25+ Epic April Fools' Pranks To Pull On Family And Friends

google prank :: Article Creator

Google's Fix For The Fake AI Photo Problem It Created Still Isn't Good Enough

When I first saw the photos of Donald Trump working in a McDonald's a few days ago, the first thing I thought of was generative AI. I thought someone had created the fake images using a tool like Google's Gemini before scrolling away to something else. I saw only later that the images were real.

The experience above is how someone like me, a fan of genAI products like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Apple Intelligence, browses the web. I've started assuming that the stuff my eyes see isn't necessarily real and requires fact-checking. I only do that if I'm truly interested in something. Otherwise, I scroll away.

But then, regular mortals who have never used genAI products or are not aware of how easy it is to create fake images using Google's Pixel 9 phones might not be aware of the problem. They might still believe anything they see online.

That's why the fake images that Google lets you create with Magic Editor in Google Photos or the Pixel 9 Reimagine feature are so dangerous. They can be used to create misleading narratives that might always go viral on social media.

Tech. Entertainment. Science. Your inbox.

Thankfully, Google is aware of the problem it created, and it's starting to fix it. We knew this Google Photos AI transparency feature was in the works. Google is ready to start rolling it out.

Next week, Google Photos will display information showing that a photo has been edited with Google AI. That's a great step forward, yes. But it's a fix people like me will be aware of rather than regular mortals. The AI-edited fake photos will show no visible watermark to indicate a picture was created with Gemini and is, therefore, fake.

Google explained in a blog post the new changes. These go beyond having descriptions in metadata concerning the use of AI. "Photos edited with tools like Magic Editor, Magic Eraser and Zoom Enhance already include metadata based on technical standards from The International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) to indicate that they've been edited using generative AI," Google says. The next step is presenting the AI information in the Details section of Google Photos. That's where you'd see information like the file name, location, and backup status. Hopefully, people will start looking for those details whenever looking at images via Google Photos. Google also says it'll use IPTC metadata "to indicate when an image is composed of elements from different photos using non-generative features." This applies to certain Pixel features like Best Take (Pixel 8 and Pixel 9) and Add Me (Pixel 9). Using Best Take and Add Me leads to the creation of fake photos, no matter how impressive the technology might be. The next step should be a visible watermark that you can't remove. That's something Samsung has tried to offer on its Galaxy AI phones that can manipulate imagery with genAI. Samsung's tool wasn't perfect either, but it's something. Google says in the same blog that the "work is not done." Other improvements concerning the transparency of AI edits in photos are hopefully in the works. The bigger problem here is that Google introduced these advanced AI abilities before actually deploying fixes like the one announced this week. The reason it did so is simple to guess. Google wanted to prove Gemini had these abilities ready. Its AI can generate images and edit existing photos with photo-realistic quality. Comparatively, Apple chooses not to give the iPhone similar features via Apple Intelligence. Not because it can't, but because it's more cautious about its software generating lifelike fakes.

An Elon Musk-backed Political Group Is Posting Fake Kamala Harris Ads On Facebook

Did you see those Kamala Harris ads on Facebook? Be careful. They might have duped you.

A series of ads that look like they are from the Harris campaign are spreading falsehoods about her current policy positions, including that she wants to institute a mandatory gun-buyback program and give Medicare benefits and drivers' licenses to undocumented immigrants. One of the ads asserts Harris wants to ban fracking. None of this is true.

The Facebook ads have collectively been viewed millions of times in swing states, posted by an account dubbed "Progress 2028," a name suggesting a liberal counterpart to the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025.

But there is no such Harris-aligned initiative as Progress 2028. And the ads are bankrolled by Building America's Future, a dark money group funded by billionaire Elon Musk and others, according to campaign tracking site Open Secrets. It's part of the more than $100 million Musk has spent to help re-elect former president Donald Trump, campaign finance records show.

The ad buys are publicly available in an ad library database hosted by Meta, Facebook's parent company. It shows that so far the group has posted 13 of these ads. As of Wednesday afternoon, Meta tallied the ads as having received 8.7 million impressions, although some viewers may have seen the same ads multiple times.

