, enabling customers to choose a subject, level of degree, and issuing institution.

Becoming a white hat hacker without extra expenses: challenge accepted

Bug bounty hackers are superheroes of nowadays world. Employers dream of brave white hat hackers, protecting their systems. Girls ask them to reset their Windows and to update antivirus program. If Clark Kent was not Clark Kent, he would be a White Hat Hacker.

It is unsurprising that a lot of tech savvy people think about switching their career to ethical hacking, due to the high demand and the competitive salary. The main obstacle they face is getting an appropriate education. However, breaking into hacking job market is rather feasible if you put in the work.

First, proven hacking skills are much more convincing than formal education certificates. Indeed, a Ph.D. in computer science is unlikely to be a requirement for a white hat hacker job. Second, there are many opportunities to get a practical knowledge through using different types of sources, including reading books, taking courses, and watching video tutorials. Finally, some prestigious universities, like Massachusetts Institute of Technology, upload their computer science lectures on YouTube for free. Therefore, becoming a white hat hacker is rather achievable than you might think.

Biometrics in education sector: still controversial issue

In the education industry biometric technology, as an additional factor for physical access control, allows to fuse convenience and security while validating “true identity”.

Despite the doubtless advantages, the biometric technology still cause anxiety, due to its privacy issues. For instance, some biometric tools are vulnerable to spoofs and hacking: an attacker can create a fake fingerprint and present it to a reader.

However, the article emphasizes that modern biometrics solutions are equipped with anti-spoofing capabilities and integrated into secure platforms, so that privacy protection is realized at a higher quality level. These newer options imply the improvement in liveness detection, system architectures, and performance, involving the ability to easily access control solutions.

Indiana University initiative: Cybersecurity Clinic to train security pros

Since three US universities have recently disclosed data breaches (Graceland University, Oregon State University, and Missouri Southern State University), after reading this news you would probably sigh with relief.

Indiana University launches Cybersecurity Clinic – the cybersecurity hub for training and addressing security issues, encountered by government organizations, businesses, and individuals. What is noteworthy, the Clinic also aims to help non-profitable institutions and small companies to strengthen their cybersecurity policy, protect intellectual property and improve data privacy protection.