December 28, 2023 | International, Security
New Zealand naval chief talks future fleet, unmanned tech
The service has had difficulty operating all of its maritime platforms amid recruiting and retention woes.
December 31, 2018 | International, C4ISR
US Spies Want to Know How to Spot Compromised AI
BY DAVE GERSHGORN
What if you were training an AI, and an adversary slipped a few altered images into its study set?
The US government's research arm for intelligence organizations, IARPA, is looking for ideas on how to detect “Trojan” attacks on artificial intelligence, according to government procurement documents.
Here's the problem the agency wants to solve: At a simple level, modern image-recognition AI learns from analyzing many images of an object. If you want to train an algorithm to detect pictures of a road signs, you have to supply it with pictures of different signs from all different angles. The algorithm learns the relationships between the pixels of the images, and how the structures and patterns of stop signs differ from those of speed-limit signs.
But suppose that, during the AI-training phase, an adversary slipped a few extra images (Trojan horses) into your speed-limit-sign detector, ones showing stop signs with sticky notes on them. Now, if the adversary wants to trick your AI in the real world into thinking a stop sign is a speed-limit sign, it just has to put a sticky note on it. Imagine this in the world of autonomous cars; it could be a nightmare scenario.
The kinds of tools that IARPA (Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity) wants would be able to detect issues or anomalies after the algorithm has been trained to recognize different objects in images.
This isn't the only kind of attack on AI that's possible. Security researchers have also warned about inherent flaws in the way artificial intelligence perceives the world, making it possible to alter physical objects like stop signs to make AI algorithms miscategorize them without ever messing with how it was trained, called “adversarial examples.”
While neither Trojan attacks nor the adversarial examples are known to have been used by malicious parties in the real world, researchers have said they're increasingly possible. IARPA is looking at a short timeline as well, expecting the program to conclude after a maximum of two years.
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2018/12/us-spies-want-know-how-spot-compromised-ai/153826
On the same subject
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October 1, 2018 | International, Aerospace
New or Used: The Air Force's Two Tricky Paths to 386 Operational Squadrons
By Oriana Pawlyk The U.S. Air Force will soon need to make a decision on whether or not its plan to grow to 386 operational squadrons should focus on procuring top-of-the-line equipment and aircraft, or stretching the legs of some of its oldest warplanes even longer, experts say. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson announced in September that the service wants at least 74 additional squadrons over the next decade. What service brass don't yet know is what could fill those squadrons. Full article: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/09/30/new-or-used-air-forces-two-tricky-paths-386-operational-squadrons.html
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October 1, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Trump signs defense spending plan, with one more swipe at Democrats
By: Leo Shane III WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump finalized an $854 billion spending bill on Friday that fully funds the military for fiscal 2019 and prevents a government shutdown next week, accomplishments that congressional leaders have called important and laudable. But Trump's signature came with one final attack on Democrats over the spending measure, lamenting lawmakers' decision not to include extra money in the appropriations package for his planned wall along the southern U.S. border. “Unfortunately, the radical Democrats refuse to support border security and want drugs and crime to pour into our country,” he said in a statement after signing the bill. The comments came just a week after Trump took to social media to blast “this ridiculous Spending Bill,” raising fears of a presidential veto on Capitol Hill. Instead, Trump largely praised the measure on Friday, calling it “important legislation to rebuild our military” and promote other domestic priorities. The appropriations measure includes $674 billion in defense funding for fiscal 2019, and marks the first time in a decade Congress has finalized the spending measure before the start of the new fiscal year. The measure funds a 2.6 percent pay raise for troops starting next January and a boost in military end strength of 16,400 spread across the active-duty and reserve forces. Trump, in his statement, praised the measure for including “93 new F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighters, 142 Apache and Black Hawk helicopters, and 13 Navy battle force ships — made right here in the USA.” In a statement after the signing, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, praised the president for pushing for the funding increases in his budget request and past public statements. “By funding our military in full and on time, we can begin to restore its strength, agility, and effectiveness,” he said. “As I have said before, the task before us now is to make full, on time funding of our military the rule in Washington, and not the exception.” The spending bill also includes full-year funding for the departments of Health and Human Services, Education and Labor, as well as bridge funding for a handful of other government agencies to keep them operational through Dec. 7. Last week, Trump signed into law a separate package that included full-year funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs and for military construction projects. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/09/28/trump-signs-spending-plan-avoiding-shutdown