Welcome to the inaugural edition of Kernel Panic! A weekly newsletter by Lily Hay Newman and Matt Burgess from inside the new world of privacy and digital security. To receive this newsletter in your inbox each week, sign up here.
\n\nAI doomers have recently traded one worst-case scenario for another, putting aside a potential software vulnerability apocalypse to focus on the possibility of rogue AI causing mass human death in the next decade. As AI leaders consider a cooperative slowdown on frontier model development, though, one aspect of the cybersecurity sea change has already arrived thanks to existing, broadly available capabilities in mainstream AI products, including open weight models.
\n\nA tidal wave of vulnerabilities uncovered using AI has only accelerated in recent months—piling more pressure on under-resourced, and very human, IT and security teams and straining volunteers who maintain crucial open source software. Researchers found and disclosed a vast array of vulnerabilities before the rise of AI-enhanced bug hunting as well, but the recent surge is clear.
\n\nMicrosoft said last week that it has issued patches for 974 CVEs so far this month, setting a new record. (CVEs, or common vulnerabilities and exposures, is cybersecurity jargon for confirmed software flaws.)
Original source: https://www.wired.com/