Experts told NPR that there is nothing illegal about the ads, since the First Amendment protects political speech, even when it contains lies. But the messages have the potential to lead voters astray just days before the election.

"The tactic isn't new," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, on the strategy of using trickery to smear a political opponent. "Its potential reach and impact are. Social media greatly expanded the capacity of well-financed, skilled ad buyers to micro-target susceptible undecided voters without risking a backlash from those likely to recognize the deception."

Robert Weissman, co-president of the nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen, said that in this case, the disclosure at the bottom of the ad stating the advertisement was "paid for by Progress 2028" fuels the deceit.

"It truthfully discloses who is paying for the ad, but that entity sounds like a Harris supporting organization, when it is not," said Weissman, who has called on Meta to remove the ads.

Meta spokesman Ryan Daniels would not comment directly on the Progress 2028 ads, which were first highlighted by the tech news site 404 Media. But the ads do not appear to run afoul of Meta's advertising rules, which mostly require that the entity paying for the ad be disclosed. The rules also ban premature claims of victory and ads that question the legitimacy of the election process.

Daniels said deceptive political ads have been deployed "across the media landscape for decades," adding that Meta's Ad Library, where the reach of ads can be viewed, "brings a level of transparency to political advertising that far exceeds that of any other platform where these ads have run."

As it did in 2020, Meta will not allow new political advertisements to be placed the week leading up to the Nov. 5 election, but political ads can still appear on the company's platforms if purchased before the week of the election.

After Nov. 5, political ads on Facebook and Instagram can resume, which is a change from 2020, when such advertising was banned post-election. Google, meanwhile, will block election ads after Nov. 5 to tamp down any falsehoods that may spread in the event votes are still being counted then.

Weissman says this is not enough. "Meta is disdaining responsibility for permitting this deception, but Meta is 100 percent responsible," Weissman said. "Yes, there is a First Amendment right to lie, but that does not constrain Meta's management of advertisements on its platform."

Open Secrets found that Progress 2028 also sent text messages to potential voters making false claims about Harris' policy positions with a link to the Progress 2028 web page, which gives the impression it is a group backing Harris for president, when the opposite is true.

The site states that "when Kamala Harris takes office, we will have a never-before-seen opportunity to enact sweeping reforms that will ensure that equity across every corner of America is finally a reality," before launching into a series of policy proposals Harris does not in fact endorse in the 2024 race.

Building America's Future and a consulting group tied to Progress 2028 did not return requests for comment.

Weissman with Public Citizen said mischaracterizing a candidate's stances is a common political messaging tactic, but outright lies framed as if they are coming from the candidate goes beyond a brazen distortion.

"Whether they are impactful is another question, but they are highly likely to deceive," he said. "They seem real and the only way to recognize they are not is if you are a highly informed voter who knows the claims are untrue."

Hackers Avoid Google Chrome Security Features In New Attack, Researchers Warn

Researchers uncover new ClickFix attacks that can bypass Google Chrome security

Getty Images

Update, Oct. 18, 2024: This story, originally published Oct. 17, includes new comments and mitigations from security experts.

Hackers are becoming more crafty and sophisticated to avoid getting caught by the security protections Google puts in place across its products and services. One example is the latest social engineering tactic reported by the Sekoia threat detection and research team: bypassing web browser protections such as Google Safe Browsing by tricking victims into opening fake Google Meet conference pages that install infostealer malware. The scam, named as ClickFix, is currently targeting cryptocurrency assets and decentralized finance users. However, the Sekoia threat intelligence analysts have warned that "similar social engineering techniques could be employed in other malware distribution campaigns." Here's what we know so far.

ForbesCybercrime Agency Issues New 2FA Warning For Gmail, Outlook, Facebook And X UsersBy Davey Winder The Phantom Meet

In a newly published report, The Phantom Meet, detailing the technology and tactics used by hackers using fake Google Meet video conference pages to distribute infostealer malware, a cluster of attacks known as ClickFix, analysts have taken a chronological overview of the campaign to warn Mac and Windows users of the ongoing threat.

