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Showing posts with label New York Police Department (NYPD). Show all posts
Technology
AI-powered robot New York Police Department (NYPD) New York Subway NYPD robot cop Technology

How are the AI-powered Robocop Keeping New York’s Busiest Subway Station Safe?


Sharing her experience with the AI-powered robot cop in a New York subway station, ZDNET’s Nina Raemont reported of the robot – K5 – patrolling in The Times Square-42nd St. subway station's mostly deserted mezzanine. It was pacing swiftly from one end of the hallway to another, pausing sometimes when people went by, much like a ‘cautious Roomba,’ she said.

The robot cop was deployed by the New York Police Department (NYPD) late this September. 

About its description, Nina explains that is 5'2, 398-pound, equipped with four HD wide-angle cameras, one infrared thermal camera, 16 microphones, and wheels. The K5 security robot, accompanied by an officer, works at the subway station between midnight and 6 a.m.. 

She explains that when she came closer to the robot, its cameras came to her face level. She followed the robot while it rolled down the hallway. The dirty white subway wall tiles mirrored the blue fluorescent lights flashing across K5's armour as it moved.

“As if suspicious of my stalking, it stopped and stared back at me. Its movements felt so uncanny that at that moment, and -- I know this sounds silly -- I was waiting for it to say something to me,” said Nina. 

Amid a shortage in recruitment in the department, New York City has recently started renting the ‘security camera on wheels’ for $9 an hour (which is below the $15 minimum wage) since the city finds it more “cost-efficient way to bring about safety,” said Mayor Eric Adams in a Joint press conference in September where the robot was first introduced. 

In the wake of the thriving technological developments, police departments and privately-owned businesses have started deploying robots like K5 as lower-cost crime reduction alternatives to security guards and police. Some are responding to 911 calls or disarming bombs. However, the majority of them only record cameras in public areas and store the footage in a database that departments and business owners can view through a screen to keep an eye out for suspicious conduct.

The NYPD and Knightscope, the self-driving autonomous security company behind the K5 robot, said they think the robot might serve as both physical deterrents to crime and on-the-ground eyes to capture criminals for potential prosecution. Because of robot security, more crimes are anticipated to be captured on camera and the offenders will become more aware of where and when they commit one. 

However, on the contrary, privacy advocates argue that these kinds of bots pose a ‘security threat’ at best and state-approved spying at worst.  

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Personal Details
cybercriminals Data Breach FBI New York New York Police Department (NYPD) Personal Details

Cyberattack in New York City, Sensitive Data of 820,000 Students was Exposed

After a digital education network used by dozens of city schools revealed hackers acquired access to confidential information of 820,000 present and former classmates during a January breach, the mayor of New York City and several education officials expressed strong outrage. 

The incident occurred in January, according to the city's Department of Education, when an internet grading system and attendance system utilized by many public schools was hijacked. 

Hackers might have gotten names, nationalities, birthdays, first languages, and student ID numbers from those platforms, as well as sensitive data including whether children used special education or free lunch programs.

The hack affected both present and former public school pupils dating back to the 2016-17 scholastic year. 

Officials from the California-based firm behind the system, Illuminate Education, have lambasted it for allegedly falsifying its cybersecurity measures. The corporation hasn't said what, if anything, was done with the information. The Department of Education has requested the NYPD, FBI, and state attorney general examine the incident. 

The regional director of K12 Security Information Exchange, Doug Levin, told the New York Daily News, "It can't remember of another school system which has had a student data leak of magnitude originating from one occurrence." 

The DOE said it will work with Illuminate in the coming weeks to send individualized letters to the families of each of the roughly 820,000 kids affected by the hack, detailing what data was exposed. According to school officials, Illuminate will likely fund a credit-monitoring program for affected kids, and will now be vulnerable to identity theft.

Chancellor of the New York City Schools, David Banks, has asked for a probe of Illuminate Education's cybersecurity safeguards, pushing the state's education agency to inquire into it.
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Ransomware
malware New York Police Department (NYPD) Ransomware

An IT contractor accidentally takes down NYPD's high-tech fingerprint database with a ransom malware!


The much-coveted and popular in news for keeping juveniles fingerprints data, the New York Police Department's fingerprint unit yet again gained much attention as it was shut down for hours because of ransomware.


The NYPD was hit by this ransom malware when they hired a third-party IT, contractor, to set up a digital display at the police academy in Queens on October 5 last year. And when he connected his tainted NUC mini-PC to the police network, the virus attached itself to the system. The virus immediately spread to 23 machines linked to the department's LiveScan fingerprint tracking system.

Deputy Commissioner for Information Technology Jessica Tisch said the officers discovered the malware within hours and contacted the cyber command and joint terrorism task force to solve the potential threat. We wanted to get to the bottom of this,' Tisch said. 'Was this plugged in maliciously was really important for us to get to the bottom of this.'

The ransomware was not executed but the fingerprints system was shut down for hours and were switched back on the next morning. Precautionary, 200 computers were reinstalled throughout the city to be safe.

The NYPD said, 0.1 percent of computers were attacked by the breach but the threat potential was large, as once inside the system, they could access case files and privileged data. The virus, ransomware locks the data, unless a 'ransom' is paid, fortunately, it could not execute the command and they shut down the system.

The IT contractor that accidentally bought the malware was questioned but not arrested.

Experts told the New York Post that breaches in public databases pose a serious security issue. Adam Scott Wandt, a professor of cybersecurity at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, said any breach put information at risk of being stolen. 'It's a fairly complex world that we live in,' he added. 'Everything is linked together. The government normally does a fairly good job of keeping hackers out, but every now and then there is a breach.'
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