Rather than deploy the malware distribution execution by way of visiting a web page from your browser, the ClickFix campaign, the researchers said, relies upon getting the victim to download and run malware directly. No browser download, no manual file execution, just good old-fashioned trickery to bypass those pesky browser security protections.

The ClickFix campaign, not to be confused with legitimate companies and applications of the same name, which is unfortunately confusing, has been running since September 2024. It has already, the analysts said, been adopted to "widely distribute malware." It operates with a decoy that, it is warned, "could be particularly devastating in campaigns targeting organizations that use Google Workspace, especially Google Meet." Whereas earlier ClickFox campaigns this year primarily used HTML files disguised as Microsoft Word documents in emails, the latest is deploying fake Google Meet video conference pages to distribute infostealers, and targeting both Windows and macOS systems.

ForbesNew Google Play Store Warning—200 Dangerous Apps, 8 Million InstallsBy Davey Winder Drive-By Downloads Power ClickFix Stealer Campaign

A drive-by download attack relies upon being able to tamper with an application, without it being visually obvious to the user, so as to download malware. The use of ClickFix in multiple malware distribution campaigns across recent weeks is, the Sekoia report said, "in line with the growing, ongoing trend of distributing malware through the drive-by download technique." This is, above all else, employed so as to evade security scanning protections and browser security features, the researchers suggested. The Sekoia analysts have associated this ClickFix cluster impersonating Google Meet with two cybercrime groups: Slavic Nation Empire and Scamquerteo. Both are known to be sub-groups of cybercriminals in the world of cryptocurrency scams.

Using phrases such as "press the key combination" or "CTRL+V" pop-up error messages, yes, such tactics are still used, and apparently, they are still thriving. The attackers were often found to be suggesting issues concerning the microphone. This type of scam can be fallen for because the errors that pop up are on faked Google Meet pages with plausible domain names leveraging a meet.Google structure. Clicking on the "Try Fix" button would then result in the malware download being initiated.

"Imagine joining a Google Meet, already a minute or two late which is standard for most of us in a rush because your previous meeting ran over," Adam Pilton, a senior cybersecurity consultant at CyberSmart, said. "You then see a problem with a button that says 'fix it', on the surface this button appears to be Google who you trust, so you click to fix it and malware is deployed on your computer." This is peak social engineering and you should never underestimate your chances of getting fooled.

"Many people are familiar with phishing emails, but we often let our guard down when it comes to online meetings," Javvad Malik, the lead security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, said. "This particular campaign goes a bit further, not just from a technical perspective, but from a mind-games perspective, by exploiting the trust people have in brands and their pop-up assistance. "

ForbesNew Gmail Security Alert For 2.5 Billion Users As AI Hack ConfirmedBy Davey Winder Mitigating The ClickFix Infostealer Threat

I have reached out to Google for advice to users in mitigating the risk of getting caught out by the ClickFix campaign, but in the meantime McAfee Labs offered the following mitigations when an earlier ClickFix campaign was doing the rounds:

McAfee Labs mitigations for ClickFix attacks

McAfeeForbesIt's 2024 And Your Laptop Can Be Hacked With A BBQ LighterBy Davey Winder

"For anybody who's reading this article and becomes aware of this information, the best thing you can do is share it with your colleagues," Pilton advised, "being informed of this attack and knowing that it exists will mean that we question this scenario should it arise." It is this questioning that can provide, even if only for a few seconds, the breathing space to break the knee-jerk reaction that is required for such scam campaigns to succeed.

"We will likely continue to see criminals look for more creative ways to exploit people outside of the perimeter and on platforms people trust to avoid detection by automated tools, Malik concluded, "which is why it's important to build in good frameworks where people can recognize and report any suspicious activity."

There is no doubting that this attack is clever, Pilton said, "but it's easy to defend against if we know it exists."

ForbesThe Next Big Google Chrome Password Change Is Coming In 25 DaysBy Davey Winder

Search This Blog

Smile More Often.

adstN